The Long Search

[Kyle Callahan]

Ethan wasn't having a good day. The young man wearing heavy assault armor hid behind a table that was being pelted with blaster fire. Sure, he could bring out the two lightsabers that were clipped to his utility belt, but that would attract more attention than he wanted. He took out his favorite Westar-35 blaster pistol and sent a few bolts in the direction of the mooks that were shooting at him. "Fierfek", Ethan swore quietly. All he ever wanted was information on his mother's whereabouts. He didn't need his contact, a Nautolan smuggler and information broker named Rhie Magrol to stab him in the back and sell him out to a local crime syndicate.

Ethan peeked over his cover and saw a group of armed mercenaries. One was a Weequay armed with a modified Wookie bowcaster, the second a Chiss with a sword and an A280 blaster rifle. The other three were human and primarily armed with DL-44s. He spotted DL-44 #3 and snapped off a shot towards him. It was a headshot and a clean kill. He did the same to the other two. The young man growled when a bolt glanced off his armor and marred it. He shouted, "Hey! Trigger happy clowns! Mind telling me who decided to send a hit squad after me if you're gonna kill me?"

That did something. The blasters stopped firing and Ethan peeked a little. The Weequay was frowning. As if debating whether or not to freely give the information to who he believed was a dead man. The Weequay growled, "Mel Wilgam sends his regards!" Ethan thought about the name for a second. Mel Wilgam...where had he heard that name before? Oh yeah! He heard stories about this dude. He was supposedly a man who led a powerful crime family on Tatooine. He had a mutual partnership with one of the more powerful Hutts on the planet. Not a man you would want to mess with.

Ethan nodded to himself and said, "Thanks for the info! You've been a great help." The Weequay's eyes widened when he realized what he did. The mercenary lifted up his blaster rifle but before he could do anything, Ethan had blasted him and his companion away with a powerful Force Push. This knocked them out. Ethan stood up, dusted his hands off and sighed as he looked around. He knelt down to pick up the blaster he set down and holstered it. While the cantina wasn't Mos Eisley, it was the third best on the planet. Shame it was trashed and looked like it was a warzone. After Ethan found his helmet, he went to the bar and found the bartender who was hiding under the table. "Sorry about the mess. Here's some credits for that drink and to fix things up."

When he went outside, Ethan was immediately greeted by Tatooine's two suns. 'Man those things are harsh', he thought. He immediately put on the helmet and heard the soft hiss of the seal. His HUD turned on and started doing status readouts and other HUD related things. The young man checked for the familiar hilts of his lightsabers and sure enough, they were still there. 'Must be getting paranoid. Welp, time to get my ass back to Mos Eisley before the suns set and maybe get a nice cool drink. Some information on this Mel Wilgam guy might help too.' With this on his mind, Ethan set out for the cantina.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Ethan Winters"]​

Mos Eisly​

A bunch of people had expected that Tatooine, a wretched hive of scum and villainy, would undergo at least some changes after it had come into the arms and control of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. A bunch of people were so deadly wrong about it.

One of said people was Scherezade deWinter, once a Mandragora, then a nobody, and now a Crow pretending to be a Pathfinder, who was running through the streets of Mos Eisly, a few squads of various species chasing her trail. Some would think that this would make the Sithling anxious, or at least somewhat afraid for her life. The gigantic smile on her face as she parkour'd over a few tables, landing perfectly, leaving behind her a puff of sand.

It had been over a year since she'd killed that Hutt Boss. Frankly, most days, she didn't even remember what his name was. Today was indeed one of those days. Everyone who'd known about it had expected that perhaps his Boss title had been given too prematurely. After all, it had been over a year and no one had come for Scherezade? It was the only possible explanation. Yet her they were now, three groups that she counted, all coming for her.

So what had happened? Did one of his siblings resurface? Did they find forensic evidence that tied to her? Did they hear about how she'd cloned the Hutt Boss, made a bunch of babies based on his DNA, and then used them as tiny self exploding bombs?

But soon enough, those following would lose the trail. First changed her moves. Where before, her feet had hit against the sandy ground of Tatooine, now they only met air as she lifted herself by a mere few inches, making good use of the Force. Next came the changes. They'd seen her glowing green armor. Perfecting her ability to strip while in motion, she was now holding it folded up in her hands, a plethora of weapons dangling from her arms as she continued to run in her undergarments.

And that was enough. Enough to make them slow down, and for her to slip into a back alley that led to a back entrance of a Tatooine cantina. Scherezade grabbed the trash bin near the door and emptied it before putting her armor and weapons in it. Looking up, she then glanced inside, noting the patrons, live band, and everything else.

