Private Misadventure on Nar Shaddaa

[Talo Krayt]

His offer to help her get the credits she needed went over badly - Shai, in fact, revealed that she needed 500,000 credits for Kad Ha'rangir knows what which even took him aback slightly. His sympathy for her was quickly gone, however, as she pushed him into his side of the speeder. Still, he let her off, if it was anyone else that had tried that on him - they'd both be in a very different, more physical, situation right now.

She kept going on and on while Talo continued to sit in his seat in silence. Once she finished, she buried her face into her hands and he couldn't tell if she was crying or not - a few moments of silence passed, the Mandalorian was over all of this, especially after his attempt at helping her out. Talo, after giving her the rest of his credits at some vain attempt at helping her tough situation, hopped out of the passenger seat and began walking away when she finally spoke up, informing him of a middle man that hangs at the Spiced Spider nightclub. Stopping in place, his body remained still but his head slowly turned to glance at her one last time - she was still in the same position he'd left her in.

"She'll get over it." he thought to himself, in their world and their line of work, another opportunity would present itself for her to get the money she needed. With that, he simply continued forward and made his way to the nightclub. Talo felt less remorseful as he realised it was her who practically forced her way into his job - if she'd just kept her snout out of his affairs, she'd still have that 50,000 she was owed.

After a while, Talo had arrived outside the nightclub but on the way, he noticed he was being followed by two men. He played coy, and waited to see what they were planning. Entering the nightclub, he was met with vibrating electronic music that sent a current through his bones, creating a tingling sensation - there was a pool of people in the centre of the nightclub, dancing in the most embarrassing and desperate manners possible. However, off to the side, there were booths with a small amount of people scattered around, sat at some of them, simply drinking or mingling away.

Right now he had two problems on his hands - handle the two guys tailing him, and find the Hutt's fence in this place. The Mandalorian crossed the threshold of ever-changing light colours and sat at an empty booth with his arms resting on the table, keeping a covert eye on his pursuers who were watching him from separate booths. Meanwhile, he'd also have to scout the area and deduce who the fence would be... if he was even here at all.

After fifteen or twenty minutes, he spotted a Twi'lek emerge from the crowd with a holocomm in one hand while using the other to block out the thumping music in one of his ears. While Talo couldn't see what was on the holocomm, when the transmission ended however, the Twi'lek looked directly in Talo's direction before rushing off. That was his man. Sliding out of the booth, Talo made his way to the exit, noticing the two men stand up simultaneously as well. Now outside the nightclub, Talo's ears rung as he could still hear the muffled sound of the club's music behind him - outside waiting for him was the Twi'lek who was pointing a blaster at him, Talo met this with pulling out his own two blasters. Outstretching both his arms in opposite directions, he aimed one blaster at the Twi'lek and the other at his pursuers, now behind him with their own blasters drawn.

"Three against one, bucket head!" the Twi'lek called out, a slight shake in his hand and tone. Grinning under his T-visor, Talo responded calmly "My kind of odds."

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai slowly turned her head to get a glance at him as he gave her one last look, a trail of tears rather clear on the fur under her eyes. She looked away again and gave another sob as she smoked her cigarette in silence. He left her the speeder which she was thankful for, otherwise she'd need to steal another one which she really didn't want to do now. But after a bit of just letting her emotions out she was slowly getting her wits back together. She finally stood up after her backside fell asleep and got back into the speeder. She slid her goggles back onto her forehead, checked her gun and then blasted off to go find the Mando and their target. She had her plan in order and he was a part of it now, whether he liked it or not.

As the tension of the standoff was growing thicker, a speeder would suddenly collide with the two thugs behind Talo, hurling them several meters ahead and completely annihilating them. Shai hopped out of the speeder and sent a stun bolt at the Twi'lek. Her thumb flicked the gun back to lethal mode and she levelled the hand cannon with Talo's head. Her read puffy eyes were seated in a hard frown as she stared at the Mandalorian through the pistol's iron sights. "Here's how it's gonna go down, bucko. We're gonna get this queen. Then we're gonna get our money. After that, me and you climb back into this speeder and then we're going back to Chase where you're gonna help me get my money out of him. After that, I'm buying you a drink as a professional courtesy and then you can kark off into your own direction while I kark off into mine." she stated with a serious and demanding tone. "Do we understand each other?" she continued, tilting her head slightly as she raised an eyebrow.

