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The good ship Wretched Hive settled into Mos Eisley Spaceport like a biker slouching into a familiar cantina. In other bays, Jorus knew, other Outer Rim Coalition transports would be touching down. He keyed the group frequency while running a post-flight shutdown.
“Hey folks, Marshal Merrill here. Glad you could make it. I know I told you a bit about the situation before, but more's come in since we took off.” He patted his Trandoshan security chief's shoulder and headed out of the bridge, still talking on his comlink. “So you know our worlds are pretty darn barren of decent lightsaber crystals, and that means those of us that use sabers, including a good few Judges, need to go far afield. Closest decent crystal source to our turf is Tatooine. Krayt Dragon pearls and Durindfire gems. Tough to find and claim, valuable as feth. What we find here is gonna go a long way toward funding ships and tech for the Coalition, over and above the whole saber issue. Now, there's a Hutt looking to sell us a bunch of crystals, but his skiff looks like it's crashed just north of town. To make matters worse or better, he had a Krayt Dragon aboard. So that's gonna be a thing.”
The weapons locker clicked open, revealing tons of strange guns that the Underground had picked up over the years. A small crowd of Undergrounders and ship crew had followed Jorus to the locker. He glanced over his shoulder and gestured to the collection, still talking to his comm.
“Weapon up but tread light. Mos Eisley is no joke, and we're not here to make enemies.”
A big name like Jorus Merrill she hadn't even encountered in person. He was shorter than she expected, but hey it was the man, the myth the legend right? As he opened his crates of special guns she crowded around in the back, peering through the gaps of operatives to see what he had. Most folks knew her by many different names and even fewer knew that she was underground.
Trust no one, right?
"Think he's got anything good," Worsh asked.
"It's a fething Merrill Worsh, they always got a trinket or two."
She wasn't really here for the gizmos. She just needed a saber crystal. Her old saber was on it's last leg and at times proved unreliable. The crystal was almost shattered by the beating the casing had taken on her many adventures.
Kurt hadn't been home in what what felt like years.
So much had happened since he'd last been here that he struggled to recall just how he'd left things. Of course because Tatooine was the way it was pretty much everything had stayed exactly the same. Mos Eisley was still the ruined collection of smugglers and thieves, the streets were still made of sand, and the twin suns burned brightly in the sky as they always did. For the Courier it was a small comfort that while everything else around him changed, his home stayed the same.
He supposed it was something to be thankful for, especially considering everything that had happened as of late.
The Courier shifted slightly, stepping through the sands and pressing himself against a wall for a few seconds as a speeder flew past him. He let out a huttese curse, shaking his fist for a few seconds until he rejoined the rest of the small crowd on the street.
Kurt picked up his pace slightly, though he was in no real hurry to get anywhere. The farm that his parents had owned since before he was born lay a few miles to the east of Mos Eisley, and getting there meant he would have to either take a speeder and double back to get The Messa. The latter would be slightly more difficult given that he'd already paid docking fees, but for now he wasn't really all that worried about it. He had quite a bit to tell his mother and father, and well...it wasn't going to be an easy thing to do.
Mostly because he felt like explaining it all could be...well confusing. How did one go about telling their parents they were dating a Queen?
Not like it was a bad thing, but still, they'd probably thing he was lying.
A sigh escaped the Courier's lips and slowly he began to wander towards one of the Cantinas on the west end of the city, knowing that he would at least be able to get a drink there before he completed the rest of his journey home.
For his part, Jorus picked a Bloodstripe hand cannon, the Underground's version of his long-lost Mandalorian shell gun. The eight-gauge barrels could dish out a wide variety of specialized ammunition. Fire real buckshot or slug, and the recoil could break his wrist if he did it wrong. Thus and therefore, he loaded up on stranger cartridges, the kind that might be useful against a Krayt or a Hutt's guards. For all he knew, the Hutt might have blamed the crash on double-crossing sabotage. There was no guarantee this meeting would go well.
He shoved a speeder down the Hive's ramp and squinted out the docking bay's aperture. Off to the north, against the base of the plateau, smoke wisped away into dry air. The crashed sail barge looked to be a good ten klicks away from here.
