No Disintegrations

[Natasi Fortan]

It was highly embarrassing and more than a little unsanitary, in Avadreia's eyes, to seek assistance from bounty hunters on this troubling matter. However, she didn't want the people at Kuat Drive Yards knowing that she couldn't control her own daughter. In Avadreia's defense, Verie was surprisingly headstrong, in addition to being a grown woman in the eyes of the law. She could legally do what she wanted, and if that meant lying to her mother and running away, then that's what it meant. But the law didn't apply to people like Avadreia Lacroix. She would do whatever was necessary to keep her family together, even if it meant going outside her comfort zone and outside the law.

She had rented a villa in the city. It was luxurious without being ostentatious, one of several large homes along a street. It would garner no suspicion and the press wouldn't be able to track her there, or view her guests.

Sitting in the parlor, she watched the clock ticking forward. Avadreia Lacroix was not accustomed to waiting, but technically the hunters she had invited weren't yet late. She stood and went to the sidebar, pouring herself a glass of vodka on the rocks. It was time to settle this -- Verie needed to come home and this was the way to achieve it.

 

[Verz Horak]

A job. Just what the medic ordered. Since Mandalore was not engaged in any wars currently, Verz needed some income. This job promised to pay well. The client had sent him an adress, with the request of being discreet. So he landed his ship in a nearby starport and donned his cloak over his armor. When he arrivedat the villa, he knocked on the door with three resounding thuds.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

A butler cracked the door and peered out at the cloaked figure outside. The mistress was inviting the most peculiar people these days, wasn't she? Still, he mused, ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die. "Ah, yes. Do come in, sir, you are expected." The butler offered to take his cloak and then, once that had been settled, showed him into the drawing room. "May I offer you a drink, sir? Brandy, perhaps, or, ah, Corellian Ale?"

Once the drink situation had been settled, the Director of Operations for Kuat Drive Yards stood and walked over to meet the hunter. "Hello. Thank you for coming on such short notice." She smiled and picked up one of several folders that were set out on the sideboard. "Should we discuss your assignment first, or shall we settle your fee?"

 

[Verz Horak]

When Verz removed his cloak, it revealed his blood-red Mandalorian Iron armor. His beskar'gam. His second skin.

He paused only to remove his boots, a Mandalorian custom. As he sat down, he thought for a second, then responded to the butler's inquiry. "Brandy, please." His voice sounded deeper and a tad mechanical from inside his helmet. He removed it when the butler returned with his drink. He removed his helmet, showing a young looking face, no older than 30. He smoothed out his dark brown hair, slightly matted from his helmet. He looked at his hostess. "My fee depends on the job.On a scale from one to 'I-don't-even-want-to-know-how-bad' hard is it?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Avadreia shook her head. "I really couldn't tell you," she said with a shrug as she pulled the crystal stopper from the brandy. She poured out a healthy measure of brandy for her guest and then took it over to him after he removed his helmet. "You see, I've lost something very precious to me. My daughter left me a note stating that she went to her ballet academy to recuperate from her injury -- she fractured her ankle and had the cast removed several weeks ago, so she went to the academy for occupational therapy."

She went back to the bar and refilled her drink. "I hadn't heard from her, so I called to check in. What a surprise to discover that she wasn't there. She had never been there, since her injury." She took a sip of brandy and then inhaled a deep breath. "I've managed to obtain a clue, but I don't have time to track it down and at any rate, there's no saying where it could lead."

Avadreia handed over a manilla folder, inside which was a record from Verie's bank account. "My daughter booked passage aboard the Corellia Queen. I've tracked down the itinerary for that vessel, but it made half a dozen stops. There's no telling where she went. It stopped at Taris, Junction, Toprawa, Serenno, Rudrig, and Coruscant." She paused for a moment and then raised an eyebrow. "Of course, that's assuming she was on the ship at all."