Once they were on the same level, she lowered her gun and holstered it before walking over to the Twi'lek. She rested her hands on her hips and simply stared at him in thought. "He's coming with us." she said simply before getting into the speeder and backint it up until she was right by the guy. "Help me load him in." she said as she started struggling to load the man into the back of the speeder.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

Fingers resting on the trigger of both his blasters, Talo had strategised various ways to take them down - with the blaster aimed at the two thugs, it was set to kill while the other was set to stun. In his mind, the best thing to do was to stun the Twi'lek first and then attack the rest, but he'd have to do it quickly and efficiently - or he was dead.

Then out of nowhere, a familiar looking speeder crashed into the two thugs which caused Talo to jump back to avoid any potential danger. Much to his surprise, Shai was the one who emerged from the speeder and before he could react she had shot off a stun blast, Talo, following the direction of the stun bolt watched as it hit the Twi'lek, momentarily turning him blue as it overloaded his nervous system. Turning his head back around to Shai, she caught him off-guard and was standing in front of him with her weapon aimed at his head.

She looked like she'd been crying, those credits must have meant a lot to her. Remaining still and calm, he listened to her demands and raising his hand, the Mandalorian gently moved the blaster away from him with his index and middle finger "Fair enough." he agreed with a smirk and an impressed tone. He was impressed with her authoritativeness and respected it as well. Talo folded his arms and responded "That goes without saying." bluntly to her statement about bringing the Twi'lek with them.

Now at a new understanding, Talo approached their unconscious hostage and crouched down, with ease the Mandalorian lifted him over his shoulder before approaching the back of the speeder and dropping him in there like a bag of groceries. Walking back round to the passenger seat, Talo vaulted into the seat and rested his arm over the door frame - turning his head to look at Shai with his expressionless T-visor, he asked "What made you come back?" casually, a hint of curiosity showing in his otherwise monotone voice.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

With Talo's help Shai quickly had the guy loaded in and in no time at all they were ready to depart. She had to admit that she was relieved to have him agree to her terms. If this worked out, she'd definitely help him out if he needed it.

Once they were in the speeder, Talo asked her what she was expecting. "I need that money." she stated seriously. "You don't have to know why and you probably won't care either way, but that money will help me out a ton and get me that much closer to my goal." she explained to him before looking ahead of them at the dead thugs on the ground. "There goes my sleep for the night." she commented before calmly driving off.

After a bit they arrived at an abandoned warehouse and Shai let Talo carry the guy as she led him to the office space. "Just drop him into a chair." she said as she pulled some rope out of her satchel. She tied him down properly with no way of wiggling out then sat down on a nearby desk. She sighed heavily and relaxed, tilting her head back as she ran her hands through her messy hair. "He should be waking up any moment now." she softly stated as she looked back to Talo. "I've had worse days than this. But this one definitely feels like a top ten for me at this point. I just wanna go crawl in bed already." she admitted gently as she gave a small smile, staring at nothing in particular.

Her eyes immediately snapped to the Twi'lek when he started to stir. "You wanna get some answers out of him or should I?" she asked him.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

Talo nodded slowly at her answer, not wishing to pry ant further as it was her business after all - and she didn't appreciate him involving himself in it. He noticed her eyeing the dead thugs in front of them where she commented she'd no longer be able to sleep, turning his head slightly he simply replied with "Who needs sleep." in a dry but jesting manner as she drove off.

Eventually, Shai parked outside some abandoned warehouse. Getting out of the speeder, he picked the Twi'lek up over his shoulder and followed Shai inside - "This your place?" he asked, curious to know who owned the warehouse or how Shai even knew about this place. Stopping in front of a chair, Talo threw the unconscious hostage into the chair with the force of his landing causing the chair to roll back slightly into a wall. The Mandalorian folded his arms and watched as Shai wrapped some of it around him, firmly tying him down - raising an eyebrow, he wondered why she'd keep a line of rope in her satchel. Did he even want to know?

