Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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Business or Pleasure? (Cryax Bane)

Two Years Ago, Coruscant...

The Sith had won the battle. Coruscant had been devestated in a battle that lasted well over a day between them and the fighting Republic and Jedi forces. The once great and shining beacon for the Galactic Republic had become a trophy for the Sith, a symbol of their grand power and cause for domination over all. Those who were still on the planet itself had only tw options: stay and give surrender to the Sith's new regime, or leave to tell the rest of the Galaxy that the Sith would be coming for them next.

A medical team consisting of five people, two human males and one female, a male rodian and a female twi'lek, had been running through the city close to the levels of the UnderCity, to find a shuttle off the planet. They'd been dispatched to try and find any survivors from all the fighting and give them medical attention or getting them to a med shuttle in time. However most of the med shuttles had already left and the group had still been in search of any survirors.

Stopping at a cross-section within the streets of the currenlty desserted Undercity, one of the male doctors asked "Which way now?" looking to the twi'lek who was leading them.

Looking at all the possible ways she eventually ansered "Maybe that way." pointing down a left street.

"You sure?" the rodian of the group asked. "If we keep going around in circles, we'll never get out of here."

"I'm trying to figure that out, alright? I'm a doctor, not a navigator!"

"Enough!" another of the male doctors said. "This isn't getting us anywhere. We'll go that way." he pointed to where the twi'leck doctor had already said. "Stick together. We'll make it out of this."

With that the group had hrruied down the street twoards what they'd hoped would be a shuttle port. In the distance they could hear the straggling battles among the remaining Republic forces and the Sith, a fruitless last stand against the invaders that even they knew was hopeless at this point. The Sith had won and the Republic forces had mostly fled by this point. Anyone else left here to figh was either crazy or had a death wish. Sure enough, to the group's relief, there was a shuttle port at the end of the street they found with a vacant one still left over.

"Thank the force!" the female human said before she and the others rushed over to claim the shuttle.

As they did, however, the twi'lek woman stopped when she heard something. The others were too busy hurrying over towards the shuttle to hear it themselves but the nurse had realized it sounded like someone in pain. While the rest of the group was checking the shuttle to make sure it was finctional, which it was thankfully, the twi'lek realized the moaning sound came from somewhere below the street, from one of the drop points that lead further down to the bowels of Coruscant. When she looked over she could see something on one of the pipelines that lead further down yet arched into a small landing at one point. There was a lot of debris and smoke about, making it hard to see what it was exaclty.

As the rodian called for the twi'elk woman to come with them she gasped when she finally realized what was down there and called "Hey! Over here! There's someone injured!"

It was true. A woman was stuck under a large pile of debris. She moaned in pain and seemed dazed from the fall she'd taken from a higher level all the way down to there. Even as the twi'lek looked up, seeing another landing platform on a level above them, it was clear she landed from a little over five stories and managed to survive.

The others, joining her and seeing the woman, realized they needed to move quick to get her out before taking off. They worked their way down using the pipes before reaching the spot where she was. The two men, the rodian and the twi'lek had went down to help her while the human woman stayed above in case they needed any other assitance.

The twi'elk kept saying "It's alright, miss. You're going to eb alright." while the others tried pulling off the pile of debirs that had her pinned.

The woman herself had kept mumblign things like "G-Gordy....need....get to.....Gordy...."

As the men finally maaged to get the rest of it off they stopped and pointed out a bigger problem. The twi'lek had gasped before the woman herself, starting to stir from her daze, looked over to what they'd seen and began to scream. It was from both the sight and from the pain she realized had come from the gravest injury from her fall. Her entire right arm was crushed beyond repair.

**********

Present Day, Antecedent...

Deborah Waller, the leader of the small gang known as the Star Striders, was making her way to the Dragon Palace Casino, the headquaters of the criminal organization known as the Red Ravens. The two groups were partners, more-or-less, for the past year. It had been Deborah's idea to join with them as a means of gaining some more power and reputation for her group. Two of the bigger needs for any selfrespecting gang to have in this galaxy.

However the way Deborah was approching the Casino itself indicated her business she wanted to discuess with the leader, a chiss named [member="Cryax Bane"] was a little more serious. She'd had a rushed pace with her steps and an almost bruning look in her eyes. Everyone who'd seen her could tell she was a woman with a mission, though wheater it was good or bad was another matter. Even as she entered and the staff of the casino saw her drive by them it as clear she wasn't in the modd to be stopped or hindered.

