In Search of Booty

[Kara Avoyos]

Drev'starn, Bothawui

Pirates. To most people they were characters in holovids, usually as romantic rogues that swept rich but socially oppressed damsels off their feet and introduced them to a new life will with excitement and venereal diseases. Well, maybe that last detail never made the big projection, but Kara had always considered it to be inherent in the lifestyle. Maybe that was why she’d never seen the appeal of the occupation. That and the headache the occasional band of brigands had given her mother.

Right now, however, the pirates that occupied Kara’s mind were neither the morally ambiguous bits of mancandy nor the distant denizens that sometimes lurked in the dark reaches of the Kalinda system. No, this group was hunkered down on some barely habitable moon in just outside of Confederate territory. Normally that wouldn’t be too big of a concern for the Templars, but these pirates had apparently managed to get their hands on a rather expensive nest of artifacts. That sort of thing drew seeker attention. Well, it drew her attention at least.

Unfortunately, none of her fellow seekers were available to help claim the relics in the name of the Confederacy. The bounty on the men hadn’t been placed by her order, so outside help was technically allowed, but Kara had never been the sort to hire mercenaries, even if she know knew several very reliable members of that profession. She preferred to avoid giving people reasons to wonder how deep her pockets went.

So here she was, sitting in a cantina wondering about the logistics of a one woman raid on a pirate compound. Everything pointed to that being a bad idea, and not even the two Corellian Ales she’d downed were changing that. Help was needed, but where could she find it?

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

The proud Lord entered the cantina and instinctively started humming along with the familiar melody of the band. With a flourish, he removed his cloak. Exposing a strong and manly face and icy blue eyes with a penetrating gaze. A smile appeared on his face, brighting it considerably for he had always loved a rowdy establishment. He swept the room with his piercing look, while scouting the same room with the Force – no one had ever died by being overly cautious. Jared only smirked at the presence of a fellow force user, but did not do anything to acknowledge her presence. He did not know her and she probably had something better to do then being hit on by a devilishly handsome Lord.

As such he just moved with the grace of a predator through the bar, taking a seat not too far from the Lady and ordered a drink. “An appletini please. Easy with the tini.” No use in ordering some poison to impress the ladies. He was a man certain of his position and power, there was simply nothing to prove for him.

@[member="Kara Avoyos"]​

 

[Kara Avoyos]

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

The hairs on the back of Kara’s neck stood up, a familiar sensation that she now recognized as the force warning her she was being watched intently. She followed the line of site of several of the other patrons to see what appeared to be a walking set of robes making its way through the cantina. Force user then, robes were the go to fashion statement of every sensitive with at least three days training and a highly developed love for drama.

Not that she was going to assume that this individual was some half trained yokel, that kind of thinking could very well lead to screaming pain after all. When the figure finally lowered the hood a handsome male face was revealed. Blond hair, blue eyes, she wasn’t checking him out. The face wasn’t familiar, so probably not a fellow Templar, but if he was on the Confederacy’s capital planet with any form of obvious back up the he probably wasn’t here to cause problems.

It wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye on him though. The Confederacy was very protective of its position as a neutral power in the galaxy, and it wouldn’t do to let random robed individuals just waltz around with ideas of overthrowing civilization in their heads. Yes, she was totally judging him based on his fashion choices. Robes were one step away from capes, and Kara had bad experiences with megalomaniacal cape wearers.

The stranger sat down at the bar and promptly ordered one of the most girly item on the menu and she was totally judging him for that too. Either he had bad tastes in drinks, or he was trying to lull the planet into the false sense of security because no one expected people who drank appletinis to be able to take over anything but the mall. Clearly this man was some sort of evil mastermind.

 

[Arage Bao]

As a matter of fact Jared had been thinking about buying himself a new cape just this morning. Little did he know that the Templar girl had an aversion for that distinct fashion choice, not that he was into capes himself. He just wanted to try out a new fashion style, preferably one that did not make him look like an actor in a drama holoseries. Hence why he had left the cape hanging in the store, theatrics was not his cup of tea.

He turned around and started leaning on the bar, keeping one eye on the cantina. While softly singing along with the current song the band was playing. He had a manly voice, strong and authoritative. His eyes found the studying gaze of the force presence, in the form of a cute blond girl. With a gesture he raised his glass to her, finished it and continued to sing along.