Glancing over to Shai, he could practically feel the stress radiate from her and it was finally confirmed when she mentioned wanting to crawl into bed. It earned her a light but lazy chuckle, his arms loosened "I'm ready to get off this planet too." he added, Talo's shoulders slumped slightly and he let out a prolonged sigh "Sorry about your money, I didn't know it was so much." he apologised and as he did so, the Twi'lek began to stir.

Shai asked who'd do the interrogating but Talo simply unfolded his arms and cracked his knuckles as he approached the Twi'lek "Good cop, bad cop." he stated with no further explanation. With the way he spoke and by his body language, Shai would know which role he'd play.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Talo asked about the place, earning a chuckle from Shai. "Hell no! I got no need for an abandoned place. This is just an old place I know about. Been abandoned for years now as far as I can tell." she explained simply to him. Once the guy was tied down they took their little break. He spoke up again and apologized about her money situation. She gave him a light smile and was about to say something when the guy woke up.

Talo's comment brought a menacing grin from Shai as she drew her pistol. "Sure thing." she quipped in a cold voice, looking like she was ready to murder the poor fool. She walked up to him and flipped the pistol around to catch it by the barrel...before giving the twi'lek a few hard whacks over the head with her weapon. After two hard hits she gave one last hit against the jaw before flipping the gun around and pressing the barrel into his chest. "Yo! Tail-head!" she shouted at him as she placed a boot on his groin and started pressing down. Once she had his undivided attention, she snarled at him as her glowing red eyes glared into his soul. "You better karking listen up, limp dick. My friend and I have had a really suckish day today and we're in a hurry. So you better talk and talk quickly." she spoke with a cold, growling voice as her foot's pressure increased more and more.

She leaned in close to his face, her sharp teeth inches from his throat. "Where. Is. Detective. Starsun?" she spoke clearly, tilting her head slightly as she glared at his beaten face. Her violent display seemed to work nicely, given the terrified look he was giving Talo...

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

Talo smirked under his helmet at Shai's display and even more so at the worried look the Twi'lek gave him. Folding his arms, he simply feigned a sympathetic shrug at the poor Twi'lek giving him false fear that Shai's actions going forward were out of his hands. After some time of the Twi'lek whimpering and quivering in the chair, the Mandalorian decided it was time for him to come in - he casually approached Shai and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That looked like that hurt." he stated nonchalantly, applying a little pressure on her shoulder signalling for her to take a step back, Talo stood in front of the Twi'lek and got down on one knee, resting an arm on his elevated leg before meeting his gaze with the panicked Twi'lek. "Sorry about that, my friend's had an arguably worse day than mine, and she's ready to explode." he half-exaggerated, glancing back at Shai for a brief moment before returning to the Twi'lek. "If you don't give us what we want, I can't guarantee she'll go easy on you... nor will I." he said feigning a sympathetic tone as he patted his vibrodagger on his side.

Panting rapidly, the Twi'lek frantically looked back and forth between Shai and Talo - his options were garbage, give up Starsun and face the wrath of the Hutts or torture by a Mandalorian and a Shistavanen. "Alright, alright! I-I'll tell you, just keep her away from me... Starsun is holed up in a warehouse on the outskirts just south of here. You can't miss it." he confessed in a pleading tone. With that, Talo patted the Twi'lek's cheek before standing up and making his way to the office door.

"Wait! You just gonna leave me here?!" he cried out, Talo, turning his head slightly, would answer "Wouldn't be smart to let you go if you're lying now, would it?" he responded coldly. The Twi'lek squirmed in the seat, attempting to loosen his bindings "That warehouse is practically a fortress! You'll never get to her!" he argued back but to no avail. Hovering his palm over the locking panel, he pressed it and opened the office door before leaving the Twi'lek with "You'd better hope we survive then." before exiting through it and returning to the speeder.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai kept up the appearance of a hard and cold killer until she felt his hand on her shoulder. She gave him a glare then turned back to the twi'lek with a snarl. But she backed off, holstering her pistol and turning away to go stare out a window. She folded her arms and turned back to look at Talo as he won the guy over. They got their answer and Shai fell in behind Talo. With a cold and unnerving giggle she stopped by the door and flashed him a wink before closing the door with a sickening grin.

