Where did she go?

[Elsa Delliria]

One of the best things about a crowded party was the use of so many places to hide under someone’s nose. Cloud City, on the planet Bespin, was holding a gala for the exhibit of a rare and expensive jewel from Naboo. It was apparently one of the royal jewels owned by Queen Amidala, lost during the Empire and found some time after the dawn of the New Republic. So many officials had come to see the jewel for themselves while also meeting with others or just for the sake of enjoying a party. You name it. Everyone had their motive for being there. However someone had other ideas in mind.

Standing by the bar, sipping down expensive wine from a tall glass, a woman in red had been looking at the display case with the lovely yellow jewel inside. She often had to lift her head up so her large hat would not obscure the view of the fancy piece of stone she’d been keeping an eye on. The dress she wore had a cut up the left leg, revealing it, while she had long dark black gloves on as well. Her eyes kept looking between the case, the guards that were also present and where they were posted, and some of the other guests as well. Often she caught the eye of a few others but none had spoken so far, obviously not familiar with her. While they saw her as another party guest, possibly more, she only saw them as more cash cows to pick off of during this little heist.

Sipping down the last bit of wine she put the glass back on the bar, thanking the tender and leaving a tip. After that she walked to the left of the room, finding a large window that looked down towards the landing pad where everyone’s ships and speeders were. She looked in the reflection the window gave off and made sure no one was around.

Seeing it was clear she put her hand up to her ear, an earpiece hidden inside, and said “Five minutes to show time, R6. Be ready.”

From outside the building where the party was, the little astromech droid, R6-L6, beeped and weed after hearing his owners orders. He rolled off towards what seemed like power junction box and used his little gadgets to access it. After that he began working on inner working to reach his goal.

Knowing he was off to work, the woman in red turned back and walked about the large crowd of party guests, waiting for R6 to spring into action.

 

[Placeholder 04]

Well, this probably wasn't going to turn out well for anyone. Gravesen Conclave stood outside his scrappy old freighter with a very visible frown on his face. He and his buddies had made a break from the Sith prison back on Telos-- Bespin happened to be the first place on the Nav computer. As it turns out, buying parts for a model such as his was almost a fortune on Bespin.


That, and the fact that Gravesen's skills outside of linguistic work,which paid about nothing in this part of the galaxy, had led him to bring his little crew to this hot-spot. Granted, his dirtied trench coat and his actual race made him draw stares from...well...every sentient that passed by; he was still confident his plan would work.

Now, Gravesen wasn't a criminal. He was a good man forced into a very shoddy situation. You just had to work with what you had. His assault rifle hung to the straps within his coat like a dead weight, along with the simple sidearm an Imperial guard had been so nice to gift him with upon the escape from Telos. He reached up to scratch the back of his neck as he swaggered through the doors, trying to look like some kind of important dignitary.

Thankfully, the freighter had been outfitted with a shower, so he didn't smell absolutely disgusting. The Rattataki swept through the small groups of people and set his eye on the gem.


Holy hell...I hope Zeer doesn't eat it.


He made a conscious effort to circle the thing, and not to look like he was staring at it. In the process, he bumped into the back of what seemed to be a young lady @[member="Elsa Delliria"]. "Shab...sorry ma'am, bad eyesight, inferior race and such."The young man waved his hand around as he spoke, hoping desperately in the back of his mind that @Zeer was ready to begin.

 

[Elsa Delliria]

After @[member="Gravesen Conclave"] bumped into her, Elsa turned to see him and was a bit surprised for a moment. Growing up on Corascaunt meant seeing a lot of different aliens, be they merchants, citizens, even the Jedi. But that didn’t mean Elsa wasn’t any more used to seeing something that wasn’t human when a place like the party she was at consisted mainly of humans.

She nodded a little while saying “It’s no problem, really.” She was quite for a second as she looked, seeing that it was almost time, before looking back and saying “You should think of getting eye glasses.”

After that she tried slipping away in order to get closer to the gem. Outside R6 was just about ready to spring the big surprise signal that would give Elsa the opportunity. He wasn’t aware of what was going on inside and wouldn’t be unless Elsa had told him otherwise, meaning the little droid was following his direct orders.