As Jorus readied his speeder, Worsh was loading up a mini land rover vehicle. It wasn't even a real vehicle. A fossil fuel engine, huge exhaust pipes, huge wheels and a durasteel cage with a few seat in it. The gear went behind the seats and he hopped into the drivers seat, revving the thing up.
The engine rumbled and roared as it turned over and an obnoxious plume of acrid midnight smoke bloomed from the tailpipes. She finished snapping the KD Underbarel grenade launcher on her G-35 Assault rifle and locked a grenade into it. She had her normal load out today, and Worsh was just carrying his usual repeater pistol.
She stepped away from the vehicle, rubbing oil off her gloves with a rag as she approached Jorus, rifle bouncing on her orange clad chest.
"Yo Jorus. Never got to meet you in person, but heard all about ya. Names Seraya Whisperwind."
A sandy wind rushed through the docking bay in fits and starts. Grit rasped along the hull of Jorus' vehicle, a battered speeder. He adjusted a pair of goggles and glanced up from the control panel as the younger women came over. "Whisperwind, yeah - I had a couple of folks ask around when you first came aboard. Say you've been poking around the First Order for the Underground. Good on ya." Across the back of the passenger seat, he held out a hand to shake. He noticed the old Rebel Alliance signet ring on her hand, a match to his.
"That's heavy gear you're bringing. Can't say as I blame you - a Krayt is serious work. So's making deals with Hutts for that matter. You one of the folks with a special use for the crystals?"
She shook his hand as well, also noting his ring. Peas in a pod?
"Well a Krayt is hard work from what I hear. Real hard armor carpace. Also not a fan of Hutts. As for the FO stuff, yea, I like to break their stuff and sow disorder. Who needs tyrants? The Sith are enough by themselves without throwing in the whole deck of fifty two."
She paused, adjusting her sling.
"Naw not a special use. But I do need a new Crystal for my Lightsaber. Thing's on it's last leg."
Sitting atop a small stairwell, he swung his legs back and forth, the fabric of his desert camo fatigues making a swish swoosh type of sound. Fortunate to be a nice golden hue, he was at a slight less risk of burning to a crisp under the scorching sun. A shirt would have tilted the odds in his favor even more, but he had decided against it for the time being.
Spitting out the plastic utensil he had been chewing on, he hopped down onto solid ground, tossing his matching tan shirt over his shoulder the sun reflecting of his extremely tinted shades. Moving towards Jorus and a woman he didn't know, he stopped to admire the land rover that growled as it sat vacant, begging him to tear up some dunes and forget everything else. Nice wheels.
He too had brought his share to add to the mix, his just being slightly cooler than everyone else's addition. Free-axle suspension, a tricked out exhaust system that was loud enough to shatter windows and a custom engine made by none other than himself, the Spawn, as he dubbed it, was one mean looking machine. Of course, he had added tire treads more accustomed to the terrain for the perfect ride over the sand dunes, waving his saber and blasting all the way.
Maybe not so much, butt it was indeed a pleasant thought.
Giving a low whistle as he stopped a few feet from Jorus, he inclined his head towards the woman, now in the middle of slipping his shirt back over his head so he could at least look presentable. Usually, none would complain, but the many scars threw off the sexy vibe he was going for.
"Nice ride by the way, but more importantly, who's claiming the dragons head?" Raising his hand half way in the air he smiled. "No-one but me? Sweet."
Should I sub the bike or nah? I think it'd be cool.
I'd heard from Jorus recently about a job, Hutt skiff had crashed and there'd been a Krayt Dragon aboard.... Wonderful. At minimum the issue was grabbing saber crystals for me. I'd been on Tatooine for the last day helping some folks sort out a murder, turns out the wife had hired someone to kill her cheating husband. Too bad she'd been osik at covering her tracks, after having been paid I'd gotten the message from Jorus. Now I sat in a swoop that I'd stolen with the help of my new crew back on Nar Shadaa, Crosswire and I had worked on the bike and put more armor plating on it. Not to mention boosting the power to the turret in the back which was now dual-phase of both Ion and blaster capable.