She reached the speeder just after Talo and hopped in. Closing the door she burst out in a giggle fit. She gave him a slap against the arm before tapping the wheel as she laughed. "Oh man! did you see his face?! You'd think he thought I was some karking serial killer or something!" she cried out as she started dying down. She started up the speeder and flew off towards her ship. "I know the place he's talking about. It's a Hutt favourite. I've dealt with some peeps there in the past. He's not lying, it's locked up tight. It's gonna be a trick to get in there...though I may have a way in for us. We're gonna need some stuff to help us out." she explained as she flew the speeder.

Once they got to the ship she landed next to it and got out. "Stay put, I'll be right back." she said before running into it. A minute or two later she emerged with a duffel bag almost as big as her. She dropped it onto the hood and zipped it open. "Welcome to my toy bag. Gear up, this is gonna be tricky." she commented as she slipped a bunch of different grenades into her satchel and stocked up on extra cells for her blaster. "Now there is a way into the heart of the complex. The warehouse used to be a processing plant of some sort. It's got a sewer system that's almost entirely flooded that was used to drain the chemicals and stuff they used. It's gonna stink like hell and most likely make us itch until we can get a shower, but odds are nobody's checking it. What do you think?" she explained as she turned to face him.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

As Talo waited inside the speeder, it didn't take long for Shai to follow shortly afterword. As soon as she got in, his head snapped in her direction when she burst into a fit of laughter, slapping his arm during it. Pulling his arm away, he waited for her to settle down although he was grinning under his helmet for the duration of her hysteria.

Then they were off, although he wondered where as it was in the wrong direction of the safe house. She explained that the Twi'lek was telling the truth but assured that she knew a way inside. "I figure that's where we're going." he deduced, referring to Shai's belief they'd need 'some stuff' to aid them.

Landing outside a ship which he assumed was hers, Talo complied with Shai's directions as he watched her enter the ship and in-turn, confirm that this was indeed her ship. He waited in the passenger seat, glancing around the area while adjusting his vambraces. A few moments passed and the golden-eyed pirate emerged from her ship with an extremely large duffel bag. Already knowing what this was, he stood up on his seat and got out to meet her at the speeder's hood.

Talo was more than impressed as his face lit up in excitement under his T-visor, folding his arms he faced Shai "Now you're speaking my language." he praised in his trademark nonchalant tone, although Shai would be able to hear a hint of excitement in the walled off Mandalorian. Rummaging through the bag, stocking up and increasing his grenades Talo would ask "Where'd you find all this?" he asked with genuine curiosity despite his calm tone. Finally, he pulled out a Amban phase-pulse blaster from Shai's duffel bag and the young Mandalorian's brown eyes glistened through his helmet. Slowly turning toward her, he holstered it to his back and grinned "You're full of surprises."

Now geared up and ready to go, he listened to Shai's proposal on how to enter the safe house - despite how unflattering it sounded, he didn't see any other choice than to risk defeat by going in blaster's-a-blazing. Shrugging at her, he plainly nodded "If that's the option with the highest chance of us succeeding. I don't have any objections." he confirmed.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai flashed him a grin as he commented on her bag of goodies. "I'm a gun runner, sweetheart. I got a bunch of toys like this and even some ones that make these look like pea shooters." she explained with a big smile on her face. "Stick around and play nice, and I might even hook you up." she teased him as she gave him a light nudge with her arm.

Talo had no objections over her plan so she gave a simple nod. "Perfect. Let's move it." she quipped as she dropped the duffel bag in the back of the speeder and hopped into the driver's seat. She blasted off with a cackling laugh towards the warehouse. Once they were close she stopped a distance away at an entrance to a maintenance hatch. She scanned the alleyway while she fiddled with the lock. Once the door was open along with the hatch that led to the sewers she walked back to the duffel bag. "This is gonna suck." she grumbled as she pulled a rebreather and mask out that covered her face properly. She looked at him with a nervous expression and took a deep breath. "I won't lie to you, I'm scared." she said to him as she sighed shakily to calm herself. "But...ma raised a queen, not a chicken. Let's go before I bounce out." she stated more to herself than to him before slipping on the mask and rebreather.

She went into the sewer tunnels first, ending up chest-deep in water that looked, smelled and felt sketchy. Thankfully there wasn't much of a current. She motioned for him to close up the entrances and follow before she slowly waded through the water. She quickly affixed a flashlight to her mask and held both her satchel and pistol above the water. The disgust was rather clear on her face.