 

[Verz Horak]

Verz digested this information, chasing it down with a healthy dose of brandy. Taris and Junction would be easy to check. He would only need to contact the customs officials there. His rank would get him what he needed there. The other worlds would be more difficult. "So, a wild nerf hunt. Taris and Junction will be easy. I actuallyfought in both battles for Junction. And my first deployment was to Taris.Both will be easy to check. The other worlds, not so much. So, I would say a starting fee of 75 grand. Sound fair?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Avadreia paused. It was an exorbitant fee, to be sure, but something she could easily afford. For a moment, she thought about haggling. She could probably knock it down ten grand, maybe fifteen. One didn't become Director of Operations for Kuat Drive Yards without certain skills. But this was too important. Still, she wouldn't be taken advantage of. "A starting fee? No. Seventy-five thousand credits, plus expenses and a bonus for speed, both at my discretion. You'll want to keep your receipts."

She took another sip of her brandy and cocked her head to the side. "I'll want updates regularly -- every other day at least. If you have need of upgraded equipment to handle the needs of the job then we can discuss adding a stipend to the deal. But I won't be party to a bait-and-switch agreement. And no harm must come to my daughter. None. Are we clear?"

 

[Verz Horak]

"Sounds good to me. Consider it a deal. And, I would like a contract drawn up. No offense, but I've had people try t o skip out on payment. Just a legal precaution." He drank the last of the brandy in his glass. The sheb who tried to skip out was not dead, but he didn't fair too well after Verz found him. Shame the man's legs were so fragile, since he was unlucky enough to fall out of his sand speeder. And it was a shame the man had a substantial bounty on his head. More than enough to pay for both the jobs.

75 grand to find a kid who could or couldn't be on one of several worlds seemed too good to be true. Maybe he would be able to take a vacation of sorts after this job. Yeah. Have a nice nerf steak for dinner, spend time with his strill. Repairs and upgrades his ship needed woyld be paid for. It seems that life was going to get good pretty soon.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

Avadreia snorted. These low-life hunters were such hypocrites. But she elected to humor his whims and suppressed an eyeroll. "Of course. There will be a contract to be certain -- everything must be on the up-and-up." She smiled politely and set down her glass. "In fact, I've had one drawn up already." Avadreia crossed to her desk and picked up an envelope, then sat down with a pen and pulled a contract from inside the envelope. "I'll need your full name and an address where we can serve process. And we'll need to add in the figures. Was it seventy five thousand galactic standard credits? Mm." She filled in the missing information on the blanks and then brought it over to him with another pen.

"You'll need to sign here, here, here, initial here, here, here, and here, and on page two sign here, here, and here, initial here, here, here, here, here, and here."

 

[Verz Horak]

(Hey, I'm no low-life!)

Verz took the contract, surprised one was drawn up so quickly. He looked it over, and it seemed good, but then again, he had no legal education. He signed and initialed in the indicated places, then handed the contract back to his new employer. He downed the last of his brandy, then stood up. "Pleasure doing business ma'am. I'll contact you as soon as I get some progress." He handed his glass back to the butler, and took his cloak. He put it on,followed by his helmet, and grabbed his boots, slipping them on over the bodysuit he wore. He fastened the various straps. He stood up, standing next to the door.

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"Excellent. I'll see you out." Avadreia stood and walked Verz to the door. Once there, she handed him a small envelope. "Some credits to get you started, as well as my communicator frequency codes. I was quite serious about being contacted every other day -- at least. Try every frequency. I spend most of my time at the office -- that's the first number. If you can't get me there, well, there are others. Please bring her back in one piece, and try not to traumatize her in the process. She can be rather sensitive."

Before reaching for the door handle to let Verz out, she cleared her throat. "Do you have any questions before we begin?"

 

[Verz Horak]

"None at all ma'am. I'll contact you as soon as I can." With that Verz flipped his cloak's hood up, covering his helmet and armor. He walked out into the cityscape of Kuat, heading toward the dockyards and his ship. Once onboard, he put the communicator codes into the ship's databank and after checking everything over once more, the Firespray-39, rising into the atmosphere, setting a course for Taris.