Private The Corellian Squeeze

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Nicholas Salvage & Logistics, Coronet City, Corellia.

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Roman was performing his usual tasks in the scrapyard, today he was testing out an average civilian hyperdrive, analyzing it deeply to exactly find out it's potential and the profit it could yield from selling to the Corellian Exchange. The door to the tech and pawn shop hisses open, a figure in a very flashy suit arriving. Roman knew who it was, and stopped kneeling beside the hyperdrive and stood up. Just when Roman stands up, a Rodian labourer in his yard accidentally bumps him and clumsily the Rodian drops whatever components it was carrying. Roman let out a sigh before helping the Rodian and entering the tech and pawn shop, to meet the local Corellian Exchange handler he was assigned to, a man who goes by the name of Sonny Persian.

"Hmm, Roman. Glad to see you. You have some caf?"

"No. Why are you here?"

"Errands. I want you to run a small errand for me, nothing big."

"You know and I have said you before--"

"I don't care about your stupid business schedules, you lout. Your little shop here or your business wouldn't even exist if I don't approve, so shut up and listen."

"...."

"Good. so, Corsec is running some sweeps near the primary hangar because they've heard information of high-profile transport passing through. I need you to load that crate on the repulsor-skiff outside your shop, bring it back here, and hide it in that junk you call inventory. Understood?"

"Fine, I'll get your crates. But If Corsec intercepts me, you're paying the bribe fee out of your own pocket."

"Just get it done. It's your fault if you do get into such a stupid scenario anyways, why would I pay the bribe fee?"

"Fine. I am going.."


Roman walks to the other side of the counter, and just as he enters close proximity near Sonny, Roman is met with a sharp punch to the gut from Sonny.

Roman grunts, holds the edge of the counter with his right hand to balance himself, looking down at the floor as Sonny speaks.

"Maybe I hit you too hard there, Roman. But just remember who owns you."

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia, Sector 4 Docks

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Roman gasps for air a little bit as he walks past Sonny and into the streets of Corellia outside, his eyes shifting towards the repulsor-skiff left for him by Sonny. Roman strides forth towards the repulsor skiff to start operating it.

As soon as Roman gets on the repulsor-skiff and starts moving forward, his eyes looked up at the skyscrapers which was surrounding the Docks, and he already knew even without Sonny telling him, that Dock Bay 9 was were the high-profile transport was because he was also very involved with this business. Roman kept moving and spots a Corsec guard walking back and forth, just nearby. Too bad, the guard was probably the only thing between Roman and the crate, and the guard's presence also meant something much worse, which is a Corsec checkpoint up ahead.


Roman parks the repulsor-skiff in a very discreet place, out of the guard's sight. Roman proceeds to wear his glasses.

Roman unholsters his DL-44, leaning onto a nearby wall as he slowly made his way towards the guard's back.

Pressing his DL-44 against the guard's nape, and intentionally speaking with a deeper voice.

"Keep your hands up, don't try anything stupid. How many guards at the checkpoint?"


"4. 3 of them are at the entrance to the landing pad, and one just recently entered the surveillance room to do his shift. I swear!"

Roman hooks both his arms around the guard's neck, proceeding to choke the guard out. The guard tried to thrash and struggle desperately, but not for long. Roman set down the unconscious man, and dragged him into deep shadows, out of sight. Roman then proceeds to crush the man's windpipe with both his arms to silently kill him with minimal noise.

He squints and peeks out the wall for a moment to spot the Corellian Security force's established checkpoint to approach the spaceport. There were exactly 3 of them, all grouped together and talking, infront of this spaceport's entrance.

Roman gently sets down his DL-44 and vubroknife beside the dead guard so he can approach the guards unarmed.

Roman casually approaches the 3 guards at the checkpoint, and immediately recognizes and is recognized by one of them.

"Nicholas, hey! Why're you here?.."

The guard turns his head to the other guards, speaking positively of Roman

"This one here is a reliable, and patriotic fellow. I've been to his shop about half a dozen times."

And turns to Roman.

"Anyways, it's just my job to know why you're here."

"Oh well, Joe, it's the usual. Got some Trandoshan client today with a big Houk friend threatening me to fix his old, stupid hyperdrive for very little in return for me."


"Yeah, stupid Trandoshans and their stupid business negotiations. There anything I can do for you?"

"No, not much. It's just business, thank you Joe."

After a little pat-down, Roman enters the spaceport, but completely unarmed.

As soon as he can, Roman trots down the hallway and navigates towards Docking Bay 9. The social hubs were all filled with armed Corellian Security force guards.

Several other small rooms were being searched for the high-profile transport.

But Roman's advantage over the cops was that he knew exactly where the heavy crate was. Which was hidden in a big maintenance ventilation tunnel area for Docking Bay 9, the inside of the maintenance tunnel was roughly mapped out by Roman, he had decent knowledge of that specific area.

Roman entered the room containing the landing pad, Docking Bay 9. His eyes shifted towards the ventilation grate towards the right of the area.

Roman sprints towards the ventilation grate and sets it aside, it was already loose and opened a long time ago. There would only be a slight pressure drop overall because of a single loose ventilation grate, so it wasn't a big problem.