However their journey wouldn't be without peril.

Shai froze up when she felt something around her ankle and glanced at Talo with wide eyes...before suddenly being pulled down into the water. A few seconds later something would grab hold of Talo's leg as well and attempt to pull him down into the water. They weren't alone...

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

After parking near a maintenance hatch, Talo hopped out of the passenger's seat and followed Shai into an alley and waited with his arms folded, keeping watch for any hostiles while she picked the lock. He would then watch as she pulled a mask and rebreather out of her trusty duffel bag, "Yep." he said in agreement to her complaints.

When she admitted fear however, Talo would attempt to reassure her with Mandalorian wisdom "Every warrior has to fear, so we can understand how to beat it." he said with a pat on her shoulder. Hopefully that gave her a bit of a confidence boost as she headed into the sewers first, Talo began climbing down the ladder slightly before closing the entrance behind them - when he was close enough to the bottom, Talo dropped into grotesque water making a disgusting grunt as it splashed over him.

Pressing a button on his helmet activated its light, allowing him to see better throughout the sewers. Scanning the sewer with caution, he took out his blaster pistol in his right and a vibrodagger in his left - he noticed Shai freeze up ahead of him before staring back at her, stirring his cautious nature. Before he could react, she was thrust under water by an invisible force "Shai!" he called out before feeling something wrap around his own leg before dragging him under as well, just in time, he managed to use his helmet's rebreather before being dragged under.

As it flailed him about underwater, his grip remained tight on his vibrodagger which he would use to cut into the creature's tentacle currently wrapped around his ankle. After cutting through it and escaping, he pulled himself out from the disgusting sewage water which was now all over him but there wasn't time to be concerned about that. He needed to help Shai and kill this thing. Aiming his blaster at the water, he waited for the creature to make its next move.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Talo managed to get free, but Shai wasn't as lucky. She was clinging onto her satchel and pistol for dear life, trying not to lose her only means of completing the mission. Her flashlight could be seen in the murky water, shining this way and that. Shai flailed, kicked and fought in whatever ways she could until she felt more tentacles on her. In her panicked state she fired off a few rounds, managing to tear off one of the tentacles and prying herself free.

She emerged with a loud gasp, her rebreather nowhere in sight. But before she could even take another breath, she was pulled under once more. This thing was angry. But in her struggle, her flashlight illuminated the creature's body. It was only for a moment before the light flickered and disappeared, but for Talo it would likely just be long enough to get a shot or two in. However their troubles weren't over. A loud droning sound echoed through the pipes and soon the current in the water started to get stronger. After a few seconds, the water rushed off into the pipeline. For several moments there was no means out...but in the distance was a large turbine slicing through the water at a ludicrous speed, carving up any solid objects or obstacles that might be problematic for the filtration systems of the district. The seemingly only way out was a maintenance ladder that was a few meters away from the turbine screaming away.

In the struggle, Shai managed to get her head above water and breathed heavily, though she quickly noticed the turbine being illuminated with an orange light above it. Her eyes went wide with horror as she tried to swim towards the ladder. But with her twig-like build, swimming against the current was impossible. Though that didn't stop her from fighting for her life as she swung her arms and legs to try and get her skinny ass over to the left for the ladder. She glanced behind her for a second, thinking that maybe Talo had something for this. He was a Mando, they always had a gadget for stuff like this! And even if not, at least he had some meat on him that could move in the water...

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

Talo spotted Shai's flashlight flailing about under the water, it was a struggle to get a focus but he could predict roughly where she was and in-turn the creature. Wading his way over, he was pleased to see her emerge from the water and attempted to rush toward her and grab her out of harm's way but it was already too late.

He reached out for her as she was dragged back under prompting him to punch the water in frustration. He watched Shai's flashlight in the water intensely, hoping for any kind of opening and to the Mandalorian's delight - she had managed to shine her light on the creature's body for a split second. Managing to memorise where it was, he aimed his blaster at where the light was and pulled the trigger twice shooting two bolts into it.

The young Mandalorian's head whipped and locked onto the direction of the groaning sound that reverberated through the area. What now? Talo felt himself thrust in the direction of the suddenly powerful current, as he was dragged along the current he was being forced in an out of the water before eventually gathering his bearings and managing to keep his head up and out of the water. That's when he noticed the turbine coming their way, he needed to find Shai. Fast.

