Private For a Few Dollars More

[Yula Perl]

] T E R M I N U S
] Kingsley’s Fried Chicken

With the Outer Planet’s Alliance grip loosening on the Rim, the steady hum of criminal activity on Terminus turned into a buzz. It was the Outer Rim, after all. A few luxury worlds here and there, but most planets were either backwater no-where’s or industrial cities with no shortage of drugs and violence. While the OPA had done their part to curb the more obscene acts—such as slavery—illicit substances and weapons often slipped under the radar.

Most of the Judges had some sort of criminal record anyhow. Yula didn’t need smuggling to pay the bills, but what she gained in underground information and connections was worth the risk.

Much of the time, anyway. As long as she erred on the side of taking smaller jobs.

Seated in a booth to herself, Yula was busy with a bucket of Kingsley’s Fried Chicken. While she and Kingsley regularly couldn’t stand each other, she had to admit that the Hiitian put out a good product. That, and she heard that the luna-weed was good, too.

Yula’s nail implants were coded a dark grey, the calling card her contact would be looking for. After devouring a chicken leg with both hands, she paused to daintily blot at the excess of grease that had dripped down her fingers. Then, she reached for a wing.

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

Tavius shed most of his New Imperial gear at a quiet space in a surrounding system before he caught transport to Terminus. It was a short detour, but, he figured it'd be best to not be caught and tied back to his new employers. Not that he was anyone actually important, but, that job he had was one that had a foreseeable gain. There could be advancement through performance... What did you get from being an animal vet? Let alone some gangster in the Coruscant underworld.

Stepping through the doorway of that Kingsley's Fried Chicken, the former drug dealing gangster let his gaze sweep the room before moving up to the counter. There was a slight feeling of unease surrounding his presence. Tavius had never been a fan of wandering into another persons territory without checking in, or even scouting it out first. But, apparently it was a one time thing this far out.

All he had was a single descriptor for who he was meeting, and after exchanging a few words with one of the employees behind the counter, a handful of credits were dropped from the sleeve of his jacket for them to collect before setting his gaze on Yula Perl alone in her booth. This far out from space he had never been to? He needed a middle man to set this up.

Making his determined swagger over to the booth, he barely had an opportunity to even get a good look at the woman before the front door of the restaurant was shoved open, glass shattering as the door reached the pinnacle of its arch, and Tavius spun about, spotting the faintly familiar Twi'lek pointing at him with a shaky finger.

After that, the windows blew inwards, glass, slugs and blaster bolts flying inside as he dove down into the opposite side of the booth with the woman.

 

[Yula Perl]

From the corner of her eye, Yula saw him approach. As far as she could tell, he looked like a typical spacer, no different than the rest of the restaurant’s clientele. She wouldn’t get the chance to look him over, though.

“Sunnuva!” Snarling in irritation, Yula ducked below the table, smacking her head on the edge in the process. Even worse, her hasty maneuver had caused the bucket of chicken to topple over.

“My chicken!” She cried, rubbing the sore spot on her head.

The man from before had ducked beneath the table as well, situated on the other side. Already her blaster was in her hand, firing off rounds into the abyss.

“What the hell, man.” Growling, she focused on returning fire. “I’ll hold them off, turn this table over so we can get more cover.”

She hoped that this wasn’t her contact.

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

"Motherkarker..." He cursed once he was underneath the table. From out of his jacket he began to withdraw the scattercannon that had been previously hidden.

Tapping his jacket pocket, he could feel the extra energy cells and double checked to ensure that his weapon was at full capacity.

"What -- It was a damn set up!" Giving her a dead look as if to say, for real? Shaking his head, Tavius was already pulling up that table. There was a loud crash, but there was added protection as more of the shooters began entering the shop and shot at their makeshift barricade.

Peeking around the edge of the table, he pulled back and gave a mental count of three before raising up to fire off those plasma coated slugs towards the doorway. A grunt and a thud, could barely be heard over the sound of the firefight. "He fething shot me! KILL HIM!"

