Public Definitely Not the Droid You're Looking For

[Race Osroam]

​

Keldooine, if Race knew it was a planet like this he'd find himself stuck on he might have stayed home. A grimy little backwater firmly in the grip of the Hutts, and every other type of scum that came with them. Since he had been swindled out of all his credits... again... The young spacer had found work in a local droid repair shop until he could get back on a ship once more. The place smelled awful, and his employer was a slob, but a job was a job. And it wasn't all bad. With the boss switching between manning the front desk and sleeping, Race was left alone with the droids. They always made for more tolerable company.

Of course it wasn't long before his tentative state of zen was shattered by three sorry looking Weequay barging through the front door, shouting frantically in Huttese and lugging a massive R1 series astromech between them. Race glanced plaintively at his employer, who was still leaned back in his chair against the wall, head back and snoring like a rancor. With a sigh the young spacer got up and approached the front desk. He barely managed to get out a "Can I help you?" before one of the aliens, with a massive scar on his forehead, shouted in Basic.

"It's busted! We need it fixed double time! Just enough so it can bloody move!" Race didn't share their obvious haste, wiping the grease from his hands with a cloth as he looked over the droid. A truly ancient piece of tech, and heavy at that. R1s were infamous for their lousy mobility systems, he wasn't surprised it had locked up on them. But this one looked like it had been shot at. He gave the Weequay a suspicious look.

"I can put it on my queue, where did you guys-" Again he was interrupted, this time by a blaster being shoved in his face.

"The others can wait!" The scarred Weequay snapped. "And no questions. Just do the job, we'll see you're paid and you keep your mouth shut. Got it?" Race pursed his lips and nodded silently. Mouth shut. Understood. He gestured for the other two Weequay to bring the droid into the back room.

While his impatient clients kept watch by the front door, weapons drawn, Race began going about his business. As expected the treads were all locked up, likely from neglect. But despite the intensity of the situation, the spacer couldn't help but be curious about what was really going on. Before he set about anything else, he took the time to reactivate the droid. Immediately the R1 began wailing in it's low pitched binary whine, terrified of something.

"Easy! Easy..." Race said gently as he started to go about fixing the treads. "What happened to you big guy? You're acting like you saw a ghost." The R1 took a moment to turn its large head back and forth, examining its new surroundings, then replied in a series of deep beeps. Race snorted. That sounded about right. "Stolen eh? I'm sorry to hear that. Who's your real owner then?" Another series of beeps. Race stopped in his tracks, his tools beginning to shake in his hands. A nervous grin crossed his face as he glanced back at the R1's head. "Oh... haha... A Hutt huh?" Now it was his turn to be terrified, the fear seeping from every syllable. He looked back towards the door. More men were approaching the shop. Armed men. Angry looking men. Race swallowed. "Well that's unfortunate..."

 

[Urgot Snirrt]

Urgot never liked droids, he couldn't understand their beepy-speak and always smelled like motor oil and burnt carbon. In fact, the only thing he liked about droids was the satisfying crunch noise they made when you smashed them to bits, but unfortunately he couldn't smash this droid. A consortium Hutt had called up some local muscle for a priority job, one of the Hutt's droids had been stolen by a pair of Weequay, headed west into the Old Town district. Normally, Urgot passed this sort of grunt work up, but it had been a slow day for him and anyone crazy enough to steal from a Hutt was probably planning on either fighting tooth-and-nail not to get caught, or going out in a blaze of glory, so that might be fun.

He grabbed his axe, his armor, and a drink for the road, and joined the crowd of armed mercenaries chasing down the Weequay, who had down the street and into what looked like a droid repair shop. There was a fair amount of muscle here, more than enough to handle two thugs and anyone inside who thought robbing a Hutt would be a good idea. This, sadly, meant there probably wasn't going to be much of a fight for this droid. Maybe he'd get lucky and someone would intervene to make this a proper fight...

