Looking For Work

[Veeks]

Nar Shaddaa was a pit. The central hub of the crime underworld, full of just about every criminal, crook, and straight up psychopath out there. Scum and villainy seemed to ooze out of the cracks in the walls, and the air was thick with smog, the skies tinged a dull yellow from the nearest sun. The streets were alive, crowded with people of all different races, circulating through the densely populated, neon city, rushing off to their own destinations. The chatter of multiple languages filled the air as deals were made and broken. Both laughter of new deals being formed and the angry cries of partnerships being broken resonated throughout the area, but most of the commotion was focused in a nearby cantina, the Hutt's Den. A small pub filled to its capacity with the most wretched individuals the galaxy had to offer. Bounty hunters, smugglers, petty thieves, and criminals all sat together at tables, pulled up stools at bars and discussed their ambitions, or reminisced about successful runs or heists to their drunken comrades.

Amongst this massive crowd of scum, Lendo Dral surveyed the area. He sat in the darkest corner of the room. He always preferred to sit in the corner. In the corner you could see everyone, and nobody could sneak up on you. He hated surprises. In Lendo's line of work, surprises were often deadly. The bounty hunter held a drink in his hand and brought it to his lips as he scanned around, observing the many conversations going on around him. The music in the cantina was blaring, and made distinguishing any conversation around him impossible. It all sounded like unintelligible chatter being dominated by the blasting beats and chords of the music. Lendo was never really a fan of crowds, especially in Nar Shaddaa. He always tried to avoid Nar Shaddaa when he could, but times were tough. His supply of credits was starting to dry up and he needed work, fast. This criminal cesspool of a moon always guaranteed work, though Lendo would hardly consider it safe. Not many people would. He adjusted his leather coat and tilted the brim of his hat over his eyes as he leaned back in his chair and took another sip of his drink. Normally when he waited in this hole of a cantina, a contract would present itself in the form of a stranger asking if he was working. He always was.

He'd been waiting for quite some time, however, and nothing had come to him. Lendo wasn't a patient man, and considered heading back to his ship, maybe giving the old girl a few touch ups with what little credits he had remaining, or finally getting around to calibrating the second turret. One thing was for sure, the past few months have been unbearably boring.

 

[Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae]

@[member="Lendo Dral"]
"Enjoying a nice drink there?"
Voice would come from behind Lendo soon enough, he did not had to wait too long.
It was a man wearing simple tunics and pants, with a leather jacket over them, he looked aging and unshaven, he gave Lendo a slight smile.
"Hope I'm not interrupting. Folks often don't like interruptions."
He glanced back through the smoky bar at a group of thugs in the back, they were talking and drinking, murmuring among each other. The man's jaw slightly clenched itself as he turned back, nodding to the barkeep and gaining a glass with a drink in exchange.
"I hate this place but yet love it at the same time. So much vile people, yet something is always happening."
The man murmured nodding to Lendo.
"I like your hat, cheers."
He took a swig.

 

[Veeks]

Lendo lifted the brim of his hat and arched an eyebrow as the man spoke. He seemed decent enough, which was somewhat uncommon in a place like this. If he was going to be approached by anyone, Lendo would've assumed it would be a battleworn veteran, or a greedy Hutt, not a casual gentleman smiling and giving out compliments. Lendo shrugged the thought off and straightened his posture before speaking.
"Thanks." He said with a slight smirk, taking the man's compliment, raising his glass ever so slightly.
"I can never stand this place, honestly. Too much noise, too many shady characters. But there's alaways work to be found here, so I always find myself crawling back."

@[member="Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae"]

 

[Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae]

@[member="Lendo Dral"]
Sammo smirked, what was he doing there himself? Well just like Lendo, he did needed to work as well, and that group of criminals he was glancing to, they had some bounties on their heads for piracy and robbery.
He glanced to Lendo
"Needing a job, eh? What's your profession then, if I may ask, or maybe I could guess it?"
He turned more to Lendo, looking over him as he scrunched his brow
"Hrm, I would say you look like a gardening fellow to me."
He took another sip of his drink
"And I may use a gardener of sorts."

He offered Lando his hand for a shake
"I am called Captain Sammo, the Wanderer."

 

[Veeks]

@[member="Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae"]

Lendo arched his brow once more at the mention of a gardener.
"Heh. yeah, I'm a gardener of sorts." he stated, shaking the man's hand.
"I'm Lendo. Lendo Dral." he said, finishing the last of his drink and putting the cup down.
"Now, are you making me an offer?"

 

[Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae]

@[member="Lendo Dral"]
Sammo took another drink of his glass,
"Depends, ever fought a Krayt dragon or wandered the Wildspace?"
He glanced to Lendo
"What about fought against a Sith or a Jedi?"
He shook his head slightly
"If you want a job, I can hire you, but it won't be just pirates and thugs we would be facing."

