Private Hotline Hutta: The Stress Test

[Cyran Vaas]

Spoiler

Location: Nal Hutta
Objective: Capture Bompo The Hutt
Equipment: (In Bio)
Tag: Takumi Tikotzki
Prepping Music: X

Cyran sat at a table in the lounge of his corellian light freighter, The Rose. His astromech co-pilot was maneuvering the vessel from atmosphere to the surface of the polluted swamp Hutt homeworld. Cyran wasn’t actually sure if his apprentice had ever visited “The Glorious Jewel” as the slug-like natives called it. Since they first met on the busy and arguably more popular moon. Although he himself never really liked the planet or its moon he had to admit, he quite liked the architecture. Something about all the Hutt palaces that peppered the dingy landscape he was fond of. Maybe one day he could save up enough to afford a palace of his own, and turn it into a little home away from home. A fun loving zeltron enclave to bring some much needed joy to the rotten planet.

At the table on his ship he was wiping down blue the visor of his helmet. Trying to clean up some smudges that have accumulated and have started to make it more of a hassle to see. Lately he’s started to pull out and dust off his old mandalorian armor. Although the majority of the plating is of cheap materials like plastoid, he did have legit beskar, just turned into a mesh like tunic underneath on his chest. All he ever had was one ingot to work with and wanted to make the most of it. The nearly all black coloration representing justice, fitting for a freelance lawman like himself.

As he continued working on his gear and calibrating it he spoke to Takumi. “Alright, Tik Tak, time to go over the task at hand again. Our target is Bompo the Hutt” He began to explain, showing off a small hologram of the sluggish alien from his vambrace. They seemed notably more lean and shinier than most Hutts. “The story is that he’s got their own fledgling operation here, however they seem to have gotten a little too big for their britches. He hasn’t been playing well with the larger Kajidics, and has been refusing to pay their respective dues and is overall very uncooperative. That’s where we come in. Apparently he now knows he’s got a target on his back and has bunkered down in their palace.” Cyran continued to brief Takumi on the job as he changed the vambrace hologram to an image of their palace. “Limited in their resources and manpower they have employed the aid of some Jawas and have built a small and modest personal army of various Droids to defend themselves. This is where we come in. The bigger badder Hutts, aka our clients here, don't wanna expend their resources and attention to a siege in their own neighborhood. We’re supposed to go in, retrieve the “acquisition” aka Bompo The Hutt to answer on trial to their superiors. So no killing, they’re wanted alive. For a job like this our clients are going to be paying us handsomely.” Cyran finally concluded.

Admittedly Cyran never liked taking jobs from the Hutts, even on their home turf. Since even then they could be pretty fast and loose with the laws, even the laws they themselves made. One of the major reasons Cyran had a high preference towards lawful bounty hunter work was that the laws offered greater reliability, stability and safety. Something often lacking in a chaotic profession like this. Over the ship's comms R4-P4 spoke through with a few chips and beeps. Letting the duo know they would be landing soon.

Looking back to Takumi, Cyran spoke again. “I need you to take this seriously now. Today we're hunting big game, and this is likely going to be a stress test for you. So are there any questions you got about the job?” If Cyran was being honest he was a little worried about getting Takumi involved with this job since the blunder they had not too long ago on Lothal which wasn’t even combat related. He didn’t want Takumi to jump the gun and get himself hurt, killed or worse…

 

[Takumi Tikotzki]

Hotline Hutta: The Stress Test

Tags: Cyran Vaas
Planet: Nal Hutta
Location: unknown
Clothes/Armor: Phase II Clone Trooper Armor
Weapons/Gear: IB-94 blaster pistole | EE-3 Carabine Rifle | Thermal detonators | force pike
Ambience: Music

Like Cyran, his Mentor, Takumi sat at a table in the lounge of Cyran's ship. With his feet on the table, showing his dirty clone trooper armor boots, covered in mud and dirt, he like Cyran himself, was taking care of his armor. His helmet lay on the table, with the Mandalorian-inspired visor looking directly at cyran. Takumi was almost done, polishing his chestplate, when he pointed towards the upper left corner of it, to the symbol, that he put on there. "Look. Put it on there this morning. Looks cool, eh ?" He was smiling brightly at Cyran, like he had no trouble at all in himself. No worries at all. In his mind he hoped, that Cyran would notice, that the symbol was an "homage" to him and his personality.

