Swingin' On a Star.

[Van Rolark]

With a sigh, Van Rolark slowly reeled back in his chair, taking a puff from his lit cigarette. Exhaling a billow of thick, grey smoke, he slowly glanced up at the door. Frigid rain poured down outside, and the midnight breeze accompanied it. Not a single damn person came through that goddamn door. Not a single. Damn. Client.

Taking one final puff from the cigarette, he quickly extinguished it on the simple ashtray on his desk, shaking his head in boredom. Finally, he pulled himself up from his chair, making his way around the desk. As he slowly walked over to the door, he studied the text on the window.

Rolark Detective Agency...

Despite taking up several holonet advertisements, it seemed to do him no good. No one needed the services that a private investigator could provide, apparently. Heading back over to his desk, he scooped up his fedora, quickly placing it on his head before quickly working his way around his desk once more, falling down into his swivel chair.

With a disappointed sigh, he slipped a hand into his trenchcoat, producing a slip of rolling papers and a small, white pouch filled with tobacco. Placing the papers on his desk, he proceeded to drop several pieces of tobacco on the paper, before quickly beginning to roll a cigarette.



Striking a match, he brought the cigarette up to his lips, bringing the match up to the tobacco.

[member="Sam Kazroy"]

[member="Liam Darkgear"]

 

[Jsc]

Over the hot flame and beyond the swirling puffs of smoke there came a shadow to his door. Oh my? Maybe he hadn't lost his touch after all.

The door pressed open and in walked a tall human woman. Clad in the dark leathers and a winter jacket. She was wet from the rain and smelled like a new forest. Tall and graceful. Agile and a quick-stepper. The dark haired woman tapped her wet shoes against the wall.

"Hello hello. Mr. Rolark I presume?"

It was a Core accent. Strong and full. Confident and full of breadth. It matched the woman well as she lifted her chin and looked out upon the office's only other occupant. A gaze that could see right through a man and beyond.

"Don't mind the company. He's with me."

Outside in the hallway, two other fine gentlemen graced the page. Hired by this strange ethereal woman and questing for The Force knows what? Even perched in his chair and surrounded by smoke. It was obvious that a good long story had just walked in from the rain.

[member="Van Rolark"] , [member="Liam Darkgear"] ,

 

[Liam Darkgear]

Liam walked into the office alongside his client, cigar lit and creating a cloud of smoke to join the other one that the private eye had created already. What the hell she wanted here was beyond the grizzled mercenary. The credits he was earning were enough to satisfy his curiosity for now, though. The questioning look was quite clear on his face, however, his good grey eye giving a withering glance around the office, poking out of the scars that made up his face. This place was a dump. The office, the moon, the whole karking galaxy was a cesspool. The urge to vomit, to pull his weathered Mandalorian Heavy Pistol out of his holster and blow his brains out was fairly strong then, stronger than lately anyway. His arm was on fire, the phantom limb burning inside the red mechanical arm that replaced the stump on his left side.

That day would never leave his nightmares.

But it was time to do his job. Darkgear looked behind him at Ryley, the spice head he had taken from a dumpster of a planet. The kid was doing better now, at least better than he had been when he found him. The trip to Dxun had been relaxing, in a way. The jungle was familiar, a scent of home that calmed him, took the pain away. He had shown this kid his home, his family, even how to survive in the jungle and how to fight. Ryley was growing on him. The urchin wasn't so bad.

Turning back to the private eye and his employer, Darkgear took a seat and looked around, alternating between exploring the office and checking out his employer. Agile, attractive, hell, she even smelled like home. This Sam woman was as mysterious as she was enticing, and Liam was a sucker for the femme fatales...

The Mandalorian was silent and still, listening and observing...

[member="Sam Kazroy"]

[member="Van Rolark"]

[member="Ryley Maevis"]

 

[Van Rolark]

His gaze slowly drifted up towards the woman as he calmly puffed on the cigarette, listening in complete and utter silence. He nodded after she was finished, slowly examining the cigar-smoking mercenary who had just entered the office. Slowly, he plucked the cigarette from his mouth, extinguishing it. "That's me.", he said, a neutral expression on his face.

He slowly placed a hand over the bandage located on his nose, nodding his head slowly. Clearing his throat, he leaned back in his chair, slowly directing his gaze over to [member="Liam Darkgear"]. "So, whaddya need?", He inquired, a slight grin on his face. Slowly, he removed his fedora from his head, quickly tossing it on his desk.

Suddenly, his eyes widened as he quickly pulled himself out of his chair, directing his attention to the woman. "Excuse my poor manners, would you care for a cigarette?", He asked, nodding his head slowly.

[member="Sam Kazroy"]

 

[Ryley Maevis]

When Ryley stepped into the hazy room behind Darkgear, he noticed a comfy looking seat by the door and just sat there without saying a word. During the past few days, he had not been quite as much of a talker as usual. His relationship with the Mandalorian had smoothed out during their time on Dxun to the point where Ryley no longer felt like a helpless, irritating little junkie boy from scrapland. He had even been taught how to use his blaster pistol effectively. Over the course of a few days that they were on the jungle moon, he had become much more self-sufficient than before, thanks to Darkgear. The sudden withdrawal from the spice did put a strain on the boy, but at least he kept busy. His new love was space travel, and he was already dreaming of having a ship of his own eventually.

Ryley couldn't help it when his eyes lingered on the woman who had brought them here. Sam was even prettier than some of the dancers from Xot's. Meeting her had been such a relief. He hadn't gotten a chance to spend time around a lady since he'd left Belgaroth. Aside from meeting some of the folks from Dxun, Ryley's interaction was all with Darkgear. Darkgear proved to be an interesting man, and Ryley looked up to him, but he didn't exactly provide the warm affection that the boy was more often desiring now that he was feeling stronger emotions due to the death of his habit.

