Luck Be A Lady

[Kalous Anson]

It wasn't just the cramped space of this starport that bothered Kalous--it was the smell. These spaceports were breeding grounds for the nastests of smugglers, homeless, and degenerates. Every single person in the universe that could use a good shower and deodorant all seemed to inhabit the ports like this--even during the regular police sweeps--that made any time spent between your ship and the fresh air to be unbearable. It was all in the name of being cost effective.

When [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] picked up her pace Kalous knew that there must be some sort of time constraint that the two were working on. Of course there was and Kalous was just too wet behind the ears to realize that time was always of the essence when there was another sentient being fleeing for their own safety and security. He was the hunted and Kalous knew how that could be.

During his time in prison he had spent many nights fending off those who sought to prove they were better than the former Grav-ball player. It was his social stature, and former wealth, that made him a prime target for all those whom had been arrested for just trying to feed their families. Kalous was one of the biggest and easiest targets for everyone to gang up on. He used to be one of the privileged few and now he was nothing more than a common gun-for-hire.

Determined to push those lingering traumas to the back of his mind; Kalous carried on, his hands resting on the handles of his pistols, while his eyes carefully searched for their target. He looked from terminal to terminal as "Z" continued to walk with purpose. It didn't take him long to catch up after each brief search that made him seem like a complete amateur in the presence of a seasoned veteran. It was almost as if he were a simple-minded brute searching for a needle in a haystack--not knowing where to look--whereas "Z" knew what to look for and where.

It was then, when Kalous was nearly exasperated from playing a constant game of catch-up, that he caught of glimpse of his target. He remained silent, however, and simply tracked the man with his eyes. He knew that "Z" would be quick to catch on--if she hadn't already--that the man they were looking for was standing in line waiting to board his transport to salvation.

Rael was shifting from side to side as nervously as anyone could imagine. His hands were shaking, knees trembling in fear, and worst of all he added to the atmosphere of this quaint spaceport with the stench that radiated off of his sweat that lingered from their chase earlier in the evening...

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Oh good. Her eyes locked on the target. She smiled. Yeah. No doubt he'd noticed him too. She glanced at her temporary partner and nodded.

"Hang back. He knows you. He don't know me."

And that was truth. She'd been blending in with the crowd, while [member="Kalous Anson"] had torn through it like a tank. If she was going to get him back alive, they needed to be smart about this- and fast. He couldn't be allowed offworld. She carefully pulled out her blaster pisol and stored it in her purse, careful that nobody saw it and freaked out. She moved ahead cutting in line right behind the target, making sure that her purse was open just enough that the couple behind her saw the handle of her pistol. She gave the frightened couple a smile and wink. That usually was enough to keep someone silent.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

All Kalous could do was nod in affirmation to his veteran counterpart. He knew that he wouldn't be able to sneak through the crowd stealthily, nor would he be able to plow through them all efficiently enough, to capture his target. He continuously cursed in his mind at his own misfortunate first hunt. He had hoped things would've been easier, gone smoother, and even gave him a little more excitement than a simple chase but that isn't what most bounties were like, and this was just like most bounties--Simple, stupid, and full of painstaking decisions that could make the difference between getting paid and going back to your ship starving and lonely.

He did, slowly, reach down to his right thigh and grasp a small metal handle that was affixed to it. This was his prized collapsable stun baton--a modified version of the baton he had used during his days as a professional Grav-ball player--but he left it in its collapsed state to not attract any attention as he watched [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] creep towards Rael with her purse in hand and a confident hitch in her step. She was far too used to this sort of work and that is exactly how Kalous wanted to be. He wanted to feel like he was in control of everything and that nothing could deceive or dupe him. With time, he hoped, that would come.

Rael didn't notice the woman in the stained and torn white dress approach him from behind, sliding into a position in the line as she did so. The people who she had flashed the butt of her pistol to didn't exactly feel safe with her in front of them but they were also smart enough to know not to make a noise that could provoke her. She looked like trouble waiting to happen with the stains down her dress and the fringe of the hem fraying along the tear that she had made. Indeed, the people that were immediately behind her saw fit to slowly fall back in the line towards the end of it--at least they could make a quick escape if they weren't troubled by other passengers behind them. It was during this slow retreat that one of the passengers tripped on a metal pole that held up the dividing rope of the line--as all of their attention was on the supposed crazy woman with a pistol in her purse--and with a thud and a clatter the entire line turned to face the noise--including Rael!