The inside of the ventilation system felt cavernous, very big, like the inside of a cave. This type of tunnel wasn't a narrow and linear space but was like a small version of a corridor, allowing for air-filtering droid and groups of technicians to operate with some level of comfort.

After Roman took a 90-degree turn to his left, he spotted the heavy crate, hidden right there. Roman was getting cold from being in the interior of this place, he also had to exit carefully.

Roman made his way out of the ventilation system with the crate, and immediately exits Docking Bay 9 with a plan. Just some turns down the hallway, there was the waste management section, which had a cargo chute which could safely drop the crate outside the spaceport and into a heap of refuse.

Roman maintained maximum pace while carrying the heavy crate, taking a turn to his right, and to his left and entering the waste management section. Roman pressed his fist against the manual safety lock, and drops the heavy crate into the chute.

Roman lets out a sigh of relief before taking a calm walk to the outside of the spaceport.

Roman had encountered the checkpoint of guards once again.

"Roman! How did the business go?"

"Yeah, it went great Joe."

Roman walks away a safe distance from the checkpoint of guards, and enters the dark alleyway with the dead guard and his weapons. He picks up his DL-44 blaster pistol and his vibroknife, stores them and approaches his parked repulsor-skiff.

He begins operating the repulsor-skiff and drives it towards the specific heap of refuse where the crate was dropped.

After roughly a 2-minute drive, Roman reaches out with both his arms to lift the heavy crate up from the heap of refuse, and stores it in his repulsor-skiff.

Roman knew the Corellian streets, so a getaway with the crate was the easiest task for him. He parks the repulsor-skiff infront of his tech and pawn shop, where 2 goons of Sonny were waiting to retrieve the repulsor-skiff.

"Are these the transport Sonny had requested you to retrieve from the hangar?" One of the goons asked.

Roman ignored the goon, and walked past the both of them and into the scrapyard to continue checking on the civilian-grade hyperdrive he was analyzing earlier.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Nicholas Salvage & Logistics, Coronet City, Corellia.

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Sonny's goons checked the crate on the repulsor-skiff and left swiftly. Roman examines the civilian hyperdrive's reactor assembly, calculating on ways to make it more efficient, and the navigation computer was poor but it didn't matter. Roman recalls earlier seeing a droid part, which was likely maybe a limb or a brain. Roman hauls the hyperdrive up to his brokerage office and keeps it on the metal counter, yanks his hydrospanner out, and sets that beside the hyperdrive. Roman's heart was throbbing, he couldn't wait to see how much performance he can squeeze out from a civilian grade hyperdrive like that and sell it for disgustingly good profit to any other organization other than the Corellian Exchange, and sell it behind the backs of the Exchange, of course. Lots of credits can be made this way if done often and done careful, Roman thought. It was not long until Roman realized he was dreaming infront of the table containing the hyperdrive components stripping tools. He had to remove all the stupid, useless and good for nothing components first, and replace it with salvaged components which work together very good. It wasn't much of a problem for him to find sources for illegal tuning, too. Roman gathered all the stripping tools, and approaches the hyperdrive sitting on his brokerage office's metal counter. He just forcefully grasps the arc-cutter and angrily removes all the wrecked parts of the reactor assembly, the hyperdrive lets out a subtle groan, which kept ringing in Roman's ears as he removing the other external components, and then finally scanned the hyperdrive's energy patterns and the flow with a coil-tester probe to reroute reactor flow manually during the future. The labourers had all finished their 8-hour shifts and just left without even sparing a look at Roman or informing him about leaving. Then the thought hit Roman's brain like a truck. It was kind of past lunchtime for him, and since he couldn't wait to gain one on Sonny, he had to investigate Sonny's own, small, logistics chain within the Corellian Exchange. Roman knew atleast more than a quarter of it must be filled with generally miserable people overall, and vulnerable people because a good pilot would always work for better terms instead of getting underpaid and constantly insulted and bullied like a person like Sonny who does the sin of treating his men very poorly. Probably a trait from always being on-top of the hierarchy, Roman guessed.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Neutral Spacer Cantina, Coronet City, Corellia.

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Roman finally shoved himself away from the cluttered counter of his brokerage office, noticing the scrapyard's familiar noise and it's greeting orchestra of grinding metal and labourers muttering curses silently while hauling heavy items. The smoke of coolant lingered in the humid air as Roman started toward one of the dockside cantinas nearby, exiting the yard and interested in getting food and maybe meeting some regulars at the cantina. Roman traversed the magnificent durasteel-laden boulevard beneath luminescent celestial advertisements dancing across the rain-slick megacity skyline, approaching the entrance of the neutral spacer cantina.

The cantina greeted Roman with it's familiar scent of spilled ale, engine coolant carried in on boots, recycled air, and the disgusting scent of sweat from the environment a contrast to Roman's cheap cologne. Roman made his way carefully, stepping over fuel-stained flooring and all. He took a seat near the side booth, quietly observing what surrounds him, and loosely and subtly gripping his holstered DL-44.

