Private Hunter of a Different Nature

[V3RM-X]

V3RM-X had a great many jobs he did in the criminal underworld. He was an information broker, he was a spy, and he was a bounty hunter. Today, he was the latter most occupation. He had been hired to go after a bounty who had allegedly stolen information from another hired gun who had stolen information surrounding the Jedi. The initial information was apparently being transported by a Jedi who the initial hired gun took down. Then his target stole that data while the hired gun was celebrating his kill... amateurs.

So here V3RM-X was in the lower levels of Corusant. His target already owed money to his employer, but hearing that they know had further data was another incentive. Kill the target and tell his employer that the data has already been sold on, or simply make a copy. To be decided.

V3RM-X focused on the current task, entering a cantina with his companion Scry on his shoulder and begin to search the area for his target. He was, however, unaware that another individual was searching for his target.

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Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

The lower levels of Coruscant always smelled like rust, fuel, and broken promises — just the way Valery liked it when she was working a lead like this.

She moved like she belonged there, boots silent on slick duracrete, her brown trousers hugging her frame and reinforced with worn leather straps that whispered of experience more than fashion. Her cream-colored shirt was half-unbuttoned from the heat and the descent, the lacing low enough to pass as bait if the need arose, but the holstered blaster at her hip made it clear she was far from defenseless.

The cantina came into view, lit by buzzing neons and half-choked by steam vents that hissed from the surrounding alleyways. Valery stepped through the door like a shadow in the haze, amber eyes scanning every face from behind the curtain of her long, dark ponytail.

Her target was here. She felt it — a ripple in the Force, like a lie caught halfway between heartbeat and breath. She was here to bring him in. One hand rested near her blaster, not drawing — not yet. But her senses were sharpened, focused.

Valery stepped toward the bar, leaned in, and murmured low to the barkeep, "One glass of whiskey, please," she asked, choosing to first fit in, before she'd go after her target.

V3RM-X ​

 

[V3RM-X]

About half an hour passed before V3RM-X had identified his target, a perfect match to his databank. The target was a human male, with short black hair and a well trimmed beard. He was wearing an outfit that one would typically associate with a smuggler, or low level thug. The droid's scanners also identified that the data chip that the target had stole was still on his person. V3RM-X began to make his way towards the target, who had sat himself at the bar.

To be safe, the droid continued to use Scry to identify any potential interference, AKA, other hunters. He had yet to identify any of them, but there were some that yet to exist within his database, so he remained prepared just in case. As he approached the target, he deployed his "Strangle-Arcs" (Electro-Tendrils) from his upper-middle back. They trailed along the floor, making their way in front of V3RM-X in order to swiftly take out his target.

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Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery hadn't touched the whiskey. It sat on the bar, untouched, collecting condensation in the dim glow of a faulty neon sign above. Her eyes, however, had been doing plenty. Thirty minutes in the lower levels was enough time to learn who didn't belong — and one figure had begun setting off silent alarms in her head the moment he entered.

She never turned fully to look. Just kept her posture casual, leaned forward on one elbow, her fingers resting lightly against her drink. But her eyes flicked to the reflection in the bottle.

There.

Movement on the floor, so she hopped down to walk by. Her hand drifted to her hip and stopped just shy of the blaster. She waited until they slithered past her foot — just enough rope given.

Then she moved.

Snap.

The heel of her boot came down hard on the tendrils with precision, trying to stop them mid-creep, "Your approach needs work," she said smoothly, voice cool and unimpressed. She didn't go for the weapon — not yet. But the shift in her posture said it all: the game had changed.

"This isn't the place."

V3RM-X ​

 

[V3RM-X]

V3RM-X halted his path as he felt one of his tendrils be forced to a stop under boot. He looked to his left and his face plate met with the amber eyes of a woman he couldn't find in his database. That was an issue, an unaccountable variable since he didn't know who she was or what she could do. He activated his right-hand blaster as she critiqued his method.

"Unnecessary!... there was... no... good reason to... change it up. Back up."

His faceplate changed to that of a soundwave, the wave changing around the voice being used. The droid's voice was not it's own, but a mashup of different phrases taken from anywhere he could have recorded them. Some sounded like they were from holotape recording already, others sounded as though they came from direct individuals.

"Identification is... needed for our... pleasant conversation."

He retracted his tendrils back to his back as he began to stroke Scry, who remained on his shoulder.
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Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery's — no, Alicia's — eyes stayed locked on the droid's as he activated his blaster. She didn't flinch. Instead, her heel twisted ever so slightly to grind the tip of the tendril under her boot before releasing it. Her voice dropped lower, quieter, but laced with steel. "If you wanted a show, you should've picked a different stage."

With a gentle motion, she pressed the palm of her hand against V3RM-X's arm and gave a firm nudge toward a booth tucked against the far wall. Her smile was razor-thin, polite in the way a vibroblade might be if it had manners.

"Table. Now. Unless you want every pair of eyes in this place wondering what you're wired to do next." The target hadn't noticed them yet. Still laughing with a few rough-looking locals, still tipping his drink back like he didn't have a price on his head. Valery's eyes flicked in that direction for a fraction of a second, then back to the droid.

Once seated across from him, she leaned in just enough for her voice to remain private, her gloved hands folding casually in front of her.

"Alicia," she said. The name rolled off her tongue with practiced ease. "And I'm after the same man you are. Human, black hair, smuggler cut, data he shouldn't have. You light this place up, and he'll be gone before your circuits can register it."

She let the words settle. One brow arched.

"So... we play it smooth. Or we both leave empty-handed." A pause. "Your choice."

V3RM-X ​

 

[V3RM-X]

Once sat with the now-named Alicia, V3RM-X listened to her words and thought over his response. Scry remained sat on his shoulder as he began to think over any possible way he could play this. After a minute or so, he faces Alicia again. The first word he said was played back in his new associate's voice.

"Alicia... your offer is... pleasantly?... accepted. However, you... should be informed... contract states!... take the data."

At this point in time, he could care less about the bounty himself, he'd just be a bonus at this point. The data, that was what V3RM-X had his screen on. This Alicia just seemed to be another bounty hunter, so he decided to make his mission parameters straight before going forward.

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Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Outfit: Smuggler Outfit
Weapons: Blasters

Valery — Alicia — let the droid's voice roll over her with the same cool, detached calm she'd worn since sitting down. The borrowed playback of her name earned a faint flick of an eyebrow, but otherwise, she didn't react. Not until he finished. Then she leaned forward just slightly, enough that the shadows from the flickering wall light framed her face like a veil. Her voice was low. Measured.

"I'm not after a payday," she said plainly. "This isn't about the data, either — not directly. I need him alive. Talking. Preferably in one piece." Her eyes flicked again toward the bar, scanning their target. Still laughing. Still completely unaware two predators had just agreed on how he'd fall.

"If your contract says to take the data," she continued, her voice soft but firm, "You'll get your shot. But we do this quietly. No bodies. No blasters. Not until he's off the street and out of sight." A pause. Her eyes locked onto V3RM-X's visor, unwavering.

"If he so much as smells us coming, we won't just lose the job. We'll light a signal flare big enough to summon every scum-sucking killer in the sector. That data will scatter faster than a Hutt in heat." She leaned back, fingers lacing together loosely in front of her.

"So we play it smart. We watch. We listen. We wait until he makes the first move — and then we pounce."

Another beat.

"You game?"

V3RM-X ​