Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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In his sights

Nadstic hid behind a doorframe as two stormtroopers passed by, not seeing her. Good, less of a hassle. She made her way to the generator room and planted the EMP she brought.

"Let's hope that trandoshan wasn't lying." She finished the wiring and set the timer for five minutes.

"Hey! You're not allowed in this sector! Let me see your ID!" A stormtrooper snuck up on her. He raised his blaster too head level, pressing hard on her head.

Nadstic made a slow movement towards her coat, reaching for her ID. Instead, she pulled out her lightsaber and killed the man. He hit the ground having his helmet come off. She could hear that the comms her on, they knew she was there. She put on the stormtroopers uniform and escaped the base. She saw that the EMP was successful and ditched her uniform.

She ran back to her home and waited till dawn. When she woked, she saw that posters of her had gone up. It seems she had been caught on camera. She pulled up her hood and went into her routine, this was about to become a lot more tricky.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]
 
Location: Unknown vessel, enroute to Tatooine
Allies: None, Imperials indirectly
Enemies: [member="Nadstic Sunshu"]

Beltran Rarr sat in his quarters, looking down at a grainy image of a young woman with tanned skin. As he watched, he saw her attempting to affix what appeared to be a device to a power distribution node. Just as she finished, she was approached by a Stormtrooper with his rifle raised. Though there was no sound, he could imagine the standard set of challenges that the soldier probably issued her as he grew closer. He continued to close until he had put the barrel of his weapon directly against her head.

“That was your mistake,” Beltran informed the now deceased Stormtrooper, even though there was no way that the dead man could possibly here him. “Touching your target isn’t any more intimidating than just pointing it at them. It only makes you a target.”

Even before the young woman activated her lightsaber, Beltran knew how this story was going to end. As it played out, Beltran watched the girl: saw how she moved, what she did and how quickly she did it. She was young and obviously inexperienced considering that she’d allowed herself to be captured on camera. But she moved well and definitely had some kind of Jedi training. He knew she wouldn’t be an easy kill and the aggravation would likely not be worth the pittance that the Imperial Captain of the facility she’d sabotaged was offering for her.

Still, Beltran needed the money. He’d only been off of his native Lorrd for a few months, and though he’d completed a number of contracts in that time, he still was far from financially comfortable. Reaching forward, he keyed one of the buttons on his console cutting off the image of the woman in favor of a young, nervous looking Imperial officer.

“I will take your contract, Captain.” Beltran said after a moment, his accented basic filling the air. “But I require two thirds to be paid ahead of time.”

”Two thirds!?! Surely that isn’t necessary, Mr. Night.” The Imperial responded, his voice incredulous. Half is standard!

“The sum you have offered is barely worth the trip,” Beltran continued. “Two thirds, or you can find someone else to eliminate your problem.”

Even as he spoke, the Lorrdian knew that the Captain couldn’t afford anyone else. Nobody with a name in this business would accept such a contract for such a pittance. As he watched, the Captain squirmed a little under the Lorrdian’s gaze before reaching forward, ostensibly to enter information into his own holonet console. A moment later, Beltran’s console flashed indicating the transfer of credits.

”Twenty thousand,” The Captain said stiffly. ”Two thirds.”

“Very well. I will contact you when the target has been eliminated.”

****

Location: Mos Espa, Tatooine

Beltran made planet fall the following day, heading to the largest settlement nearest to the power station that the woman had sabotaged.

He doubted the the woman had had enough time to go far. In fact, it may have even been that she lived in the settlement. At any rate, it was as good a place as any to start the search. He left the vessel dressed in desert robes and his head covered in a traditional Jakku head wrap.

Strapped to his back, was Beltran’s custom [SIZE=10.5pt]http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/LD-1_target_blaster_rifle[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Merr-Sonn LD-1 Target Blaster Rifle[/SIZE] and on his hip he carried a [SIZE=10.5pt]http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/"Flash"_4[/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Merr-Sonn “Flash 4” Heavy Blaster Pistol. In addition to these weapons, he carried his two favorite vibro-blades and few other surprises.[/SIZE]

He walked the streets, taking in the lay of the land. As he passed several dwellings, he could see that several flimsi posters had been put up bearing the likeness of the woman he was here to end. Rather than ask directly, he simply watched the populous. Eventually, he figured, something would happen that would give him a trail to follow.
 
Nadstic was on full alert. The Imperial posters and patrols were at every corner, which made travel hard. She wore a hood to hid her face, she was thankful that Tatoonie was filled with that fashion choice. Under her robes, she concealed her lightsaber. She wasn't fond of bringing the weapon in public, but with everything that was happening, she needed to be careful.

She past another group of stormtroopers and slipped into an alleyway. She saw a man leaning against the wall, she stopped to talk, "Tell me the situation."Well, other than you did something stupid and now you're paying the price? Not much, but some of our intelligence says that they hired someone to come after you. If I were you, I would call him out. Just be careful. The Freedom Fighters need you." "I know, thanks."