"They probably followed me here," he muttered, casting a glance to the Zeltron. "My fault," he'd add once he was safely back in cover. From his brief peek, he could see his middleman was hiding underneath the counter, away from the group that had kicked down the doorway, a trail of blood on the ground where the guy he had shot had probably been dragged.

"You stay here," raising his free hand and jerking a thumb towards a door that they were nearby that read 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' in aurebesh. "I'll flank," and then he was off. To him, it wasn't up for discussion, and he left the chicken lover behind him, kicking in the door before starting on his way crouching shuffling through the kitchen.

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

“Yeah. Your fault big time, buddy.” Yula offered no thanks when he’d turned over the table, providing them with more cover. She didn’t realize he was leaving until he told her, and that ripped Yula’s attention away from her mark for a split second. “Wait what—SUNNUVA BINCH!” a stray bolt sizzled into her shoulder and she dropped her blaster. The enhanced fabric of her jacket intercepted the worst of it, but it still hurt.

“Oh, absolutely not.” Hissing in pain through her teeth as the man made his way to the kitchen, Yula lobbed a smoke bomb over the table. “Grenade!” She called, and a chorus of feet shuffled quickly as the gangster scattered out of the way.

Retrieving her blaster and staying low to the ground, she made for the kitchen.

“Jerk,” She muttered, purposely staying to the side of the man’s line of sight behind him. It was her way of giving off a little noise so that he’d know she was there, and not be surprised by her presence and shoot her on accident.

...or on purpose.

"What'd you do anyhow?"

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

Catching sight of the Zeltron just almost out of his line of sight, his peripherals focused on her before he switched his head around to look at the woman. Slowly shaking his head at her as she drew nearer, he kept moving from cover to cover, or in this case, counter to counter.

Some of the chefs in the back were on the ground, others had their own holdout blasters that they had probably been keeping underneath their aprons. Well. Suppose it wasn't the safest of neighborhoods to be in.

"Dunno," he answered against his better judgement, certain it would open further lines of questioning. Only a singular obstacle of the front counter blocking his shot from his crouching position. "Never been here before." As if the thugs had been listening to their conversation, one of them called out.

"Ya think ya can just ditch the Skulls, and come out 'ere?

Yer dead!"

For a moment, his features darkened and it was the only warning Yula Perl got before he rose up from behind the counter and just started blasting. The scattergun shredding boots, stools, flesh and bone alike. As far as he knew, the Shattered Skulls were dead and gone years ago. Still, there had been talk of expansion prior to his departure from Coruscant. Maybe it had happened and he just hadn't heard of it? Not trusted with that information... Deep inside, that acknowledgement hurt, considering all he had done for the crime group when he was younger.

The firing from outside had slowed and then finally stopped, the sound of shuffling steps lessened and then disappeared entirely. Tavius was certain that whoever had been talking was still inside and he slid over the counter, kicking some of the corpses to see if there was any kind of response.

"They're a gang."

It was the only explanation she got before he found the middleman sniveling behind a wall of stools in a desperate attempt to hide.

 

[Yula Perl]

Never been here before.

Yeah, sure.

She glanced to the cooks, many of whom had taken cover by diving under counters and hover carts. Some of them looked about as rough as their clientele, could probably do enough damage even with their tiny blasters.

Yula pressed her back to the counter, cringing as their opposition identified themselves. The Skulls? Seriously?

The shooting started again, and Yula fired off a few shots, striking one goon between the ribs. Another raised his hand, and she saw the glint of a blaster barrel. A subtle wave of her hand jerked his grip upwards and the shot went over her head, giving her enough room to put him down too.

“You forget to pay em?”

He went for the wimp weeping among the chairs while she kept an eye out, blaster passing over the bodies on the floor, waiting for a twitch.

Normally playful, a note of suspicion sharpened her eyes. They never sent this many for payment. Unless the price was big.

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

Tavius' nostrils flared as he eyed the devastation that they had all wrought together on the inside of the Kingsley Fried Chicken. Damn. But once he was set on the sniveling coward, he kicked and tossed the stools out of the way until he grabbed his middleman and dragged him up, throwing him right into the nearest booth with one hand, and pointing the barrel of his scattergun in their face with his other hand.