The waitress approached.

"Thought you'd still be buried in scrap this time of the day."
The waitress said, tapping her datapad and her eyes fully focused on her datapad.

"Got hungry.."
Roman replied, with a low, tired voice, staring at the metallic table infront of him, and the reflection of the people nearby him, as his right hand was subtly gripping his DL-44, trying to mask his paranoid behaviour with a subtle smirk, looking up at the waitress.

"Mm, what're you having?"
The waitress asked, tapping her datapad.

"Protein stew and caf, thank you.."
Roman's other hand was tapping the table, his left boot also starting to tap the ground as the waitress left. Roman was planning to eavesdrop on the many conversations here, maybe gamble some, hang out with some recognizable fellows, and hopefully find anything important, Roman himself didn't have a very clear idea on what it was, but he wanted information. People's useful knowledge. He had to meet with at least a single person from Sonny's logistics chain to make some big moves, like getting inside info or whatever. However, this cantina certainly wasn't the best place to meet up with criminals, Roman knew that. The many illegal circuits were a perfect place for meeting up with many opportunists and criminal like himself, but Roman wanted peace. Not men shouting, yelling and beating eachother up constantly, no. He didn't want to be surrounded with extremely insane people who'd ruin his inner peace and straight thinking for a moment, he wanted a place where he can do his stuff, and leave peacefully.

After a seemingly short period of time waiting, Roman's order arrived, the waitress sets the food at the metallic table. Roman thanks the waitress, and grasps the cup of caf with his left hand and gulps it in one motion, and immediately after just devouring the plate of protein stew in one go. It took him seconds for Roman to finish his meal, he wasn't really that hungry, but he just wished to finish his lunch quick.

Roman pushes himself away from the side booth, wiping his mouth with his jacket's sleeve, adjusting it at once as he approaches a group of people playing a game of pool. Roman idles near a bunch of people for a moment, before spotting a heavy-set man with a local gang insignia on his jacket, after an excruciatingly long moment of keen observation. The man was playing a game of pool with a bunch of other people, and besides him was a Duros pilot he was frantically exchanging words with.

Roman pushes past some people, and approaches the group playing pool. He shoves aside a guy and another slender Twi'lek beside him, making his presence known and his flair-filled jewellery and scent be known, too, before he briefly gestured towards the heavy-set man wearing the jacket with local gang insignia.

"Didn't know your lot hung around this side of the docks!"
Roman affirmed those words loudly, leaving no doubt, before pivoting towards the other people at the group.

"Winner keeps the table all night or what?"

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Neutral Spacer Cantina, Coronet City, Corellia.

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The heavy-set thug at the other side of the table stares at Roman, the thug kept his gaze fixed at Roman's jacket and looked down at Roman's hand near his holster. The thug instantly dismissed Roman, and turned his head towards the Duros pilot and continued exchanging some words with him.

A Trandoshan grasps his pool cue during his turn, and the sound of the pool cue crashing into the ball kept ringing in Roman's ears as he kept staring at the thug, with one hand shoved inside his pocket. The slender twi'lek besides Roman clumsily drops a small packet of something strange, and just a moment after the packet was dropped, Roman could smell spice. Specifically, it was a very disgusting mixture of Glitterstim and Carsunum. Roman was kind of revolted from the smell for a moment, tightly gripping his pool cue as he notices some of it spilled onto his boots, before commenting on the incident.

"You dropped your premium garbage on my boots, friend... and you'll be snorting it off right now. Clean it up, lout."
Roman let out a big sigh as he stares onto the ceiling, then shifting his gaze down towards his ruined boots.

The heavy-set thug glanced at the moment, and stopped talking to the Duros Pilot.

"Oh... what?? Are you seriously this kriffin' useless, Bib!? I'm gonna break your hands! The buyers aren't going to be pleased with-- Oh for...."
The heavy-set thug rolled his eyes for a moment, clinching his fists before angrily punching the pool table twice.

Roman was visibly frustrated after the twi'lek just spat on his boots. He had to deal with Sonny and he can't have much peace here too, he wondered. He didn't want to start anything, and that too in a cantina and against a probable local syndicate's dealer. Roman still got information that the heavy-set thug and the twi'lek are connected to each other and were going to have a deal nearby, so he could probably do something with it. For now, Roman restrained himself and wandered off to a seat in the side booth which was close to the exit.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia.

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Roman's gaze shifted across multiple elements in the cantina, such as to the place where lots of bounty puck frequency hums was erupting, and a color variance of a possible stolen code cylinder reflecting off the surface as a person waves it around with their hands. He also was observing everyone's boots, spotting some modified magnetic soles which are comfortable for hull-walking inside starships, indicating that the person is either a normal civilian pilot or something worse. Roman didn't bother, anyway. Roman has been waiting for some moments for the heavy-set thug and the slender twi'lek to leave the cantina, but they just kept playing the game of pool.

After some minutes, the heavy-set thug muttered something to the Duros pilot and the slender twi'lek followed them to the exit, the passing heavy-set thug exchanged a look at Roman before exiting the cantina.

