Private Cooling Off

[Yuri Maji]

LOCATION: Garel | Garel City
Tags: Roten

---

Theme​

Yuri's most recent escapades had not only managed to anger three different superpowers, but also land a rather respectable price on his head. Thankfully it wasn't high enough to pose a long term threat, but it was more than enough to drive him deep into the Outer Rim to a rather far-flung world. A perfect destination to hide for a little bit and plan his next move. The factory was beginning to come along nicely and the manpower was slowly gathering to its former strength. Now it was a matter of procuring enough material to get everything started again.

The Hound adjusted his poncho over his armour and stuck his helmet to his belt as he closed up his freighter's ramp. The sun had just begun to set over Garel's capital, casting a gorgeous glow through the purple sky. Yuri admired the spectacle for a moment as he made his way through the streets in search of a cantina. Odds of his bounty reaching this far out was rather unlikely, and he could use the gossip to get his bearings. Upon finding a rather respectable location near the spaceport, Yuri organized himself a drink and took a seat by a booth. The cantina wasn't too busy, surprisingly, allowing him a moment to close his eyes and listen in on some idle chatter around the area.

Some were laughing, another was pouring his heart out to a very uninterested waitress, but one table drew his attention.

"... Lucky, I was. I'm tellin' yous. Managed to slip away jus' in time." One disgruntled man was telling what Yuri could only guess were his friends. Yuri's eyes opened and he turned a little listen in a little easier. "What would pirates be doing in the middle of nowhere?" A Nautolan asked the man, handing him a drink to stead his nerves. "Beats me. Big ship, though. They're movin' a lo' in 'ere. " He paused to take a long sip to relax, and for Yuri's gears to start turning. Finally a score that wouldn't get him into more trouble.

Far enough from Black Sun space to not be an issue, and he would bet that the locals wouldn't mind if someone got rid of such a pest.

A smile curled along the Hound's maw as he took a sip of his drink. Evening was setting in quickly. Once darkness fell, he could move out.

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

Roten sat perched atop a building, some sort of bar establishment from what he could gather. It wasn't really his primary interest. Alcohol was something he had a distaste for growing up around pirates. And it was pirates that brought him to this place as well. The Black Sun cruiser on this planet had stopped his journey in it's track and earned the ire of his attention. The road to atonement was one that would be paved through the destruction of those Roten once walked along. The Bursantian was certain of that. Or at least, that was what he said to himself. He wasn't sure if this was even the right way of becoming a good person.

Or if he'd even accept himself if he was a good person.

For now that didn't matter. The former pirate sat with a wetstone and sharpened his kunai, waiting for the sun to dip down over the violet horizon. When night fell he would move on the criminals and see their vessel and it's cargo put in the ground. If the Black Sun wanted that cargo they could pick it out of the scraps.

It was just a matter of waiting.

 

[Yuri Maji]

Thankfully, killing time for the Shistavanen came easily. Whether it came down to scrolling through the Holonet, or simply talking smack with some of the locals, Yuri was a master of procrastinating. His mannerisms even earned the liking of the two men he was listening to earlier, which allowed him to get the location of the pirate ship with very little effort.

But the good times came to an end, and Yuri had to get back and arm up for this little expedition. A Basilisk wouldn't likely be needed, but he placed Baby on standby just in case as he took off on a speeder bike to enter the rapidly cooling desert. They were a decent distance outside of the capital's border, but a speeder made quick work of it and Yuri quickly found himself beside a large, wind-cared mesa overlooking the cruiser. Yuri kept his profile low to the ground, carefully watching the pirates' movement and patterns to formulate a plan of attack. As fun as simply marching in with guns blazing was, the crew was simply too big.

And well armed, too.

At least two blaster cannons on the perimeter from what he could see, not to mention the various armament carried by the crew. A quick once-over of the ship gave an indication of what forced them to land. Panels were removed and several crewmen were busy fiddling with the engines. "Missed a service, huh." He remarked to himself with a faint chuckle. With a tap on his visor, his helmet reverted from its macrobinoculars and the Hound scooted back to prepare for his insertion.