Surprisingly, Takumi wore his jetpack, that Cyran gave him, although he didn't know how to fly with it properly, as his first flying lesson was a complete and utter failure, that ended in him being injured. Luckily, Takumi had some healing abilities, that lead to him recovering more quickly than any other 'normal' human being. But Takumi wore it anyway. The feeling of wearing one was good, cause it gave him the feeling of completion in terms of his armor. Like the small little detail, that makes an outfit complete. He was sure to not use it. His fear of it was still there. Like a ghost, it crept up on him and gave him an uneasy feeling whenever he thought about the jetpack. Every time he was cursed with memories of his devastating fall to the ground. But he tried to ignore it. Most of the time, it didn't really work out, so he would always leave Cyran's presence and be alone. After all, Takumi was still a man and wanted to handle his problems alone, by himself. It took a toll on him, this whole experience but still, due to Cyran, he continued everything. If it were up to him, he had already given up being a bounty hunter...

Cyran's words, made Takumi lose his smile and gave him a more serious look on his face. With a quick nod of his head, he made Cyran know, he was listening carefully. When the hologram of their target appeared, Takumi gave his 'Target' a look and tried to memorize him. For him, most of the Hutts looked the same. He couldn't really tell them apart, except for a few Hutts that had a rather unique look to themselves. Hutts had sometimes very memorable looks on them. Especially because Hutts had no real gender, they often times acted or made themselves look like they belong to a certain gender. Wearing make-up would be one example in this case.

Takumi gave away a little smile when Cyran mentioned Droids. A funny coincidence, but Takumi kind of felt like being immersed in the past of the clone wars. He only heard stories about the clone wars, since this was a long time ago, but yet it was funny, that he was wearing a Phase II Armor of the clones, and probably had to fight some droids. Takumi kept listening until Cyran was done. Cyran's last words stuck in his mind. His face turned a little into a shame. "Don't worry Cyran. I'm not gonna disappoint you....again....I promise" His face turned quickly again into a big smile. "We're the best bounty hunting duo that exists, right!!??" He replied with euphoria. Quickly, he grabbed his helmet from the table and put it over his head, slightly distorting his voice, due to the helmet. "Let's go get that slimy worm!" He had no questions at all. The job sounded very simple, and in his mind, he was already thinking about the reward and the Hutt in his custody. He was too confident.


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[Cyran Vaas]

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Location: Nal Hutta
Objective: Capture Bompo The Hutt
Equipment: (In Bio)
Tag: Takumi Tikotzki
Assault Music: X ​

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Cyran could sense the potent mix of tumultuous emotions in his apprentice. Since his blunder with the jetpack he was a little surprised that they still wore it. Feeling that if they weren’t going to use it, that the extra piece of equipment might hinder them. Hearing Takumi's promise, Cyran nodded before replying. “I know, but more importantly you need to not disappoint yourself.” He said before replying to their second comment with a smirk and shrug. ”Not a lot of duos anymore, so probably.”

Along with Takumi Cyran put on his own dark mandalorian style helmet. Through its comms he spoke to R4-P4 who was piloting the ship. “Ok P4, take us to the palace landing pad, and afterwards make sure no escape craft leave the scene.” After issuing the command the craft they were in shifted some and quickly landed, the landing board lowered allowing them to start the hunt. Before walking down the ramp Cyran looked back to Takumi. “Remember, rule number one, No Bounty Is Worth Dying For.” He said, wanting to remind them of the first part of the Bounty Hunter’s Creed and not to act reckless.

Stepping out onto the landing pad their ship closed up behind them and began to take off, but not before the ship aimed its laser cannons at the entrance from the landing pad to the palace. Launching a quick barrage of laser fire at the small blaster door to blow it open and allow the pair a way in before hovering away. From the inside of the building an alarm began to announce the presence of a breach. Bringing a hand down to both his legs, Cyran upholstered both his blaster pistols with flashy twirls.

Approaching the palace a pair of old and armed protocol droids stepped out of the breach in the entrance before recklessly shooting their blasters at the pair of bounty hunters.