Once she'd reached his office Deborah didn't waste her time knocking and instead opened the door to Cryax's office. She looked to where he was and only him. Had there been anyone else in the room she didn't look to them at all, even when she'd called "Everyone else out. Now!" to make it clear she wanted to speak with him in private. Once it was just the two of them alone Deborah walked up to Bane's desk, slapped a datapad in front of him, and stated "We need to talk."
 
"Kteh!" cursed the Chiss in his native tongue as Deborah Waller came barging into his office unannounced and promptly dismissed everyone. He had been smack in the middle of meeting with the representative from the public relations firm for the Dragon Palace Casino, a Gran named Nira, who came with two plucky Twi'lek assistants. Nira blinked her three eyes at the pushy gang leader, picked up her things without a word, and walked out in a huff, her assistants trailing behind her. Cryax glared at the Star Striders leader wondering just how she managed to get into his office in the first place. Were his security guards sleeping on the job?

"I was in the middle of a fething business meeting," growled the Chiss, slamming a blue-skinned hand down on his desk. As Deborah slapped down a Datapad in front of him, he scowled at it as if it were a pool of vomit, and then leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms testily. "Whatever this is about, it had better be good."

[member="Deborah Waller"]
 
Despite the people leaving Deborah made sure the door was closed behind them. This was private for a reason after all. After that she looked back to Bane and said "I need your resources. Everything. Anything the Ravens can spare. Weapons, ships, the whole freking thing. And I need someone like you. A slicer who can get thier hands on the right intel." After saying all that she pushed the datapad foward for him to read before saying "See why for yourself."

It read as follows:

Dear Deborah,

I hope you're well as I've been doing so myself after our last meeting. However you should know that business has been bad since our last little dance and it's left me in a bit of a state where I need to "reclaim" things that I let others borrow. Case in point being the right to the rule of the Star Striders. Now I know you'll make some claim that you earned them fairly, but I'm not interested in hearing fairytales from you; at least not unless there in the bedroom. Either way I'm letting you know now that I'll be personally coming with my new band, the Grey Riders, to offically make this little transaction square. You'll let your men know what's happening and have them surrender rule to me, and you'll step down to be my personal right-hand assistant. Just like the good old days. If you seem unncooperative about this little deal, then I'm afraid I'll have to take things into a more "egrigious area". And given what I'm sure you know of us Grey Rdiers, you'd be wise not to try anything stupid.

You have until tomorrow by 0900, to meet on one of the smallest moon of Vega to give over your men and ship to me.

See you then.

Junto

[member="Cryax Bane"]
 
How dare she come marching in here making demands like that, thought the Chiss. He had a mind to call security on her. Then his curiosity got the better of him and Cryax's glowing red eyes scanned the message on Deborah's Datapad. It seemed the feisty assassin had some old debts to pay to some other crime lord she had karked with, someone named Junto. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Last I checked I gave the orders around here, Ms. Waller," he said with a sneer. "Your old baggage should really be none of my concern." Then his eyes softened a bit and he sighed. He liked Deborah, and she was a good asset to the Ravens, fighting bravely on the front lines in their land-grabbing operations. He didn't relish losing a talent such as she. Rubbing his temples, his brows knitted in concern, he added, "But I'd hate to see you lose your Striders."

"You want the Ravens to take this Junto person out or what?"

[member="Deborah Waller"]
 
Seeing how pissed he was, and rightful so as Deborah understood, she began to worry she'd have to start an argument to get him to give something up. Thankfully he seemed a little more lenient to hear her out, which made her sigh with relief. Given how fumed she was over the message being sent to her it was more a matter of urgency than anything else that she talk to him about it.

When he'd asked she made it clear "No. At least not in our usual way. You see there's more to this than you think. This guy, Junto, he used to be the right hand of the last own of the Striders. Guy by the name of Gordy. When he died Junto was supposed to take over, but instead I took control. I knew Junto would try anything to take it from me, so I left him stranded on an old mining moon where he wouldn't hurt anyone. Apparently he managed to get off and join the Grey Riders. They're like us, a group of rag-taggers who take jobs where they can. Problem is they joined with the Black Suns just like we did with you and the Ravens." She let that info sink in a bit for [member="Cryax Bane"] before continuing with "This little bout that Junto's calling me out on is more than just him wanting to take over the Striders. He wants to take them back to the Suns and use whatever info we have about the Ravens against you. So what I need is enough firepower to force him into one final option: a face off between him and me. I manage to win, we get the Grey's and all as much dirt as they have on the Suns. Starting to see why this was urgent?"
 
