Private Old Town Road

[Aeris Lashiec]

The breeze rolled over the town with a warmth that felt all too unfamiliar to someone who had spent the majority of their time on a planet such as Coruscant. The air was arid, positively hurt to breathe, but it was still far fresher than any air that the recycling plants on the galaxy's pearly ecumenopolis could ever produce. Despite the fact that Aeris had the reputation of a static member of the Order she still had her moments when she left for assignments. Wouldn't do to let her skills gather rust or more specifically dust in a library all day even if she wanted to.

"The seller is part of the local Cartel." Aeris said rather matter-of-factly as she walked down the streets of this small nowheresville town in the Outer Rim. "Not known to mess around, but also not one who is known not shoot their buyers if they had something to gain from it. As Jedi, we are practically prime targets."

"Still. Remember, no sudden moves, no heroics. We go in, we get the book, we get back."

Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Nowheresville reminded him a bit of home, of Ruusan. Not for anything specific except the fact the air was fresh, even if its dryness could wither lungs. It was good to be out and about away from the ecumenopolis that had become Dagon's home.

And with Aeris, nonetheless. What a surprise.

Dagon wasn't sure why exactly she had called him to join her but the padawan hardly had a knack for saying no.

"Cartel?" he arched an eyebrow, "We're taking him down...right?"

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"Nope." Aeris shook her head. "Would make us a target for something far bigger than just the one cartel."

She turned back around to face Dagon. Just this once she was on the same page as her, but circumstance placed them in a bit of a tricky situation. On one hand they had sworn to uphold the values of a civilized society and be protectors of the weak, but out here in the Outer Rim they held no jurisdiction whatsoever. Out here, righteous murder for a greater cause was just that: murder.

And that was beside the point that they could not afford to paint either of them with a target on their back unless they wanted to find new operators for this section of the galaxy.

"Need to be smart about it." She said and continued along the path. "They start anything, we're acting in self-defense. We start something, we are acting out of line."

"Not saying that you should provoke them."

"... Just try to mind what you do or say until we have seen the book."

Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"What something bigger?" Dagon frowned, clearly disagreeing with the notion of leaving the place's issues unattended.

He shuffled to block her way into the saloon where their meeting was supposed to be.

"You're not telling me we are getting the book and just...leaving."

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"Dagon," Aeris closed her eyes and sighed. "Look around you."

She motioned at the small town. One row of buildings along a main street leading to the entrance of this salloon as people went back and forth between different buildings, attending to their own business.

"This book is not worth risking their lives as well as ours. If we take this cartel out we are cutting out a piece of the bigger whole. Give it a month and a new outfit will be back in its place, and they may even be worse than what the town already has to deal with."

"Not to worry, I screened them before I even agreed to meet. So far, most their dealings have been above the table more than under it. I am hoping it stays that way."

Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"We'll discuss this later."

Dagon wasn't convinced but they were already standing awkwardly for way too long right at the entrance. He led the way inside the dimly lit saloon. It was a mix of refurbished durasteel and wood, furniture of a bygone era and patrons with scrutinizing eyes. The smell of tibanna and oak, booze and smoke drifted into his airways. It was like spring's air compared to establishments in Coruscant's underbelly.

A raggedy man with an uncombed beard and in typical ruffian outfit began to clap. "Was startin' to think you ain't comin'" he jerked his head at Dagon, "Didn't know you had to pick a straggler on your way here." then a gesture at the two seats on the table. "Have a sit, altho' I ain't thinkin' you 'bout to stay for long."

When the Jedi would sit, the scoundrel would add clasping his hands on the table, "Ain't got the book no more." the cocky grin on his face indicating the deal had changed.

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Did Aeris enjoy this? No, not one bit. Was it all too familiar? Yes. Memories of the One Sith's onslaught, of the First Order crushing victory, and the moments in between when she had nowhere to go. Day to day, one small job after the other until finally she found her way into the fold among the New Jedi Order. People like the man before her were cockroaches on the greater scale of things, easy to crush but the sign of a bigger underlying issue. They could crush this roach, but that'd just leave the rest of the roaches with a new corpse to devour.

"Call it backup." Aeris responded and crossed her arms as she leaned back in her seat in front of the man. "Can never be too sure."

