Hunting the Stormy Sky

[GhostOfProtocol]

A yawn from the back of the room, the storms starting to creep through the window. T3 beeped quietly in the corner, the droid coming to terms with everything really quickly. Once he'd calmed down, Kei had explained what had happened, how Revan had died a hero and how he was going to protect T3 if T3 let him. T3 spent some time thinking this over and getting used to his new body before eventually realizing that Kei was only trying to help the droid. Why he needed to get used to his new body was beyond Kei however, the droid that was used to put the memory chip in was the same make as T3. He didn't question it. The droid was even willing to show the same amount of friendship to Kei as he was Revan, which was cool. Being given the same level of friendship as the legend was always cool.

Kei wasn't sure what he was doing. He'd crashed a ship, got a droid and slept yesterday, but today he wasn't sure. He wanted to go and search the old spaceport where The Ebon Hawk was docked when Meetra Surik was on Dromund-Kaas. He hoped they'd get lucky and find The Hawk there, but even he wasn't stupid. Chances were they'd be on a wild cross galaxy goose chase after leads to the past owners of The Hawk before he found it. How many owners and modifications could The Ebon Hawk have had over three thousand odd years? The thought made Kei chuckle.

He reached down, patting T3's temple lightly as he swung out of bed. He wondered what [member="Julian Valentine"] was doing, the pilot was probably cleaning up and making sure his ship was in some sort of condition to fly after Kei had crashed it only twenty three and a half hours before. He hoped the pilot didn't smell of vomit any more, he knew that much. Slowly, he yawned again, waking up. Pulling on a sock, he stopped lightly. T3 beeped, and Kei shrugged.

"I don't know buddy, this place is giving me weird feelings. It was yesterday and it still is"

Kei shook his head, pulling on another sock and his jeans in the process. He would slide his tunic over his shoulders, pulling his travelers cloak on over the top. He slid into his boots, shrugging. The feeling was strange, but he had to roll with it. He stepped from his hotel room lightly, following up with the turbolift and the main hotel door.

He had hunting to do.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay didn't want to be here. For some reason she had gotten onto the wrong transport vessel, and by the time she had figured it out, it was too late. That was the downside of not having her own ship.

The whole place didn't feel right and she just couldn't book passage on the transport right away. The ship was full and she had to wait. Great.

She kept the lower half of her face hidden with a head scarf, and she kept her Force signature down to that of a small tree nut. This was a dangerous place, especially for members of the Republic. She headed over to one of the hotels, glancing behind her for a brief moment before stepping inside, causing her to bump into [member="Kei Garnik"] as soon as she got it.

"Oh! Sorry. I didn't see you. Or rather, I wasn't looking when I should have been. My apologies."

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Kei felt the woman connect with him, her body catching off his. For a moment he considered swearing at her, but then he saw her. She was slightly good looking, slightly good looking indeed. T3 beeped behind him, Kei still eyeing the woman. Something in Kei's head well telling him that this woman was special, but he wasn't sure if it was the feeling that he'd been feeling yesterday or the fact he was looking at a perfect woman. He smirked lightly.

"No worries there, my fault as much as yours. You don't look like the kinda woman you'd see out here, then again I have been known to be surprised. Can I offer you a drink?" he asked lightly, nodding. The thing he was feeling wasn't love, not at this point. There was something about this woman, something that he wasn't sure about. It was weak, pathetically weak as a feeling but it was there. He shrugged lightly, trying to shake the feeling. He wasn't sure about it, he'd play with it and ask her about it over a drink. It was the best way.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

True, she probably didn't blend in. But then again, Kay wasn't expecting to be here at all. And the offer for a drink was also unexpected. "Well I suppose some tea-I mean caf would be nice. I didn't get much rest on the transport over."

She continued on into the lobby and chewed the inside of her cheek a little as she passed the front desk. Should she try to book a room? Or wait until later? But would doing so reveal that she's from the Republic? Hmmm.

