First Reply No Friends, No Credits, No Time

[Vincello De'Cadera]

Nar Shaddaa - New Vertica

"Shit shit shit!" The sound of clattering durasteel echoed out as Vin crashed into an assortment of durasteel canisters and tibanna drums. His boots skidded across the ground as he pushed out from the heavy metal. Feet thudding against the ground as the sound of blaster fire echoed out in the alleyway behind him. Scorch marks bursting out on the wall where he'd stood just a few seconds ago.

His heart thundered in his chest, and for a moment Vin almost stopped and tried to pull the Stun-blaster tied to his thighs. Fingers fumbling down, only to nearly drop the small datachit still clutched between his fingers. "Fuck."

The Catrographer swore as he instead continued to book it down the alleyway. The boot steps behind him rang out loud enough to spur him into somehow going faster. A collection of Weequay, Twi'lek, and Gamorrean mercenaries chasing after him with a speed one would not expect from the latter of the species. Their threatening calls echoing out through the near empty passageway in Nar Shadsaa's ever twisting maze. He ran as fast as he could, dashing over empty containers and a few men whose place he would gladly have taken in that moment.

Vin never expect the night to take the turn it had. His offer had been a good one, at least he thought. A new path discovered into the midst of the core, short a few jumps than some of the old smuggling routes. It would bypass a few tolls and even security check-points. Not quite a straight line to Coruscant, but something damn well close to it. He'd marked the path on his last run, discovering it through research and just a bit of starmapping in the midst of a high. To his surprise, it worked out, and upon his return to New Vertica he'd offered to sell the path to Tuluk the Hutt.

He'd thought the stupid slug trustworthy, or at least smart enough not to try to double cross him, but like so many of her kind Tuluk had gotten greedy.

At the end of their negotiations the Hutt had decided she'd rather keep both the money and the map, and had immediately ordered his execution.

It was only his terminal paranoia that had kept him from getting killed. Mapping a way out in the haze of his anxiety before Tuluk had ever ordered her men to pull their blasters. Not that getting out of the building had helped much. As soon as they'd shoved out onto the streets Tuluk's men had made no secret of their chase, cutting through every corner and doing whatever they could to catch up to Vin.

No surprise really, given the millions the map could save their boss. All he'd asked for was a few hundred-thou. It'd been a bargain really, a fucking dea- Another loud pop interrupted Vin's line of thought. The blaster mark erupting on the wall just ahead of him as he cursed and desperately took another turn. "Shit."

He cursed again, desperate to get away as he turned another corner.

 

[Wedge Draav]

Nar Shaddaa - New Vertica


He was supposed to, in theory, be up for a new route. He was told by a friend of a friend, a smuggler, then a SIA informant, then his dentist, of where to go for a new route. Supposedly within a few hours one of his usual contractors, Tuluk, was due for a new route. Tuluk smuggled stuff that Wedge didn't particularly like into Sith space, but always paid fair and was usually pretty squared away with her crew. That, and anything and everything he could get into that part of space to throw a wrench into things was better than worse.

New routes were lucrative, but time expedient. Just a few weeks of a new route meant thousands and thousands, possibly millions, in credits. That was time you couldn't get anywhere else. Sure, people would figure it out. Tracking, loose lips, just looking at a map eventually. But those few weeks? Low costs on security, that kinda dig.

Wedge parked his speeder, and was about to let Tuluk's men know he was here, just a few hundred feet away, when a blaster shot went wide over his speeder. He ducked down into the cabin, drawing his own weapon.

Curiously, it come from a goon that he recognized. One of Tuluk's guys. He turned his head right. Goons at his right. Turned his head left. Guy running. Guy running close to his car. Tuluk's men chasing him. Shouting. Then one shot at Wedge, or at least, in his stupidity, near Wedge. Hit the speeder. The blaster bolt didn't do much damage, but it did ruin the paint.

Wedge narrowed his eyes, and clotheslined the goon that was chasing the nerdy-looking fella. The goon on the ground groaned graciously and grievously, holding his nose that Wedge had seriously broken. Another one came jogging up, out of breath. Being a henchman was first, good at cardio was probably not even on the top ten of his lists of things to do.

He waved his gun around, out of breath.

Something about the map? A cart grapher? He couldn't tell, the poor guy was out of breath. Way out of breath. Wedge put his hands on his hips, pulling his jacket only a little bit back.


"Someone start making some sense."

Thanks to a paint job being scratched and Wedge being in the right place at the right time, the goons that were chasing Vin were now trying to help their buddy and try and calm the situation down with Wedge.


Vincello De'Cadera