 

[Takumi Tikotzki]

Hotline Hutta: The Stress Test

Tags: Cyran Vaas
Planet: Nal Hutta
Location: unknown
Clothes/Armor: Phase II Clone Trooper Armor
Weapons/Gear: IB-94 blaster pistole | EE-3 Carabine Rifle | Thermal detonators | force pike
Ambience: Music

Takumi nodded quickly to Cyran's response. After he was done, he immediately followed Cyran to the boarding ramp of his ship, where he took a quick look around the palace and the surroundings. "Got it" he replied to Cyran. He was right and Takumi tried to learn this by heart. Takumi stepped right next to Cyran outside. Unlike him though, he just easily took out his EE3-Carabine rifle from his back, commenting on Cyran's flashy moves. "Tzz...Showoff...I can do better than that" he playfully replied.

When the doors exploded and left an opening, Takumi placed the shaft of his rifle at his shoulder. "That's what I call an entrance" Quickly he jumped behind some cover when suddenly the droids arrived and started shooting at them. While behind cover, he took quick looks to the palace, while sometimes revealing himself shooting back at the droids. The first shots missed, but after the first shots cam out of his rifle, he managed to shot a droids shoulder, making it fall on the ground, but due to the heavy fire they encountered, he quickly took refuge behind cover. With his comlink implemented into his helmet, he kept in contact with Cyran. {How's it looking Cyran?} He kind of waited for Cyran to give the signal for them to rush or do something else. In this time his plan remained the same, take a glimps shoot some shots take cover, while trying not to get shot.


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[Cyran Vaas]

Location: Nal Hutta
Objective: Capture Bompo The Hutt
Equipment: (In Bio)
Tag: Takumi Tikotzki ​

Droid combatants were a double edge sword. On the plus side they weren’t sentients, so Cyran wasn’t worried about destroying them, they can also be pretty predictable. However they don’t have the same sense of self preservation so they can and will likely make risker moves to take out Cyran and Takumi. He watched as his apprentice managed to knock down one of the clumsy protocol droids with a shot to the shoulder. The robot was still firing its blaster into the sky as it was knocked down. The other then deemed Takumi to be the greater threat and unleashed a crimson barrage of charring blaster bolts towards them and their cover.

With the targeting computer in his helmet Cyran hip fired a shot at the droid, blasting off one of its metallic feet and causing it to fall on its face. Now with Cyran pulling aggro it aimed its blast over at the zeltron now. To avoid the incoming attack Cyran dodged with the help of his jetpack. The propellent giving off a harsh “BRRRSH” noise as he quickly got further from the droids aim than it had predicted. Where Cyran finished it off with another shot clean to its computerized cranium.

Pressing the comms on his helmet Cyran spoke to Takumi. “Alright, let’s head inside the palace now, gotta press the assault and fast since we’re going in loud.” They could likely face heavy resistance considering the scene they already made, and possibly overestimate how many people are attacking the palace. Something the two of them could probably use to their advantage if they play their cards right.

Near the entrance they blew open the two droids, the one that Takumi shot was damaged but operational. Having dropped its blaster with its fall the droid tried to reach for the two bounty hunters to stop them. Saying things like, “Halt you are trespassing on private property” with a very bland tone from their broken vocabulator. Cyran sorta just ignored it, but it was there for Takumi to finish off. When the two of them finally made their way to the building. Cyran holstered one of his blaster pistols and pulled out his force pike with one hand, his other blaster in the other. Wanting the melee weapon for the more narrow and close quarters environment.

The interior of the palace didn’t look too good. Not like the more showy exterior. It seemed as though the place had been neglected. Hutts always seemed to live in pretty bleak and dingy places. The pair stepped into a sort of garage for land and air speeders. Many of them being in disprear and old Ubrikkian models. Likely luxurious in the days of yesteryear, now in the present, not so much. "Looks like someone hasn't been taking care of their home too well lately." They knew that Jawas were in the service of the their Hutt target. Perhaps they'd been savaging off the vehicles and other tech in the palace and pulling copper wiring as well as pipes out of the walls. Which might explain the sorry state of the building.