Kay sat down at a small table within reach of a doorway. She needed to have access to a quick exit if need be. [member="Kei Garnik"] was looking at her oddly. Though his companion droid was interesting enough. Maybe she could get one some day.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

T3-M4 would follow Lady Kay slowly, standing to the side of a spare chair as she sat down. Kei would stroll over to the bar, nodding to the bartender slowly. It was an upper class hotel, around four stars. Not the best, but good enough for five thousand credits. Kei smirked lightly, ordering a caf and a correllian ale from the bartender. He was staying true to his roots, correllian till the end. He was also a petty theif, so he was totally true to his roots. He smirked again.

He strolled over to the table, carrying the drinks. He slid the caf over to Lady Kay, taking a seat and sipping his own drink. "Let me get you a room sorted out if your gonna be stayin, place like this is probably good enough to hold out for a couplea days. I can take you off this rock once my ship gets out" he told her. He wasn't exactly lying, it would be his ship within a few days if he could track it down. "You don't look like a smuggler or a bounty hunter, means you'll be targeted around here for being different, people ain't meant to know what happens on Dromund-Kass without reason. I'll leave you T3, if you need anythin he'll relay a message to me"

He strolled over to the reception desk lightly, explaining the situation and handing over the credits for a five day room. It probably wouldn't be used for five days, but it was better to preplan than anything else. He strolled back over to Lady Kay, offering her the key. "Five days, room 10232 on floor thirty. Breakfast is at seven hundred hours and Dinner is at nineteen hundred hundred hours." He would offer her a datachip, clearly for use when paying for items. "Five hundred credits there for anything you may need, toiletries and all" Kei told her, chuckling. He liked being nice to people, plus he could keep the woman around, find out why she felt different. He sat back down, grabbing a hold of his drink.

Taking a large swig.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay took her caf with thanks and had a small sip of it. Usually she just has her tea, so this taste was....different. She raised a brow as [member="Kei Garnik"] seemed to be getting everything sorted for her. A place to stay, food, credits for anything that she needed, and a lift back to wherever she needed to go. That was....odd.

"You're very generous, and very kind to a complete stranger. I don't quite trust everything being handed to me on a silver platter. There must be something that you want in return. As you said, this place doesn't take too kindly to strangers, to those that are different. How do I know that you aren't one of those people with a trap set for me in the room that you just booked? I'm sure that you can understand my caution, given the strangeness of this situation..."

She had to be suspicious. There was just no other way. At least not right now. "What's your name?"

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Spoiler

He's kinda an untrained, powerful force user and because you are hiding your force signature he can only feel it in a weak form.

"Kei Garnik, pleasure"

He chuckled, she had a reason to be suspicious. He was providing her what she needed to survive for free. Dromund-Kaas was a smugglers world, he fit in fine. Lady Kay was clearly someone of importance to The One Sith or The Republic, locked in war until one tore the others throat out. He wasn't sure, he shrugged lightly, a smile on his face. He sipped his ale once more, a smile still across his face.

"I may not look like much but I'm a smuggler with a heart. Your room is clean, send T3 in first to record everything if you still need proof. Why am I doing this, truthfully? I need information, you see. There's something... I don't know, off about you? It's a really weak feeling, but I can feel it. I don't know what it is. It's confusing, won't go away. You have any idea what it is?"

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

He didn't ask for her name, so she refrained from giving it. She would indeed use his droid to scan the room for her, however good that will do. But it was something.

[member="Kei Garnik"] then inquired about a weak feeling that he had about her. Could he sense her Force signature? Though she had it shrunk down, it wasn't gone completely. She sipped her caf. "That would be a topic of conversation for another day...." This wasn't the time nor the place for such things. It was unsafe.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Kei nodded lightly, holding back the sigh. He'd get information out of her, even if he had to beg. Yet, he'd give her chance to work up to it. He shrugged, deciding lightly that he wouldn't ask again until they were in the middle of hyperspace somewhere on the way off this forsaken rock. The landing had proven difficult the day before, Kei didn't really need to imagine trying to take off from it. One wrong move he'd be dead before he hit the ground.

He finished his ale, nodding to the bartender. He would look up at Lady Kay, nodding to her lightly also. "I have business to attend within Kaas city. I'll leave T3 in your care, I trust you enough to hope that I get him back in one piece." he smirked, continuing. "I'll be back before sixteen hundred hours, hopefully with some information on when we can get off this rock. If anyone tries to attack you round Kaas City, T3 has a nifty little blaster hidden in his head, he'll see you'll be alright. He's kept a few people alive in his life, we should be easy" He chuckled again, eyes flashing for the exit.