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

That was the moment to strike. No need to panic. The second she heard it, her hand was at the knife at her thigh. She tore it out of the holster and had it at her bounties throat in a heartbeat.

"'Ello, 'ello. Nice to meet ya. I'm a bounty hunter, and you're my next paycheck."

The panic around her was going to make things difficult... unless she played her last card.

"'S'alright!" she shouted, "This man is wanted by the authorities. No need to panic. I'm bringing him in. You're welcome!"

She reached into her purse with the knife still pressed ever so slightly into his neck for a set of cuffs, eyes locking on [member="Kalous Anson"] and nodding for him to come over as well.

 

[Kalous Anson]

Kalous approached [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] and Rael with patience and precision, step by step, breath by breath. As he approached, Kalous flicked his right wrist to extend his stun baton to its full length--activating the hissing electric shocker as he did so. His eyes shifted from between "Z" and his target--his mind wrestling with how to handle this situation. It was true that he wanted this bounty for himself--for his first--but did he really want to be so cavalier in his efforts as to spurn a potential ally in the process?

And so, with these thoughts on his mind, Kalous inched closer to the pair. His hips opened to both of them--still unsure of his own potential actions--but it was when he was within his own arm's reach from the two that he struck out at them. His right arm flew forward--his hips rotating for power--as the end of the baton would seem as if it were heading to stun the consciousness out of his temporary partner, "Z". It was in the last second, however, that he continued to turn his hips--missing "Z" completely--and striking a blow with his stun baton at Rael's midsection.

Rael replied with squeals and screams only fit for a child nursing a broken body part. It would've been humorous to Kalous if he hadn't been so focused on the hope that "Z" wouldn't try to take him out after his own decision to wrestle with how to proceed with the bounty pained him. Kalous had hoped that she would see things as he did--mainly so that he wouldn't have to make a new enemy on his first day on the job--and all he had was that hope.

"That's for running on me," Kalous spat at Rael as he fell to the ground--writhing in pain--as he entered the fetal position. "I like cardio as much as the next guy but not as much as I like credits."

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Yes. Zandra smirked. This was it. Moment of truth. If he tried what she thought he might, she'd be ready. And if he made the right call.... well, there might be hope for him yet. And lo and behold! The echani grinned as their captive fell to the ground and she snapped on a set of cuffs. People moved out of their way in an instant. Smart.

"Not gunna lie, I thought you were about ta do somethin' real stupid for a second," she laughed.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Kalous turned on his heel--ever so smoothly--to be better able to give [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] his full attention when she spoke. His stun baton was simply twirling between the fingers on his right hand--occasionally sliding nearly out of control before he reigned it in--before he decided to prod Rael with it for good measure. A sadist was one thing that Kalous wasn't but it was always fun watching someone being punished for their wrongdoings--he just loved to facilitate that punishment when he was the one who was wronged.

"So did I," he remarked in a cute quip before continuing. "But I figured that I owed you at least a warning before I took my bounty. Nothing personal, just business."

He felt a tad bit guilty for attempting to hoard this bounty but it was his first and he just had to have it all. It wasn't entirely about the money--more about the pride of his first conquest--but it would be a nice bonus to the satisfaction he would have when he turned Rael in.

"It's my first. I hope you understand," Kalous finished as he collapsed his stun baton, placed it away, and reached out his right hand for a simple shake.

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra's smile never faded. It was too good. The whole thing. Too easy. Nothing was ever that easy. But this was. He might be good to have around... if he passed his final test. If he did, she might just have jobs for him in the future.

"Nah, I gatcha." she nodded, holding the unconscious bounty up by the cuffs with one hand while she reached out with her other, "But next time I think, even for a second, you might turn on me, I'll drop you like a dead bantha. Got it?"

And she meant it. She didn't need a blaster. She'd taken out men much bigger than this one with her fists. Of course, killing him would be a waste. He had potential. Zandra hated wasted potential.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

"What? Not even gonna use my resemblance to a squid? I'm insulted," he exclaimed in a jovial fashion as he gave their handshake a little bit of an extra squeeze.