Softening them up at range would help a lot, especially with the repeaters scanning the area. Luckily he had brought along something specifically for situations such as these. Yuri quickly assembled the weapon and set it up at the edge of the mesa, activating the scope's integrated night vision. The scope faintly glowed a pale green as Yuri scanned the area once more.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

When night fell, Roten began his hunt. He slipped into the darkness of the hour with ease, his large red eyes giving him near perfect sight in the reduced visibility. All anyone would see with the naked eye was the reflection in his gaze, and even then it would surely be hazy. He came upon the pirate vessel and began observing their behavior. Repairs. They were down for maintenance, were they? Something he could exploit.

The Bursantian found his mark quickly. One man had a helmet, one that covered the face. He seemed to be looking on at a distance, as though overseeing the others. Roten waited for the perfect moment when the man moved to return to the ship's interior, staging himself behind a stack of loose boxes, likely cargo yet to be loaded aboard. When the pirate walked past Roten pounced like a trap-door spider, quickly dragging him into the darkness. His kunai were primed and ready, slitting the man's throat before he could even make a sound. The young hunter dipped his claw in the fresh blood. Green. Sure enough, a Duros layed under the helmet.

With his first mark down, Roten began to remove the pirate's armor, meticulously slipping into it. All it would take was a little time in the ship's core to blow their reactor to bits and reduce the vessel to burning slag.

That was exactly what he intended to do.

 

[Yuri Maji]

Yuri had nearly missed it. A fleeting glance in the furthest corner of his scope, a sudden shift from one of the crewmen. His scope immediately snapped over to study the movement he saw. The chances of someone else muscling in to steal the prize was highly unlikely. From the look of things, this touchdown wasn't reported or noticed by anyone else. Regardless of the situation, Yuri quickly became paranoid about his score.

He shifted his aim to one of the perimeter guns and let loose a shot. By the time the crack of the AMR's fire reached the camp, the cannon bolt impacted the power pack of the blaster cannon and set off a rather respectable explosion. The camp immediately went on high alert as men scrambled to look for the unknown shooter. Yuri went on to fire at the other blaster cannon for another explosion, before planting holes through the stack of crates of where he saw the one pirate go down.

Normally a blaster wouldn't do much. But an AMR built around a laser cannon could do much more. Whether the opposition was still behind there or not, Yuri simply cared to distract the pirates and cause a stir for him to move in. With one last shot, he sent an explosive bolt into a nearby marked cannister for another spectacular explosion to damage the ship's engines further before moving in with his jetpack.

It was a race against time.

Whoever was down there couldn't reach the cockpit before he did. Even if they did, hopefully his pot shots would ground the vehicle long enough for him to secure the area and claim the prize for himself. His insertion would have been a lot more subtle, but in his rush he made a rather stereotypical Mandalorian entrance. Hovering above the pirates, Yuri let loose with most of his entire arsenal to sow complete disarray in the camp. Particle bolts, rockets and streams of fire did a fantastic job of scattering the men below him. A few managed to fire up at him, but their shots bounced off harmlessly against his armour as he moved in on them. Combined with the terrible lighting, it was only a matter of time before he could wipe out the perimeter.

That was secondary, however. He needed to get inside and secure the ship. And more importantly, he needed to find the competition and put them down.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

Roten immediately went low as explosions made the operation go from quiet to chaos in a matter of moments. There was someone else here. So much for being discrete. He popped his head up to see what had caused the racket, only to watch on with irritation as an armored individual began to mow down the pirates with a barrage of weaponry.

Mandalorians. How very typical of them.

"Hey bucket-head!" Roten shouted from his cover. "Thanks for waking the hive up, moron! Bring a fethin' concert next time, yeah?"

The Bursantian ripped off the Duro's helmet he had stolen and threw it into the head of the nearest pirate, knocking them out cold. Infiltration was a wistful hope that was dead in the past now. His kunai were quickly drawn and the young man leapt forward to begin cleaving his way through the pirates to make an entrance...