Luckily, she managed to find her way back to the surface in front of him - for a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief, that was one problem solved. Talo scanned the area and noticed a maintenance ladder not far away from the turbine. He needed to time this right. Summoning all of his might, he swam against the current and fought his way to Shai - coming up closer behind her, he grabbed her waist with his left arm and pulled her close before aiming his right arm toward the ladder.

The grappling line from his right vambrace shot out at a break-neck speed, wrapping around one of the ladder's handle bars. Trusting Shai to keep hold of him, Talo freed his left arm to push a button on his right vambrace and subsequently the grappling line would pull the two toward the ladder. Grabbing one of the bars with one hand, he'd allow Shai to climb up it first before following close behind. Once they were out of there and in safety, Talo fell to his knees for and hung his head low panting - he needed to catch his breath for a moment.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Shai kept fighting to try and get to the side of the ladder. But it was no use and she was quickly getting tired. Things were looking more and more dire for her. She couldn't die, not like this. She still had half a million to go. This couldn't be the end of her!

A sudden jolt shot through her as she felt an arm around her. Not caring about who or what, she turned and grabbed hold of the person holding her. She only realized afterwards that it was Talo. She clung to him with everything she had and held on as he managed to get a cable around the ladder. They got to safety and Shai wasted no time climbing the ladder. She pushed the manhole open and entered a small room just big enough for the two of them. The sign on the door showed something about 'authorized personnel' and 'factory staff only'. At least they seemed to be in the right place.

She heard something behind her and scrammed yo help Talo up and out of the sewer. He dropped to his knees and Shai sat with her back against the wall, panting heavily as well. They were a mess, drenched in who-knows-what and smelling just as bad. Not to mention she looked like a mongrel that just crawled out of a sewer...quite an accurate resemblance. But as her eyes turned to look at him, she lunged and wrapped her arms around him. She hugged him as tightly as she could and pressed the side of her head against his. A shiver was coursing through her, both from fear and adrenaline. But she held on. For several moments she didn't move a muscle but finally she let go. "I'm buying you a karking drink after this mess." she muttered with a slow shake of her head, fear and shock still clearly in her eyes behind her goggles.

She sat back again to give him some space...only to then realize both her hands were empty. She patted around her body and frantically glanced around. "No, you can't be..." she trailed off and gave a heavy sigh. Her shoulders sagged and she pressed her head against the wall. "I lost my stuff." she admitted softly as she squeezed her eyes shut. This was just the cherry on top and now this day had moved from top 10 to top 5 of the worst days in her life.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

"Hkk!" was all that came from Talo's mouth as Shai completely surprised him with a hug of gratitude. It was tight, real tight. Usually he wouldn't feel it but his muscles were extremely sore from the accumulation of the events of the night but he remained in place, letting her hug him before eventually patting her back as a way to let her know to let go now.

"Some of the beskar you're hauling will be fine." he half-joked, unable to tell if Shai would actually realise due to his monotone. Not without struggle, Talo clutched one of his knees with his hand and managed to get to his feet again when he heard Shai, she seemed even more distressed. He looked at her and realised as she said it, she was missing her equipment - lost in the sewers.

Talo sighed, not out of frustration with her, but more so at the situation itself and how he wasn't surprised things went wrong in some shape or form. Without words and without hesitation, he pulled out one of his WESTAR-20s with one hand before unstrapping the Amban pulse blaster from his back and handing them to her "Here." before taking one grenade of each off his belt and handing those to her as well.

"This'll keep you alive." he assured before quickly adding "I want my 20 back though." before folding his arms. Talo then scanned the small room they were currently in, only now just taking notice of it properly "Where are we now?" he asked, focusing his attention on Shai once again.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Talo sighed and she figured it was him getting annoyed with her. Usually she would be kicking his ass for getting annoyed at her, but in that moment, she didn't feel like doing anything. Though when she saw the grip of a pistol in front of her, she looked up with curious eyes. She reached out and curled her fingers over the grip, getting a feel for the pistol. She smirked at his comment as she studied it, raising an eyebrow at him. "No promises." she quipped with a chuckle as she accepted the grenades as well. She clipped them to her belt and shoved the blaster in the back of her pants.

