Ride Along

[Dax Perl]

Dax shook his head, "Don't bother. I'd feel them if they were here. They're, uh, well force-imbued....mostly Darkside. Like I said, I've been on both sides of the fence." admitted the Rogue. The Marshall returned to the bodies, "Yeah you're right. No blood, not even blaster marks. How the hell did they die then?" Returning his attention to the crates in the room he took a deep breath, "How much you wanna bet these things are filled with some crazy disease that'll kill us if we accidentally crack one?

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

"Perhaps there's another Forcer around?"

Zesiro went over to one of the crates and popped open the top.
​
"Or there's some sort of new drug and these guys were the test subjects."

There didn't appear to be any stolen items in the crate she opened, but a substance she had never seen before.

"Besides, if it was a virus, I would imagine we wouldn't be standing around talking or we would already be feeling sick or something."

Making no comment on how he could feel his sabers, she was quite interested in hearing the story. Now wasn't the time though, they were on the job. When it was done, maybe they could grab a drink or something and talk about it then.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax peered into the crate that [member="Zesiro"] had opened up. "Whaddya think this stuff is?" the man asked picking up a small vial of the stuff. A loud noise suddenly erupted from the main bar, yells, shouts, and the sudden din of blaster fire. "What the hell." The Rogue pocketed the substance and reached for his pistol once more. Before his hand touched the grip a body flew through the door leading to the bar, followed by a Twi'lek yelling in some language Dax didn't understand. A quick look however and the blue-skinned Twi'lek began shouting at Dax and Zesiro, and while the words didn't make sense, he clearly was not happy with them being there. Dax took a look at Zes, shrugged then Force pushed the Twi'lek backwards, causing more shouting.

 

[Zesiro]

"Maybe some new sort of instant kill biological weapon? Look at these guys? Not something that lasts long or lingers around or we would have joined them."

Totally unsure of what to make of what was in the crate, Zesiro replaced the lid. Noise came from behind them​ that was a clear sign a fight was going on. A body went flying through the door, breaking it down. Following the body was cursing twi'lek who turned his attention to the two of them once he noticed them.

With a shrug, Dax sent the man flying back and Zesiro moved to apprehend him and held the one that crashed through the door in a stasis hold to keep him from running. Taking a firm grip on the twi'lek, she moved him into the room with the bodies and hoped Dax has picked up the other guy.

"What's going on here."

What sounded ​like gibberish to Dax, Zesiro understood some of.

"So you claim to know nothing about what goes on in here? You're lying."

The fear in his eyes said it all. He was protecting something or somebody. Watching the twi'lek, she glanced briefly at Dax before speaking.
​
"You get anything from the other guy?"

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax hauled the other man to his feet and gave the man a once over. In his disheveled state, it was clear the being was just another drunk, not the kind that would be in any kind of business, legitimate or not, for very long.

"This guy doesn't know nothing." The Rogue pushed the man towards the back door, "Get your ass outta here." He turned to approach the Twi'lek man, "Alright, I don't know if you understand me, but if you do, you better listen well." A dark presence seeped out of Dax's very being, the air becoming tainted with a cold dryness. "I can rend the information I want from your head, but believe me, that isn't a pleasant experience. Well, for you. So tell us, or you might just end up a drooling mess on the floor."

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

After it was clear the other guy was just a drunk, Dax sent him away. Looking at the door of the little room, Zesiro motioned with a hand and closed the door so the three of them could have a conversation. It took just a moment and that hand was back to holding the twi'lek.

Approaching the two of them, Dax started putting out darkness. The air chilled and what he said was filled with no hint of a threat. It sounded like a simple statement of truth. Making a note, Zesiro decided she didn't want to ever get on the bad side of Dax.

A few moments passed where the twi'lek appeared to consider trying to escape the hold she had on him and running from the two of them. In the end, he attempted to step back away from Dax's aura of assault. Her hold on him prevented it and he only ran into her unmoving figure.

He started babbling his gibberish which Zesiro was able to understand about 80% of. The colorful Basic words mixed into it made it clear how he felt about the situation.