"Set up. Why?"

"T-t-they've been l-l-looking for you man!"

"Why? I haven't been part of the gang for... Almost ten years." It was rough to determine how long things had been. He was still fairly long anyway. Not since his teenage years. Besides, how did you differentiate from each war when the galaxy was in a constant state of war? He didn't even know what they were calling the most recent wars that were occurring in the galaxy now.

"They heard about you in the T-tingel Arm. B-been looking for you since! You know... You can't just quit. They're all over the place man! The Skulls! They're just... The birth of it all. They're onto you now man!"

At first confusion claimed his features, but as the information went on, things began connecting and making sense. And what? Some street gang in the Coruscant underworld had galaxy spanning connections? That couldn't be right. But he didn't have the means to investigate it, not yet. Not even with the resources he had within the Imperials. He was basically fodder at this point... I'll look into it in the future.

"What about her?" His thumb jerking over his shoulder at Yula Perl .

"Unlucky, I t-t-think! Collateral man! B-but... They've seen her now!"

Flipping the weighted scattergun in his hand, he swung it across the side of the middle mans temple to slump him in the booth, unconscious.

"It's a gang," he explains, figuring she was full of questions, especially with being implicated as a partner of his just moments before he knocked the guy unconscious. "Shattered Skulls, Coruscant. Been around for a long time." Replacing his star wars equivalent of a shotgun back into his jacket, he patted it down, ensuring it was secure. "Me? Used to run with 'em. One Sith dropped on Coruscant, I survived, thought they got wiped out. S'pose not." There wasn't any hesitation with his debrief of the situation. He ould leave things sparse and suffer a multitude of questions, or he could lay it all out there.

"They'll think you're an associate of mine."

And that was when he started heading for that door. It was time to get out of there before they decided on coming back to finish the job.

 

[Yula Perl]

Ah, the Shattered Skulls.

A synapse sparked in her mind and a connection was made with Coruscant. The name had been whispered to her maybe once or twice in the shadows of a cantina where sordid business usually went down.

Her head tilted to the side as she continued to keep tabs on the bodies slumped to the floor. Dead, she’d hoped.

“Right,” Yula wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, not bothering to holster her blaster yet as she trailed after Tavius. “Haven’t heard that name in forever. Didn’t think they were even active anymore.” That was a worrying thought, that the Skull’s reach extended out here. She’d have to pull some strings with her contacts to see what she could find. Yula had her interests on Terminus, and part of that involved keeping violent gang activity as low as could be managed. The rim world had enough to deal with as it was.

Fishing a loose cigarra from her pocket, she lit the end and took a deep drag. The blaster was now tucked into her waistband, out of sight. “So, no more job for me I take it?” Her eyes glinted with an unspoken thought as she exhaled smoke away from them. “Unless you’re going after them.”

She grinned widely, the cigarra hanging lazily from the corner of her mouth.

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

"Huh?"

A dark brow raised in question as he cast a glance over his shoulder to the Zeltron. Unless I'm going after them. There was a shrug in response as he stepped out the doorway. Did he look like an insane person?

When he had woken up this day, there had been no intention of going on a manhunt. A shoot out? That was to be expected on a planet like Terminus. Fights? A brawl? Definitely. But a full blown manhunt on a planet that he was unfamiliar with? He had already not liked venturing into unknown territory in the form of this Kingsley Chicken joint, now this woman was questioning him as to whether or not he was going to put himself even more at risk?

"You've heard of 'em, yeah?" Coming to an abrupt stop, scattergun securely fastened so as not to bounce, but still, as if on instict he placed a hand over the top of his jacket where it was peacefully resting. "Whaddya know about Terminus' illegal activities?

And do you think we can take 'em?"

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

“Ah heh heh heh.”

She grinned idiotically behind the cigarra, but there was a spark of energy in her eyes.

“I have something of a vested interest in keeping the violence on Terminus to a minimum.” An acceptable minimum that benefitted her. “And I liked that joint.” She jerked a thumb in the direction of the newly-destroyed Kinglsey’s Fried Chicken. The Zeltron also had a vested interest in not crossing paths with Kingsley if it could be helped.