 

[Takumi Tikotzki]

Hotline Hutta: The Stress Test

Tags: Cyran Vaas
Planet: Nal Hutta
Location: unknown
Clothes/Armor: Phase II Clone Trooper Armor
Weapons/Gear: IB-94 blaster pistole | EE-3 Carabine Rifle | Thermal detonators | force pike
Ambience: Music

While still behind cover, Takumi took a glimpse and saw his Mentor, rushing and hip-firing. It gave him the motivation to keep going. The way he used the jetpack was amazing, making him regret giving up on the training. Maybe he would continue this again, but for now, Takumi got out of his cover and ran up the stairs to the entrance with Cyran. Arrived on top, Takumi stepped over the still-living droid, but his EE-3 Carabine blaster has already aimed downside with one hand. A quick shot through the head ended the droid, giving it no choice to end its sentence. "Shut up" was Tik Tak's comment, in an annoying voice to the droid.

Takumi nodded quickly and followed Cyran into the building. Unlike Cyran, Takumi still had only his Carabine blaster equipped and already pressed against his shoulder, to instantly hit with high precision any targets that would arrive. Stepping into the parking area, Takumi looked around, his weapon at a low angle looking down at the ground. "You're right. Doesn't fit the image of a Hutt. Maybe someone knew about our arrival?" Kind of alarming for Takumi. His suspicion was raised cause this didn't look normal. He waited for a signal or another command from Cyran.



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[Cyran Vaas]

Location: Nal Hutta
Objective: Capture Bompo The Hutt
Equipment: (In Bio)
Tag: Takumi Tikotzki ​

Though Cyran had something of a no killing policy, that didn’t seem to extend to droids. Not even really paying much attention to the one that Takumi just executed. Although the zeltron was quite fond of droids he couldn’t sense their emotions, thus their destruction didn’t really bother him.

Standing in the garage together, Cyran replied to his apprentice’s comment on the scenery. “Yeah, from knowledge Bompo knew they had a target on their back. Seeing as they’ve neglected their own estate, this tells me they must be facing some real issues.” For a Hutt to stop caring about the surface level and superficial qualities of their livelihood like this, to Cyran it implied things have gone south for them.

Suddenly Cyran perked up from a slight noise coming from the other side of the garage leading into more of the building. Turning to face the direction was the arrival of some short little robed figures, Jawas. They came into view too soon and too abruptly for the duo to really react to them. The diminutive aliens were speaking to each other before they looked up and saw the pair of bounty hunters. There were three of them, and after a second of staring shouted in surprise and began to scramble away out of sight. Turning to look at Takumi Cyran noted. “Well I guess that could explain why it seems to be dingy in here. Jawa’s have been gutting the place for salvage.”

He said that as he began to make his way towards where the Jawa’s ran off, it was the only way forwards from where they were. However, as Cyran turned a corner he looked down before getting knocked over from an Ionic blast. A Jawa had readied themselves to ambush once someone rounded the corner. “Utinni!” The little fella shouted as Cyran fell onto his back onto the floor. The Jawa then raised its weapon up towards Takumi and began shouting at him in their iconic yet confusing “trade speak” , likely demanding that he put his weapon down.

 

[Takumi Tikotzki]

Hotline Hutta: The Stress Test

Tags: Cyran Vaas
Planet: Nal Hutta
Location: unknown
Clothes/Armor: Phase II Clone Trooper Armor
Weapons/Gear: IB-94 blaster pistole | EE-3 Carabine Rifle | Thermal detonators | force pike
Ambience: Music

"Nasty little buggers, for sure" he answered to Cyran. Takumi wasn't the biggest fan of Jawas, their sense of what belonged to them enraged him every time. But he had to admit, that they often came in handy in certain situations. Hard merchants, though they tend to always have what you're looking for. Takumi lowered his rifle, holding it in one hand. The leather strap of his EE-3 Carabine blaster, hung off towards the ground, swinging around. Suddenly though, Cyran made a run for them. Takumi turned slightly, raising his arm because he wanted to stop Cyran "WAIT" he commented louder. No chance. So he did what he thought was right. He ran after Cyran.

