Bounty Woman with a past

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

• TERMINUS, SITH ORDER SPACE
• 1700 HOURS
• Cedwyn Blaidd

The Bounty Hunters Guild outpost was just like any other; Only slightly larger than other buildings around it, and illuminated by a neon sign just above the door where a Rodian stood guard as the bouncer. Yes, a bouncer. You just can't have Bounty Hunters without a seedy bar around. The inside was usually quiet unless someone was celebrating a particularly rewarding capture with their partner or perhaps partners, but the smell of cheap booze and cheaper cigarras still permeated the air all the same.

This is where a certain Twi'lek made regular stops. A Twi'lek who wore Beskar, if the stories were true.

There wasn't much more to tell, seemingly. She never spoke her name aloud, only called "Mando" by the locals and never showing them a face they could put the name to either. She had something of a reputation though, whoever she was. The Mando seemed to take on just about any contract and from any employer, and had delivered her fair share of corpses to the Guildmaster. Certainly more than living specimen, at least.

She wasn't a lone wolf though, not exactly. A few of the hunters here or passing through spoke of that Mandalorian girl with mostly high regard. At least one owed their life to the mando, even if she'd never accept, and others simply recalled their willingness to fall in and work with the team.

Mostly though, they all said she seemed distant, or cold. The kind of cold only a woman with a past can give, and one stuck in it at that.

​

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

A bounty had been called out for the recovery of a Mandalorian woman, someone who was declared missing in action and the last location didn't provide much of a direction where the Mandalorian Twi'lek would be. It was a tough case to crack since it was operating in space where people like Cedwyn might not be as welcomed as others, he wasn't a Dark Side guy and while he still conducted some criminal activities and was a Bounty Hunter by trade, he was mostly doing work for the Galactic Alliance.

However, there were three things Hunters loved most of all, drink, credits and gossip. That was at least what Cedwyn found them to enjoy. So rumours of a Twi'lek in Beskar armour, operating in some Bounty Hunter guilds was not something that remained unknown and Cedwyn caught wind of the guilds where she mostly operated from. It wasn't going to be solid confirmation that this would be the same person, since there could be many Mandalorian Twi'leks in the galaxy, it was a large space that likely housed many people. So Cedwyn was not holding out much hope, just deciding to work that this would be eliminating leads.

Arriving in the guild, Cedwyn finished his smoke and put it out. A seedy bar was always where guilds would operate from, like Cedwyn believed, a good Hunter enjoyed drinking and gossiping while drinking more than actual hunting. He walked into the bar, his presence was not unnoticed but Cedwyn did not worry too much, he was still a Hunter and a guild would always welcome him for that reason. He leant on the bar, looking to the barkeeper, "been hearing that a Mandalorian has been clearing up around these parts. A Twi'lek Mandalorian in particular. Got any information on that keep?" Passing a credit chip over, partly for a drink, partly for the information.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd

The man behind the bar was slow, but cut short his conversation with another patron further down the counter as to serve their newest guest.

"Haven't seen yer face 'round here before"

"been hearing that a Mandalorian has been clearing up around these parts. A Twi'lek Mandalorian in particular. Got any information on that keep?"

He eyed up the chip suspiciously, furrowing a grayed brow and scratching at the stubble peppered about his face.
"Coulda asked, if yer just looking to chat with a fellow hunter"

"Careful what ya do with information, stranger. The Guildmaster doesn't take kindly to the "non-team player types..."
He grumbled almost under his breath while pouring Cedwyn a drink. A little under priced for the amount of credits given, just enough to leave himself a tip for the information, but it wasn't the cheapest thing off the shelf either.

Then he leaned forward, speaking in a hushed tone while pocketing the money for himself.

"So yer looking for the girl...? Ole' Golden Gun... yeah, she comes 'round this way from time to time. Not so talkative these days, but she's somewhat respected here, I guess"

"Never orders a damn drink though" He sighed

"I don't imagine you're paying just to know that she exists though... Something specific you wanna hear or are ya just hiring a Mando? Gonna be waiting a little longer if so. Sounds like she's a busy little bee"

​

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

Cedwyn shrugged, he wasn't too bother whether he had been seen around these parts or not.