Only to double back around and dive for cover immediately. The pirates had a toy, an old Phase-III Dark Trooper. It was missing some of the cosmetic plating and was adorned with several replaced parts and modifications. In its hands was a DXR-6 Disruptor Rifle, which it used to fire indiscriminately out into the ongoing battle. A pirate caught in the crossfire was vaporized in an instant.

"Chit!" Roten hissed, scrambling to compose himself behind his cover.

If he got his hands on that Mandalorian he was surely considering strangling them now.

 

[Yuri Maji]

Woven into the carnage just below him, Yuri picked out a voice calling out to him. He couldn't figure out where they were shouting from, but their words did have the consequence of angering the Mandalorian even further. "Go fly into a star, chakaar! This was my operation." Yuri practically barked back in reply, letting loose with another stream of fire around his area.

Wiping out the perimeter wasn't that big of an issue, at least until an odd-looking droid emerged from the cruiser. To make matters worse, Yuri was quite familiar with the weapon it held. It made its immediate danger known as it annihilated a nearby pirate from existence. Yuri tilted forward and fired a missile from his jetpack, confident that it would dispatch the salvaged droid.

To his horror, the missile barely did anything.

As the smoke cleared, all he manged to do was shove the droid off balance and draw its attention. The Shitavanen had little choice but to duck behind cover before it could land a hit on him with the disruptor, while his HUD searched for the specific model. The result didn't brighten his mood much. "How the kriff did y'all manage to find that monster?!" He called out as he scrambled to cower behind a nearby stack of crates, firing his particle rifle at it to no avail.

It was there that he found himself hiding alongside a strange, purple furball brandishing absurdly shaped blades. Brushing him off as one of the pirates, he kept his rifle trained on the kid as he gestured for him to stay quiet. Beyond their cover, the Dark Trooper seemed to be momentarily distracted by the remaining pirates if the whines of its Disruptor was any indication. Yuri pondered for a moment how they could disable it. "I'll draw its fire, you flank it. Aim for the gaps." He instructed, tossing a thermal detonator to the pirate as the droid's heavy footfalls drew closer.

With a quiet prayer spoken in his head, Yuri blasted out from behind their cover to unleash a volley of shots at the Dark Trooper. A shot of its rifle barely whizzed past Yuri's head, prompting him to unleash a stream of Carbonite from his cryocaster at it in hopes of freezing it in place. Even if only for a second or two.

If his memory served correctly, the droid was going to need to reload soon, anyway. That damned pirate just needed to do his job.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

Aim for the joints, aim for the joints...

He had a joint to aim for. Roten stowed his kunai and bolted for his foe, dropping down to all fours to reveal his clearly non-human nature. The cryoban froze the ancient droid, but it's engineering all but ensured that it broke through quickly, turning it's attention towards the mandalorian. That was enough of a window for him.

Roten leapt at the back of the mechanical beast and grappled onto it for dear life. The Dark Trooper began to flail, trying to get it's scanners on what had landed on it. Stray disruptor bolts flew in every direction, many performing more accidental friendly fire. The old droid was clearly also suffering from necrotic programming due to it's age, something a band of pirates clearly wasn't savvy enough to correct. The Bursantian scrambled to hook his claws into the gaps he needed and finally got hooked on securely. Then he reared back his head. Letting the ancient words spill off his tongue, Roten's teeth lit up with electricity. He went in for the kill, biting into the droid's exposed neck.

There was a mechanical screech, the Dark Trooper's eyes flickering before exploding violently. When the droid brain withing was sufficiently fried it collapsed. Roten went rolling with it, stumbling off and scrambling back behind cover.

"Feth..." the young man gasped, trying to catch his breath. "Kill those other bastards! I need a minute!"

He took a moment to spit, trying to get that nasty metal taste out of his mouth. It wasn't working very well.

 

[Yuri Maji]

It was an incredibly risky gamble, trusting some pirate kid with fighting such a dangerous droid. But Yuri didn't have much choice as he zipped and dodged around to avoid getting vaporized. For good measure, he turned on his jetpack's deflector shield as well as his vambrace shield, but there was little faith in them stopping such a powerful weapon.