She left the alley and stepped into the street. She knew that the Empire would hire someone, but not so quickly. She was hoping for a grace period, as it was she was completely unprepared. She thought about calling him out, but that would mean putting herself in his sights. She could hide for a bit longer.

While walking she pumped into someone, "Oh sorry I'm so clumsy." "It's fin- wait. You're that lady the Empire is after! Hey! Hey!"

Nadstic punched the man's throat causing him to fall to his knees. She ran, trying to find someplace to hide. Stormtroopers were closing in on her from all sides. She tried to run to a building but was cut off by some men. She was surrounded. There was no other choice, she drew her lightsaber and took her form III stance. The Stormtroopers open fired, Nadstic easily deflected the blaster shots back killing or injuring all of them. One of the stormtroopers pulled a grenade a threw it at Nadstic's feet. She used the force to push it away but was still caught in the blast.


She was knocked down and had a cut on her arm. She stood up and limbed away from the scene before more showed up. She made it to a dark corner and bandaged her wound with her robes. She tried to stay awake, but the pull of sleep was heavy and she drifted off.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]
 
Location: Tatooine, Mos Espa Settlement
Allies: None, Imperials indirectly
Enemies: [member="Nadstic Sunshu"]

OOC: Sorry for taking so long to reply!

Beltran strolled through the streets of Mos Espa, his pace languorous. Occasionally, he would catch a stray glance from one of the locals.
Having been born in the desert region of Lorrd, and having spent time on Jakku, Beltran was no stranger to the desert. He knew the pitfalls of moving too quickly or slowly in the heat. It was best to maintain an even, steady pace. He passed by Mos Espa’s crowded market place at least three times as the day wore on. Each time, he would wander through the crowd, inspecting the various species who called this little corner of nowhere home. Each time, he found he was able to find any manner of ill dealings in progress, but no sign of his target.

It wasn’t until well after midday, just as Beltran was beginning to consider retiring to one of the local cantinas for a meal that he heard the commotion. It had started innocently enough. A group of Stormtroopers had entered the market and were doing what they always did, stopping random citizens, shaking down vendors and otherwise making a nuisance of themselves. Then, as Beltran watched, they all stopped in unison, cocked their heads to the side and then took off at a run for the far side of the settlement.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they had received some kind of emergency report on their coms.

But what could happen in a sleepy settlement like this to cause such a commotion? A terrorist with Force training would certainly fit the bill.
Keeping his distance from the troopers, Beltran followed the Imperials as they made their way toward the northern edge of the settlement.

He made sure to keep hidden as he moved, not wanting either the troopers or the object of his mission to see him approaching. As he got closer, he heard weapons fire and the unmistakable thrum of an active lightsaber.

Then, just as he had turned the corner to the side street where the fight was taking place, came the explosion. The force of the detonator kicked up enough dust to obscure visibility in every direction. Mentally, the mercenary cursed whoever had thrown it. As he grew closer, he was able to make out several white armored bodies on the ground. Each that he came across had fallen due to a single blaster bolt in the chest.

“She’s good,” Beltran murmured to himself as he unslung his LD-1 Target Blaster Rifle.

From behind, he could hear more boot steps closing on his position. No doubt the reinforcements to the ill-fated troopers he now stood over. Moving at a brisk jog, Beltran headed toward the center of the semi-circle that the bodies had made. At it’s epicenter, he knelt down and looked at the ground. Scorch marks in the sand indicated where the detonator had fallen. Drag marks and then uneven footsteps indicated where the object of the troopers attack had fallen, and then pulled themselves up before heading away from the area.

Moving to follow the tracks, Beltran estimated that he was no more than a minute or two behind his adversary.
 
She awoke with a start, gasping at her own mistake. How could she be so stupid to fall asleep? She needed to get somewhere safe. As it was she was hiding in plain sight, which wasn't the best idea. She tried to stand up but found the task too difficult for the moment. She looked around trying to find something to hide her.

A blanket was not too far off, she reached with the force and pulled it over her. She also used the force to destroy any footprints she left behind. She hoped that they whoever was looking for her wouldn't look under the blanket. She kept her lightsaber ready in case she was found.

She knew that if she was found, it would be over before she could activate her weapon. She needed a distraction. She reached out with the force and found two men passing each other. She gave one a push that sent him to the ground, making it look like the other man tripped him. The two men starting arguing that turned to violence. Stormtroopers in the area started to break up the fight. She hoped that was enough to keep her safe.

[member="Beltran Rarr"]
 
Location: Tatooine, Mos Espa Settlement
Allies: None, Imperials indirectly
Enemies: [member="Nadstic Sunshu"]

Beltran had managed to slip away from the scene of the brief battle without being identified by any of the approaching Imperials. Though he was technically working for the commander of their garrison, he doubted that the Captain would want it known that he had brought in an outside contractor to do what the Stormtrooper Corps apparently couldn’t. He followed the footprints for a few blocks before they suddenly disappeared. Apparently the woman he was after had realized her mistake.