Yula shrugged, pinching the edge of the cigarra and shaking the ash onto the ground. “I don’t know. But I know where we can find out, yeah?” Replacing the cigarra between her teeth, she began walking again, beckoning him with a tilt of her head.

The cantina she’d lead them to was one of the ugliest dives in the undercity, but the pair blended in enough to remain unbothered. Yula’s eyes scanned the dreary clientele, many of whom kept to themselves at their own table or stool. None looked the least bit approachable.

Nevertheless, she slid into a booth occupied by a grizzled Rodian. He squinted at her with his large, iridescent eyes, looking as if he were about to shoo her away.

“Greetings, Yobo.” She smiled widely, a little too wide for it to be sincere, and it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Perl.” Came the reply by way of a grunt.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

“What do you want.”

She glanced to Tavius knowingly, given that he’d had far more experience with the gang than she. Leaning forward, her voice lowered so that her words stayed between the three of them. There were eyes on her back, she could feel them, which was why she’d carefully worked her blaster from its holster, resting it unseen in her lap.

“Information on the Shattered Skulls.”

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

The New Imperial Storm Commando didn't like the way that chortle sounded, but there was a feeling growing in his gut, one that he had learned to trust when he had heavily partook in this underworld life.

It was a feeling of uncertainty, one that he had come to be very familiar with in life. But, instead of feeling dutybound, or even driven by loyalty as he had in the past to suppress it and power through, with this, he felt obligated. Truly do or die. And even worse, he was going on a mission with a person that he didn't even know. Sure, she could handle a pistol, but did she honour some unspoken code that tied them together? Or would she sell him off in the hopes of getting the heat off of her?

"Fuck it."

It was too familiar a feeling.

It made him feel at home.

"Let's do it."

They arrived at another establishment. This one a seedy cantina. What else could he have expected? The mystery woman took the lead and he followed. People in this life learned to watch their surroundings without seeming like they were looking. He could feel a dozen pairs of eyes on the duo as his newfound partner worked her contact. When a glance was given to him, he seemed to step in closer, but was sure to keep a wary gaze sweeping the room, probably calculating the odds.

At her mention of the name, he could sense the tensions rise in the room. One didn't need to use some invisible Force energy to tell them that either. The hairs on his neck rose. Around his torso holster rested a heavy blaster pistol, and while he leaned on the table, his hand toyed with the handle, anticipating the very moment the world around them would erupt in flashing lights and burnt ozone.

Here, he kept his mouth shut. If they shared the same goal in crushing the Shattered Skulls here - even if their reasons for doing so were different. It didn't matter what happened on the journey, he had already resolved with himself. Just that they got to their destination.

Yula Perl

 

[Yula Perl]

He could have parted ways with her at any point. Following her was a gamble, and they were both at risk by putting their blind trust in someone they barely knew. They didn’t even know eachother’s names, but that’s not what mattered to Yula .The gears were turning in her head, yielding an almost manic spark in her wide green eyes.

Yobo went quiet, the sneer telling it all. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Yula didn’t mind the silence, leaning back and closing her eyes. Gradually, the hostility in the room would ebb into a mild distrust, an empath’s trick to smooth over the hot tempers of the Outer Rim.

When she opened her eyes again, the Rodian was piercing into her with an unnerving stare.

“Why do you want information on….them?”

An easy grin slipped onto her face as she rubbed her cheek with one hand, before it slipped beneath the table. Yobo stiffened, amphibious hand wrapping around the handle of his own unseen blaster. A brief jingle sounded before Yula’s hand resurfaced, pushing a small stack of coins onto the middle of the table. Outer Rim Talons.

“Does it matter, yeah?”

For nearly a minute, the Rodian didn’t move. Then, slowly, carefully, he cupped a hand around the Talons and brought them closer. “Hmm,” He felt the piece between his stubbed fingers, as if testing their authenticity. Swiftly, he slid the payment into his pocket before the pair could change their mind.

“The Sk…ahem, they fell from grace a while ago. Coruscant was their base, but they had…tributaries across the galaxy. After the One Sith took Coruscant, their surviving members were scattered to the wind.”