Now Ryley missed his mother a lot. Sometimes he dreamed of her, or had nightmares about bad things happening to his home planet while he was away. He always reassured himself that nothing that bad ever happened in Belgaroth, and he would return to explain everything someday.

For now, he enjoyed the thrill of adventure and was always looking forward to visiting unfamiliar lands. He remained seated in the soft chair as the adults spoke, his muscles growing more spastic as he anticipated the next step. Glacing at Darkgear, Ryley caught the man taking a look at Sam and he couldn't hold back a little snicker. They were parched.

[member="Liam Darkgear"] - [member="Van Rolark"] - [member="Sam Kazroy"]

 

[Jsc]

[member="Van Rolark"] made custom while the boys sat down. Leaving Sam the welcome opportunity to raise a hand, and a smile.

"No thank you Mr. Rolark. Allow me to get right to business."

She approached his desk and placed a holo-projector on the table. Not much larger than the palm of her hand, the device immediately presented the group with the blue image of a HK droid. One of the most ferocious models of assassin robots in the galaxy.

"This is HK-91. Until recently he was an associate of mine. However, three days ago he went missing in Mandalorian space. The only clue as to his sudden departure was a receipt I found on our shared server. The receipt was for a large gem transaction. Roughly enough coin to purchase a starship or more. An outrageous sum, to be sure. The purchase was been two mysterious parties linked to the Green Dragon Syndicate of Techno Union Space. A one Colonel F. Here on Nar Shaddaa. And a one Clan R. Of Mandalorian space."

She held up a hand to ensure [member="Van Rolark"] was following along. Like it or not, she was diving in. Rather quickly too.

"Now. Before I go any further. I'd like to mention where you will come in. I have already uncovered both of these two mysterious parties with the help of my associates here. However? I will need your help to locate the exact whereabouts of this, Colonel F. Or... As they call her on this moon. Lady Deathnote."

Sam gave eyes to everyone in the room. Letting them know that she was taking this rather silly mission, very seriously.

"So. I guess the only question left to answer is? Are you any good at finding your man, Mr Rolark? Or do I have to take my business elsewhere."

 

[Van Rolark]

He stared up at the woman, an irritated expression on his face. Scratching his head, he slowly put his head in his hand, sighing loudly. "Normally...I'd say no to this kinda work, however...I assume you can provide a decent stack of credits for my work", He questioned, attempting to keep a straight face as he spoke. "I can find 'em, no doubt about it. Yet, as I said before, you're gonna need to provide my fair share of credits, this is no simple task."

"Also, I'll be needin' your word this whole ordeal will NOT come back and bite me in the ass. I mean, come on...Lady Deathnote? Now, I don't know 'bout you, but that sounds like someone you don't wanna kark with!"

He suddenly burst into laughter, slamming his hand down on his desk, as his laughter almost turned to a complete cackle. Abruptly, the man's laughter came to a halt, as he quickly cleared his throat and tugged at his trenchcoat's collar. "I-I...Sorry! I...Yes, I think you found the right man for the job. I'll find the location of this...Lady Deathnote. Soooooo...A-any questions?"

[member="Sam Kazroy"]

[member="Ryley Maevis"]

[member="Liam Darkgear"]

 

[Jsc]

Oh my. It did appear [member="Van Rolark"] was in good spirits. Excellent. He'd need that where he was going. Lady Deathnote was reknown across the moon's underworld. It was an investigation bound to get a little dirty. ...Which was probably Sam wanted somebody else to do it. Ugh. How she detested Hutt Space. Bleh.

Sam stood up straight nodded. It would suffice,

"No. No questions. As for price? Half now and half when the job is done. Name your price and we can begin the chase in earnest."

She turned about to her associates, [member="Ryley Maevis"] and [member="Liam Darkgear"] . Pressing a single finger against her chin with a smile.

"Gentlemen. You two will likewise be hunting for the details of 'Clan R' down by the dockyards. Or, should I say? Mandalore's most infamous, Clan Rekali. ...Ahem. Remember. I just need their starship's number from the gem deal and the destination they were heading to. If you two can find the shipping manifest as well? All the better."

Sam snapped her fingers and concluded that Ryley and Liam could take their leave now. Oy vey. Snapping fingers now? My my. She certainly was ex-military, wasn't she.

"Indeed. As per arrangement, we shall all gather back at my YT freighter in two days time. Review what we have found. It's Dock 17 over by the Mynock Casino Resort. Should be easy enough to find. ...And I expect results. From everybody. The less time we spend in Techno Union Space, the better."

That much was very clear. She was paying top dollar for the fine services of these men. And she had a mean green (blue) lightsabre for anybody who didn't keep to their end of the bargain. Business was always business. Pretty face, Jedi, or not. And if Rolark thought Lady Deathnote was bad? Oh boy. You did not want to Sam Kazory sassy either. That could scare Sith Lords away. Oh dear.

Kazzy pulled out her credit book to finish discussing the 'price' with her new detective. Waving a happy goodbye to everyone, for now.

"Two days gentlemen. Orevwa!"

___

*ooc: I plan to skip straight ahead 2 days to the starship's interior for the next scene. otherwise feel free to cover the 2 days interlude's events in your next posts and just skip me. I'll give this thread a little while until I respond again. give everybody a chance to do their own thing or skip right to the starship. And Van. We'll skip the payment numbers for now. Just assume Sam paid you half of whatever your double standard fee is and carry on. (this ooc message will be deleted in 72 hours. cheers.)