@[member="Kara Avoyos"]​

 

[Kara Avoyos]

And now he was singing, because that was something to do. In public. Outside of a musical. Kara wasn’t sure if the bar breaking into a spontaneous dance number would be a bad thing or just the next logical step for this scenario. Given the current level of inebriation at several of the tables, things could go either way. At least his voice wasn’t terrible. Much better than the mostly not dressed Twi’lek floozy who was currently on stage doing her best to slaughter a Zeltronian classic as part of the ongoing war between the galaxy’s two largest purveyors of sex and venereal disease.

The stranger was waving her over, and who was Kara to refuse the opportunity to snoop into someone else’s business. He might be dangerous or at least dangerously drunk. It was her duty as a defender of the people to stop him from causing destruction, whether it be to stop him from assaulting the defenseless with well-choreographed dance routines or keep him from regurgitating his girly drink all over someone’s expensive shoes.

“I’ve figured you out.” Kara announced as she took at seat next to the stranger. “You are here to overthrow the Confederacy and install a karaoke-dictatorship. I cannot let you proceed. The dance-offs would leave too many dead or wounded in the streets.”

@[member="Jared Ovmar"]

 

[Arage Bao]

Little did the girl know that if she had left him alone for a few more minutes he probably would have started dancing on his table, not because he was drunk. The man did not get drunk that easily, he was just tired of being bored and wanted to get his blood pumping. Regardless that bird had flown the moment the girl came up to him and spoke to him. It took him a second to register her words, for he had been quite enchanted with the cadence of the song. But as soon as her words reached the far-reaches of his intelligence a laugh boiled up from his belly and out forced itself out into the wide world. It was a manly laugh, one with made maidens blush and grown-man weep for their own lack of masculinity. It was a laugh that thundered and bellowed, people around them quieted down at once and looked at the source of it.

Wondering what was so funny and even more who would be so bold to laugh that hard without feeling any form of restraint or worry for his own persona. Not that it mattered much for the Lord of the Fringe, he was far too enveloped in his laugh to bother with the opinions of the other people around him.

It took him a few seconds to calm down and study the woman that had come to him. As he brushed his eyelid with his finger to remove the small traces of laughing tears he smiled his charming smile as if to pardon himself from his outburst, then he answered her with still a feint trace of humor left in his voice: "Oh my.. one of the best pick-up lines I have heard in ages, my Lady. You will have to excuse me, but I will remember that one for the next time I see a cute blond girl in a bar." a soft chuckle escaped his mouth as he pondered about his next move, then he continued: "You were close though, in reality I am planning a heist of the Templar Archives. It will involve a trained monkey, two matchboxes and a flashlight. Much more interesting than a karaoke-dictatorship, would you not agree with me?"

@[member="Kara Avoyos"]​

 

[Kara Avoyos]

The stranger laughed. It wasn’t the polite laughter of a hanger-on, but the sort of full bellied chortling that usually required intoxication and an empty bladder. The second bit wasn’t really a requirement, just a friendly suggestion. The first one didn’t seem to be needed either since he hadn’t stumbled into the cantina, and she refused to consider the possibility of him getting sloshed after only a few sips of his girly-cocktail.

“Psh, like you have the charm to pull off one of my lines.” It really hadn’t been a pick up line. Kara wasn’t the sort to pick people up. It was so awkward when she accidently flirted with people. Especially when people turned out to be jerks who didn’t like the word no and needed to have their . . . err lightsabers threatened.

"Sorry to say, but our archives are monkey-proof” The knight gave the stranger an evaluating look, trying to determine if he was joking or taking refuse in audacity. It would be clever of him to joke about breaking in to try and trick her into thinking that he wasn’t going to break in. “Anyway, fighting pirates sounds like a much better way to kill and afternoon. I happen to have a ticket to a pirate fight!”

Kara waved the bounty in front of him like it was a ticket to some sort of carnival. Even if he hadn’t been joking about breaking into the temple, getting him to tag along with her to beat the ever-loving crap out of some bad guys wasn’t too bad of an idea. This would give her time to get a feel for his personality, and maybe throw him in the way of some blaster bolts of that personality turned out to be unsavory.