 

[Zeer Delos]

The wind whipped across Zeer's face as the Ranth slowly crawled to a window over-looking the bar area. He was here for one sole reason to make a grand theft, a metric crap ton of credits and maybe kill a few people. If he got lucky. Gravesen wanted him to silently infiltrate the room and steal the gem from above. What fun was silence though? There would be no dashing police chase if they weren't caught. Not bar-room gunfight, nothing of the like. It would be one boring trip, and Zeer didn't like boring, especially when he had just spent the remainder of his credits getting hopped up on various stims. He was going to improvise.

Now improv comedy in Zeer's mind was no mere stand up jig. It was a series of brash choices, explosions, and blaster fire. Improv was fun.

It took him a few seconds longer before he had cleared his way to the window. His visored eyes looked down into the room and through his camera-linked eye piece he noted the various patrons, some looking particularly chewy and fat, whilst others looked like they could pose a threat. He pinged his comrade out near instantly and soon locked in on the gem which brought a slow, cunning, almost evil smile to his muzzle. He counted three seconds as he hooked up his stolen grappling gear.

Suddenly he jumped down on the window hard; it shattered rather quickly under his force and went rappling down into the room right behind the bartop. Once on the ground the canine like creature would grab the confused server and send him flying down the bartop until he hit the ground with a loud thud and crack. His machine slug throwers were quickly drawn, raised to the celing and 3 rounds were fired from each with loud pops that would resound throughout the room.

<"Everyone on the ground! Now!"> That wasn't basic though, it was a Ranth which to most of the patrons sounded like deep, barking and howling with no actual words.

@[member="Elsa Delliria"] @[member="Gravesen Conclave"]

 

[Placeholder 04]

And then, Zeer did what Zeer always did. He botched the entire plan for the sake of bravado....and had likely just signed them off to a few years in prison. Again. Graves didn't like prison, he hadn't been arrested under legal reasons last time. Now though, now it would be justified.


During his three year tenure in the Sith prison, Gravesen had learned the crude Ranth language. He understood it completely, though his puny humanoid vocal cords could never match the yelps and growls that his partner seemed to love. The Rattataki simply reached up with a black-gloved hand, and ran it down his face.

"Yeah...I'm just gonna..." He gave a two finger salute to the woman he had accidentally ran into before, strode on up to jewel, removed his sizable rifle from the trench coat, and proceeded to try and bash the glass in. That didn't work.

"I'm really sorry about this!" He called out, firing a short burst into the side of the glass. It still didn't work; the owners were certainly paranoid about thieves. Then, Gravesen heard the sound of clicking and footsteps. Guards. "I said stealth Zeer! Stealth!" He roared as he continued to try and bash the glass in.

@[member="Zeer Delos"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[Elsa Delliria]

Upon seeing the monsterous alien crash through the roof, the only thing Elsa said was "You've got to be kidding me..." before getting down like the rest of the party guest.

She heard as the big one, @[member="Zeer Delos"] roared something in his language, obviously for everyone to stay down while he tried to take the gem. Then looking to @[member="Gravesen Conclave"], after he'd given his salute and pulled out his rifle, she could see he was in on this too. Elsa couldn't belive that her whole plan was about to be boched because of these two morons. It was made any better when the gaurds arrived, calling for the two to drop their weapons and get on the ground. But just like another domino to fall, R6 had made the final touched in that moment.

Hitting the right circut R6 managed to make the entire place go black. Even the security around the glass container was down, meaning it dropped and exposed the gem. Elsa needed to take this chance while she could. With everything dark and everyone in a panic she got up and, going towards Conclave since he was close, punched him before taking his rifle. She then fired a barrage in every direction, trying to make both Zeer and the gaurds drop of take cover. After that she pulled out what she had ready, a smoke gernade, and tossed it down, blinding everyone even more.

From her purse she had, Elsa pulled out night vision goggles and could see everything, including the gem. Quickly she grabbed it before running towards the exit, she ducked and slid down past the gaurds before getting up and running.

From her earpeice she said "R6, get to the ship. On the double!"

The droid beeped before rolling off and making his way for the spaceport where her ship was waiting.

 

[Zeer Delos]

Zeer snarled as guards busted in and the lights went dead. He couldn't see, but the Ranth didn't need sight. His race was gifted with ultra-sonic hearing. In short the Ranth could hear everything, his ears swiveling around like dishes. The first thing he heard was Gravesen shout bloody murder over his rifle being taken and right after that moment he was off.