Cryax drummed his fingers on his desk as he gave Deborah's problem a listen. Once she was finished, the Chiss crime boss ran his fingers through his blue-black hair, his brow furrowed. There was one huge problem with getting involved in this minor gang dispute. "As part of our treaty with the One Sith, we agreed to a cease-fire with the Black Sun." He shook his head. "This isn't good. The last thing we need is the Sith on our backs for dishonoring their wishes." He sighed angrily. "This puts me in a bad position, Deborah," he admonished. "A really bad position." Cryax's thoughts went to the invasion of Manaan and the destruction the Sith left in their wake. "We can't afford to make a misstep with the One Sith."

"I want to help you Deborah, I really do," he said, spreading his hands. "But my hands might be tied. Unless you have another idea as to how we could approach this problem without setting off the sparks of war with the Black Sun."

[member="Deborah Waller"]
 
"That's just it. This isn't about the suns. It's about the Striders and the Greys." she tried explaining, needing to sit down at this point. "This gang dispute is only between us. We can keep this as illegite as possible. I only need some ships and men and make them up to look like Striders. That way the Grey's think I've managed enough power to equal them. They're a big group to be sure, but even they have an honor system that we Striders go by too. But I only have my one ship and men. But Junto dosen't know that, and neither do the Greys or Suns. I manage this little fight and win, we have dirt on those Suns if they try to impeed that little treaty of yours. Think about it. This way if they try anything we'll have something on them, maybe even stuff to give to the Sith. Belive me, I know Junto. Even he makes dirty deals with others now and then and he doesn't share as much as people like to think."

[member="Cryax Bane"]
 
The Chiss deliberated for a while. On the one hand, he was still miffed that he had to clean up someone else's mess. On the other hand, if the Star Striders fell into the wrong hand, they likely knew things about the Ravens that would compromise the organization's security. His advisers had been warning him not taking incidents like this seriously enough. Perhaps nipping the whole thing in the bud was worth the risk of racheting up tension with the Black Sun.

"OK, Deborah," he nodded his head in acquiescence, but shook a blue-skinned finger at her with a warning glare. "But if this gets karked up and riles up tension with the Black Sun, I'll be royally pissed, and you won't like me when I'm royally pissed." He crossed the room to his computer and started accessing the Ravens military data. "Men I can give you easily, but what kind of ships do you want? I could spare a couple of Starfighters. Maybe a Corvette. Please tell me you don't need more than that."

[member="Deborah Waller"]
 
Once he agreed to her terms she sighed with relief, glad to know the chiss was willing to give her this one chance. Despite hiw warning she nodded before retorting "Turst me, if this goes as bad as it might then I won't be around to see how pissed you can be. Get what I mean?" The way she spoke was clear indication of what she meant. After that, and hearing his offer of men and ships, she nodded while leaning foward and said "That's plenty. Just as long as they think it's more than just my few dozen men. Otherwise it won't count for nothing against the Grey Riders and their guns." After that she sat back in her seat before saying "Just let them know they'll be there for show, nothing else. Paint those ships up, I'll provide the uniforms for the men. Oh, and I owe you a drink. Something else we'll need." she winked.

[member="Cryax Bane"]
 
Cryax began typing up the order for the ships to be released to Waller. His mood was softening up. Who was he to judge her for her mistakes? He'd made so many of his own over the past few months. Dangerous mistakes that had put his loved ones as well as the Red Ravens themselves in harm's way. Cryax was still sowing the seeds of those mistakes every time he looked in the mirror.

"Tell you what Deborah," Cryax said with a grin. "You get your men and women back and the drinks are on me." He sat back in his chair and blinked his glowing red eyes at her in a quizzical expression. "Is there anything else you need from me? If you need a slicer, I'm the best there is in these parts." Here he spread his hands proudly. Frankly, after being the figurehead of the Red Ravens for months now, his slicing skills were getting rusty, and he was itching to get behind the computer and actually do some hacking for a change. He missed the curiosity that it sparked in him, the mastering of man over code. It had been a long time since he felt that rush that slicers often felt when they broke into a particularly difficult encryption. Slicing used to make him feel so alive, and as dead as he felt inside these days, the Chiss felt that he could desperately use that little spark of life.

[member="Deborah Waller"]
 
His little comments made her huff a smile. It was true, there was danger on both ends of the deal. There was the risk things could go wrong, and the problem of things getting into Bane's hair if she failed. She didn't intend to, and when those sorts of ideas were made Deborah intended to keep them. Still there was a risk. No doubt about that. She sighed, thinking if there was anymore after the ships and man power were released to her.