Thankfully, his new companion didn't choke up and latched himself onto the massive droid... except he didn't plant the thermal detonator. "What the kriff are-" He didn't get to finish his sentence as a stray bolt caught him, blowing through both deflector shields and impacting him square in the chest. His cuirass slammed back, the thermal gel crumbled, and the Mandalorian was sent bouncing across the ground with a very uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

But it worked. Whatever the kid did, he managed to short out the droid and bring it down. Yuri's attempt at getting up was harassed by a few blaster bolts bouncing off his scorched armour, but he managed to get up and return fire with his twin pistols.

"Feth..." the young man gasped, trying to catch his breath. "Kill those other bastards! I need a minute!"

"Speak for yourself." Yuri growled with a bloody breath, ducking behind a nearby crate to fire back at the emerging pirates. Despite their current state, the perimeter was broken. What remained of the pirates outside were scattered and unorganized. Their ace was foiled and the Mandalorian was still at large. Checking his remaining kit, Yuri took to the skies again and targeted the few remaining pirates before a swarm of Whistling Birds screeched through the air and dropped their last opposition.

The rest of the crew raised the ship's ramp and shut the blast doors, allowing a moment of ceasefire for the duo.

Yuri finally let himself down and leaned onto the crate to rip his helmet off. Blood spat from his maw as he coughed, trying to recompose himself. A quick bacta shot was administered, allowing him to limp over to check on the indigo furball. "You a pirate?" He began, aiming War straight between the Bursantian's eyes. "Why'd you turn on your crew?" He asked him with a bloodied snarl.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

"I'm not a pirate," Roten corrected quickly. "This ain't my crew. And for the record, I'm not a bounty hunter looking to score either, so quit being territorial. You just about got us greased."

Roten hoisted himself up, letting out a huff as he began to stretch, trying to loosen himself up. He had gone stiff after hitting the ground, but he knew that there was more to come. It would have been so much easier if this mando hadn't ran in guns blazing. He hadn't missed the mention of this being 'his operation' either. Was all this over some stupid bounty? Credits ruined lots of things...

"Look, I finish what I start," Roten sighed. "That means I'm staying right here. If you're collecting a bounty, by all means have at it. I couldn't care less. Just screw your brain in right and think things over for even just a minute, yeah? You'd be half as jacked up as you are if you didn't make a racket."

He was okay keeping his background vague. As long as the mando knew he wasn't a pirate betraying his crew it was all good. Roten hadn't chosen that life, and it had now been a good year or... maybe even more since he had left the gaggle that had raised him. A group of brigands he held with the highest disdain after seeing them for what they were.

Matthew said it wasn't his fault since he didn't have a choice. Roten still wasn't sure.

 

[Yuri Maji]

Yuri's sight stayed on the kid as he explained his position, with a light insult to boot. "So it was you..." The Hound muttered, more to himself, as the realisation dawned on him. After a second or two of thought, Yuri lowered his pistol and holstered it with a twirling flourish. "I ain't after a bounty." He stated simply, wiping off his maw and walking back to pick up his helmet and rifle. With his face hidden once more, a cold visor met the Bursantian's gaze.

"And if you think this is a racket, you don't know much about Mandalorians." He quipped with a dry chuckle as he walked back to the kid. "I'm here for whatever is in the hold of that ship. And I wanna get these nerf herders off Garel. Place has enough problems, don't need pirates nestin' around here as well." Yuri continued, resting his hands on his hips as he studied the sealed cruiser. After wasting half of his payload on the Dark Trooper and the rest of the pirates, shooting through the blast door was out of the question. Luckily for them, Yuri's head wasn't that unscrewed as the kid would believe.

"Engine panels were open, they were doin' work back there. You look gangly enough to fit through the engine's spaces. I'll take the front." He suggested, glancing at the kid. "By the way, got a name? Or is 'kid' or 'furball' good enough?" The hidden grin was quite audible, even through his synthesized voice.

Whatever the kid was here for, Yuri wasn't too bothered anymore. If he somehow wanted to swindle the Hound or take the prize... Yuri liked his chances behind a healthy layer of Beskar...

An armoured hand was outstretched to the Bursantian. "I'd like my detonator back, please." He spoke flatly, a blank visor staring at his companion.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

"So it was you..."