 

[Veeks]

Lendo folded his arms and eyed the man curiously. Krayt dragons? Wildspace? Who exactly was this guy?
"I've had a run in or two with a few inexperienced Jedi." Lendo said. "But Krayt dragons? That's a tall order. You want me to take on something like that, you'd better have the credits to back it up." he continued. Maybe it was unwise to make demands like that, but he really needed the cash, and if this guy expected him to take on things like Krayt dragons and Sith, he'd damn well better pay extra. That was the way Lendo saw it at least.
"I assure you that my skills aren't a concern, regardless of how dangerous your job might be. I'll take any contract if the money's right. What're you willing to pay?"

@Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae

 

[Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae]

@[member="Lendo Dral"]
Sammo grinned at that laughing slightly
"You can't really expect everything life throws at you do you?"
He took another sip, shaking his head
"Once, I was nearby Tatooine and I heard rumors few settlements were being terrorized by some spirits or such, wailing and ghosts in the sand they called it."
He shrugged
"Sand People I thought, Tusken Raiders, lucky enough I knew their language. I came to the village, sure enough at night the Tuskens approached in a raiding party. I stopped them and I spoke. I claimed I was a warlock of great power."
He did little jazz hands with that
"And they bought it, they were going to go back and stop raids if I would share great knowledge with them. But then, sure enough, villagers came bursting from their houses, rifles in hands, blood thirsty as all hells. Both of them groups, they were about to massacre each other and I was in between them, trying to stop them."
He chuckled
"Lucky enough I placed speakers in the dunes, activated by remote I had, carrying a recording of a Krayt Dragon mating call, so I started blasting that, sure enough, the Tuskens started to run for it and villagers were hurrying to safety, but then the sand began to move and shake, and guess what happened?"
He leaned in, grinning
"A bloody greater Krayt dragon came looking for a mate! Hah, he came destroying houses and wrecking the place, I took my jacket, gripped it between my hands and started climbing the bastard."
He would fish through his pocket, producing a large Krayt Dragon Pearl and placing it on the counter. He didn't actually killed the beast that time, he and villagers found few of them in the sand after the beast escaped away from the village, still, it was a nice effect.
"Lendo, I can't always offer you great treasure, but what I can offer you, is great adventure, and with that, great possibilities."
He rolled the pearl to him
"Few drinks on me, eh?"

 

[Veeks]

Lendo was mere moments away from calling this crazy old coot out on his blatant lie, but stopped himself short at the sight of a krayt dragon pearl. The man rolled it toward him at the end of his story. Lendo caught it and examined it closely. It certainly felt real enough. Heavier than he'd expected it to be.
"In this line of work, you run into some strange characters." Lendo said.
"Psychopaths cultists, radicals, terrorists, you name it. I thought I'd seen em all."
He put the pear on the table, slowly spinning it, shifting his gaze from the pearl to Sammo.
"But you, you're in a league all your own, old man." he added. If this pearl was to be his payment, it would be more than enough to cover the repairs he'd planned on making to The Nemesis. Maybe he'd even have some left over for himself. Strange as the man might have seemed, he was Lendo's only hope when it came to earning some money. Maybe it was foolish. Maybe it was a mistake. But Lendo had been sitting around far too long. Maybe an adventure was just what he needed.
"Adventure, money, and free drinks? How could I say no?"


@Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae

 

[Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae]

@[member="Lendo Dral"]
He chuckled
"You have no idea, my friend, how old or weird I truly am."
He turned to Lendo and his face grew solemn
"There is something I need to ask you first, however."
He motioned to the pearl
"If I would present you with a family of farmers, father, mother, and a son, and for each of their heads I would present you with a pearl just like that one, would you ask why kill them?"

 

[Veeks]

@Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae
Lendo furrowed his brow at the question, glancing down at the pearl for a moment, contemplating his answer. He'd killed plenty of men and women in his lifetime for money. They were all criminals, however. Someone who'd betrayed or messed with someone who wanted revenge. However, throughout his career, the idea of killing someone completely innocent had never occurred to him.
"I would ask why." He answered in a calm tone. He'd decided it would be best to be honest with the man, whether the man would be satisfied with his answer or not. "But if I'd already accepted the contract, your answer wouldn't change my resolve. A job's a job."