"Work hasn't brought me out this far." His tone neutral, slightly guarded.

Placing the bounty chip on the counter, "sure the guildmaster will accept that I am here on business not pleasure." His body hid the bounty so that the bartender was the only one to see it. "So, any issues caused aren't going to be done by me." His tone firm, Cedwyn was working the bounty and he was not going to be stopped from doing his job just because someone else decided they preferred the chance.

Nodding his head, "last time she was around these parts?" Cedwyn was curious if this was a recent lead or something likely too old. He couldn't just hang around till she turned up since he doubted it would be soon and there would be others hunting her down. Especially since the bounty was a well paid one.

"Any ideas where she might have been heading? This bounty on her head could cause some issues around these parts unless I get to her first." Cedwyn was known to be pretty good in doing jobs discreetly if needed and ensuring that things went smoothly. Partly since he used the Force to get away with things others couldn't, partly because he tended to avoid getting into big fights unless he needed to be in one. "Give me something good and I'll pay for a round of drinks for everyone here." His tone low but his offer genuine.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd

"Well now... that does complicate things a bit now don't it?" The bartender snorted as the rotating image of Tayl Vizsla began to glow.

He shook his head, wiping down the counter as if to make himself look busy while he mused over the offer.

"Alright, hunter. Just business..."

A quick glance around the bar later, he was leaning back in to mutter his findings to the stranger.

"Mando took a job, 'bout two days back. Price on a pirate captain, been hitting ships along the Hydian Way. Nasty piece of work what calls himself 'The Drake'. Never leaves any survivors, just empty ships and security footage... Zabrak with a real mean streak, I guess." He shrugged.

"Last I heard, she and another masked hunter were talking about the star-port west of here, something about the ship registry, or some kinda program, I dunno. My guess is someone would've had to see them"

"No telling if she's your gal though, never seen her face before. But she's built about like the girl on this here puck I reckon"

​

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

Cedwyn shrugged his shoulders, "the life of Bounty Hunters is never a clean one."

Pocketing the puck as Cedwyn watched the bartender the wiped the counter. Cedwyn leaned forward to listen intently, making sure that he listened on the information. Pirate scum was running around in the area and it seemed that he was going to have to chase this pirate down as well. Cedwyn sighed and nodded his head, it was a solid lead and an avenue to chase down.

"A lead is a lead and I accept that this might go nowhere but better than not following it." Cedwyn stated before leaning back and looked around the bar.

Inhaling, he then shouted, "next round is on me folks! Get your drinks in now!" Winking to the bartender, a rush of patrons looking to spend another person's money was big deal. Cedwyn wasn't back out of his deal and waited to see what the bill would be. Pulling up a map of the galaxy to see where it would be best to find the pirate and chase this Mandalorian down.

Bringing her back would be tough but he hoped a conversation would sway her to follow him.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd
The bartender nods in appreciation as the entire cantina roared in glee all around them, stampeding to the bar like lost bantha.

It took some time out of both their days, but eventually he passed a data pad to their generous guest, displaying the bill. It was a... decent tally, but not quite high as one would expect. Seemed that the old man was passing out some of the cheaper stuff, perhaps a small gesture of thanks to the white haired mercenary.

"Good luck, hunter. but... be careful too" He chuckled, leaving the stranger to ponder his map.

According to said map, there was indeed a local star-port to the west. Actually, it wasn't far either. Either a short ride or a long walk off the main road and through some alleys. Not like the main docking rings for the big fancy ships and outlanders might come to, but big enough for a freighter or two.

Most importantly, it was away from the most active ports.

​

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

Cedwyn paid the bill with a tip without too much concern. Nodding his head to the bartender before leaving the bar, his focus was now on the mission and ensuring that he got to the location. It was going to be interesting to figure out what the people at the port would have to offer in terms of information but at least the lead wasn't running cold like he feared it could. Especially since there had been plenty of dead ends on this hunt before now.