"What's that supposed to mean..." Roten muttered.

Roten did give back the thermal detonator, taking in everything that the Mandalorian was saying. He may have been thin, but Roten wasn't small. In fact, they seemed to be close to the same height. But he wasn't gonna start another pointless argument. The Bursantian scoffed and offered a shrug.

"Roten is fine," he responded. "I was planning on blowing this thing to kingdom come anyways. I suppose I can alter that since we've already got the crew wounded and limping. I was hoping for a discrete infiltration, but that's gone out the window. They're gonna have this thing locked down, so good luck getting through the front."

The Bursantian let out a sigh as he turned towards the engines, his soon-to-be entrance. He began to set off, but then paused and looked back.

"Oh, right. Guess you got a name too," the young man muttered. "You wanna tell me that? Don't imagine you're fond of 'bucket-head' or the like."

 

[Yuri Maji]

The kid finally introduced himself before raising his concerns about Yuri's point of entry. He went on to ask Yuri's name as he proceeded towards the bow of the cruiser. Yuri paused and glanced back at Roten with a smile behind his visor. "You can at least be a bit more original, ya know. Name's Yuri." He remarked with a chuckle as his jetpack sparked to life. "And don't worry. They're scared of me. They won't expect you comin' at 'em from behind." He took off and left Roten behind to begin with his infiltration.

And he had just the thing for it.

The transparisteel viewport wasn't an easy thing to breach, and the confidence in the bridge crew was evident as they watched the Mandalorian hover in front of their ship. But their confidence wavered when an orange blade spewed forth from Yuri's vambrace and began to cut into the glass. A plasma cutter wasn't nearly as efficient or effective as a lightsaber, but it did a damn good job of dismantling ships and vehicles in scrapyards. And it was a wonderful tool for a clan of Mandalorians that specialized in ship-boarding and close quarters.

Yuri didn't need to cut the entire window out. He just needed a big enough hole to slip his thermal detonator through to pop the can open. The crew inside screamed and scrambled to get out of the bridge, opening the blast door just as the detonator tore the entire bridge open. The viewport blew out and all the controls were torn to shreds, but the Hound had his entry point. "Room service!" He called out, raising his rifle to let loose with a volley of blaster bolts into the hallway. The amount of returning fire steadily increased before a blast door shut him out.

His scomp link could take care of that. The crew's relief turned to horror when the door slid open and a stream of blaster bolts filled the hallway. In the tight confines of the ship, the Mandalorian's lethality increased dramatically with his relentless advance. But his true intention was playing out perfectly.

It drew all the attention away from the rear of the ship, allowing his new associate to gain access with hopefully little resistance from the aft section. Tossing a smoke grenade into the ship, Yuri hid behind a pillar and waited for the smoke to strip the pirates of their visibility. A snarl rumbled from his maw as he rounded the corner and turned on his thermal vision, pressing his assault deeper into the cruiser.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

From the engine room of the ship emerged the shadow of death. Roten moved with silent, lethal efficiency. He clambered through the ventilation ducts of the ship and picked off crew members one by one, ushering them to a silent and unseen grave. It wasn't difficult. What few members of the crew that hadn't run off towards the front of the vessel were in a right state of panic. It was hardly a fair fight.

Not that these people deserved a fair fight. They were lower than scum. It gave Roten very little pause to his hand.

Before long he had fallen upon a cloud of smoke, clearly the remnants of a grenade. The Mandalorian's no doubt. Roten let his senses pierce the veil, peering into the mist to let the Force reveal to him his enemies. Yuri had just emerged from behind a pillar, likely with thermal vision in his helmet. Roten raised a clawed hand to signal that he saw him before silently moving deeper into the haze. The first pirate that came across his timeline was in for the worst day of their life.

Not that any other pirates had a better day themselves.

 

[Yuri Maji]

Clearing the ship became nothing more than a slaughter, quick and efficient as Yuri moved through the remaining pirates. Through the smoke, he noticed another figure approaching from further inside the vessel and was about to unleash a barrage on the figure, but luckily the twin blades and raised hand indicated who it was, and the Hound instead shifted his attention to the retreating pirates.