Roman folllowed, keeping a very careful distance away from the goons. He wasn't new to stalking people, so he had some amount of prior experience, but wasn't a total expert. As soon as Roman leaves the cantina, Roman could smell the pungent stench of burnt hyperdrive fuel and starship battery acid, and the damp, moldy odor of grease-clogged drainage canals nearby. It sure didn't smell pleasant, Roman thought.

Roman could feel the constant subtle shaking of metal street plates as he followed the goons, he made sure he didn't make much noise, and stayed behind dense crowds while following the goons to make sure he wasn't caught. Roman almost lost them twice, but he managed to keep up with them.

Roman felt like he was sliding for a moment, and then he goes crashing down, the sound of his head hitting the ground a subtle thud masked by all the speaking from the nearby people, and some neon commercial speeches. Luckily, the goons haven't noticed. However, there was a problem. As soon as Roman fell down, a Trandoshan literally steps on his back, and starts searching Roman's pockets. The trandoshan thought Roman was out cold from the slip...

Roman was mad. Very mad, he was gritting his own teeth and clenched his fists so hard his hands turned white, he immediately pushed himself off the ground with such explosive force that the unexpecting Trandoshan's foot on his back wasn't immediately able to force Roman down immediately. Using that split-second advantage, Roman viciously sends his left elbow backwards towards the Trandoshan's groin, this completely rattles the Trandoshan's posture and forces the Trandoshan back, giving space for Roman to shove himself up.

The trandoshan sized up Roman before getting closer to him, but Roman was already in an orthodox boxing stance, and as soon as the Trandoshan's claw started to tear onto the sleeve on Roman's left hand, a tight right hook flew onto the side of the Trandoshan's face, Roman twisting his hips and generating even more power with his legs and with his violent mental intent. Roman's hand had landed on the thick and rough scales of the Trandoshan, but still the force of the punch made the Trandoshan fall down, the punch was clean, both Roman and the Trandoshan knew it, although Roman wasn't sure about the Trandoshan being down for good, he immediately started sprinting the other direction holding his throbbing right hand as he was in search of the 3 goons he was silently following.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia.

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Roman leans on a metallic durasteel wall to his right for a moment to catch his breath, looking at the ruined sleeve on his left forearm from the Trandoshan's claw. Roman sighed before taking a sharp left turn, crouching slightly and leaning back on the wall as he spots the 3 goons focused on someone or a group of someone infront of them. The slender twi'lek proceeds to tank out multiple packets of spice in different colours and forms and quantities, and so does the Duros Pilot. The heavy-set thug kept at a distance, standing at the center of the 3, saying

"Show us the briefcase first. We have the spices. Open it and throw it down. I want to see if the credits are legitimate or not."


"Throw one of the spices to us first. We have to see if it's legitimate or not"

The slender twi'lek slid one of the packets of high-quality spice on the ground.

Roman peeks his head out for a moment, spotting a Rodian grab the packet of spice and deeply inspect it. The deal seemed to go smoothly, the smaller local gangs had to co-operate after all, with the presence of such a big faction like the Corellian Exchange in the docks, the market was very cruel for them.

Roman immediately jogs out of the vicinity, and backtracking towards the wall that was slightly further away and stays there so he could be harder to spot. He kept following the 3 members throughout the narrow and silent alleyway.

Roman halted himself when the heavy-set thug stopped walking and yanks his datapad out, muttering some words to a strange individual as he proceeds and signals the other thugs to follow on. Roman caught on the fact that the heavy-set thug was talking to and is likely about to reach towards one of Don Redfield's many lieutenants. Don Redfield was the current leader of this gang known as the Whipsticks. The gang this gang had a deal with was also another local gang known as the Cable-Jacks.


Roman was eager to follow these 3 thugs to a lieutenant, a high-ranking gang associate.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia.

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The 3 thugs halted as they reached the location, Roman keeping close and staying completely still in a dark area behind the 3 in the alleyway.

There. The building was not really massive or small, the security wasn't anything special or intimidating, just 2 wookies and 2 humans with blaster rifles ready to sing. Roman listens closely to the conversation.

"The deal went smooth. We got the credits!"
The heavy-set thug shouted out with some pride, his arms raised as he said so.

"Don't get too happy, idiot. Those credits aren't much, and the others didn't have much choice, they had to cooperate. So it's pretty obvious the deal went smooth. Shut up and get in. The boss isn't happy either."

The guard replied, with a short sigh as he scoffed, his jaw set tight and his grip on the blaster rifle getting tighter as he saw the heavy-set thug's face turning more hostile.

"Who do you think you are, smart guy!? Your job is nothing but to guard the boss's hole, I'm the one who's doing deals and risking his life everyday, along with these poor souls!"

The heavy-set thug's voice got even more louder, pointing at himself and the Duros and the twi'lek.

The guard approached the heavy-set thug, eyes set on the thug's face. One of the wookies stepped in-between them, and the guard and heavy-set thug stop staring at each other, as the other Wookies opens the door for the thugs to go inside.