 

[Race Osroam]

Whoever the incoming thugs were, they were no friends of the Weequay. That was made abundantly clear when the two standing by the doorway raised their weapons and abruptly opened fire on the advancing entourage. Race reflexively ducked down and covered his ears, the echoing blaster fire finally enough to wake his boss from his stupor. The thugs must not have been expecting the sudden attack either, as one of them took a shot dead center of mass and dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks.

Panic followed as the impromptu firefight broke out, civilians screaming and scattering while the Hutt enforcers took cover and began shooting back. Immediately blaster bolts peppered the shop's facade, the neon sign exploding in a brilliant display of sparks and glass. Race's boss started to demand an explanation before the scarred Weequay stuck his gun in his face next and commanded him to sit back down and not cause any trouble. The alien really seemed to like swinging that thing around. It was a wonder he had lasted this long. But Race had no intention of going down in this madness.

In the midst of the chaos, the young spacer's eyes wandered towards the back end of the shop where a rear door led into a secluded alley. He glanced briefly back into the front room where two of the Weequay continued to exchange fire with the encroaching enemy while their leader harassed his employer. Well, it had been fun, but he just couldn't put up with these kinds of working conditions. Time to seek opportunities elsewhere. The half-Echani started to bolt, but he didn't make it three steps before a blaster bolt narrowly whizzed past his head, blowing up the chassis of another droid hanging on the far wall and causing him to freeze in place.

"Don't even think about it!" He could hear the scarred Weequay shout from behind. "Fix the droid, or we all die here." Race clamped his eyes shut and exhaled through clenched teeth. His whole body was shaking with fear, but he didn't have much choice. As the R1 droid continued wailing in binary, he knelt down beside it and got back to work unjamming its treads. He fumbled nervously with his tools, sweat starting to run down his face.

"You have got to be kidding me..." He muttered fearfully to himself. Again, he glanced up at the workbench across the room. His belt was on it, with his hold-out blaster holstered inside. Well... maybe not...

Urgot Snirrt

 

[Urgot Snirrt]

Apparently, the Weequay were more prepared for a firefight than Urgot thought, as the leader of the pack dropped dead from a single shot, and forced the rest of the enforcers into cover. Urgot, for his part, ducked into a nearby alley after a shot hit him square in the chest, the thickness of his traditional armor keeping the bolt from going through him, even if it stung. The Weequay had the drop on them, and Urgot knew enough about fighting to realize they were covering each other, taking turns keeping the guards pinned down. The dead Twi'Lek in the middle of the street and the screaming civilians didn't matter much to Urgot, he was more interested in finding a way to reach the droid shop before the Weequay escaped or the rest of the guards found a way to cut the fun short.

After a few seconds of looking around the alley, ignoring the crossfire between his side and the thieves, he found his solution: a repulsor-dumpster. Granted, the repulsor wasn't on right now and he had no idea how to start it, but he was able to get the dumpster moving by slamming himself against the side of the container. A few of the the guards caught on to the impromptu plan and managed to get the repulsor on, which made the process of moving the giant hulk of durasteel and trash into the street as a mobile wall much easier.

"C'mon you weaklings! I wanna see the yellows of their eyes before we kill them!" Urgot shouted in Gamoresse as he pushed the container under fire toward the shop.

Race Osroam

 

[Race Osroam]

Between the blaster fire, the crying droid and his boss screaming bloody murder, Race was feeling more than a little stressed. He licked his lips and paused briefly to drag the back of his hand across his sweat-smeared brow, trying not to let hysteria get the better of him. His typical light touch had devolved into jamming his hydrospanner repeatedly into the treads and jerking it around, trying desperately to dislodge whatever was stuck in them. No luck yet though, and from the sound of things his clients weren't faring much better on their end.

