Dasson Rend, redux.

[Lanrek Corso]

Bodge had sworn on his life (which was certainly on the chopping block, if this turned out to be a wild Reek chase) that the intel was good. Corso had needed to apply a certain amount of pressure to get the Duro to spill what he knew -- not as much pressure as he would have expected, which made the Bronze wonder if it was all too easy, and so a certain amount more pressure was applied, after which Bodge was not changing his story. That was enough to warrant the trip to Elgit. It wasn't too far off the beaten path... and if it meant that Dasson Rend would be facing down the business end of Corso's blaster, so much the better.

The 'Loose Ends' was too prominent a vessel, especially on a plant so sparsely populated as Elgit, and Rend was savvy... too savvy to show up wearing a big calling card that he'd recognize. So the ship was docked at the small orbital ship-yard, and the Bronze bought surface passage aboard a local passenger shuttle that was mostly held together with bubble-gum and duct tape, by the looks of it.

Hutt space was thankfully loose enough with morals and ethics that the carrying of weapons was neither frowned upon nor discouraged, and Corso brought along a DL-22, his standard service sidearm and holdout pistols, his vibroblade, and one of the A-295s, slung across his back. It was a heavy loadout of weaponry, but Rend would not go quietly, and his team of thugs were a rowdy bunch. Better to be ready for a fight.

He joined the queue to board the shuttle. Departure time was drawing near...

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Kyra Sol"] [member="Eryn"] [member="Gavin XIII"]

 

[Lief]

12 years ago... Or something​

The Dead Road.

Welp. If there was ever a name to inspire, this certainly was not it. She had been hesitant to pick up this route, not least because she had a genuine dislike of Hutt Space, but times were tough... Especially on an 18 year old with nobody in the Galaxy to help her. Living day to day, in a beat up ship that was barely held together, Kyra took all the chances she could.

It was a wonder she was still alive.

But why the kriff did it have to be Elgit? There was nothing there of interest. It wasn't even a backwater planet, either. It was just... Mediocre nothingness. At least the likes of Tatooine were well known.

Bypassing the patrols would not be fun. There was no win here, it wasn't a rich world, it wasn't under developed, it had just enough resources to be monitored. Damn Hutts.

The Bucket swooped through the Road toward the planet. She already had the access codes which would allow her ship to descend, provided her sources had been correct, allowing her to bypass the orbital station completely. Her goods were no use there.

So it was that she descended to the boring planet below, guiding her ship into one of the spaceport docking bays. In the same instance she reached for her comms. Best let them know she was here.

[member="Lanrek Corso"]

 

[Gavin XIII]

Spending the better part of his four lives as an infamous mercenary had its perks for Gavin. All it took was one look-over, and he'd been paid up front to guard this... Dasson Rend. Great cover to make sure some important members of the guy's group had nasty accidents. He'd come off as more than competent enough to quickly work his way up the ladder, but not so ambitious at to be a suspect in the killings he'd quietly done.

So, the blonde Gen'dai stood a respectful distance away from his 'boss', keeping a relaxed expression on his face, but also a hand on his heavy pistol. If he really felt like it, he could've shot Rand right there. Or jumped and crushed his skull with his hands. Or thrown him out a window. But his self-control won out. He needed to get at some important documents for the Vitae. Bigger fish to fry than the one he was currently using as bait.

[member="Lanrek Corso"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay had been on a passenger ship like this before. One that shook and sputtered as though the very weight of it's passengers was too much to keep it in the air. That last one had crash landed on Bakura almost five years ago, and it had brought her out of hiding and onto the path that she walked for a while, rescuing slaves from the Hutts and preventing their capture.

But now that was over. Or at least that was on pause. She lacked the funds to hire the mercs and others that could assist her. And since her bounty had been paid off it was....basically safe for her to be here again.

Most on this shuttle were armed and not afraid to show it. Kay on the other hand was just dressed like a middle class merchant. Her wits were her weapon, as well as the small blaster inside of her satchel. Her Force signature she kept hidden, keeping it as small as a tree nut so that she wouldn't stand out.

As for why she was coming here to begin with? Well, she wanted to see how her previous efforts had played out. Would she have to start all over again when she had the credits? Maybe...

[member="Lanrek Corso"]

 

[Lanrek Corso]

The Bucket swooped through the Road toward the planet. She already had the access codes which would allow her ship to descend, provided her sources had been correct, allowing her to bypass the orbital station completely. Her goods were no use there. So it was that she descended to the boring planet below, guiding her ship into one of the spaceport docking bays. In the same instance she reached for her comms. Best let them know she was here.

Gaining access to Elgit wasn't exactly the issue. The spaceport was small, a leftover prefab unit from a mining operation centuries ago, kept running by a skeleton crew of misfits who didn't have anywhere else to go, and nothing better to do. At any given time there were a mere handful of ships in port. The entire population of Elgit's biggest community -- dubbed 'Elgit Prime' by someone with an abysmal sense of originality -- hovered around 50,000. No, the problem was dealing with Dasson Rend. He was notoriously twitchy, paranoid to a fault, and though he paid well (when he paid) he was just as likely to falsely accuse a merchant / trader of a light load, or skimming, or being tailed by the authorities, or a myriad other things. Why Elgit? Dasson Rend is the only answer. "Off the beaten path" isn't good enough. Fracking multi-addicted narco enforcer scum. Sorry: Fracking multi-addicted narco enforcer dangerous, powerful scum.