He stood up, offered his hand to Lady Kay. If she took it, he'd flick some credits to the bartender on his way out the door. If she didn't take it, he'd shrug before flipping some credits to the bartender on the way out.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay shook his hand and then looked to the droid. "Thanks." That was for both [member="Kei Garnik"] and T3. She just sat there and drank her caf. At least it was a small cup. Yet she couldn't help but feel as though she was being watched. Maybe it was because she was on a strange world in enemy territory. Either way, she didn't feel as though the lobby was the safest place. So she put down her cup, stood up from the table, slung the satchel over her shoulder and headed over to the lift. On her way, she looked down to T3 as he rolled behind her. "Floor thirty, hmm? That's pretty high up there."

Kay got into the lift and pressed the right button. She didn't quite know when or why she was starting to develop a slight fear of heights. Maybe it was more of a fear of falling? Of losing control? Either way she wasn't happy about it. When the lift took her to the floor she went into the rented room, letting T3 roll in before she closed the door and locked it. She put down her satchel and then flopped onto the bed. A bed. Not a couch. A bed. Kay just closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the moment of comfort while she could.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

Kei shuddered lightly, stepping from the hotel door. He had a ship to hunt, and he knew completely he was the only smuggler in the galaxy that was getting the ship in question. He missed T3-J8, but he knew that Lady Kay would care for the droid and would return it in one peace. He smiled lightly, cracking his knuckles. The DL-44 shook at his side, Kei chuckling lightly.

Two thugs stood the otherside of the walkway, Kei sighing lightly. He had hoped the rich thugs wouldn't of found him yet, but then he remembered that they were employed by some of the richest mobsters of Tatooine. They spotted Kei, both of them strolling over to him. Kei ducked into a back alley, the thugs following him.

One of them pointed a blaster, the other sliding on some durasteel gauntlets. "Mr Garnik, how much of a pleasure. Mr Roytal has had enough of sending thugs to try and get you to pay up. He sent us to do the job for him"

Kei chuckled lightly, a smile etched onto his face. He unclipped his DL-44, sliding down behind a box. The one thug shot, easily over the head of Kei. Kei stood up, taking a shot. He wasn't aiming to kill, thus he was happy when his shot connected with the upper thigh of the thug. The second thug sprinted forward, a DL-44 shot to the head leaving him crumpling to the floor.

Kei strolled over to the downed thug, kicking the dead friend aside as he did. "Be glad I left you alive. Now you go back, tell your boss that you can't kill me. Anyone else he sends after me will suffer the same fate as your friend."

Kei kicked the thug's blaster aside, over the walkway. He strolled on, eyes on the turbolift lightly. He pressed the button, waiting for the ding that told him the lift had arrived.

Ding!

[member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Kei Garnik"] [member="Lady Kay"]

Jack had watched the confrontation go down from nearby at the bar. The Pirate Captain was between jobs and recruiting the downtrodden to his crew. He needed men and men needed him. A jaunt at the mast so to speak was just what freed these smuggler and criminal types. No more smuggling, begging for scraps. Just taking what they wanted.

As the man Kei had left behind rolled over and grunted Jack strode up to him, and looked down. He was clad in his full Aliit'Gam helmet visor glaring bright blue as he regarded the struggling man.

"Hey mate, I'm afraid to tell you you won't be delivering any message. Goodbye."

His armored boot stamped down, all of his weight and focus behind it. Jack growled as the force drove his knee and leg muscles. It crashed into the mans head, caving his skull with a crack and he grunted again. Blood and brains were smeared on his dirty armor, and the patrons of the hotel were leering at him, some screaming in terror.

"For the trouble."

A thousand credit chip flipped from his palm to the bartenders.

He made swiftly to the stairs, knowing the turbo-lift was headed to a lower level. He had memorized the floor number, and as the lift dinged, Jack Raxis was there, arms crossed and bloody boot staining the carpet. He smirked inside his helmet and nodded to Kei.

"Pretty impressive kid. Word of advice."

He pointed to his boot.