The Weequay were continuing to lay down suppressing fire on the enforcers. As Urgot used the dumpster to aid his advance, they immediately began to focus all their fire on it. Fortunately for the Gamorrean, their blaster bolts were stopped by the thick durasteel of the container. The scarred Weequay peeked through the doorway and seeing this pointed and directed his allies. "The repulsors!" He shouted. "Shoot the repulsors!" As the others followed his command and changed their aim towards the bottom of the dumpster, trying to slow down the advance, their leader walked back towards the workshop again. "How much longer kid?" He demanded angrily.

Race glanced at him briefly in response, then cried out with effort and jammed his spanner as deeply into the droid's tread as he could, growling as he clung to the tool with both hands and put all his weight on it. Finally, the treads broke free and started spinning, leaving the half-Echani to fall to the floor with a grunt. "Got it!" He shouted as he jumped back to his feet. "Help me get it up! Quick!" The scarred Weequay wasted no time in rushing to the young spacer's side, and together they hefted the R1 up so it was standing upright again. The Weequay laughed as he dusted it off and turned back to his men.

"We're back in business boys!" He shouted to them cheerfully. Meanwhile Race glanced at the blaster in the alien's hand, held low at his side. Try to take the man's weapon while he's distracted or risk another break for it? Either way he'd have little time to decide...

Urgot Snirrt

 

[Urgot Snirrt]

While the repulsor dumpster trick had helped the Hutt mercenaries get closer to the shop, it didn't take much fire for the Weequay to take out the exposed repulsor generators on the dumpster, and to shoot out the feet of another mercenary who was helping to push the hulk. Neither particularly worried Urgot, because now he'd finally gotten roughly within the range of his ACP Array Scatterblaster. Poking the twin barrels of the blaster around the side of the dumpster, Urgot blind-fired two spreads of bolts into the store, not particularly caring who or what he hit with the deadly barrage. If that got the Weequay to stop firing for a second, he planned on rounding the dumpster and making a break for the door. He preferred to see who he was killing face-to-face anyway.

Race Osroam

 

[Race Osroam]

Race's plotting was interrupted by a sudden hail of fire from the Hutt enforcers. The first shot from Urgot's scatterblaster hit one of the Weequay square in the chest, flinging the alien backwards several feet, where he hit the floor stone dead. The second shot winged his boss, the older man crying out in pain as he spun to the floor dramatically, cradling what was left of his arm. The scarred Weequay cursed and pointed his blaster towards the door, prepared to fire. Time slowed for Race as he watched the movement. His captor's attention was squarely focused on the thugs outside. It was now or never.

The half-Echani clutched his teeth, taking in a deep breath and steeling himself before lashing out. With the scarred Weequay looking to the doorway, he never saw the attack coming. The young spacer swung his leg up, delivering a swift kick directly to the alien's midsection. The thief wheezed as the air was knocked out of him, doubling over in pain. Race followed up his initial kick by trapping the man's arm and twisting it, trying to force him to drop his weapon. "Uba checee!" The scarred Weequay hissed something in Huttese as he struggled against Race's grip and looked to his one remaining comrade. "Help me out here!" He called. But it was no use. The other Weequay was too busy trying to lay down suppressing fire and keep the enforcers from reaching the shop, but the distraction from watching his friend get blasted away right beside him had bought enough time for the bloodthirsty Gamorrean to get close...

Urgot Snirrt

 

[Urgot Snirrt]

Urgot used kept up his onslaught, slam-firing his ACP array until he was out of shots as he advanced on the store. He wasn't a marksman, but he wasn't really trying to hit anyone, he just wanted to keep the Weequay down until he could close the distance. As he reached the shot-out store window, Urgot whipped his empty scatter blaster at the nearest Weequay, then drew his massive vibro-axe, his Mufka, and swung hard at the poor alien's neck, aiming to carve through the window defenders in a flurry of vicious swings, like an acklay cut loose in a herd of bantha.

"Give me a good fight, thieves!" He bellowed, grinning from horn to horn.