She was definitely no gangster, didn't carry herself with the air of confidence they had to fake. Even as the man made them aware that he didn't have the book anymore, she did little to change the stone faced expression that had set across her features. One step in and the issues had already begun to mount.

"Well, Mister Callaghan, it seems this meet was for nothing then." Aeris uncrossed her arms and began to stand as one of the men in the back pushed her back down.

"Not quite." The man grinned, the flaps beneath his chin nearly folding in on themselves as he leaned back in his seat. "You still have a use."

"... A value, if you will..."

Aeris looked at Dagon with a shake of her head. Now was not the time, not just yet.

"The book was never here to begin with, was it?" Aeris squinted at the man who glanced over at Dagon with a deeply amused smirk.

"She always this slow?"

Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Impulse control nearly broke when one of the oafs pushed Aeris back down. They were dealing with scum, clear as day. Whether they did business mostly over rather than under didn't matter. She'd noticed the stiffening of his body, the clenching of his fists and subtly had shook her head at him.

"What do you want?" Dagon asked coldly.

"I like this guy - straight to the point. Good backup." Callaghan gestured at him while glancing at Aeris. "Well, i's simple - there's a band o' outlaws out there in them mountains and we need 'em gone."

"Now before ya go on your typical Jedi spiel, them outlaws, them ROVERS, as they be callin' themselves been harassin' us fine folk of Nowheresville for 'alf a year now. See, your missus here migh' know me as Callaghan but the folk 'ere know me as Deputy." the nastiest chit-eating grin glew over his tibanna stained face, " 'n' 's mah responsbiliteh to take care o' the wellfare and bein' of them Nowheresville folk. But-- can't do 'em no good alone so I need sum help, ya know."

"Oh 'n' if that ain' 'nuff 'm sure them Rovers got 'em book y'all was lookin' for." he shrugged mischievously.

Ah, the nuances of the Outer Rim.

The Force began to stir within Dagon but a friendly hand fell on his.

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"We have no reason to believe you, Mister Callaghan." Aeris said and calmly stood in her seat to lean against the table, knuckles paled under the weight She was calm but prepared.. "You lied to us once already, The New Jedi Order are not your errand runners, and the fact that you seem to expect us to do your bidding on nothing more than a hunch is an outrage that you are well aware of."

The man merely grinned, Aeris pushed her point.

"Sweeten the deal." She demanded and placed her hands on her hips. "We do this, and you leave town for good."

He was not likely to agree to that.

"Leave town, or I will personally see to it that the Alliance comes knocking on your doors for trying to extort a government official."

And it didn't do her well to lean into her own disdain for how close the Jedi Order was to the Alliance, but perceptions mattered. Her hand extended towards Mr. Callaghan with a decidedly cold look in her eyes.

"Choice is yours to make, Callaghan."

Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"And who gonn' protect this lil' town from the next band-- or even the next deputy, hmm? 'm a benevolent man, Ms. Lashiec. Ain't too different than one of 'em constables y'all got at the Alliance." his wolfish grin expanded, then a casual shrug followed, "You reall' gonn' roll the slots on them Nowheresville folks?"

Dagon's irritation meanwhile boiled but only a sharp glance from Aeris kept his fist from landing on the man.

He was turning Aeris' pragmatic logic against her.

"How I see it is - I leave, y'all still got them Rovers, y'all got a new deputy who probs gonn' be far worse than me and no book." Callaghan tossed an old rusty badge from his jacket, then leaned back on his hands, "Can do this all day."

Haggling that is. The badge clearly showed his presumably former affiliation with the Baobab as a merchant.

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"You are assuming that the troops would leave the second I am gone." Aeris said and lowered her hand to withdraw her deal. "You do not want to do this the easy way, then."

Her words were allowed to hover for a moment before she looked over at Dagon with a tilt of her head towards the door. There was nothing to gain here. If they couldn't negotiate with the source of the problem then there were other means to go about it, something that didn't mean violence. At least not just yet, not on their behalf.

"I cannot say that I am surprised." Her voice bit at the man. "Your kind rarely do."

She turned her back on the man and slowly made for the door. Would they attack? Would they let them be? Would Dagon do something stupid, or would Plan B be allowed to kick into gear?

Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

It was Plan B. By the tightest margins. Clearly represented in the whiteness of Dagon's knuckles as they exited the saloon.