Roman sighed, peeking out for a moment as he looks at the 3 thugs enter the building. Roman's idea was to make friends with the lieutenant so that he can use the lieutenant or the lieutenant's men probably to do something significantly damaging to the Exchange. Roman sighed, hands inside his pockets as he looks down and backtracks once again, now to the Cantina, same way he came here.

Roman was tired of being bullied by Sonny, always under his thumb and all. So he had to come up with a plan. Roman planned to stalk the lieutenant, observe his lifestyle and routine before befriending him for his own gain.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia.

______________________________________________________________

Roman keeps walking towards the cantina he came from to track the thugs, but for a moment, he felt like there was another presence near him, although there was no one nearby he could see. Roman looks behind him and looks up in a slightly paranoid manner before yanking his DL-44 out just in case.

Roman kept advancing through the alleyway with his DL-44 held firmly with both hands, before he suddenly comes to a half again after he heard whispers in Dosh.

Roman immediately pivots as soon as heard the thud of the Trandoshan's steps approaching him, but as he turns, he sees nothing. The trandoshan had no reason to hide if it didn't know Roman had a blaster with him, but if it did and is hiding, it is very likely that the Trandoshan had been watching Roman for a long time.

Roman kept his back against a wall and proceeds towards the street, but immediately he sees the Trandoshan trying to follow him, the same Trandoshan from earlier. The Trandoshan tried to mask it's footsteps, but it's massive size didn't allow for it. Roman took a textbook isosceles stance, his chest squared towards the approaching Trandoshan, and his feet shoulder-width apart and planted firmly on the duracrete floor of the alleyway.

The trandoshan was a big target, being a 6'4 and 300 pound wall of muscle and all. There was a loud boom from Roman's DL-44 and a loud thud from 300 pounds of muscle dropping down to the floor. The Trandoshan had a big hole in its chest. Roman might have possibly died here, and just when he thinks about the dead Trandoshan for a moment again, he notices his heavily bruised, throbbing right fist. He was kind of stupid to punch a Trandoshan, he thought. He probably couldn't use his right hand for a while, he thought. Roman holsters his DL-44 with his throbbing right-hand. Adrenaline is one heck of a thing, Roman thought.

As soon as he heard the subtle wail of sirens, Roman immediately switches to full sprint and blends in with the heavy foot traffic of the streets of the docks in Coronet City.

Roman's spoiled boots hit the duracrete floor of the streets as he kept making his way towards his yard.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Nicholas Salvage & Logistics, Coronet City, Corellia.

______________________________________________________________

It had been hours since Roman had made his way back to his pawn shop and slept off on his chair, with nothing better to do in the current time period as all his shady associates come only during the dark, not the evening. It is dark now, though. And Roman is aware because of the ringing of his personal chronometer's alarm. Roman immediately shoves himself off the chair and suddenly the thought hit him, he was able to take 2 lives just for his own sake and that too very effortlessly. The Corsec guard probably had a family, but the Trandoshan thief however was killed out of self-defense, it was kill or be killed. The durasteel door to Roman's pawn shop opens with a loud, hydraulic hiss, and in response Roman immediately strides forth at a half-run pace towards the pawn shop counter, before subtly flinching as he looks at the person who had came to him.

It was Luis, a former CDF Pilot who was working with Roman. They both know each other very well, and Luis too knows of Roman's dishonorable discharge.

"Roman... You've got your own business place up n' running, huh? It's been a long time..."
Luis leans forward onto the counter, almost confidently and with a smirk, as he maintains eye contact with Roman.

Roman takes a sligh step back, looking around Luis almost in a paranoid manner, before shifting his gaze to Luis in a slightly angry manner.

"Why're you here?"
Roman asks in a very clipped tone, as his right hand starts hovering near his blaster's holster as he looks behind him quickly, stepping back near a wall as his eyes shift to Luis standing at the other side of the counter.

"You're being weird. I'm your friend. Keep it easy, alright?"
Luis says with a chuckle that escapes his mouth as he notices Roman's sudden movements.

"I'm not being weird. Answer my question, Luis."
Roman takes a seat and leans back in a very relaxed manner to mask his paranoia, stopping his right boot which unconsciously just started tapping the ground.

"Well, Roman, you're still being weird. I'm a friend of yours, aren't we just supposed to have our chit-chat and all, instead of getting straight to business? I'm your friend, not just another one of your customers. We both know that. "
Luis looks Roman up and down, as he stops leaning forward on the counter and folds his arms and looks down at Roman with a smirk, waiting for a response.

Roman was a moment away from shooting Luis dead, but the realisation that he can't hide Luis's death hit him like a truck, Roman starts holding the side of his head, his face tense as he looks down on the floor.

"You're not answering my question, Luis."
Roman responds to Luis, trying his best to sound as calm as possible, maintaining eye contact with Luis.

Just as Roman responded, a sound of a heavy crate being dropped down could be heard from behind Roman, and Roman immediately draws his DL-44 out almost a second later, and just as he turns to take aim at the place of the sound...

Luis immediately hops over to the other side of the counter, slamming onto Roman's back and pinning him to a wall, before pressing a blaster against the back of Roman's head while he yanks his own cuffs out to cuff Roman.