Running through the corridor, seeing Cyran before him, he saw how Cyran got knocked down to the ground, leaving him unconscious. A big surprise for Takumi. A bad situation for him. The corridor was tight and there was no cover for him. Takumi suddenly stopped and slid for a few meters, before coming to a full stop. He raised his hands slowly, dropping his Carabine Blaster. //Jawas always mean trouble// he thought to himself, as he looked at the Jawa holding his gun towards him. "Let's all calm down here, eh? Our business is not with you guys" he tried to calm the Jawa down. Takumi chose the non-violent way out of this because the Jawas were so far their only lead to understanding the situation. Maybe they had some information that could be useful. "Let's all act like grown-ups here, yeah? Let's make a deal! You give me information and my buddy down there, and I'll...give you free passage outta here ? We won't tell anyone about this place" His hand were still raised, so he would not give them any ideas. But in the worst-case scenario, Takumi still had his Blaster on his hip, though it would be a difficult fight. A gamble for sure, they had the upper hand for now. Takumi tried to analyze the situation more, and develop plans for how to get them all without Cyran getting more harmed. Though he knew, Jawas mostly wanted their sneaky little fingers to grab technology or something, Takumi had nothing of that worth in possession. His options fell shorter and shorter, the more he tried to come up with plans.



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[Cyran Vaas]

Location: Nal Hutta
Objective: Capture Bompo The Hutt
Equipment: (In Bio)
Tag: Takumi Tikotzki ​

The Jawa sternly watched Takumi, their weapon trained on the bounty hunter. Behind them Takumi could notice a large floor vent with the grate removed. Likely where the other’s ran off too. When they placed their weapon down the armed Jawa seemed t
o ease up some. Their little finger is no longer on the trigger.

As they did, a small hooded figure popped up from the vent, another Jawa checking to see if their friend was okay. But when they noticed Takumi ducked back down into the vent. Soon the armed Jawa would reply to Takumi. “Hmm, Nuh uh! Bompo gib shelter and scrap n’ credit, we gib Bompo droids.” They replied with a heavy Jawa accent. “You no hurt, we no hurt, final!” It seemed as though the Jawa only wanted a truce with the bounty hunters. Soon after there was a noise down the hall. The clanking of metallic feet coming closer.

“Ugh, w-wha…” Cyran said as he groaned and shifted some on the floor. Hearing the droids approaching the Jawa quickly scrambled into the vent. Pulling the grate back over it for cover. Clearly not wanting to get stuck in the crossfire. Down the hall, the ridged shadows of a few droids began to creep into sight. They could hear one of them was communicating with the others. Although it sounded like scrambled radio chatter.

 

[Takumi Tikotzki]

Hotline Hutta: The Stress Test

Tags: Cyran Vaas
Planet: Nal Hutta
Location: unknown
Clothes/Armor: Phase II Clone Trooper Armor
Weapons/Gear: IB-94 blaster pistole | EE-3 Carabine Rifle | Thermal detonators | force pike
Ambience: Music

Takumi turned his head slightly to the right, to see the Jawa in the vents, looking at him. He sighed shortly "FINE!" Takumi felt like he had no choice, other than accept, which made him mad. Not having control of the situation. He also heard the clankers approaching, which didn't really help the situation at all. Though the sound of the clankers made sure, that his Jawa problem disappeared faster than he could say the word clanker, now he had to deal with them instead of the Jawas, so not really a positive thing. Quickly, Takumi pulled Cyran back behind the wall of the corner and grabbed his Blaster Carabine. A lot of options are opened up now for him. He could leave Cyran and just get out, but that was definitely not an option he would voluntarily choose. Cyran became his big brother, and Takumi would never leave his brother behind. "CYRAN WAKE UP!" he whispered a bit louder while violently shaking Cyran, who lay on the ground. "Nap time is over lad. C'mon!". No chance.