"Yeah, I think I might need you." she said. "Aside from them being YOUR people, maning having you give the orders from me will be easier for them, a slicer will help keep any hidden messages or the like being sent by the Grey's. Junto's not an idiot, but he does think of anything and everything that could go wrong." She leaned back and smirked with a more inquisitive nature before saying "Now you'll just need a Strider jacket. I'll be honest, you might look good in crimson." her tone seemed more...anxious.

[member="Cryax Bane"]
 
The Chiss smiled widely. Lately with all the things that had been going horribly awry with his personal affairs, i.e., he still had a karking Yorik-Kul in his head with an overlord who could control him at the flick of a hand, Cryax felt like he could use a win. Bad. This Junto person was small-time compared to the horrors he'd been dealing with lately. He was sure it would be a cakewalk.

"A red jacket would match my eyes, yes," he said with a grin, glancing at her jacket. "I have one more question before we get started. What do you wnt to see happen to Junto at the end of this? Should I?" Here he trailed off and made a throat-cutting motion with one blue-skinned hand. "I mean, after we've tortured the information out him, of course," he added with a more measured expression.

Far be it from him to seem so eager to kill someone. Though, truth be told, Cryax really wanted to wring this Junto person's throat for messing with the Red Ravens. He had way too much on his plate for some small-time thug to be throwing his weight around like this on his turf. Junto would be made into an important example. Cryax would make karking sure of it.

[member="Deborah Waller"]
 
With that question, and what how he'd made the gesture with his finger, Deborah held back a chunkle before standing up. She then looked to him and answered "Don't worry about that. Like I said, I'm forcing him into a final fight. And when it's all over, I'll be the one to..." To finish her sentance she mimicked him and made the same throat slicing geasture with her own finger. After that she turned to the door and said "Tomrrow afternoon at the port around the corner. Don't keep us waiting, Bane. Hate to leave without you."

With that she finally left his office before working her way back to her ship. As she walked, however, her look slowly changed. What had been a more confident air ro her soon turned into doubt. She had to stop once she was out of the Dragon Palace Casino and take a minute to regain herself. She sighed, obviously troubled by something, before looking down to her robotic hand. She seemed both hurt and yet enthralled when she looked at it this way. After a minute she shook her head clear and went back to her waiting ship and men.

The next day...
The Star Striders were outfitting the men and ships that [member="Cryax Bane"] had provided for them. The troops were given crimson jackets all bearing the Strider logos while they were told to do whatever they wanted to customize them. Deborah explained that it would add to the actual look of being part of a gang to make the group seem more real. While that went on others were painting up the ships with alien logos and symbols; some even painting attractive alien women on the hulls.

The whole time Deborah had been overlooking the procedure while waiting for Bane to arrive. She was sitting hear a few crates that were soon to be loaded into the ship itself. Now and then she would look away from the others and be with her own thoughts, having that troubled look on her face again. Anytime anyone woulc come asking her questions she would shake it off and act as if nothing were wrong.
 
Wearing his red Star Striders jacket, Cryax arrived at the Antecedent space port as requested. He was doubtful that a jacket would fully disguise his identity, especially since most of the gangsters in these parts knew that the President of the Red Ravens syndicate was a Chiss. He could only hope that Junto and his cronies weren't the sharpest tools in the shed. He tied a red bandanna around his forehead, and donned some aviator glasses to complete the look. Sure he looked ridiculous, but he no longer looked like the well-heeled leader of the Red Ravens.

Spying Deborah waiting near her the ramp of her ship, Cryax strode up to her in his disguise.

"What do you think of my new look? I think after this is done, I'm gonna start rocking it," he joked. Then Cryax saw her face. Deborah looked nervous, and since it wasn't like the Star Striders leader to be antsy about a mission such as this, he knew that something was wrong. "Whatsamatter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

[member="Deborah Waller"]
 
When [member="Cryax Bane"] had approched Deborah couldn't help but smirk. She was trying to hold back a full laugh, not because of his look but more because she knew who it was underneath the disguise. It was always funny seeing your friends trying to fit into a group when they didn't need to try so hard. Though in this case she could understand his reasoning for it.

When he asked she nodded and said "Not bad. Though I think you should lose the glasses. People might think you're over doing it."

As if to emphasize on it one of the Striders passed by, who was also a chiss. Seeing Bane dressed as he was he couldn't help but nod, agreeing with the look. Knowing what she did about the member Deborah rolled her eyes and shook her head. It was still funny, but when Cryax asked if she was alright her mood changed a little more cold.

"I'm fine." she stated. After that she cleared her throat and said "Alright. We're almost ready. We've got the people you provided going into the two dummy ships, and meanwhile you'll be riding with me and my crew in ours." She pointed out each of them to him before explaining "Be better to have our ace in the hole as close as possible after all."
 

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