The handful that was left retreated down a hallway, eventually barricading themselves in a room with the door locked tight. Yuri thought about pursuing, but their frantic cries of surrender and the scattered weapons on the floor drew him to a pause. They had done enough damage. He waited for the smoke to dissipate before removing his helmet to take a deep breath. "All clear!" He called out. With his senses open, he could smell the fear and terror hanging in the air between the smell of ozone and burnt flesh. The last few crewmembers wouldn't dare to mount another attack.

Yuri gave the door a few bangs to draw their attention. "Y'all just stay right there, don't be stupid." He called out to them before turning his attention to his companion. "All in a day's work, huh?" He quipped, giving the kid a tap on the shoulder. "Not bad, Rat." He proceeded to patrol the rest of the ship in search of anything useful, though he couldn't help but look back at his companion for a brief second.

Something told him to keep an eye on him. A bad feeling crept up from his gut as he turned back to inspect the ship. There was no way it would fly now, they were going to need to bring a freighter in.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

"All in a day's work, huh?" He quipped, giving the kid a tap on the shoulder. "Not bad, Rat."

"Oi," Roten huffed, "I'm not a... never mind."

With a sigh he sat himself down and began to clean the blood off of his blades. His mind wandered to home, or whatever he had that could be called a home. This sort of thing probably wasn't proper for a Jedi. In fact, he was acting as violent as he had in his days as a boy. That made a chill run down his spine. Maybe he would be better off just calling his self-exile over for now and head back to Veridia. Even if he was doing 'good' things out here, he didn't feel like he was doing them in a good way.

For a young man who was growing a young moral compass, these things were hard to ignore.

...he couldn't help but look back at his companion for a brief second.

Something told him to keep an eye on him.

Nor could he ignore the gaze of the Shistavanen turning back to him.

"You want me to leave?" he asked with a frown. "I can go."

 

[Yuri Maji]

Yuri's suspicious glare was met by Roten, who immediately addressed the Hound about it. Yuri hesitated for a second before shaking his head. "No need. Just... makin' sure you leave those guys alone." He admitted with a shrug. The kid seemed... troubled, if Yuri was reading him correctly. He turned, but paused once more to look back at the kid.

"You say you ain't a pirate or a bounty hunter, you definitely ain't a Jedi... why'd you attack these guys in the first place? You a serial killer or somethin'?" He asked him, only looking away to tap a button on his vambrace to summon his droid. Baby would take a while, it gave him some time to figure out what made the purple furball tick. He gestured for Roten to follow him as he made his way to the ship's cargo hold.

"Nobody just... does something for the sake of it. Least of all a killer with goofy blades like that." He gestured to Roten's blades with a faint chuckle, trying to break the ice between them as he walked. He finally came to a halt by the cargo bay's blast door. It was completely locked down, control panel fried and no other apparent way of gaining access. Somehow he kept finding himself in positions where he wished for a Jedi's assistance. He glanced back at Roten and gave him a nudge. "Got any tricks up your sleeve?" He asked him.

Roten

 

[Roten]

Garel
Tags: Yuri Maji

Kiba no Shimai​

"Not a serial killer," Roten scoffed. "I just was trying to remove a blight is all. You said it yourself. They weren't good people."

He wasn't either. The Mandalorian said he wasn't a Jedi. The sad part was that he was right, even as the Jedi had taken him in like some lost stray. He was failing everybody and himself being out here. Doing things the way he had been. But how could he just change on a dime?

It wasn't Roten's fault he was raised to be a monster.

"Got any tricks up your sleeve?"

He ignored the bit about his blades being goofy. Roten took a great deal of pride in the weapons he had crafted with his own claws. He stood and approached the blast door and let out a sigh. Of course he had tricks up his sleeves. At this point he didn't really care much about being subtle. He had more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. Roten once more spoke in the ancient tongue.

Move

A small burst of energy left his mouth and slammed into the door. The damage was enough to wrench open a whole that could be stepped through, but not tear the blast door into pieces. It was only slightly mangled.

"There," he muttered. "Have at it."