The Rodian’s enormous eyes fixed onto Tavius and for a few moments, he said nothing.

“Terminus never was never of much interest to them. Too much competition. But word has it that some of their key members surfaced here, and rallied some of the smaller, petty gangs together into something more…dangerous.”

Yula’s chin rested in her hand, looking to the Rodian with fascination.

“Where are they?” She mumbled simply.

“Why should I risk my neck and tell you that?” The Rodian scoffed, and Yula glanced to Tavius with raised brows.

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

Tavius wasn't that familiar with the Force, his skills minor, giving him just barely a slight edge over the other street thugs that he encountered. Self-trained, the most he had ever tried to do was his abilities to sell, or convince people to do things. When he saw, Yula Perl lean back and close her eyes, he didn't need to be a genius to realize what had just happened.

The tension in the room and the lingering eyes on them? They lessened, the looming weight of the entirety of the room lessening.

Even so, the rooms uncertainty about the duo remained all the same.

And the effort that his partner had put into getting the attention off of them?

It all came rushing back.

“Why should I risk my neck and tell you that?” The Rodian scoffed, and Yula glanced to Tavius with raised brows.

Tavius' first hand shot out to grab the Rodian by the back of the head and slam him face first into the table. His second reached into his coat and dragged the scattergun out and pressed it right against the back of his head, his index dropping from the side of the barrel to linger on the trigger. His first hand raised up to release him and he leaned forwards to say, "Because I'll blow your head off - right here. And your skinny neck won't have to worry about carrying your fat head."

 

[Yula Perl]

A spark of warning in the Force had Yula up in the booth, spinning around with blasters in each hand and staring down the shadowy figures in the cantina that had previously kept to themselves. They had attracted the attention of the patrons, that much had been certain, and now their weapons were drawn, but Yula was the first to take aim.

“Nobody move, please.” She requested sweetly, busy trying to keep multiple hostiles in her vision while Tavius worked on extracting the information they needed from the Rodian.

Bloodied from having his face bashed into the table, the alien was taken off guard and his blaster fell to the floor. Before he knew it, the muzzle of a scattergun was pressed to his head. Sneering, Yobo examined Tavius for a few quick moments—his eyes, his posture, the steadiness of the hand that held the gun—and realized that this man meant business.

“Warehouse on the corner of Roch.” He grumbled.

A smoke grenade went off with a loud snap, filling the bar with a dense cloud so thick that most humanoids would barely be able to see in front of them. Whether it came from Yobo or another patron was unknown, but in the ensuing panic the Rodian would disappear.

Yula grabbed Tavius’ arm and pulled him down to the floor where the smoke was less thick, where they’d have a better chance of not dying from the blaster fire that was slinging overhead.

“He may be a slime ball but he’s no fool.” She muttered, choking on her words before covering her mouth with her sleeve to slow the inhalation of smoke into her lungs. The Rodian knew he'd signed his own death warrant.

Tavius Muuaji

 

[Tavius Muuaji]

Something hit the ground.

The tell tale hiss of smoke being released from the grenade caused Tavius' to glance over his shoulder, grip loosening on the Rodian and in that moment, he was gone.

For a moment he spun around, tracking the Rodian into the smoke, but after two steps, the thickness of the smoke made it impossible to follow the alien deviant any longer. Racking his mind to remember the layout of the entire cantina, he raised his scattergun, even as bolts began flying in his general direction.

Before he could fire where he thought the Rodian would be -- Yula Perl tugged his arm done.

"Agh!"

And he came down beside her -- just in time to avoid a trio of bolts flying for his torso.

He placed a hand on her shoulder after she spoke. "You know the spot he said?" He applied some weight to the hand on her shoulder, and crouch walked past her. "Stay behind me," he said, making his way to the door. The rodian's dropped pistol picked up as he hung the scattergun back into his coat.

A form grew in front of them, he fired the pistol twice, dropping the figure to the ground and he reached behind to take her by the shoulder -- rushing right out the doorway as blasters continued to whiz past them and throughout the cantina. The smoke bomb was still active - concealing the duo as they made their escape out the door.