I had the passenger seat and back seat stuffed with goodies. Normally I wasn't a fan of wearing my Andromeda armor out in deserts but the fact was if a Krayt Dragon was loose it couldn't hurt. Plus it functioned as not just an EVA suit but battle armor as well. I'd come with my Wraith blaster rifle, a crossbow with mutiple trick arrows, and a scattergun that not only fired scattergun rounds but also grenades. Crosswire was supposed to meet me out on the dunes I had the feeling he'd love to test out the new turret system. A whole case of grenades sat in the passenger seat everything from smoke, frag, incendiary, and even acid. I had the feeling Crosswire would love those too. If nothing else I was bound and determined to walk away with a Krayt Dragon Pearl odds were though that Crosswire could make some powerful allies out here too. Personally from what I knew Krayt Dragon Pearls were incredibly coveted in lightsaber construction. Plus I'd rather kill the thing honorably than risk buying one on the black market. Making sure everything was secured I started up my swoop and headed to meet Crosswire and everyone else out on the dunes...
I sat on the hood of my bike, wearing my combat armor/EVA suit with a red cloak over the top of my head and shoulders to keep me shaded much as possible. Fur, heat and extra layers. That's just asking for problems. I'm just glad to be on the ground again. I've had a bit too much in the means of space travel for the time being. I just have to stay hydrated. Scanning the dunes I pick up on a dust cloud forming behind one of the dunes. Should be Andorreth. Not too much longer now and we can get moving. While I wait I take a quick inventory to make sure I didn't loose anything. Still got my data pad secured in my suit, that's good.
I run a diagnostics check to make sure things are in order while I look through things. I've got myself a heavy blaster on my back, several spare clips on my belt, and a few grenades, not to mention the expanding knife/sword on my hip. Only what I could handle on my person. Besides, Andorreth said he had some new gear in the swoop, so I needed to keep the room anyways.
I came along only for the thrills. Besides, what self respecting adventurer would turn down the chance to slay a dragon? It's like living the kids dream. My only other option was to sit on the ship and twiddle my thumbs and I'm not known to sit still for long. Andorreth should just be glad I could follow orders otherwise I would've gotten bored by now and moved on. I watch as he pulls up next to my bike. "Bout time you showed up!" I say with a grin, "I was almost worried the tusken raiders had gotten to you." I hop into the bike after moving some of the gear to the side.
Smiling as I pulled up and he mentioned being worried about the Tuskens getting me. I'd moved the boxes of gear into the back seat and as I picked him up I looked at him and said "you may be a fan of the goody boxes I brought to this party. There's a scattergun and crossbow in the back. One each for us and a box of different grenades and bolts for the crossbows. Quivers too, though I'd suggest attaching the quiver to your leg allows for easier draw. Also we've got flechette pistols too in case you're interested."
Keeping one eye on the horizon as I drove and the other glancing over towards Crosswire I said "Ready to give the new dual-phase cannons a whirl?" I hoped that Crosswire had given more thought to what we'd talked about while making the improvements to this swoop. Evil Corp. would continue being a problem unless we dealt with them directly and very personally. This job was more a way to spend more time with Crosswire and bond than anything else. I mean I personally was incredibly interested in obtaining a genuine Krayt Dragon Pearl. Plus if we rescued the Hutt then the ORC would curry his favor and have trade opened for saber crystals. Seemed to me I needed to be involved and bringing Crosswire along simply made sense to me...
"Ain't that the truth," said Jorus with a snort. "I can't tell what's more pathological - folks obsessed with power or folks that get comfort from being a cog in the tyranny. Nice comfy place in the guts of dictatorship. Fethwits. And yeah, lightsaber was kind of where I was going with the 'special use' thing. So you're a Forcer, eh? Jedi, or something like it? Light, dark, elsewise? Not that we judge."
He found himself chuckling pretty hard as [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] geared up the braggadocio that an expedition like this just about required. [member="Andorreth Vikar"] and [member="Trelock Relon"] took off ahead of the pack.
"There's a good energy here," Jorus said. "Nothing wrong with a little adrenaline and camaraderie. Love it."
Dingo Darr hopped into the passenger seat - well, clambered really; the Krevaaki chief engineer was getting old - and Jorus floored the accelerator. The speeder shot out of the docking back and the outskirts of Mos Eisley, bound for the plume of smoke.