"Says he's not personally involved in the keeping, holding or distributing this stuff. The room is paid for and he's kept his nose out of what goes on or his business would go away."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

"I want names." It wasn't said forcefully, as a command, or even loudly. Nothing more than a statement. And yet, it was clear that empty words didn't mean the Twi'lek was free of punishment. He was getting sick of this running around. And now there were clearly more players involved, with much higher stakes than just the Master's lightsabers. If they were drugs that were meant to be distributed on the streets? How many dead, or hospitalized? The very thought was disgusting.

The aura cast by Dax never receded, instead mixing more with anger, strengthening as the Rogue drank in the last dregs of life's energy escaping the bodies of the dead around them. He almost didn't notice, an almost sub-conscious action, as autonomous as breathing. The Twi'lek could certainly feel something was wrong, a pit in his stomach, maybe lightheaded or nausea. No, that was life draining ever so slowly from his body. And maybe the blonde haired woman would begin to feel it too.

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

The feeling that was lightly touching Zesiro was similar to a skill she knew that called Affliction. Only it made whoever she cast it on feel violently ill and did not suck the life from them unless they were already weak. She could read body language, but was not really that empathic. Dax demanded names and the twi'lek slightly to get one hand pulled away from Zesiro's grip.

She allowed it free since he didn't appear that he was going to try to fight. He pointed to one of the dead men, said a sentence and shook his head.

"He says that's the guy that rented the room under the name Philps. Doesn't know anything else."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The man hadn't run, instead starting to blather out words the Rogue still didn't understand. Except the man who belonged to the name that they were given was already dead. But it was more than the two had a second ago. "Stay there." Dax turned over the body and began to search the pockets. The first two yielded nothing, but the third, a communicator. "Think we might be able to reach they're employer?"

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

The man wasn't going anywhere and actually willingly put his hand back after pointing to the dead man. Zesiro kept her hold on him and watched as Dax searched the corpse. He asked if she thought they might reach the employer.

"There's the chance he was the employer and that leads to the smaller time thugs like these other guys. Somehow I don't think that is the case though. Any way to trace where the connection leads before just speaking into it?"

The twi'lek babbled a little more and Zesiro listened to him and nodded.

"According to him, Philps was at the top. He commanded these other people to do stuff."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

"Ask him if he knows what this stuff is. And who made it." This was quickly becoming a dead end. If this Philps was the one producing it and selling it, then it was a nice tidy close to the case. But Dax highly doubted that's what it would be. This stuff was never that easy. Besides, how did these men die? Too many questions, not enough answers. And Dax didn't like not knowing things.

Searching the rest of the bodies Dax began to attempt to figure out who were sellers, who were the buyers, and on and on. A couple blasters were found, which wasn't unusual, other forms of weapons as well. No identification though. Again not unusual, at least not for criminals. Nothing for him to go off of though. What had started as a hunt for Dax's old sabers had become a hunt for...well Dax still didn't know what those things were.

The sabers! Dax had almost forgotten, he still hadn't found his sabers. "Ask him if he saw the guy who stole my sabers too while you're at it."

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

The twi'lek listened as Dax spoke and when he finished, started babbling at Zesiro. He could understand what was said, but not speak it himself.

"He says Philps only ever brought the stuff here this morning. First time seeing this and what it does. So there's a chance this is the whole stock and if he was the maker, then it's a wrap."

When he spoke about the sabers, some fear showed in his eyes. His words came out hushed now, but he continued.

"There's a guy here that wants to collect Force user items. Not sure if it's for himself or somebody else. The guy you're after isn't number one."

He stepped one foot to the other and did not meet the gaze of Dax.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

The man's mannerisms had changed from spilling his guts to save his life to lying, probably to again save his life. "You're afraid of something aren't you, and it isn't me this time. You're lying. Trust me whoever you're afraid of, they won't live to see tomorrow if I have anything to say about it." His tone wasn't rage or anger, not even a threat, but a warning that lying further was ill advised. Dax's anger had already left him. First replaced with the methodical process of simply trying to figure out what the feth was going on, infuriating in its own right, but a useful sedative, then again replaced with a simple, near primitive desire to take back what was his.

[member="Zesiro"]

 

[Zesiro]

There was a few moments of silence and the twi'lek looked his best between Zesiro who was still holding him captive and Dax. It was almost as if he was thinking about who to fear more, Dax or the man collecting these items. He didn't answer with any details as to where or who...