Zeer darted in the direction of Elsa's footsteps like a rabid hunting dog after its prey, once over the counter he dropped to all fours which let him hit speeds upwards to the high 40's in MPH. He was, the perfect hunter in a situation like this. She was out the exit and so was he. Right on her heels with a deafening snarl like noise.

It took him a few seconds longer before he lunged at her back, trying to tackle the running human female to the ground and subdue her. She had taken his prize and his buddie's rifle, that was unforgivable and there was no way the Ranth would ever let such debauchery slide. Well... Unless he or Gravesen were committing it.

@[member="Elsa Delliria"] @[member="Gravesen Conclave"]

 

[Placeholder 04]

One moment, Gravesen was breaking glass, the next, his face was making friends with someone's knuckles. Then his rifle was gone, and that simply wouldn't do. The Rattataki stumbled up to his feet, confused with all the dust in the air and the flashes of weapons fire. People were shooting like idiots, of course.

He shook his head, and followed his gut. Something in the back of his mind told him where to go, and he followed. A few seconds of struggling led Gravesen outside, only to see Zeer chasing down that woman from before-- AND SHE HAD HIS RIFLE!

"Oh by all nine hells of Corellia, no." The fugitive grumbled, retrieving his sidearm from the inside of the jacket. He flicked the safety as he took off at a dead pace down the pretty bronze walkways. The darkened orange of late sunlight reflected off the fountains and the many sculptures lining the walls.

At least it was pretty.

Graves raised the sidearm with both hands, took aim, and fired a single shot toward the lady. It would likely go very, very wide. At least he tried.


@[member="Zeer Delos"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[Elsa Delliria]

Elsa only had time to look back before seeing the giant wolf-creature pounce on her. She fell on her front and struggled as he tried to keep her from escaping. Elsa managed to roll on her back and fight him face to face, in a sense. She grabbed at his wrist and tried punching him in the snout while trying to reach for the rifle after it dropped to the ground. Just then she'd seen as the other man, the one who bumped into her before, aimed and fired at her. Thankfully he missed but now she had him to deal with.

Taken the chance after the shot was fired she brought her foot up and kicked right into @[member="Zeer Delos"] jaw. After that she reached back and tossed the rifle at @[member="Gravesen Conclave"] to keep him busy. However she realized she dropped the gem in the process and it slid away from her. She quickly cralwed over to try and get to it before them.

 

[Zeer Delos]

Zeer snarled loudly as the foot slammed into his jaw and knocked him off her for a brief moment. The Ranth hissed and then, threw himself back at her, trying to grab the female's ankles and drag her away from the gem. There was nothing, nothing like a back hallway grapple fest in the morning.

The Ranth barked at Gravesen, trying to get the Clerk to go after the gem. <"Schutta! Get the the gem while I get this one!"> And at that the Ranth reached for his belt and tried to grab his stun baton, once drawn he'd activate it and try to smash the electrical weapon down on her arm with his freehand while she reached toward the gem. Through his snarls and spitting she'd understand one word of his very well. "No! No! No!"

@[member="Elsa Delliria"] @[member="Gravesen Conclave"]

 

[Placeholder 04]

This is exhilarating, isn't it? It's what the tribe lived for. Maybe I shouldn't have judged them.


The Rattataki grumbled a silent curse as his shot went wide. Luckily, Zeer made it to the woman just in time. Graves paid no attention to the screaming onlookers as he holstered his weapon and closed the distance. The smarter of the duo scooped up the gem as Zeer combated the woman; and few humans could resist a Ranth when it came to the physical.


"So uh, I think this is mine now." He chided, tossing the thing up and down. A big grin shown on his face now. "Thanks for the light effects, sweetheart. Authorities will be here aaaaany minute now. Wanna cover for us?" He leaned down slightly to grin big and wide at the woman. Oh, he was asking for it.

Oh stop, if you were this woman you'd be begging for mercy.

"Well...actually, there's room for you on the ship-that-has-not-yet-been-named. I think. Unless you like being arrested?"


@[member="Zeer Delos"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[Elsa Delliria]

@[member="Zeer Delos"] had managed to grab her by the ankle and pull Elsa back. She struggled more and looked back in time to see him try to hit her with the stun club. She rolled out of the first stikr before reaching up and grabbing his arm when he tried a second time. As they fought Elsa looked back to see @[member="Gravesen Conclave"] pick up the gem and mock her. She had an angered look past the desperate one while dealing with Zeer. She'd been in situations like this before; out numbered and without much options while the other guy had more than you. Good thing enough of those fights taught her one thing: when in doubt, fight dirty.