"Don't leave folks alive to rat out your location, or the company you keep. I've been in this business a long time, never ends well. What's your name?"

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He shrugged to himself lightly, nodding to the gentleman stood next to him. He was happy with the compliment, but he wasn't a fan. He wanted the thugs to spill his location, he wanted to finally finish it with this rich guy. He felt like the old General Solo, being hunted day in and day out by guys trying to take you hostage. It wasn't pleasant, he wanted it to be over, he wanted to find the rich guy and beat the pudding out of him.

He smiled.

"I hoped to leave him alive, I hoped to draw this rich guy out finally. Anyway, you need my name? Kei Garnik, at your service. Yours?"

He stepped into the turbolift lightly, watching as Jack followed him. He pressed the button lightly, the turbolift starting to descend. He had a Ebon Hawk to find, that was his overall goal. The lift continued to drop, floor after floor passing. Then, nothing. The elevator went black, stopped moving. All noise was gone. Then a small red light began to flash, the note underneath stating to call a number.

Broken turbolifts, yey.

"You know how to get her moving again?"

[member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Kei Garnik"]

The lift coming to a stop was definitely an unpleasant sensation for Jack, whom stumbled hard and hit the wall. With a curse he drew his sword on instinct and whirled, checking to see if anyone was attacking.

But they were not and the lift was indeed very stuck.

"Ummm. I'm a pirate guy, if you haven’t noticed."

Then he ripped the pannel off the door and began to examine the wires, running them through his palm and checking the colour coding’s.

"I'm good at mechanics, not electrical stuff. This looks like electrical stuff."

He dropped the wires, growling.

"You got any ideas?"

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He shrugged. Perhaps his new friend was a pirate, but pirates were some of the smartest beings in the galaxy. They had to be, they had to be smart to plan different raids within the galaxy. Kei smiled lightly, stepping across to the lift panel. He spent a moment in silence, twisting and pushing a few wires aside. He found the source of the problem easy enough, something somewhere had triggered the emergency brake, which in turn kills the power to the turbolift. He shrugged, following the brake wire along. It wasn't a long wire, a wire that lead to a fuse box at the back of the lift.

"I can do electrics"

He smirked, pulling open a small flap on the turbolift fuse box. He pushed a small red fuse into place, a fuse that had come loose. The lighting came back, but they didn't really begin to move. The turbolift moved slightly, the fuse coming loose once more. Kei needed to think on the spot, come up with an idea to hold the fuse in place. He liked his arms, and if he physically held the fuse in place the gears in front of the fuse would eat his arm in two.

"I was born Kei Raxis, my mother went back to her maiden name after my father split. When my father came back to save me and I hung out with him, it made sense to become Kei Garnik to sever ties with my mother, who in her own right decided to try and have me and him arrested because we began smuggling"

He turned the switch controlling the fuse box to the off position, pushing the fuse back into place. His spare hand reached for his pocket, pulling out a small cable tie. He may or may not of kept them from Julian's ship after he fit the targeting system. He wrapped the tie around the fuse box, tightening it over the fuse itself. He wasn't sure if it would hold, so to make sure he hit another small button, one that cancelled the turbolift. It was safe, making sure the gears wouldn't instantly start up.

He let go of the fuse, flicking the button. It held, power came back. He closed the small panel, pressing the turbolift button to head down to the spaceport level.

"And we are moving"

[member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Kei Garnik"]

Jacks eye twitched he mentioned the name Raxis.

Raxis.

There was suddenly a lot of them these days. More than the Pirate could count, and he whirled on the man, ripping off his helmet. with a grin he clapped hands on the guys shoulders and drew him in close, a wild look upon his face.

"Your parents are Arthur and Allie Raxis yes?"

Jack would wait to see what he said. There was so many of them out there now. [member="Gray Raxis"] would be happy to meet his sibling at some-point, if Jacks suspicions range true.

"Do you have any idea who I am bub?" Jack growled.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He felt the hands clasp his shoulders, his eyes becoming fearful for a moment before becoming relaxed as Jack began to speak. He knew that his parents names were anything but Arthur and Allie, but he was sure his mother stated that his grandfather had the name Arthur. She also stated her parents were idiots who disposed all of their kids around the galaxy to hide them from something. He shook his head, closing his eyes. Had he found a sibling, something that could teach him more about his family.