I laugh a bit and look at Andorreth saying jokingly, "Is that a question? I've been itching to pull the triggers on that thing since we installed it!" I stand up in my seat, maneuvering to the rear turret in a dare devil fashion, balancing along the walls of the rear seat before sitting in the turrets chair. A thought comes to mind and I turn back to the seat and opens up one of the cases. Better to do this now than to risk the bike getting flipped and having to dig for them. I pull out one of the crossbows, inspecting it a bit to familiarize myself with it's mechanisms before sticking it to my back. I do the same with the quiver to the hip of my combat armor. Gotta love the power of magnetism. "Love the goody-bag my friend!" I yell to the pilot, as I pull a few grenades and put them next to the quiver. I can hardly wait, getting myself settled into the seat of the turret and watch the other vehicles take off behind us This is gonna be one heck of a show once the fight starts.
As we'd already picked up the pace and raced ahead I suspected that the rest of the peeps here to hunt and save the Hutt would be arriving shortly. Keeping my eyes on the dunes as I pushed the throttle even more I wondered what our next move as a crew would be. Jae and I had our thing going, but a priority was simply to do what I'd discussed with Crosswire up in the black in between missions and that was to make a move that'd keep Evil Corp. off of our backs for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately that meant getting back in contact with people I'd run into or knew on Triple Zero...
While not problematic per se, I knew very few people there the ones I did I'd worked with or pissed off. Meaning our options for a safehouse or gear would be limited to say the least. Unless...I could always ask the Firedancer for assistance. She'd told me in bits and pieces of her time on Coruscant and I'd actually met her when serving her a bottle of lum and a burger in the diner. Glancing back to Crosswire I sent the swoop into a spin stopping it just shy of the coordinates. Keeping the power running I looked back towards him and said "Crosswire while we're here before everyone else there are a few things I need to discuss with you."
"First we are going to HAVE to deal with Evil Corp. That's gonna mean going back to where we both got our start Triple Zero. Bryce has told me of shadow ports all across the galaxy, places we can land without the authorities noticing and there are quite a few on Coruscant. We'll need resources while there though, and I don't have them I kept to myself while living there didn't want to draw any more attention than needed. That being said, I ran into someone before we had to flee Nar Shadaa The Firedancer. She lived on Coruscant for a good while and does have resources that we could use including several safe houses and a friend with quite a bit of gear. Name of Zara Morningstar, Mandalorian apparently. Good to have on our side as an ally and apparently also very in touch with multiple ways to get things done."
"After this job I think it'd be beneficial to start thinking about just biting the bullet and taking care of this situation." At minimum we'd need someone who could provide intel that was reliable, not to mention if we did decide to go after any bounties it'd be good to have someone who was in the loop with that too. Plus I needed intel on the assassin who'd killed my brother and framed me for it. It was time for the hunted to become the hunters. For now though we'd wait for the rest of the party to arrive and hunt a Krayt Dragon. That and protect a giant slug with connections...I hated Hutts...
B'kik heard a Krayt Dragon needed killing and B'kik was happy to help kill it. B'kik was riding a ugama with his bodyguard A'raak. B'kik was glad A'raak was with him un the sinple reason of A'raak being an adult Tusken un that meant A'raak has killed a krayt dragon before. B'kik was planning to use the ugama as bait allowing people to easily kill the dragon. B'kik was planning on collect the krayt dragon's bones as a sign of power in jawa culture. "Any po want to tell M'bwa why a hutt had a krayt dragon on a lo'wassa in the first place".
Thane rolled over to get more comfortable on his cot, but instead, he rolled off the crate he'd crashed on top of. The cold hard deck was an instant wake up call for Thane as he rubbed his head where he'd landed on it. He'd passed out on the was to Tatooine after the .....first....second....carry the two....twelfth shot of whiskey in a game only he understood called, how much can I drink in a night.
The bright Tatooinian sunlight burn the cornea of his eyes as the alcohol blurred his vision after he wobbled his way up to his feet. Kark.