"Everything alright there, partner!?"
Luis shouts out to someone afar, Roman tries to peek his head out and catches a glimpse of the person, that person was the person who hauled the crate of illegal stuff here.

Roman grits his teeth and sighs...

"What is this, Luis? What're you doing?"
Roman spoke out angrily, grunting and hissing through his teeth as he did so. Roman probably had this situation under control if Luis was here to rob or kill him, he thought.

"I'm a private eye and I'm making credits, Roman. That's all I'm telling you, you bastard.. I know all your secrets."
Luis grasps Roman by his collar and takes Roman's DL-44, whispering to Roman's ears silently as he pressed his own blaster against Roman's back as he dragged Roman with him towards his partner near the dropped crate.


"This bastard has all sorts of illegal stuff, Luis. But there are no cybernetics or insane aftermarket tech here... Just some starship parts, spices, tibanna cartridges and some other stuff. And all of this has been sitting here for quite a lot of time."
Luis's partner, Horace started speaking, and looks at Roman's tense face for a moment.


"Ok.. let's just hand him over, come on. What're we waiting for? That's enough evidence. Stop staring at him and follow me. Come--"
Luis kept continuing in a very fast tone, waving his hand around and intentionally not giving Horace enough time to speak.

"SHUDDUP!"
Horace's rasp, gravelly voice kept ringing in Roman's head as he looked down on the greasy floor nearby...

"We can't just go like that. I think we can't even hand him over."
Horace's tone sounded disappointed and more silent.

"I'm not listening to you. Screw you. You're stupid. What do you mean we can't hand him over? Are you helping this bastard?"
Luis started sounding more sad and his voice started breaking, his grip on his blaster tightening as his face turned more hostile.

"Listen, Luis. You're nothing. You've been a private eye with me for maybe a week or two. You know nothing. This guy's linked with the Exchange."
Horace's face turned hostile too, his tone getting more irritated and impatient.

"He's right, Luis. You do anything funny here, your wife and daughter, both of them are dead, and you'll die a poor man."
Roman kept staring at Horace who was infront of him as he said this.

"..."

"I do have ties with the Exchange. Your partner has undeniable evidence about that, Luis."

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Nicholas Salvage & Logistics, Coronet City, Corellia.

______________________________________________________________

Despite Luis's stubborn mind, he knew that even if Roman wasn't really connected with the Exchange, it still isn't worth it risking his life as he was working this job to save his family, and if he dies, his family is gone, too.

Luis holsters his blaster and starts uncuffing Roman in a very clumsy manner, his jaw set tight and his brows tight and hostile.

As soon as Roman was uncuffed, Roman immediately spins towards Luis and delivers a right hook to Luis's face which puts the man on the floor.

"..."
Horace kept watching silently for a moment, before walking towards the exit without sparing a look at Roman.

"I hope you don't try anything here for your own sake, Luis."
Roman looks down at Luis, wiping the blood on his right knuckle on his rugged pants.

"I won't."
Luis responds, defeated as he wipes blood near his mouth.

Luis pushes himself up and walks out of the store, Roman followed Luis to the exit, waiting for Horace to get a good distance away from Luis.

"Luis."

"What do you need?.."
Luis turns to face Roman, responding in a very dull and tired tone, holding his jaw.

"You're coming to this place tomorrow at this same time. Without Horace."
Roman holds a calm, straight face, getting closer to Luis and maintaining eye contact.

"We have to discuss business. This private eye crap is clearly not working out for you."
Roman halts at a reasonable distance, still close enough to whisper to Luis.

"Are you serious? You just threaten me and hit me, and then try to help me? Who are you? Screw you!"
Luis whispers back, but in a more harsher tone.

"I can deal with Horace. All you'll have to do is listen to me, ok? This job is dangerous for you. What if you walk to someone else like me and actually arrest them? Think, Luis. Take your time to think about it, if you don't want me to help you, just don't come."
Roman pats Luis on the shoulder once before walking away from him with a very subtle smirk, his mind already set on 1 important thing: Military tech. The Exchange do like military tech, but if they find new ones in Roman's yard, it'll be a problem and Roman probably dies. But there is a way, Roman thought... and Luis can come in very handy...

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Nicholas Salvage & Logistics, Coronet City, Corellia.

______________________________________________________________

It had been a day since Roman had met Luis. It's currently evening, Roman had already finished his lunch and the workers had already done their shift too, everything was going normal. Until, Roman's gaze immediately shifts to a familiar-looking individual...

Luis.

The durasteel door opens with a hiss as Luis steps in, staring at Roman while pacing sideways like an enraged animal.

"Luis, you're very early.. you've came alone, right?"
Roman asks Luis, Roman's right hand already grasping his DL-44.

"Yeah, I did. This better be worth my time."
Luis responds in a very pissed-off manner, idling near the durasteel door with a frown.

"I'm not just gonna take your word for it. "
Roman unholsters his DL-44, signalling Luis to turn around and slowly exit the store as Roman shouts to his workers to keep alert and inform him if anyone is at the yard or any other places.