As she got up, he asked about their location. "From the look of it, right where we're supposed to be. It's a maintenance room right in the building we wanted to get into. So at least something's playing along with our plans." she explained, looking around. She reached out and hit the unlock button for the door. A faint 'click' sounded off and Shai partially opened it. She peered out and glanced around. Apart from some lights flickering now and then, it seemed empty. The only thing that indicated the presence of life was faint echoing of voices and rather new crates standing around.

Confident that they were in the clear, she opened it wide enough for them to get through and ducked in behind some crates. She looked around and indicated for him to follow. "We're clean, relatively speaking. By the look of it, there's some life in the front of the warehouse, in the office area. Though I haven't seen anything else yet." she explained quietly, though her whisper voice wasn't exactly soft. "What's the plan?" she asked him as she kept her eyes on their surroundings.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

The young Mandalorian rolled his eyes as Shai's 'no promises' response. Surprisingly she didn't take the pulse rifle which he was pleased with as he strapped back onto his armoured back, he thought about how he was very much eager to try it out - he hoped disintegrating an enemy was as fun as it looked. Shai then explained that, luckily, they were where they needed to be prompting Talo to nod in response although deep down he was relieved.

Following her out of the maintenance room and behind the crates, Shai spoke over the faint voices he could hear in the distance as he alternated between trying to listen to them and to her. Although half-listening, he got the gist of what she was saying - then she asked him the plan. Not answering yet, Talo peeked above the crates and scanned the warehouse, she was right there was some life in the office area but he had also spotted higher ground. A metal staircase located on the east side which led to metal walkways that spread across the top-half of the warehouse, and luckily for them there were no guards present.

Lowering back down, his T-visor met Shai's eyes "She's probably in the office too. I'll get to higher ground and pick them off with the rifle. When they scramble, you pick out the rest she's bound to show herself amongst the chaos." it was vague but he knew Shai was sufficient enough to handle herself. Glancing over to the staircase once more, there was a clear path there but it was blocked off by a row of guards but that'll be easy to take care of. Talo aimed his left vambrace at the guards before shooting off poison darts at each of them, making a satisfying pinching sound as it hit their skin. Within seconds, the guards were on the floor and with the front of the warehouse being so far from the staircase no one would notice the bodies until too late.

The Mandalorian exited their hiding spot and in a crouching position, he made his way to the metal staircase. Climbing up the stairs as quiet as he could, he periodically checked if he was clear. Finally reaching the top, Talo stealthily walked across the walkways before finding a good sniping position and when he did, he unstrapped the phase-pulse rifle from his back and rested its barrel on the walkway's railing. Hovering his T-visor just inches away from the rifle's scope, he closed one eye and used the other to find his first target. Spotting a small group, a Nautolan, a Devaronian and a human he set his sights on the Devaronian, aiming the rifle right at him. Finger wrapped around the trigger, Talo gently pulled it back and with a loud 'zapping' noise the Devaronian was vaporised leaving nothing but a pile of clothes behind.

Like he guessed, the guards scattered like womp rats in fear and confusion - some began blindly shooting while others scoured the area looking for the shooter. Taking advantage of the confusion, Talo vaporised a few more while, hopefully, Shai was doing her part.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

She waited for Talo to do his assessment then looked to him as he formulated a plan. She got the gist of what he was getting at, giving him a nod. "See you on the other side." she quipped as she gave him a hopeful smile. She drew the blaster he gave her and took a grenade in her other hand.

The Shistavanen snaked around the building until she got into position. "In position." she whispered into her commlink as she hid behind a pillar outside of the office area. She had a smashing view of the place, able to see and fire on both the front and side exits. If they ran, she would drop them. They only had one target, the rest were collateral damage. The day was already a mess, the thought of needlessly killing the rest was bugging her. So she went against her usual choice and flipped the blaster over to 'stun'. A few moments later the shooting started. She watched as the pulse rifle vaporized its victims entirely, leaving only some ash and their clothes behind. She was familiar with the weapons, but never before did she see the highly illegal weapon being used on people.

