Private Nightflyer

[Samatharis]

​

Denon

It was cold in the undercities. The air smelled like gas fumes and tasted like dry concrete dust. The artificial rain sometimes helped with smog. Most of the time, it didn't. But there was a buzz to this place too. A city that never sleeps. Neon lights and the rattling thrum of cable cars. Air speeders overhead and the trickling of water down a thousand sewer drains. Some high above. Some far below.

Samatharis of Rulan stood on the edge of the crowded landing pad. Located high up on one of the uppercity struts, she had a great view of the undercity below. It was still early morning in the dawning sunlight of the uppercity. But none of that golden ambient light washed down into the dark streets of the undercity. Down here. It was always a glowing bright midnight din. Down there. The street lights overshadowed everything.

Samatharis of Rulan on the edge of the landing pad. Cradled in the bright shadow and refueling hiss of a giant blue Corellian Corvette. Looking down at the giant midnight city below. Waiting for a Bounty Hunter to show.

Leenic Ellsil​

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic pulled on the strap of his forearm plate as he stepped out onto the landing platform. His contact in the bounty Hunter's guild told him that his buyer would meet him here, and then he would get information on what kind of work he would be doing.

Looking around, he could tell most of these people did not have more than 20 credits, leading him to believe that the information he had been given was false. But, just as he was about to turn away, he caught sight of a woman who matched the description of the person he was supposed to meet. He walked over to her and sighed. "I assume you are the buyer?"

 

[Samatharis]

Samatharis turned ever so slightly to view the hunter out of the corner of her eye. She had the air of command. The stature, the form, the attire and head of royalty. Muscled rippled underneath her exposed forearms and her perfume overpowered the gasoline in the air. Strong mint and mountain air. An uncanny identifier. For a very uncanny woman.

A gloved hand withdrew a silver Guild coin. A reservation. She was indeed the woman who had paid handsomely for the arrival of a Guild asset. Now she would pay his employment too.

With a twist of her hand the coin disappeared into her fingers and a stack of credits took it's place. Then, even more filled her palm as she held out a large sum for the hunter to take.

"Your target is a sword. Historical and of some import to my people. Retrieval of the item is paramount. It must not be damaged."

The sum was 8000c. He could count it, scan it, or sniff it, if he wanted. She didn't seem to care about the money at all. Even as she turned to face him more fully.

"The blade is brushed in White Chromium and worth it's weight in gold. You'll mark it by this feature alone. And this..."

She held out a holo disc and activated the button. A blue image of a fairly royal looking short sword appeared. It turned ever so slowly in the air to show off the features of the blade. Like a recording taken a very long time ago. She talked as the image spun slowly in the air,

"The item was tracked to a smuggler vessel. This vessel made contact with a cartel merchant here. On Denon. The merchant was seen taking custody of the steel case belonging to the sword and loading it onto an unmarked vehicle. The vehicle evaded further observation however, the merchant did not."

She pressed a button on her disc and the image changed to a rather flattering looking Duros. Or rather, a white sentry droid wearing the steel mask of one. His tailored white suit was impeccable.

"This is Perseus. An arms merchant in the employ of the Jade Arms. A droid cartel here on Denon. He is considered armed and extremely dangerous. His lackeys are robots of militant renown. Infamous for their ability to punch their way through an armored van and overturn a police cruiser with just their metallic strength alone. They are not to be underestimated in combat. Their programming however..."

She shrugged. As if suddenly dismissing the cartel and it's army of robots all together.

"...Leaves much to be desired. We suspect the corporations have done much to clog their bot nets with numerous viruses and hacks. So they've succumbed to lesser numbers these days. Many have been 'deleted' out right. Still. Two war droids is still two, too many."

She flicked her wrist again and the disc was quickly replaced with a thin red chit. A holo ID belonging to The Corporations.

"This card will get you into their Night Club for organics. The Golden Circle. A super yacht docked in the lower city pools. Use it to make contact with the Jade Arms. Then. Get me back my sword. Whatever it takes."

She nodded and then returned to her view.

"The sword is to be returned to the vessel you see behind you. The Corellian Sun. As such, successful completion of the mission will reward your Guild with the full sum immediately. 80,000 of that sum, will be yours."