It wasn't as if he was attempting to be threatening toward her--he didn't have to--he was confident enough in his own abilities that he didn't have to resort to any threats, veiled or otherwise, as it would pertain to his own combat expertise. At times he enjoyed playing the fool, and sometimes he wasn't even playing, but he knew a thing or two about hand to hand combat and he had decided that if he had to enter combat with [member="Zandra Tal'verda"], that would be how he would do it.

"You might want to pick up some new clothes in the gift shop," he began again as he reached for his bounty--pinching the man on the pressure points in his neck. "You're a mess."

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Her pale eyes passed over her... comrade for an instant. He was bigger than her. Probably stronger. And that trick with the pressure points? But she had no doubts that she'd have him outmatched in speed and experience... if it came to it. And if it did, and she was doing poorly, well, she was a pirate. Playing fair wasn't exactly in the job description.

"Ha! I'm always a mess. This ain't nothin' new!"

She grinned and with strength very disproportional to her stature, pulled the bounty up over her shoulder.

"Ever consider piracy? Ya got a very cutthroat way about ya. Could do real well, I think. "

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

A grimaced grin appeared under the mask that separated Kalous' expressions from the rest of the galaxy. There was something that he felt between them--a tension of a competitive sort--that he couldn't help but admire. She was, by far, the smaller of the two in terms of stature but she still wanted to be in control of the situation. It was almost as if he was being tested by an elder sibling or teammate. Amusement would be a word that could describe this feeling that he felt up welling inside of himself but another was a stern resolve.

"I prefer to stay within the law," he began as he reached out with his left hand to grab the bounty that was on the shoulders of [member="Zandra Tal'verda"]. He couldn't let her carry that mass of cre--burden while he knew that he would be exchanging that man for a nice sum. "But I can get moody, sometimes. I'll take this one though."

His body language would show nothing but a stoic certainty of the words that he said. His feet were spread for balance and his right arm was steadily hanging down his side--near a bunch of fun toys that he could use if she would refuse his 'politeness'. There was little that he wanted in this moment but one of the things that he did want was weighing down on the shoulders of another and that he just couldn't let that opportunity pass.

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra raised a thin pale eyebrow at this. Oh yes. This was interesting. He expected a fight. No. He wanted a fight. She could see it.

But now was not the time or the place. She grinned and let him take the man from her. Well, honestly, with a bounty as large as hers hanging over her head, it wasn't like she planned on turning him in herself.

"Thanks. Guy was absolutely killin' my shoulders."

Then she chose to suggest something... unusual. Another test.

"I have an idea- since this is your first bounty, why don't you go turn him in by yourself?"

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Kalous was expecting a fight alright, or at least he thought that's how bounty hunters and the like solved their disputes. This was his first real interaction with one--something close to one--and he had presumed that these sort would fight for just about anything that they wanted. Being pleasantly surprised was something new to Kalous. His previous dealings with just about everyone in his entire life just seemed to run sour and this interaction just seemed to be all positive.

"I was planning on it," he said as he dragged the bounty off of [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] and placed him just in between the two. It was almost a projected impasse that the two would have to get over in order to proceed with their dealings. "But now that you mention it... is there a reason why you don't want to turn him in yourself?"

Curiosity was something that wasn't lost on the Nautolan--he wasn't any feline species so he figured it couldn't hurt him--and with his inquisitive nature when it came to learning new things; Kalous figured that there just had to be a reason that "Z" suddenly wanted no part in turning in this bounty. He had already made up his mind that her reasoning wouldn't be because it was his first bounty, no, it had to be something else. Something more mysterious.

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Ah, good. He was catching on. Her grin widened to an almost inhuman size. Smart. She liked this one. He'd be a good ally... if she ever needed it. Credits meant less than what she really wanted- another set of eyes.

"Hey, if you don' wanna, I'll take 'im in. I thought I was doin' ya a favor. No worries. I got this one then."

She made to reach for the bounty again, knowing full well he wanted it all to himself. Well, she wasn't about to let him have all the credits, but he could have a sizable cut. That was awfully generous of her, if you asked any of her associates. Yes. Very generous. But she didn't give help for free. Not anymore. She needed something, and bounty hunters were useful.

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

"You're definitely hiding something, but aren't we all," Kalous said as he pulled his bounty a tad bit tighter toward himself.