"Arthur... My idiot of a mother once spoke of her parents, I believe she stated that my grandfather was named Arthur. Apparently him and my grandmother had many, many kids and decided to hide them all around the galaxy. Apparently, she was the youngest, kept around for longer than her siblings."

His face would twist, thinking hard.

"If your parents are my grandparents, that makes you my uncle... right?"

[member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

The conversation continued until the turbolift dinged once again. Kei stepped from the elevator, eyes darting around. He caught sight of the spaceport to the east, smiling. It was time to find The Ebon Hawk, it was time to get off Dromund-Kaas and get back to work. That was the downside of hunting a ship, you ended up paying out more credits than you brought in. He didn't mind though, he had the feeling he'd successfully kept a girl alive, a cute girl at that.

Was this what love felt like?

He chuckled lightly, slowly starting to stroll towards the spaceport. He was taking it slowly, taking his time and thinking about what he was doing. He wanted The Ebon Hawk now, he wanted his ship. He also wanted to speak to the woman from the hotel, there was something off about her, something completely different. He wasn't sure, it scared him badly.

He smiled, the doors on the spaceport sliding open. He loved sensor doors, he didn't have to bother pushing them open. He strolled in lightly, walking up to the main desk. The woman on the desk itself was a human female, Courscanti perhaps? Kei nodded to her, crossing his arms on the desk in an attempt to hide the blaster swinging from his belt.

"I'm lookin from a ship, been here about four thousand years?"

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

The woman looked at him, a hard and strange look. Four thousand years was a long time for a ship to sit in a spaceport, and Kei didn't think it would still be in the spaceport itself. That would be too easy, and Kei hated easy things. He flashed a smile as the woman confirmed it, the only ships in the spaceport were those made within the last eight hundred years.

Kei told her the name of the ship, and slowly she began to tap away, trace the ship back to who brought it. She took a moment, but she finally confirmed that the ship had been sold after five years of it sitting there. It had been brought by a rich guy in the old city of Droma. Droma had been wrecked by an earthquake after a few years, but the ship had been returned to the spaceport. It had sat for thousands of years in the spaceport, a pile of junk that no-one wanted.

She gave him an address of the latest owner, a man who'd brought the wreck only two years prior. She did a quick search on his name, handing that over also. He lived in Kaas city, and the chances were that he was home right now. He flashed the woman a smile, sliding her a few credits as a thank you. He left the spaceport happy.

He had a bloke to visit.

 

[GhostOfProtocol]

He started back, heading back the way he came, choosing to take the stairs over the turbolift this time round. He didn't feel ready to lose an arm fixing a turbolift, he smiled as he began to climb the stairs. They were easy enough, spaced well enough to be less tiring than you'd expect. He climbed for around three to four minutes before reaching the floor he was after himself.

It was a lower floor apartment, one of the really small ones that no-one cared much for. No-where near enough room to store a private ship the size of The Ebon Hawk, no where near enough room for any ship, not just The Ebon Hawk. Kei followed the directions that the woman had given her, knocking on the door of the home. He wasn't expecting a grumpy old man to open the door, and he was a little taken back when the male opened the door, the smell of ale reaching him from inside the house.

"Good afternoon sir. I wanted to speak to..."
"Not interested, kark off and let me sleep"
"I wanted to speak to you about a ship you brought, The Ebon Hawk."
"Another hunter eh. Well you can kark off, I don't know where she is. The Hawk was stolen from me"
"Stolen?"
"Ar', Kallux Brews and his ruff nut gang stole er' from me abou' a yea' ago. Dey function from da upper city"
"So, why didn't you go and get it back?"
"Dis war between the republic and de other guys injured me fella, I ain't go' anythin' on m' to go get er' back. Yo' ge' her back, yo' can have er', i'll sign yo' little pappers"

And with that, the drunk smashed the door shut. It was good however, he was willing to give the ship to Kei if he could get it back from the gang run by Kallux Brews. He strolled across to a map terminal lightly, searching for any gang territory. Then he found it, clearly labeled with spray paint, Kallux Brews place.