"Says whoever is collecting these items has threatened the runners. Like the guy you're after. He claims he's not part of that running or the circle."

He's lying. Too scared for his family. He doesn't care if you kill or hurt him, he is protecting his family.

Zesiro didn't know if she thought that loud enough to be heard or even if Dax could do telepathy.

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax wasn't a perfect telepath, not even enough to hear a single word in his head, but emotions, and feelings? Yeah, he could sense those, and he could certainly sense Zesiro's suspicion, and the waves of fear rolling off the Twi'lek, "If you tell us who we're after, I promise, we can keep your family safe. No one will touch them, no one will even get near them." Just as much as the Rogue was a warrior, he was still a protector, that was what his job was anyways. And Dax felt he could say with a good degree of certainty that [member="Zesiro"] was as well. They'd keep their promise.

 

[Zesiro]

Oddly, Zesiro felt the guy was telling the truth about the drugs, but obviously not about the other items.

"He's telling the truth about the first part. I think the drugs are a wrap or it was kept well hidden from him."

As she spoke, he relaxed slightly that she believes him was good in his opinion. It showed to the twi'lek the blond wasn't a total waste of space. However, Dax probed again about the who was wanting the Force items. With words of promised protect for his family, he stayed set and spoke again to Zesiro,
​
"The man already has possession of his family and as many as he can get his hands on of the runners. There's no way in his mind they can be protected like you say."

She fell silent and he started speaking again. With a light tug of his hand, he pulled it out of her grasp and would motion to the table. Leading him there, he picked up one of the datapads. Typing in a code it opened under his touch. Handing it to Dax and looked at Zesiro as he spoke.

"He says on there are directions for the runners. Pick ups and drop offs. Find clues and follow them from there."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax took the datapad and nodded to the man, "Thanks. If we find you're family, we'll get them out safe," the Marshall said, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The man left the room, out the door that led to the main bar, figuring [member="Zesiro"] would probably follow him. He picked a bottle of whiskey as he walked past the counter, dug out some credits from his pockets, and left them on the counter, taking the whiskey with him as he began to sift through the data. A bunch of names he'd never heard of, and a few buildings, that appeared to be owned by various companies, which he could only guess were shells. "Whatcha make of this, my friend?" he said, passing the datapad to her, then taking a long draw from the bottle in his hand.

 

[Zesiro]

Letting go of the twi'lek, Zesiro watched as he ended up just sitting down at the table holding his head in his hands. When Dax left, she did follow him. He was intently looking at the new information and passed the datapad to her when he was done. Taking a look at it, she nodded her head at some of the names, but the others she didn't know she shook her head.

"Some of these are known to be thieves that had been caught, but ended up released because we lacked enough hard evidence to press charges. Now I wondered why. This ring is the answer. I do think he was teling the truth about the drugs though. I'll bet your sabers are with this number one."

Setting the pad down, she took a drink of the whiskey and set the bottle back down.

"This a map for the runners. Which means the next stop after this would be just that. To keep the items changing hands. Another clue will be at the next stop."

[member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax nodded picking up the pad again and looking at the next location. Made sense, and every step they'd take towards finding and capturing the ring, the closer he was to finding his sabers. But at this point, his sabers weren't exactly at the top of his priority list. There were innocent lives at risk. And he'd need help to get this done. Well...he did have one option.

"Lemme ask you something [member='Zesiro']. Do you want to help people? Are you willing to lay down your life to do so?"

 

[Zesiro]

She had pointed out her observation and he looked at the map in front of them. How long the trail was, Zesiro didn't know or even where it would lead. Whoever was at the top would hold power here, but she had no idea who it could be. This person struck fear into the twi'lek they had just questioned. Had the ability to kidnap and hold families hostage.

"It sounds like a sith or another dark sider. To generate that kind of fear..."

Letting her thought trail off, she looked at Dax as he spoke. He asked if she wanted to help people, even if it meant sacrificing her life.

"Yes to the first and yes to the second for what it's worth. I'm a nobody though, there isn't anybody really that would miss me. My sister, but even she and I hardly speak. Why?"

[member="Dax Fyre"]