Roman shoves Luis outside almost focefully, the DL-44 pressed against Luis's head. Roman looks around and his face lights up immediately with a smirk as soon as he realizes Luis isn't trying anything.

"Good. Get inside the pawn shop, take a seat. I'll give you some caf or ale."
Roman pats Luis on the shoulder and holsters his DL-44, following Luis as he enters.

"Don't need any."
Luis dismissed the offer very angrily and in a clipped tone.

"Fine. Sit down."
Roman signals to a nearby industrial chair used for customers.






"..So?"
Luis leans back on the chair with his arms resting at the chair's sides

"We're going to steal fresh, modern and high-quality military tech from the CDF, Luis. It's gotta be worth millions,--"
Roman is cut off by Luis before he can finish his sentence


"What? You're the dumbest karkin' idiot in the galaxy, Roman. A few million credit worth of military tech? I'm not as well-versed or experienced in crime as you, but still... this isn't something to put lightly. What exactly you suggest us doing with the stolen tech, too? If we're looking to sell it to any illegal market we'll just be killed and it's gonna be taken from us just like that, and--"
Luis stops himself and holds the side of his head, his other hand clenched very tighly into a fist to the extent that it turns white. Luis's life was falling apart, Roman could see it.

Roman was closing his eyes and nodding, his jaw set tight in frustration.

"You done with your yap?..."
Roman asks calmly before continuing as he notices Luis had shut up to listen to Roman.

"Look, Luis. You need me, and I need you. I've got no other option but to tell you the truth, then..."


"I'm trying to chase the Exchange out of here, and I've got a plan. You just need to listen to me. If you don't think it's something that's gonna work out, you can get the kark out."

Roman says bluntly, standing up from his chair as he leans forward on the counter and looks down at Luis who was seated just nearby.


Roman started to instinctively yank a marker and his hydrospanner out, and his hands started moving as he explains many things.

"I've tracked the location of a lieutenant for the Whipsticks, through him I'll use his networks to form a crew for the heist. A real one whose effectiveness we both will test. I've got a keen eye for good criminals who can play their part very well and the planning of the heist, too, what I need you is for your knowledge about the military, finding the tech first is atleast going to take weeks, or months. We're near docks, and docks do have good starship related everything, but it's not guaranteed we find something like that easily and immediately, but starships are a part of this civilization, everyone knows that, and we're at a good position to start searching for the tech....."


"To answer the question of what we're going to do with that tech, I'll tell you this: The Exchange pulls up to my place almost every single business day to do their routine collection of illegal cargo. What I'm gonna do is, after we find all that lovely military diamonds, I'm gonna make the diamonds look like the regular illegal scrap or junk quotas expected from me. Once they pick it up, I'm going to inform the authorities myself and because of the situation, I almost certainly will get a whistleblower bounty worth half the credits of the tech instead of time in jail because I know how to play it right with the law, it's certainly going to be atleast 2 months of preparing the crew and planning out the heist so I can wrap my mind around how to play it right with the law. You've investigated into me with your detective friend Horace, so you know my background as a conman and pulling all the cons I did, requires knowing the system well."



"It does sound good, like a good suicide note, but I don't have other options, right? You're trusting criminals with military technology worth millions of credits, what if they sell the info to Corsec or the Exchange?"

"Look, Luis. I'm leveraging a collective hatred against dominant monopoly. Every single criminal who isn't in the Exchange hates the Exchange just because of their sheer dominance of the market. I've been to places and observed stuff, Luis. I wouldn't try to piss off a planet spanning criminal syndicate, without a plan. You're with me or you die."


"You're betting on the fact that every single criminal wants to see the Exchange get out and burn more than they want to line their pockets."

"Look, you're family is going to be targetted one day because of a random case you took on a Tuesday and you realistically can't keep your family completely out of poverty and starvation just with a small, clean private-eye salary."

"Wow, fine. I know a former shock troop veteran in one of the illegal fighting circuits you go to, we start from asking him some info there. Might be helpful."

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia.

______________________________________________________________


"Roman?"


"Yes?"

"You've turned into a horrible person, just saying. You're a kriffin charlatan and a scoundrel, Roman."


"Atleast I'm in a better place than you, Luis."
Roman responds as he turns his head towards Luis as they both walk the streets of the docks towards the fight club, their boots thudding against rain-slicked floor and the neon advertisements reflecting off of Roman's glasses.


"Also, I'm going to try my best to avoid any support from criminal lieutenants because they'd certainly ask for a cut. We can find our own people."


"Oh wow, you aren't even sure about your own plan. How many times more after this will you keep changing your ideas? I don't want to die, Roman. I'm terrified. I have a family."


"Look, I'm certain about my own scheme working out, and you'll get atleast half a million credits as a cut if you're helping out. I'll set up a front for you to make the credits seem legitimate, and we can avoid suspicion from your department. It's simple."


There was no response from Luis. Both of them kept walking and took a right turn into a narrow alleyway which had a durasteel entrance door.

"You sure the person we're looking for is here at this time?"
Roman raised one brow, pointing at the place with his left arm.