She snapped back into reality when people started freaking out. She let them run past her, dropping them carefully to not alert the others immediately. However in the corner of her eye, she spotted their target. She was trying to run off into the deeper parts of the facility. Shai bit her lip and took aim as she kept running further and further. With her breath held she squeezed the trigger and sent the stun bolt into the back of the corrupt detective. She smirked to herself and resumed her shooting as she helped Talo out. In no time at all they had the gangsters scatter to the wind. Shai sighed with relief as she made her way to the detective. She looked her over and rolled her onto her back, making sure it was the right target. "It's her. Let's get out of here." she spoke into her commlink. She grabbed hold of the woman and, with heavy grunts, started to drag her away from the base.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

A sadistic grin etched on Talo's olive complexion as he continued vaporising moronic thugs. He'd have to negotiate a way to keep this rifle when it was all over. Eventually, the thugs caught a clue and realised Talo was shooting at them from the walkways. Adapting the plan, the Mandalorian quickly jerked his head and body out of the way, avoiding a blaster bolt to the shoulder.

Taking out one of his smoke grenades, he dropped it onto the ground below before quickly jumping onto the railing and then off of it. Shooting a grappling line on one of the railings to stabilise his descent, eventually landing into the smoke he activated his thermal sensors in his helmet and picked off some more with his vibrodaggers. Eventually, the rest of the thugs knew this was a losing battle and retreated.

When the smoke had cleared, both figuratively and literally, Talo met back up with Shai who had the corrupt detective pegged. Helping Shai out, he silently slung the woman over his shoulder and carried her out of the base "I've got a contact in the Network stationed out here. All we gotta do is drop her off and our credits'll be transferred to us." he explained as they made their way back to Shai's stolen speeder "Then I'll accompany you back to Chase." he added, a hint of an apologetic tone.

Once they returned to the speeder, Talo flung her in the backseat before walking over to the passenger seat. It had been a long, long night and he was more than ready to crash at his motel. When Shai had gotten into the driver seat, Talo quickly entered the coordinates of his contact into the speeder's GPS for her to follow. The coordinates would take them to an off the grid facility, just on the outskirts - once Shai had parked, Talo would exit the speeder and sling the detective over his shoulder "Keep the engine running, I won't be long." he ordered before heading inside. Shai wouldn't have to wait long, ten minutes at most before she would receive a notification on her datapad of a credit transfer of 5,000. Exiting the facility, Talo got back in the passenger seat before turning to face her "Ready?" he nonchalantly asked as he cracked his neck.

Shai Maji

 

[Shai Maji]

Talo took over with carrying the target back to the speeder while giving a game plan on what to do with her. He reminded her of their little deal, earning a small smile from Shai. "Thanks." she said softly, following after him. "Man, that speeder's gonna stink." she commented as she looked herself and him over. They both needed a shower...as quickly as possible.

They reached the speeder and Shai quickly started it up while Talo dropped the detective into the back. She flew off and, for once, flew like a normal person. They arrived at the coordinates in no time and Shai did as she was told. She waited patiently for Talo to return, glancing down at her datapad when it pinged. 5000 credits weren't much...but it was 5000 more than she had before. Talo returned and asked if she was ready. "Let's do it. I need that money." she confirmed with a nod. She flew off again, back to Chase's spot. She was nervous, but she pushed that aside. She was going to get that money one way or another.

When they arrived, she hopped out of the speeder and started marching towards him. "Back so soon, Shai?" he quipped, smirking at her. Though it quickly faded when he looked her and Talo over. "You quite literally look like shit." he commented, slightly pulling his nose up as the smell hit him. Shai merely closed the distance and shoved him down onto his swoop. "You better get my money, Chase. Fast. I'm not in the mood for games." she ordered him coldly, glaring at him with her glowing red eyes. He merely chuckled as he glanced around him then back to her. His crew all watching this with smirks on their faces. "A deal is a deal, babe, you wanted info, it cost you. We don't do buyer's remorse. You know that." he dismissed her calmly, his grin not fading for a moment.

Shai leaned in close, grabbing him by his collar to pull him towards her. "You better give me that money, Chase, or else I-" she was cut off when he smacked her hand away. "Or else what, huh? You're gonna hurt me? You aint got the balls for it." he hissed, glaring at her while his goons slowly reached for their weapons...

Talo Krayt