She brought her knee up right in-between the wolf man's legs. After that she grabbed his stun club and smacked it against the man's leg to bring him down. She tackled him and punched him three time across the cheeks before taking the gem off him. After that she slipped her shoes off, flinging the high heels at both of them to hit their faces. The she blew a kiss, her own little mock to them, before running for the space port again. She had her own ship waiting.

 

[Placeholder 04]

Well, that was rude. Gravesen was simply going along the code of honor among thieves. Then again, that had become a little outdated in this day and age. He rubbed the side of his forehead and did his best to shut out the throbbing headache. The Rattataki scooped up his rifle, took a deep breath, and trained his aim on the woman.


Gravesen, unlike Zeer, didn't kill and eat people. He flicked the rifle to a stun setting, leaned forward slightly, and fired a long stream of purple energy toward the woman. Sure, it stung horribly, and you couldn't move for quite a bit after being hit, but it was better than killing her.


"See that Z? Blew me a kiss. I think I've grown a bit more attractive in my prison years." The leader of the duo chided, grinning big and wide even though a big purple bruise was forming on the side of his head. Behind them, the shouts of guards yelling to either stop, or put their hands up could be heard. That wasn't good.

"And...they're blocking us from the ship. Maybe the lady left her keys in the purse?"


@[member="Zeer Delos"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[Zeer Delos]

The Ranth was kicked right between the legs... Sadly for him, he was male and he had removed most of the plating around that region. He gave a loud yelping noise and fell away from the woman, dropping the club in the process. He rolled on the ground as she attacked Gravesen with low whimpers. It hurt, it really, really hurt.

The next thing he saw was the woman standing up and running and then heard Gravesen's smart talk. <"Raaargh! I'm going to eat you both and stuff the remains in a ventilation shaft!"> The Ranth was up on his feet rather quickly.

@[member="Gravesen Conclave"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[Elsa Delliria]

Elsa only made it so far before being hit with the stun ray. She fell to the floor, giving a gasp as she did when her whole body went numb, and landed on her front. The gem slid out of her hand and she was helpess. She could still hear them though, @[member="Gravesen Conclave"] saying how they were blocked and would need to make for her ship. She didn't have any keys, that was what R6 was for. And, from what she figured, the little droid probably had the shiped preped and waiting for her. Not that they would know which ship was hers anyway but still it seemed like they were all in a bit of a pickle, even the one she'd kneed in the groin.

@[member="Zeer Delos"]

 

[Placeholder 04]

Gravesen fired a stray of stun bolts back at the guards. It was more to scare them off then actually cause damage. In the process, he jogged up toward the woman, and went down on one knee. "Look, ma'am. I didn't kill you, happy day, right? Okay, if you want to, y'know, not be arrested, then we're going to be going?"


Graves scooped up the gem, shoved it in his pocket and tossed the rifle toward Zeer. "Go to town man. We need to get out of here." He grumbled, lifting the numb women up over his shoulder. She didn't seem particularly heavy--it was probably the adrenaline or something. "We'll even three-off the creds with you just...which way are we going?"









@[member="Zeer Delos"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[Zeer Delos]

Zeer took the rifle and grinned like an animal. <"Maybe I won't eat you Graves..."> As soon as two guards rounded the corner, the ranth turned and opened fire on the them. The bodies both crumpled the floor with the scent of cooked metal, flesh, and the sweet relaxing tinge of acidic ozone.

<"Move your rear Graves... I'll cover you! Burn them! Burn them all!"> His speech was soon cut short by a psychopathic laugh. Hie moved up, staying in front of the two to clear a way as they made their way to a ship. Everytime a guard popped up they were gunned down. It was repeative and violent cycle that Zeer loved, it was his element, his home. The Ranth was forged on the fields of death and battle and it was their that he wwished to stay. Killing something empowered him after all.

<"We could move faster if you dropped that meat-sack, Graves.">

@[member="Gravesen Conclave"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[HK-36]

@[member="Zeer Delos"] @[member="Gravesen Conclave"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]
Bespin, one of the planets of the Protectorate.