"Yes, I'm sure."
Luis's gaze shifts from Roman's pointing arm to his face, then after a pause



"We'll have to search the place, though."

"Fine. Let's go."




The smell of ale, glitterstim and some spice overwhelmed both Roman and Luis, they had to descend stairs and to their right was a "Snacks and drinks" section and infront of them was a large durasteel door and 2 big wookies guarding it.


The wookies nod as soon as they see Roman, not questions anything about who Luis was, they let them in.


The muffled sounds of the crowd turned into mildly deafening as Roman and Luis enter.

The main commentator who hyped up the fights most was a person Roman knows. Luis grabs Roman by the collar


"He'll probably come to us if we wait there. Come on!"
Luis pointed to the rear the commentators area where 3 men were hyping up the fight like crazy. Roman nods as he follows.

While on their way to the spot, they were interrupted by a tall, menacing and very built CDF Shocktrooper Corps veteran. The veteran spoke out with a low, gravelly voice


"You're the private eye who was sniffing around here day before yesterday, right? Luis?"


"Yes. I'm Luis--"


"Why is this karkin' thief with you? You know him?"

"Yeah, I do. Is that a problem?"

"He scammed my close friend before, now my friend's dead. So, it's a problem."


"You--"

"Look, we can put this all behind us, we just--

"I want to hear what the bastard has to say, shut up."

"Look, sir. This place you are in is currently being taxed by the Exchange. We are all under their thumbs. If you help me out, we won't."

"Screw. You."

Roman sighs to the veteran's response.

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia.

_____________________________________________________________

After a few seconds of exchanging words between the 2: Luis and Roman, the veteran was able to get a grasp on the context of Luis's situation, but the veteran wasn't fully clear yet, and also wasn't convinced to help.




"Luis, look. You're a decent person, he isn't. I don't kriffin' know how much other poor souls he's scammed with his cons in the past, and I assure you he's only gotten worse. What if he brings you down? You have so much options other than this..."
The tall veteran's one hand rested on Luis's shoulder in a friendly manner, his other hand pointed at himself as his brows stay raised.


"Fact is, Charly,"
Luis looks up and maintains eye contact with Charly the veteran as he continues.

"I don't have much of a choice, than to trust this sick bastard, ok? My family's life is on the line. He threatened to... Well, kill them. And despite that I'm with him. Doesn't this say how desperate my situation is right now? You can help us for my sake, if not for his. And if he is as bad as you think he is, I'd have chosen to rot instead of work with him. Please."
Luis's voice cracked once, as he points at Roman before whispering in Charly's ears.



"No. Luis, I don't want my dying wife to find out that I've been helping criminals."
A single tear fell out from Charly's eye.


"You help us nab the military tech we're after, you can get more than half a million credits. Won't that be enough to save your wife? And won't that be enough to get your son away from a life of danger and crime? Charly, wer're doing something big, ok?"
Luis's gaze shifts to Roman for a moment and then to Charly, in a very fast manner.


Charly's expressions changed immediately. The moral wall he had built collapsed immediately.


"Half a million credits...."

"I'm in, I have a very keen eye on the Coaxium which comes and goes...."

Charly looked at Luis and Roman with a sigh

"Where to? We can't talk here..."

 

[Roman Nicholas]

OOC Info:

Location: Coronet City, Corellia.

_____________________________________________________________

Charly, Luis and Roman had left the underground fighting circuit for further discussion, with Roman leading the way out and halting after they exit, with an expression of relief after he didn't have to endure the strange stench of the circuit more, he was used to it, but it was still very bad.


"Okay Charly, tell me. I want to see if your info is totally legitimate or not before I bring you in."
Roman points at Charly with his right index finger


"Right. And how're you planning on doing that?"
Charly sighs as he looks down, avoiding looking at Roman or Luis.

"You tell me the place, we go there and scout around it. Simple."
Roman responds and motions his hand to his right.

"Seriously? Without a plan?"
Charly responds angrily.

Luis kept watching, ready to intervene...

"It's not like we're going to get in there and steal all the Coaxium. We're just gonna check if the place is real, how defended it is, and maybe if we can, it's vulnerabilities, so I can get a plan going. Understood?"
Roman aggressively points to his right with his index finger once more, his voice getting progressively louder.

"Okay, it's on the outskirts, though. Corellian engineering is storing their Coaxium there, specifically refined. So it's got a lot of protection, but thing is, the refined Coaxium is in the basement of a huge plaza building, and I don't know the layout of the basement or anything. However, if any of us have a good enough reason, we can see the place right now and understand it, but not every single part."
Charly sighed as he finishes his sentence, looking down on the ground again, with a mix of guilt and angriness.


"..mm, 'kay. Let's split up for now. I'll assess everything, see if this is legitimate or not by myself, and maybe grab some useful data or a useful person. Also, we'll probably need an untraceable ghost vehicle or ship. I figure there's only a really small and carry-able quantity of Coaxium there?"


"Yeah. I think I saw maybe let's say 6 crates. It's definitely a total weight of above 100 kilograms for all crates combined, though."

"Kriffin' shit! That's like, millions of credits... Sure we can pull this off?"