There was no chance that he would allow anyone any piece of this bounty. It was true that he didn't really have a ton to do with the capture of Rael but he needed those credits mightily bad. And he loved credits. As for [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] and her mystery, well, Kalous would just have to go fishing--a very relatable analogy considering his species. Having to watch her reactions to his next few words would be something rather easy when she couldn't even make out anything under his visor, or at least he thought she couldn't. One could never be sure of anything in this galaxy.

"I'm sure you'd rather me take him in than take you in, right?"

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra tilted her head to the side. Good. Clever. Getting close. Getting very close. She grinned, smoothing out her ruined dress.

"Now, what makes you think that?" she asked, feeling her knife safely secured at her thigh, "I don' think I said anything about it."

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

A look of surprise was something to be expected under the veil that Kalous wore over his face, however, this time he wasn't not surprised at the fact that his notion seemed to strike a chord with [member="Zandra Tal'verda"]. If his rising suspicions hadn't been justified before--they definately were now. It wasn't as if Kalous thought that "Z" wouldn't be wanted by anyone for anything--the fact that she had mentioned piracy to him had been his first clue--it was the way she had answered his question.

Her statement had been a pure deflection of his intentions. "Z" had decided to evade an answer by sidestepping a concrete "yes" or "no". This was something that lit a spark under Kalous' fishing expedition--almost as if he had unexpectedly replaced his lures with a thermal detonator. Trying to figure out how hard to press "Z" for this information was now on the forefront of his mind as she calmly smoothed out her dress.

"You just did," he remarked with an air of confidence. His guess seemed to have turned out to hit the womp rat on the head. "Care to elaborate?"

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra sighed, straightened up and ran a hand through her messy white locks. Damn. This shoulda been easy. Well. Life was complicated.

"Elaborate? Well, A'right. I guess I can tell ya my secret. Since we're friends now 'n all. M'names Zandra. If ya ever been to the outer rim, the name aughta strike a cord with ya. Sometimes I go by Z. Lady Z, Captain, Zandra the Terrible... The Pirate Queen. Any of that ring a bell?"

Yeah. This was either going to end in a handshake, or with her stabbing someone.

"I got a favor ta ask ya."

[member="Kalous Anson"]

 

[Kalous Anson]

Kalous thought that whatever [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] had to say would be a lot to take in, but to his surprise, it wasn't. It was all pretty standard stuff, and it was as sad as ever that this had become standard, but when he heard her start to ask her favor there was something inside of him that hoped she would just stop. He thought he knew what the favor would be but his wasn't interested in hearing it. There was a policy he had with himself--don't ask don't tell--that involved looking the other way for certain things that he found morally questionable.

It's true that his morals were as flexible as they came when it came down to earning a credit here or there but he wasn't prepared to do anything to harm innocents out in the middle of space--yet that was the life of a pirate. Kalous didn't want to know what she wanted, know what she had done, or even know what she planned on doing. The only thing Kaous wanted to know was if he had to look the other way this time. She had helped him, and for that he was grateful enough, grateful enough to turn a blind eye to her omission and decide that he hadn't heard it all for the sake of a potential ally down the road.

"Stop," he began with an ending. "I've spent the past year in jail. I haven't heard of you nor do I want to hear of your exploits. You helped me today and we may need some favors from each other in the future. Let's leave it at that and I'll pretend I didn't hear that. Fair?"

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra shook her head. He was on the right track, but for once, Zandra wanted something simple. She reached into her purse, slowly, so as not to startle him and make him think she was about to pull out a weapon. Instead, what she pulled out was a picture of a man.

"No. No. It ain't like that, my favor, I mean. I need your help. I just need you to look at this picture and tell me if you've seen this man anywhere. His name is [member="Calico Tal'verda"]. I've been looking for him since that incident where people started disappearing. Most folks came back. He never did.

The rough and tough pirate Queen now looked as fragile as a butterfly. She held the picture out- the only picture she had of him. Sure, she had holos, of course. Recordings, old messages. Sometimes she'd watch those, just to remind herself how he moved, how he sounded. But there was something so special about having the image of him, frozen in time and space forever, in the palm of her hand.

"Look hard. He's a clone, so ther're others that look like him, but he has a scar right here."

[member="Kalous Anson"]