Her eyes seemed to scan the whole length and breadth of the city down below. As if she could sense everything going on down there. Right down to the last man.

"If you have questions? Ask now. Otherwise. Return to this vessel when you have the item. The Corellian Sun is scheduled to leave port in one week. As such, ...do not disappoint me."

It was a superfluous comment. She had forgot about him already. Her eyes transfixed on the city down below. Searching for something else entirely. Searching for someone in particular.

"Dismissed."

Their audience was concluded. The lower city awaited.

Leenic Ellsil
*ooc - I'll Dungeon Master as you go along. Provide NPC interactions and story filler when requested. Otherwise Sam's story will now parallel yours as I post. They'll eventually meet back up later down the line to smash some heads. Lol. Cheers and good luck!​

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic took the small chit out of the woman's hand and nodded, pulling his cloak up and over his helmet. It was best to try to retain some form of disguise from his current employer's spies, he wasn't entirely sure how much they'd like him taking jobs on the side. He then started off towards the lower pools, he wanted to get this over with relatively quickly and with any luck he might get to blow up that yacht. He tried to picture what this sword could mean to the woman, he knew it was a historical thing but there had to be something else behind it, no one just hunts artifacts to put them back into a museum.

 

[Samatharis]

As the giant Leenic took his leave, Sam soon also left for the lower city. She had heard about a bike race taking place outside one of the casinos. Surely the clever smuggler woman she was looking for would take the bait. Especially given her reputation as an avid race competitor. Samatharis was counting on it.

Meanwhile, the lower city presented many dangers. It was unlikely Leenic would be able to walk around it's dark streets unmolested by thieves.

Leenic Ellsil​

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic bumped shoulder with people as he walked down the street. He kept a hand on his blaster pistol in order to keep it from getting stolen. He had ditched his jetpack at his ship, thinking it wise to not have it within pickpocketing distance. "I hate the underbelly of this place." He muttered, trying to ignore the group of criminals that had seemed to be following him for the past few blocks. "Just get the sword, and then I can get out of here."

 

[Samatharis]

When Leenic arrived at the pools he found it was filled with narrow waterways and busy dockyards. All filled with serfs and spacer peasants who used old wooden ferries to navigate the dirty cesspools and passageways. Creating just as much traffic in the waterways down below as the busy city airlanes high above. There must have been thirty boats being used as taxis too. Which, was good. He would need a way to float over to The Golden Circle. Walking just wouldn't cut it anymore. Too many rivers and byways now to just hike it. Busy as they were.

Alas. Multiple strange languages were being spoken at the water's edge. Traders and taxis alike. It might take him a moment to call a cab. Time he probably didn't have either. Because meanwhile, that small gang of thieves was still following him. Only now they were hiding stun batons in their damp leather jackets. Obviously still trying to muster up the courage to finally take on the giant warrior. They just needed the right distraction before they made their move.

Leenic Ellsil​

 

[Leenic Ellsil]

Leenic sighed and turned towards the criminals. "Might as well get this over with." He muttered, grabbing the first one in a force choke and lifting him a couple inches off the ground. "Listen up kids. there may be a group of you, but I have faced down small armies by myself. Now I recommend you leave before your date becomes the same as his." With that, he snapped the criminal's neck and placed his hand on his blaster, waiting to see what was next.

 

[Samatharis]

Leenic Ellsil had successfully driven the fear of God into the eyes of everyone around him with his grand display. The thieves quickly, and rather screamingly, fled in all directions. So completely overcome with the desire to get away from Space Wizards that they didn't even stop to consider their dead compatriot or his items. Alas. The street had more than just thieves in it and whatever other passers-by where in the vicinity, they all quickly fled loudly too. Including the dudes rowing the taxi rafts. Ack! So... I guess. It rather looked like Leenic would need to procure passage upstream by other means than a taxi. Luckily, a few of the dudes on the river were so scared that they simply jumped ship into the filthy water to escape from the grisly scene. Leaving their boats completely unoccupied. Hmm. Maybe Leenic had a little Capt' in him, after all?

No police were coming. So it looks like he was free to make his way up river unmolested by crooks.