Race Osroam

 

[Race Osroam]

As Urgot burst into the shop and swung his axe, the one remaining door guard staggered backwards, barely avoiding having his head cleaved clean off and falling onto his rear. While the alien scrambled away from the hulking Gamorrean, looking for any improvised weapon large enough to defend against the intimidating Mufka, the other contended with Race.

The scarred Weequay whipped around and punched the half-Echani in the jaw, knocking him to the floor as well. Instead of continuing his attack on the terrified mechanic, he focused his attention on the more dangerous opponent. The Hutt enforcer. Grabbing a large wrench from the nearest table in the workshop, he charged Urgot with a fearsome battle cry, swinging the bludgeon at his head. Meanwhile Race scrambled on his hands and knees to where his belt lay, frantically clipping it on before making another break for the back door. The R1, still panicked and whining from the chaos around it, started to follow him.

Urgot Snirrt

 

[Urgot Snirrt]

Urgot was preparing to follow through with his axe blow when the second Weequay bellowed and rushed him armed with a wrench, brave and stupid, just the way he liked them. Urgot parried the strike with the bottom of his axe haft, using the pivot to set himself up for a vicious swing aimed straight at the Weequay's midsection. In his haste to get stuck in a good fight, he almost missed the pale kid and the droid he was sent after fleeing out the back door.

"Running just makes me angrier, runt!" He shouted as he tried to shove past the Weequay to reach the exit.

Race Osroam

 

[Race Osroam]

"Don't mind me! Not involved!" Race shouted back to the Gamorrean as he frantically pounded on the back exit's console until the door finally slid open. Urgot's swing caught the scarred Weequay in the gut, and the alien crumpled over with a wheezing gurgle. His last remaining comrade tore a long, heavy pipe free from the wall and came swinging at him next. At least this weapon had more reach on it than the wrench.

Race scrambled through his escape route, tripping and falling to the ground but pushing himself back to his feet in a moment and making a mad dash through the back alley. The R1 continued following his lead, much to the mechanic's dismay. "Why are you following me!?" He cried as he continued in his effort to put as much distance between himself and the thugs as possible. "Go back! Go back!" But the droid ignored his pleas. Apparently, all the chaos had fried its circuits and driven it crazy.

Urgot Snirrt

 

[Xeno]

Keldooine
Tags: Race Osroam , Urgot Snirrt ​

Xeno disliked Hutt Space. No shock there. Xeno hated the Hutts, after all. His old master had a particular habit for working with shadier cartel types, enough for the ex-assassin to see them for the filth they were. Xeno had done terrible things, but he was very much comforted by the fact that someone out there was far worse. It gave him the slim hope that he may, one day, finally atone. Xeno wasn't on Keldooine for no reason, however. Had it been his way, Xeno would be on some backwater farming planet watching over some quiet village from a distance. Unfortunately, a stolen Bacta shipment intended for a town on Dantooine took his priority. Xeno, of course, had no troubles tracking down the thugs who stole the shipment. He didn't kill them, as per his vow, but he made damn sure they didn't walk on their organic legs ever again. Xeno hoped that would be all, but a low fuel gage kept him grounded.

For now, the Repentant Blade wandered the streets via back alley (his preferred way to travel), compelled by what he did not know. As he walked the streets, Xeno overheard a commotion in a nearby repair shop. A young man fumbled out the door, running the opposite way down the alley from an unknown threat, tailed by an old R1 unit.

"Never quiet in Hutt Space," Xeno muttered to himself.

Hoping to save whoever may still be alive in the building, Xeno used his rare force ability Phase to shift through the wall, blade drawn. A truly massive Gamorrean warrior (more in muscle mass, as they stand at a similar height) was the only one standing, surrounded by a band of dead Weequay. These men had fought with nothing more than loose metal, desperately defending what he could not say. Xeno let out a sigh. Unfortunate that he had not passed sooner.

"You've made quite the mess," Xeno remarked. He remained casual, expressing no fear. Only apathy. "Care to enlighten me?"