Squatting down on the ground, Beltran took a long look around.

You’ve let her get away! A mocking voice called out within his mind.

“Perhaps,” He murmured out loud, talking apparently to nobody. As he looked around, he took in several small alleyways and numerous nooks and crannies where someone small and lithe could easily get off the street and hide themselves. In one corner, a blanket appeared to have been left strewn on the ground. While noting its location, the Lorrdian paid it no more attention than he did any of the other possibilities. “However, I find it doubtful. Judging by the tracks I saw, she is obviously hurt and limping. It is unlikely that she has gone far.”

Normally, the Lorrdian didn’t respond out loud to the voices in his head. He found that in addition to bringing attention to his affliction, which was something he preferred not to do, it also seemed to encourage the manifestations of his psyche to act out in more concrete, destructive ways.

Today, however, he had a reason for doing so.

That reason was: he was fairly sure that the woman hadn’t travelled any further than this junction. He believed that she was here somewhere, hiding because she was likely too injured to keep running.

Speaking his thoughts out loud would hopefully do two things: unnerve her enough to give away her position and perhaps open her up to the opportunities that Beltran saw in their situation.

As he remained, he was aware of two men entering the area. Both appeared to the Lorrdian to be civilians. Nothing in their body language suggested otherwise. They appeared to be each heading to a different destination, this simply being a single moment amongst thousands in an otherwise forgetful, mediocre life. Then, as Beltran watched, one of the men fell into the other. Angry voices filled the air as the men began to fight amongst themselves.

Beltran watched the scene, slightly bemused. At first glance, it was a completely innocent turn of events. But to Beltran, who was a Lorrdian and as such an expert on the non-verbal cues that most humanoids gave off, it was something much different.

The man who had fallen hadn’t moved like someone who’d tripped. His movements echoed that of a man who’d been pushed. The differences were subtle, but distinct and since Beltran hadn’t seen anyone actually push the man, that left only one other explanation.

Someone had used the Force.

If that was the case, then Beltran was right and his quarry was close by. He wanted her to know he was aware of her presence, even if he wasn’t entirely sure where she was quite yet, but he didn’t want to give away the situation to the fighting men. So he called out to them.

“Gentles, it may have escaped your notice but the Imperial garrison is out in force today. It may be that you reconsider your foolish argument in favor of getting indoors, lest you find yourself explaining your situation to a group of trigger happy troopers, yes?”

Though his voice was not especially loud, it seemed to carry clearly on the breeze. Both men stopped and looked at the masked figure who stood in front of them holding an intimidating looking rifle. They then, it seemed, took Beltran’s warning to heart and each headed off in differing directions without another word.

Alone once more, he called out, this time to the woman that he was fairly sure was hiding somewhere around. “I know you can hear me and it behooves you to listen to what I am about to say. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I was hired to come here and end your life. It will probably annoy you to learn that the commander of this settlement’s garrison believes your death is worth only a pittance. Normally I wouldn’t even consider a contract for what he has offered, but in all honesty I needed the money. Now that I am here, however, and have seen your handiwork.” Beltran nodded back in the direction of the previous battle. “I see a better opportunity if we were to join forces.”

He paused again for a moment, looking around at the area. If nothing else, the surprise of his offer might cause a small slip in the woman’s movements and betray her position. While his offer was on the level, if she refused the mercenary had no problem killing her to fulfill the original contract.

Some credits were better than none.

“While the garrison Captain has only limited funds at his personal disposal, I imagine the garrison’s payroll vault would yield a far better take.” In this day and age, Beltran knew that the majority of Imperial soldiers received their pay electronically. However, on such a backwater world as this, it was unlikely that many, if any, of the major galactic banks operated and even less likely that any of the local merchants were set up to take electronic payment. That meant that the soldiers stationed here would need to be paid, at least partly, in hard currency.

And that meant crystals, and that meant untraceable.

“Now obviously I couldn’t hope to breach whatever security they have surrounding the vault by myself,” He continued. “But with someone of your…talents, I might have a shot. So here’s the deal, you reveal yourself. We get off the street and I treat your wounds. I have a couple of bacta packs that should get you at least halfway back to fighting strength. Then we go to the Imperial garrison. The majority of the troops are out here looking for you, so it will be less heavily guarded. We break into the vault and steal whatever we can. Assuming we get away intact, we divide the spoils evenly. I then take my money and get off this dustball and back to somewhere civilized and you…well, you’re obviously fighting for something here. I can’t say I care much about what it is, but certainly your cause would benefit from a large infusion of cash.”

Taking another breath, Beltran glanced around. No sign of his current target and potential partner in crime yet. His ears picked up the sounds of boots running and the sound of coms systems flaring. The Imperials were sweeping in their direction. “Better make your decision quickly, for I believe our opportunity to act will soon be gone.”
 

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