Jorus had the gang all gathered around the weapons locker and had a speeder rolled out the ramp for their trip. Grabbing his wife brimmed hat and a par of very dark sunglasses. He slowly drug his arse to the group, taking a couple swigs from his flask, hair of the dog and what not. Words came in at a volume of eleven, making his brain cry into his throat and an audible groan floated out of the depths of Thane's gullet. Followed by a belch of bantha proportions. The burp sent shivers down the rebels spine, forcing a visual reaction form the hungover drunkard.
Checking his body for his weapons in a humorous search that looked like a drugged child back from the dentist. He did indeed still have all his guns, that was a good start. This was going to be a long day.
I turn back to Andorreth to listen in intently on what he has to say. He's right, we can't be checking our backs every time we go planetside. Besides that, the longer this goes on, the more the word of my bounty is going to spread and that just isn't a fond thought. I've already got enough on my tail with E's goonies. "Well I'm glad you've got somewhat of a plan started, at least to get us on the ground there, as well as some possible contacts. I'll see what I can do to gather some more intel on their building. There's got to be SOME entry point somewhere that isn't locked down. There always is. Computer system or otherwise. Lets just try not to talk about this when the others show up though. Last thing I need is a bounty hunter trying to take my head off." Thinking about what I just said, I put on my helmet. Safety first!
I lean back in my chair thinking about what he said about this "Firedancer". Must be the sword user he was looking for in the bar. In fact, I remember who he spoke to.. I got a strange vibe from her. Almost like a Jedi... If that's the case, a partnership there just ain't happening. "Just be aware, I don't typically play well with others. You're an exception." That should be a suitable warning, just in case. I load and ready a scattergun for when the time comes. "Just like vacation, eh bud?" I kick my legs up onto the top of the turret and close my eyes as I wait for the squad to assemble.
Smiling as I heard him say he didn't play well with others outside of our crew I said "Don't expect you to trust everyone my man, though I suspect you're suspicious of the Firedancer. Makes sense, she's Echani, Mandalorian and a Jedi to top it off. Before you ask how I know that and the claws come out just take a second and think with me. Even if she is a Jedi she's a Jedi that has been training me in the way of blades, to say nothing of her past as an assassin and the connections she has had. Did it not strike you as odd that on Nar Shadaa she was there before me, further than that since she had a history of being both bounty-hunter and assassin not to mention being a Jedi she could've killed you at any given point before I got there more than that she could have let the assassins take you out or killed you outright."
As I'd been speaking I'd grabbed a scattergun from the back and begun loading up several specialty rounds. Acid misting shells to eat away at the armor of the dragon. Grabbing a belt I began loading grenades into it before continuing to speak "To think of it another way, what better ally then someone who has a history as varied hers? More than that though as a Jedi she has the ability to give us support in the way of anonymity from her allies. We'd have a Jedi that'd be fine with us operating in morally grey areas and potential allies in information brokers. Just a thought though...
Finishing up with loading the grenade belt I attached the scattergun to a shoulder harness and clipped the grenade belt around my waist. Then I grabbed the crossbow and began loading up cylinders with different crossbow bolts. Well we'd arrived early for sure, now we could only wait though I had the distinct feeling that Tuskens would show up before the others did. Oh well, least we'd be armed to take them on. Though I hoped the others would show up soon, I was anxious to hunt the Krayt, and secure the slug who'd allow us access to a trove of saber crystals for the ORC...
Now back on his vehicle, he kicked the ignition, literally, the kick-start sending the engine into a screaming frenzy as he clasped a matching tan face mask over his mouth and nose, the design of wicked fangs enhancing the "I'm a badass" look he was working to keep withing his parameters of 'swag'.
Releasing the brake, he pulled the throttle back, flying over the sand dunes with a vengeance, soon catching up to [member="Jorus Merrill"] and riding on the tail of [member="Andorreth Vikar"], speeding past even as they stopped. Swerving around them, he pulled ahead, going much slower though, his rifle slung around his shoulder and resting on his lap as his eyes scanned the surrounding rocks and sand dunes, some would make very good spots to hide in, be it Tuskans or exactly what they were looking for.
Still sitting firmly on his bike, he placed his eye against the sight on his rifle, the reticle moving over everything that he deemed worthy of inspection. So, pretty much everything.