Wandering the streets, Cedwyn allowed himself the pleasures of a decent walk, inhaling deeply and breathing in the cool air. His fingers combed through his white hair as he thought about where to go next, about how the job was going to be tough and what he needed to do to ensure things went smoothly. His mind also focused on how best to approach the port authority since they would be the ones with records of coming and goings of ships. So, they should be the ones who would know where a Mandalorian went.

Arriving not too long at the port, Cedwyn looked around and inhaled deeply, his hands slid into his jean's pockets as he wandered around, looking at the coming and goings of people. Seeing what was about before deciding on his best approach, his mind shifted to something casual, opening and charming.

That usually went down well.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

The trip to the docking bay in question would be mostly uneventful. Just the bustling crowd of comers and goers, maybe the odd mugging or waving of a blaster here and there seen through the little cracks between crowds, but nothing out of the ordinary for Terminus really.

The oddities didn't really begin until the docks were in sight: A fairly plain set of ring-like buildings initially, with smaller garages that would jut out the duracrete structure for smaller crafts than those housed within the ring itself. Inside one of these little hangers, there seemed to be a lot of sparks in a dimly lit corner, though there were not starships to be worked on here. Instead, someone seemed to be breaking into one of the terminals while a mechanic supervised.

There also seemed to be a deactivated droid in the corner, which the mechanic would occasionally glance at in between cursing at his datapad, though the pad seemed to be flashing complete nonsense onscreen. When the screen worked, at least.

Actually, the terminal seemed to be one of the few working pieces of technology in that entire garage.

Cedwyn Blaidd

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

He looked around the dock and noticed that it was rundown and that there were others that were walking around. Looking at the people going about their business as Cedwyn focused on his goals as well. The mechanic and person attempting to break into the terminal caused Cedwyn decided to sigh deeply. "Seems like the only thing I can use is being hacked." Cedwyn whispered to himself as he stroked his beard slowly, his mind deep in thought.

Approaching the terminal, Cedwyn looked to the pair, then the disused droid. "What appears to be the problem here?" Cedwyn asked, curious to hear what they had to say, "I can offer some help here, but I need to use the terminal to locate a specific person." Cedwyn informed them, keeping a cool, friendly tone. He wasn't looking for trouble.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd
The mechanic- who was a slightly round duros by the look of it- merely glanced his red eyes from over his shoulder to give the hunter a once over. At first he glared, as if expecting someone or something, but softened as he turned to the bearded stranger.

"Some bastard killed the backup data-cache is the problem!" He scoffed, gesturing to the Terminal and the discarded droid.

"Something's been sifting through the memory and making lots of copies. The Terminal's fine otherwise, but it'll run outta room if we don't get that program off it. Any device or droid that's tried has been hit with the same program I think. My protocol droid's no translator, he wasn't built for that kinda overload!"

"Uh... Boss?" The human behind the terminal spoke up, slightly muffled by a welding mask.

"What...?!"

"Unless you're hiding a lightsaber under that jumpsuit, we're gonna be here awhile... thing's got an internal case- it's- it's Duranium"

The Mechanic groaned in disappointment, taking a deep breath before turning to address their "customer".
"If you can crack it or manually pry out the damned memory drives, Be my guest...! I hope you're after whoever screwed this up. And I hope you give them a good smackdown too!"

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

Cedwyn looked at the situation curiously since it was definitely unique and was a demonstration of someone who didn't want to be tracked or followed. Which meant that it could be the Mandalorian that he was chasing after if she knew that she was being hunted down. Pulling out his Lightsaber, with a little flair, he adjusted the settings to ensure it wasn't the full length blade and ignited the purple Lightsaber. Working firmly and slowly on the lock.

"Seems you pair were in luck today." Cedwyn pointed out, since he was the exact person that they needed for this situation and he was happy to help them out.