Keeping her chin straight, she walked with a straight back to the bar and plomped herself down. "Cream on the rocks," she smiled at the bartender.

 

[Kyle Callahan]

Ethan walked through the entrance of the Mos Eisly cantina. He scouted out the room, but to the other patrons, they would just see a helmet looking in one direction. One patron, a Duros who looked like he was trying too hard to look the part of an infamous, yet legendary bounty hunter Cad Bane caught sight of him and made a move towards him. While his helmet's filters blocked out the smell of the Duros's alcoholic breath, Ethan couldn't help but lean back as the guy got closer.

The two stared into each other's eyes. Well, red eyes stared into a black visor. It was rather tense, and other patrons appeared to be on the edge of their seats with aprehension. Ethan had enough. "You want something from me punk?" His helmet had a voice filter which made it sound slighlty electronic and deeper. The Duros replied, "Are you a real Mandalorian, boy? That armor makes you look like you're a poser. And a bad one at that." The Duros's speech was oddly consise despite looking like he's drunk off his shebs.

Ethan looked at the Duros in disdain. "Despite how it may look, this is legitimate armor forged when I was with Clan Kryze. As a matter of fact, I am still a member of Clan Kryze and I will not tolerate such petty insults against me or others members of the clan. I'll admit though, you sure got balls doing what you just did. Although, you should try a little harder next time." Before the Duros could do anything, Ethan slammed his buy'ce into his forehead. The hat fell off and he stumbled back before falling onto another patron's table.

Ethan sighed and continued looking around. He spotted a familiar face at the bar and made his way there. He sat down on the next to the woman from his past and said, "Bartender! It's been a long day. I'll have a beer place. Something strong." The youngan turned to face the woman next to him, "Well hello there Madam deWinter. I almost didn't recognise you. What brings you around these parts?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Ethan Winters"]​

Scherezade smiled as she took her drink and sipped from it. For the moment, it almost seemed-

Nah, here was trouble.

Spinning her chair, the curvaceous brunette looked at the commotion that had begun seconds ago. A Mandalorian and a Duros. The Sithling shook her head. Why did Mandalorians have to come cause a rukus everywhere they went? It was a nice cantina… Wait no, it was a decent cantina…. Okay no to that too, it was just your random cantina, so why did the fights have to start while she was in it?

Continuing to sip from her drink, she watched the two interact. It ended with an injured Duros, of course, and she just shrugged, turning back to the bar. At least, until the Mandalorian sat next to her and referred to her by name.

Scherezade turned to look at him. She was bad at recognizing people by their suits, but she inhaled deeply, taking the scent of the man's blood.

"Ethan Winters," she grinned. The fact their last names were so similar still amused her, "Got a few groups chasing me because I killed some Hutt Boss a year back. I thought being half naked in a random cantina would help me hide while I figured my battle plan out and decided who was best to kill to get them off my back."

She tossed a credit chip at the bartender, covering Winters' beer, "What's your excuse, my second-favorite tuna can?"

 

[Kyle Callahan]

The young man started to take off his buy'ce as the woman spoke. He placed it on the table in front of him just as the bartender came back with the beer. He nodded his thanks and the bartender left to tend to the other patrons. When Scherezade finished recounting her tale, Ethan frowned in thought. "Sounds like you had an eventful day." He drank some of his beer. It was strong like he asked for, and the alcholic beverage had a fruity taste to it that he couldn't quite place. It tasted good anyway.

"As for me? It was a doozy. I'm still searching for dear old mom. However, I got betrayed by a info broker that claimed to have information on her whereabouts. Got led into a trap in some other cantina that got trashed in the end. Had to fight my way out of there and killed them. Found out the goonsquad was sent by a guy called Mel Wilgam. Big time crime boss. Had plans on looking for him so I can have a face to face which may or may not end with him dead." Ethan took another big swig from the glass. "So. You need any assisstance dealing with those aruetiise?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

[member="Ethan Winters"]​

"Quit it, you know I don't speak Mandonalese," Scherezade grinned as she took a sip from her glass, having obviously referred to the word aruetiise. It was the only one she couldn’t make out based on context.

Fingers tapping against the bar, she ran over the tale he had given her again. The name Mel Wilgam didn't really ring a bell, but she wasn't too big on Tatooine names as it were, never having much cared for most of the things that happened on the sandy planet.

But did she need any assistance? Mostly, she wanted to know why the groups were chasing her. Not just an assumption, but an actual answer. Maybe… Maybe, if they could catch one of them…

"Nah, screw it," she smiled, taking another sip from her drink, "Let's go find your Mel dude. Sounds more interesting anyway. Just let me finish me drink and get re-dressed first."