 

[Urgot Snirrt]

Urgot was so focused on the humanoid and the escaping droid that he'd nearly forgotten about the second Weequay, and got a painful reminder when he took a pipe to the back of the head. Only the thickness of his armor (and his skull), kept the blow from dealing any serious damage. Instead, he staggered under the force of the hit, turned, and slammed his fist as hard as he could into the Weequay's face. By now, the rest of the Hutt hunters were closing in on the shop, now that their porcine friend had stopped the rain of blaster bolts from the two unfortunate thieves. They were just in time too, as a masked figure emerged, seemingly from the wall, examining the carnage with total apathy. Urgot hated witchcraft like this, there was no honor and usually very little fun in it, so he squared his shoulders and readied his axe as he faced the stranger.

"I'm killing thieves. If you're a thief, die fast so I can find the boss' droid." He grunted, showing equally little care for this stranger and his magic.

Race Osroam Xeno

 

[Xeno]

Keldooine
Tags: Race Osroam , Urgot Snirrt
​

"I'm killing thieves. If you're a thief, die fast so I can find the boss' droid."​

"Boss, you say?" Xeno noted. "A cartel master I imagine. Shame. It always seems warriors end up as tools to another..."

Xeno briefly reflected on his own time as a Sith assassin, a time in which he had no will of his own. He quickly brushed this aside.

"Unfortunately, I'm no thief." Xeno continued. "I have no stake in... whatever this is. I imagine you'd be rather disappointed by a duel. I don't 'die fast.' I'm sure one of your more traditional skills would grow bored."

Xeno leaned back against the wall, fully prepared to phase back out if the Gamorrean swung.

"I imagine the droid you want is that R1?" Xeno reasoned. "Seems like a lot of work for a hunk of junk."

 

[Race Osroam]

Race glanced back over his shoulder as he continued running down the alley. That R1 was still following him, begging for him to slow down in binary. No sign of that nasty Gamorrean though. Perhaps the Weequay were putting up a decent fight. That was fine by Race. The longer they were all caught up killing each other, the more time he'd have to get as far away from the action as possible. Of course, so long as that clunky old astromech kept following him, so would the action.

Race looked forward again just in time to duck beneath the swing of a vibroblade. The wielder was a green Nikto, likely another Hutt enforcer looking to collect the bounty on the droid. Fortunately, his swing went over Race's head and the weapon found itself stuck in the building beside them. Unfortunately, the half-Echani could see more enforcers rounding the corner into the alley ahead of them. Without much time to think Race simply turned off into another branching alley and kept running. Again, the R1 kept following him.

"You know I've never seen a droid so eager not to go back to their owner." The mechanic commented in a whining tone. The R1 let out a few more low-pitched beeps. Race made a motion like a shrug as he kept running. "Well, I guess that makes sense. I wouldn't want to belong to a Hutt either. You're really kind of ruining my day though..." As if to punctuate his point another blaster bolt zipped down the alley and blew up a pile of trash bags beside him. The pursuit was still on.

Urgot Snirrt Xeno

 

[Urgot Snirrt]

"I'm already bored." Urgot replied, responding to the only part of the witch's babbling that he'd managed to understand. If this human wasn't a thief or protecting a thief, then Urgot was going to waste energy fighting him with a job half-completed. Maybe he could run the chatty ghost down and fight him afterward...

"R1..? Yeah, probably, thanks." He grunted out quickly before racing out the back door toward the alley, only for a blaster bolt to whizz by his snout from a pack of Nikto thundering down the street, chasing the other mystery human and the droid. Urgot didn't recognize these mercenaries, and they were shooting at him, so they probably weren't on his side.

Thinking fast, he ducked back inside the repair shop, grabbed a nearby droid strut, and stepped back into the alley to whip the metal bar sideways at the approaching Nikto. Forced to duck or get bowled over, this would give Urgot enough time to get himself in the chase. Gamorreans might be heavy, but he had a lot of leg muscle, and was very dangerous over short distances.

Xeno Race Osroam