 

[Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae]

@[member="Lendo Dral"]
He nodded, finishing his drink
"I won't ask you to kill farmers or innocent, or to sign too many contracts, but it is good that you question the orders, you always should, after all those who give them to you are mortal like you."
He smirked to Lendo
"And usually it's safe to assume they're idiots, that way you can only be pleasantly surprised."
He would look back to the group of thugs he was looking at before
"Those fellows over there, small time pirates and bandits, usually common sort, however, this group pissed off one too many merchants."
He looked back to Lendo, on closer inspection the group could be determined as mostly Gamorrean, there was a Sullustan among them, along with a couple of humans.
"Bounty for them should pay off fuel for us, how big is your ship, Lendo?"

 

[Veeks]

@Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae
Lendo sized up the group of outlaws for a moment. They seemed easy enough to take down, despite their numbers. He'd have to do it fast, catch them off guard, keep them from getting to their weapons. When Sammo asked him about his ship, he couldn't help but smirk.
"It's a light freighter. YT-2000, can hold about four crew, seven passengers. She ain't pretty, but she gets the job done." He said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go and get the fuel money."
Lendo got up from his seat, turning to face the man once more. "Looks like I'm going to have to take you up on that offer of drinks. You might wanna sit back a bit. Could get messy."
With that, he approached the group of undesirables. They were definitely drunk, all laughing at a story the Sullustan was telling. Lendo took note of the blaster pistols they had holstered, and put one hand in his coat pocket while using his other hand to gesture to the bartender.
"Excuse me, sir. A round of drinks for these fine gentlemen here." he said, loud enough for the outlaws to hear him. One of them, a short human with a badly scarred face eyed Lendo down.
"I'm sorry, friend. I do't believe we've met." He said, his low, gruff voice a complete contrast to his small stature.
"But you will. Heard the story about that death stick heist your Sullustan friend was telling. I was impressed, so I thought I'd treat you all to a drink."
"Stranger offers a man a drink in a slum like this, man's gotta be suspicious." The man responded. The bartender placed the drinks on the counter, sliding them to each member of the gang. When the short one's drink was slid toward him, he simply folded his arms and stared at Lendo.
"It's not poison, if that's what you're thinking." Lendo said, raising his arms defensively. "I'm just a fellow outlaw, showing his respect." Lendo then ordered a drink for himself. The bartender handed it to him, and Lendo took a generous sip, a show of good faith to his suspicious adversary.
"Hey there, pal. You gonna pay for these?" The bartender asked. "Don't worry, my friend back there'll cover the bill." Lendo replied, gesturing toward Sammo. He then turned toward the group of bandits, who had returned to telling stories and enjoying their drinks, the short, scarred man included. Lendo took his drink, strolled toward them and raised his glass.
"A toast! To a job well done!" He said boisterously. The bandits all raised their glasses, giving drunken shouts of approval. Lendo then made his move. In one quick motion, he put his drink down, slipped on his goggles, polarizing them as far as he could. He then pulled his hand out of his coat pocket, revealing a flash grenade. He tossed it into the center of the group, and in seconds they were enveloped in a blinding flash of white light. Most of them shouted and shielded their eyes, but the more experienced members reached for their weapons. Lendo targeted them first, drawing his own pistol and firing within seconds, first to disarm, then to kill. The targeting system in his goggles coupled with his polarizing them made him nearly immune to the effects of the grenade, and as a result he managed to make short work of the band of outlaws. Some managed to dodge his initial attack and retaliate. One of them got lucky and managed to graze his right thigh. Lendo winced, but powered through the pain. He'd be able to treat it once he got back to the ship. By the end of it, his weapon was depleted, but the bandits were all dead. The entire spectacle probably lasted about ten seconds. Lendo removed his goggles and holstered his weapon, walking back to the bartender's counter, now with a slight limp and spoke.
"Sorry about that. They had a bounty on their heads. I'll send you a cut for the mess."
He then turned to Sammo.
"Let's go collect us a bounty."

 

[Sammo Hache-Khe of Rae]

@[member="Lendo Dral"]
Sammo turned, his gaze following Lendo with a slightly raised eyebrow as he marched to the group of thugs, Sammo knew where that was going and sighed slightly, feeling his side for his hidden shattergun.
He watched calmly, clenching his jaw slightly in case the whole bar went into a brawl.

And of course, sooner rather than later shots were heard, with the thugs ending dead on the floor. Sammo sighed as he left few credits on the counter, to cover the drink and some of the damage.
He walked over to the scene, taking out his datapad and lifting it up to take a few holo-pictures as evidence.
"Indeed, let's not linger here too much."
He motioned towards the exit for Lando, having one more look into the bar in case somebody else was drawing a weapon.
"Anyway, your ship should fit into my hangars, meet me in orbit, look for a ghost ship, you'll know which one when you'll see it."
He nodded to Lando
"On board I'll tell you about others who can offer you a job and some destinations we'll be stopping by soon, alright?"
He patted his shoulder
"Well, Force be with you."