Realizing, that Cyran may need some more time, Takumi raised his weapon and took cover behind the corner wall, taking a peek at the droids. //Think Takumi, you're still in control// he thought to himself. He quickly checked his gear, but only to see some thermal detonators. "I gotta gear up more next time" he said to himself in a loud-spoken thought. But now was too late, he had to play with the cards he has been given. The droids came closer and closer. Squatting down behind the wall, Takumi prepared his thermal detonator and as soon as the droids were within reach, Takumi threw the grenade toward the droids. Sharply exhaling after the explosion, Takumi quickly stood up, his rifle ready to fire. The detonator turned the tight hall into a little robotic mess, droid parts everywhere, but the droids weren't all destroyed. Two shots came out of Tic Tacs rifle, and with that two more droids fell down, this time not creating a mess.

It seemed like for now, the droids were down. But more were probably on the way since the explosion was heard many clicks away. Now if Cyran would still be K.O. Takumi would place his rifle on his back, and take Cyran on his shoulders. Now it was time to use his IB-94 blaster, which he would then take in his right hand. Hopefully, the Jawas weren't annoying him now.



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[Cyran Vaas]

Location: Nal Hutta
Objective: Capture Bompo The Hutt
Equipment: (In Bio)
Tag: Takumi Tikotzki
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As Cyran was dragged around the corner some of the droids came into view. They haven't managed to shoot anyone yet. But their heavy metal steps continued getting closer. However, Takumi effectively utilized one of his thermal detonators. Blowing apart many of the droids that posed a threat.

The explosion shook Cyran back to his senses. Looking up to see his apprentice valiantly protecting him. Firing at two more droids that hadn't blown up. For him the last thing he remembered was looking down to see a rather angry looking Jawa. The next thing he knew there was a powerful explosion and quite a bit of dust as well. The scenery hadn’t changed for him, so he figured it wasn’t more than a minute that he was out. He was glad to see Takumi there with him, not having panicked with himself being out of commission for a moment.

Through the dusty veil that offered some cover between Takumi and whatever else was down the hall they could hear a droid communicating. Their words hidden behind the heavy noise of static. Cyran began to push himself up, his muscles sore from clenching so hard from the ionic blast of the Jawa’s weapon. “W-Wha, Huh, Hey Tik Tak bring me up to speed, what just happened?” As the zeltron questioned what was going on the heavy metallic steps of a droid began rushing away from their position. Farther into the building. It seemed like the pair were clear of any hostiles at the moment.

Also Cyran was met with the disappointing realization that his equipment was all messed up now, the HUD under his helmet seemed to have been set back to factory settings, as well as other parts of his armor like his vambraces.

 

[Takumi Tikotzki]

Hotline Hutta: The Stress Test

Tags: Cyran Vaas
Planet: Nal Hutta
Location: unknown
Clothes/Armor: Phase II Clone Trooper Armor
Weapons/Gear: IB-94 blaster pistole | EE-3 Carabine Rifle | Thermal detonators | force pike
Ambience: Music

"Good, you're back" Takumi said with relief, giving Cyran a hand to hold onto, to get him up. That's what partners are there for, right? As he helped Cyran get up on his feet, he explained the whole situation. "You got knocked down clean, by a Jawa mate. Some droids swarmed the area, but I think we're safe. For now" Though it looked like the droids were leaving, Takumi for sure didn't believe this was the end of it. "What's our next move brother?" He asked. Cyran was the experienced one, so he was in charge. Quickly he pulled his rifle on his back and went to take a peak again at the situation, still clear.



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[Cyran Vaas]

Location: Nal Hutta
Objective: Capture Bompo The Hutt
Equipment: (In Bio)
Tag: Takumi Tikotzki

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As Cyran was being pulled up onto his feet he nodded along to what Takumi said. “Yeah I think that’s the last thing I recalled, a little Jawa standing in front of me.” So what his apprentice said made sense. Hearing Takumi call him “brother” made Cyran raise an eyebrow to him under his helmet. Taking note of his choice of words. After Which he took a moment to plan their next move.

“The dorids came from there, correct?” Cyran asked, pointing out where Takumi blew them up, a bit of a rhetorical question. “If they were they came from that must mean it’s where our target must be. Bompo must’ve sent them after us to avoid creating a firefight around himself. So we should retrace the droid’s steps and they should lead us to our Hutt host.” Cyran deduced, reasoning too that if Takumi blew enough of them up that it cut into their manpower. Grabbing his blaster pistol and Force pike again. The main concern Cyran had now was that their target would barricade themselves and play more defensively.