The reply was immediate and obviously automated -- Proceed to rendezvous: Jherric Moss' residence, 22C Grancha Lane. You will be watched.

So, the blonde Gen'dai stood a respectful distance away from his 'boss', keeping a relaxed expression on his face, but also a hand on his heavy pistol.

Dasson Rend moved constantly. Not in the way a tweaker fidgeted, restless. That wasn't to say there weren't a dozen different chems fueling his psychoses and significant paranoia. There were. No, Dasson Rend moved like a fighter doing kata, fluidly moving from entry point to entry point, scanning the horizon, uncoiling like a charmed snake. You had personally seen him kill half a dozen people, and his fighting style was unconventional, bordering on bewildering. But he was fast, deadly, and nearly perpetually dangerously high on so many substances, it would make your head spin. You'd had a lot of 'marks' in the past, but never one quite as off-kilter as this near-human. Your presence neither comforted nor riled him -- nay, half the time, it was like you didn't exist. The other half of the time, you felt as though you were under a microscope. It was disconcerting. Rend had known connections that went deep into the criminal underworld, and it was said, if something needed a fence, he knew the buyer. If that was true, it was one of the biggest single networks in existence. And he was here to buy. That much was certain. Not what, nor how much, but he had cold, hard credits in three cases, waiting for the right arrival...

Most on this shuttle were armed and not afraid to show it. Kay on the other hand was just dressed like a middle class merchant. Her wits were her weapon, as well as the small blaster inside of her satchel. Her Force signature she kept hidden, keeping it as small as a tree nut so that she wouldn't stand out.

The trip planetside was fairly brief (estimated 30 minutes to Elgit Prime) but even so, for the thirty-odd passengers aboard the shuttle, it was exceedingly uncomfortable. The old vessel shook, and lurched badlywhile crossing into planetary grav, and the poor, neglected airframe groaned as if it just wanted to be put out to pasture. The man to Kay's immediate right (assigned seating) seemed oblivious to the tumult. He checked no less than three weapons during the descent, ignoring the vibration, shaking and sense of inertia that were causing many of the other passengers no end of discomfort. On his shoulder was a symbol, and his name and ident number stood emblazoned on his chest...

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Gavin XIII"] [member="Kyra Sol"] [member="Eryn"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Yes, this certainly was like the trip to Bakura all over again. Only her assigned seat wasn't in the best location should there be a crash. How could the passenger next to her be so calm? Maybe he was on some spice?

A big dip in turbulence caused her to grab his arm out of instinct to steady herself. But just as quickly as she grabbed him, she let go. "Oh! Sorry! I didn't mean to do that." She eyed the symbol on his clothing, raising a brow slightly as she wondered just what or who he was there for.

[member="Lanrek Corso"]

 

[Lanrek Corso]

He looked down at her hand on his arm, like someone might watch a mosquito land -- waiting for a chance to swat it. He watched it retreat as she spoke, finally raising his gaze to her face as he holstered the last of his weapons (all oiled and checked.) She was well-dressed, but not too well-dressed, pretty but not too pretty, and she smelled clean. That Bronze sense, the ability that made him a deadly opponent to those outside the law, and was seemingly impossible to just shut off, immediately started forming possible jackets for the woman.

She was certainly not as middle class as she appeared. Too clean. A merchant? Nah. No merchant worth her salt would ever apologize for something as menial as touching someone's arm. And she's too unnerved by being on this boat. Merchants do this sithspit all the time. Hands are soft... too soft to be a hunter or gunfighter. Something tied to the Hutts perhaps? book-cooker / accountant? Brains of an operation? Nah -- she'd have her own shuttle. Was she hiding from something? Hmm. That fits pretty well... If someone wanted to be hidden, there wasn't much better place to do it than Elgit. That said, it was also a good place for a shakedown or an ambush... gun goes off on Elgit, it's a long time before anyone cares enough to see what varmint got itself dead.

All this went through Corso's mind in the span of a half second. Seemingly deciding that she was not to be feared or dealt with (for the moment) the Bronze extended a gloved hand across to the seat beside him, and replies

Never mind, miss--? And don't worry, we'll be planetside soon enough. This bucket of bolts is no lux yacht, but she'll get us there.

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Lanrek Corso"] offered his hand, but not his name as he had asked for hers. She was a horrible liar, so she just kept to the truth and kept it simple. Taking his hand in her own she gave it a firm yet soft shake.

"My name's Kay, and I certainly hope so. The last rickety transport that I was in crashed very heavily and there were only a few of us on board. But this one....It's heavier."

She let go of his hand while she spoke and clutched onto the strap of her satchel. It wasn't her original one. The bounty hunters that finally managed to turn her in still had a hold of that. But this new satchel was effective enough at holding some of her belongings.

"Are you part of the law enforcement on Elgit?"