And one on which HK was often sent to keep in touch with the cortosis market there, after all, it was one of his favorite metals to be used in his body. Besides, what would be a daring mission to steal ancient gems without a little boss at the end for our daring anti-heroes, eh?

Either way, during the gala he attended he could have been seen somewhere off in the background, chatting to another Observer or a Protector of some sorts, making small talk and catching up on business. But as soon Zeer fell down the window HK only turned slightly and with a twirl of his cloak he was gone. Some people wondered why the droid always persisted on wearing the grey piece of clothing accessory. It was actually a gift from Sarge, given to him long time ago, a chameleon cloak, wonderful little thing that allowed him to stay hidden from prying eyes, coupled with his sound dampeners he learned to utilize it quite well, stalking his targets with little visual confirmation and no sound.

So when the time was right, Zeer and Grave would hear those words emanate from the hallways,
"I believe your Ranth friend is right."
Zeer could tell it was definitely coming off somewhere nearby.
The position would be revealed soon enough as just in front of them something in the air shimmered and a grey cloak swooped with a rustle of the material, revealing the sudden tall form of an armored droid, and what's worse, the two would find that it was holding a shatterpistol aimed at Grave with his left hand. The right hand of the being was hidden under the material of the grey cloak so far. What could he be hiding there? A grenade? A sword? Perhaps an even bigger gun, after all the droid did had nature of carrying his bolter pretty much everywhere.
"Please, do drop the female and the gem of Amidala and I will allow you to leave with your losses cut. Do not comply and you will have to prove that you deserve to get past me with the gem by trial of combat."

The droid calculated quickly their possible responses, preparing for combat, but why he was aiming only at Grave? Because he was preparing a very special recording to play back for Zeer, that's why.

"And you will have to do so before the Protectorate forces arrive here, and, after all, Bespin is one of the better protected worlds, Cortosis and all. I made sure they were informed of your interruption."
His battle-helmet closed over his metal head, heavy armor of Iron Knight ready for combat as large metal claws extended from his feet and clanked as they hit against the metal.
"The choice is yours gentlemen, may the Force be with you regardless of the path you will take."
He gave them a slight nod of respect for possible opponents.

 

[Placeholder 04]

Gravesen was not a gambling man. He dealt in logic. big, dangerous HK units were, logically, deadly. Gravesen himself was...well...not deadly."I really like your chassis, it's the in thing right now, isn't it?"


The Rattataki tried to set the lady down as gently as possibly. Zeer was right, she had been dead weight.
he cast a quick look over at Zeer; the Ranth was the fighter, the killer, the idiot. If he actually opted to fight this droid--thing, whatever it was, then it would be Zeer doing the damage: Graves doubted he would be of much help.


With that, he reached into the coat for the single old, outdated slugthrower that was his weapon. Zeer still had the rifle. "But, uh...look bud...we're just trying to make a living here. The bathrobe brigade screwed us up real bad. My buddy is always out of it." He motioned toward Zeer. "And our lady sidekick...well, I can't vouch for her."

Oh please, please don't shoot me.


@[member="HK-36"] @[member="Zeer Delos"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]

 

[Zeer Delos]

Zeer instantly stepped in front of Graves after the gem was skittered across the ground. Where his friend dealt in logic, he dealt in... well. Other things. The droid was threatening his friend, his best friend, the little Rattattki which he for some reason had decided to keep alive all this time. He wasn't about to let a... Well. A filthy, inorganic, that leaks oil and disgusting scents harm that friend. The Ranth never lowered the blaster, he kept it trained on the HK the whole time.

He was insane, that was simple enough, and right now he was insane and drugged. His mind was even further from rationality than normal and the Droid's weapons and aggression did not help. <"Graaah! Weapons on the ground tin-can, or I'll devour your circuits one by one! One by one! You disgusting!... Disgusting... Disgusting box of bolts and annoying sounds! Baaah! The Sounds! The Voices! Weapons down! Weapons down! I will kill you! Kill you all! Its ours! Its mine! Mine!"> If the Droid understood Zeer's chirps, barks, growls and howls he'd more than likely note how unstable the Ranth was. It was also notable that he was wearing incredibly modified Sith Imperial Armor.

@[member="Gravesen Conclave"] @[member="HK-36"] @[member="Elsa Delliria"]