"That sure went well." the padawan remarked with a husky tone.

He took the steps down from the porch and leaned on the wooden post with his arms crossed, the irritation of the meeting quickly abating to make way for diligent focus at solving the problem at hand. Tuning in the situation.

"Whatever. Callaghan comes second. I want to see what these so-called Rovers are about first. If his gang can't do anything about them, they might be a bigger problem for the place than he is." Dagon glanced around the small stretch that marked the limits of the tiny settlement. A few folks minding their business with their heads down, oblivious or uncaring over the appearance of the two Jedi. No one to sound the trumpets of hope for their arrival.

Only tumbleweeds and a lingering smell of arid fauna and cheap moonshine.

He chose to ignore the lack of cries for help.

"You've read enough books for hiking?" the Jedi smirked thinly. The mountains nearby, allegedly the homeplace of the Rovers, were hardly more than glorified mounds more similar to a drewback's hump than anything else. "Cause if not, you can go back to that bar, have a glass of...whatever they've got there, and I will be back by the time you're ordering the second." he shrugged casually.

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Plan B - doing what the deputy had told them to do, or Plan C - show the locals how to rise up and defend themselves. Both were costly for differnet reasons. Did pride come before the safety of the townsfolk? They didn't seem to mind all too much what they had to deal with currently, but then that wasn't saying much. When all they knew was submission, then submitting was what they would do. Aeris threw an amused grin at Dagon as he seemingly implied she was out of shape. A mock smile spread on her lips.

"Mmm, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" She scrunched her nose and shook her head. "I was hiking before you were even born, probably."

The age difference was, what, two to four years at best?

"I'm more worried about you not being able to keep up or being able to lift all your weight on the way up. What with you carrying the whole galaxy on your shoulders as we go." She stepped away, spread her arms and turned around to look at Dagon with a shrug. "We check the situation, solve it, come back. We can find a solution to this that both of us can live with, probably."

"I get the feeling things are bound to end up nasty no matter how we go."

Dagon Kaze

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"Pfft." he scoffed at her as sarcasm dripped off her lips. "We'll see about that, I'm still worried about you being so long out in the sun."

He pulled his hands from his pockets and jerked his head towards the mountains in the near distance, "We'll see, I'm not losing hope. Let's go."

**

The trek wasn't really difficult, at least not to either of them. Jedi training prepared you for far, far worse. It was the blistering heat of the sun scorching the world that really proved a challenge. Even as the sun departed far from its zenith, the scorching warmth seemed to remain stubbornly. It was around sunset when they found themselves prone on a small rise overlooking the Rovers' camp. Tents put up and speeders parked at a specific spot at the edge of the camp. A few were beginning to light burn barrels, while the rest seemed to... enjoy themselves loudly. Drinks were being shared and the aroma of both meat and chemicals permeated the air. Chemicals that smelled like either stims or spice. If there were spears stacked with heads on their tips, Dagon would've assumed these were the Maw cultists.

"Well...you'd expect a band of outlaws to be at least a bit more covert. They could've at least had some overwatch, y'know, pickets and whatnot." usually. But he'd seen what arrogance could do to people, especially thugs. It made them blind, overconfident, feel indomitable and that was the final step before another gang came in and swept them from the annals of time. Life of crime was fast and short. You reach the absolute peak in no time and think that's how it's going to be going forward only to find yourself in a ditch the next day.

"See if you can point out someone looking like a leader. There's always one ringmaster."

Aeris Lashiec

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

It was like walking across the plains of Ruusan or the hilltops of Tython. Nature was what Aeris had known growing up in the jungles of Ossus, getting muddy as the rains began to fall. The pitter patter of raindrops against a tin roof as you downed a water bottle in prep for your next go at jumping through the force. The sweat that coated Aeris' skin as they traversed the landscape draped her in a familiar sense of home. The way she had to constantly pull her hair back behind her ears making it all the more welcome. For a brief moment, before they found their destination, Aeris seemed to be truly relaxed again.

Maybe she was due that Tython pilgrimage that she never got to go on again.

"Well, could that be the one?" Aeris asked and lowered her macrobinoculars to point at the one quite literally adorned in a fine dress with circular golden details. "I mean..."

She stifled her laugh with her hand. "Okay, no, this is a joke. They are not this unprepared. Must be."

Dagon Kaze