Switching the saber off and strapping it back to his hip, he crossed his arms and looked to the owner of the terminal. "Guessing you don't have any security cams around here to see who could have hacked in?" Cedwyn inquired, "might be the same person but happy to hunt them down if they are someone else, for a price of course." Cedwyn never worked for free.

That was just poor business decisions.

"Hopefully we get this restored before things are gone."

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd

The young welder nearly jumped at the sight of a lightsaber igniting in the dimly lit hanger, unable to look away as he made room for the mysterious stranger "Woah...!"

"Well you're just full of surprises aren't you, Hunter" The mechanic smirked.

They were indeed lucky, as was the hunter, whose prize seemed to be mostly intact. The others set the memory drives on a workbench, while the younger one went to fetch a data pad for his boss.

"We got cams in the employee areas, like this one. But they feed wirelessly to my droid there-" The boss points to the discarded droid, though he seemed more interested in the data pad that was handed to him.

"We'll have to check his memory too, try and flush out whatever program's wreaking havoc on both. Maybe we can ID the crook, might be willing to give you some extra spending money for 'em, we'll see"

The data pad came to life, already a popup read "Copying data, 545\1000". The Mechanic however was quick to plug in another, smaller drive, which added an additional program that began scanning for viruses and non-white listed programs.

"We'll have to do this quick if we wanna flush 'em out... come on, come on"

"There! uh- Howl runner.exe, like the droid said"

They were quick to select the program for their scanner, which was already identifying hostile files and then deleting them after a summary could be logged.

"Howl runner eh...? and uh- no that's the droid's connection... Wait! gotcha!"

They caught another rogue program called "clone.exe", the deletion of which seemed to cancel the copying process on the files. The two workers excitedly slapped hands with eachother before turning to the hunter.

"Couldn't have done that so fast without your handiwork, thanks!"

"We'll do this with the droid next. In the meantime, here's what our anti-virus picked up:"
The Duros point to a section of the file summary logged by the anti-virus.

It read-
Suspicious activity: Remote connection to nearby network(s).
Suspicious activity: Unidentified connection to device: Cam(s).
Suspicious activity: New command executable; face_rec .
Suspicious activity: New command executable; ship_ID .
Suspicious activity: Files copied to unidentified device.
Suspicious activity: Data removed from "Ship_reg" folder: Draken_ERROR
Suspicious activity: New command executable; clone_war .

"See anything helpful?" He asked, paying more attention to his droid now, who had been brought over and connected to the anti-virus drive.

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

Cedwyn kept silent as the two worked away on fixing the terminal and his silver eyes were focused and darken with a determination to figure out where his target went.

When given the opportunity to scroll through the logs, Cedwyn clicked his tongue, it seemed that someone was trying to be thorough.

"Seems that your terminal is unsecure against remote attacks. Whoever did this, they did it remotely and were looking for a specific person or ship." Pointing out the logs and then highlighted the next portion, "copied the information and wiped it from the system, any idea of what Draken_ERROR is?" Cedwyn looked to the both of them.

He was beginning to lose faith that these two could recover the information he needed. Not due to them being specifically inept or dumb, but more that whoever did this, likely Tae'l, they had covered their tracks well and made it seemingly impossible to find them. Especially on top of attempting to find whoever they were after. "Either they were wiping their identity from your logs, or they were attempting to hunt down someone they were tracking here and then wiping your systems to prevent someone else following them, in order to avoid their hunt from being stolen."

Either option was solid.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd

Both workers exchanged a quick glance, remaining silent for a time until the Boss shrugged.
"Couldn't say. It's an incomplete file, corrupt on our end. Your friend's probably got the original now"

The two continued to work in silence for a time, neither able to make eye contact with the bounty hunter whom they had praised only moments ago...

"Hey uh-" The welder glanced at the bounty hunter and then his boss "I'm pretty beat. Gonna take my lunch break now"
The Boss merely waved his employer off, who seemed to be shuffling his way outside.

"Well uh... Sorry we don't have what you're looking for, stranger. We'll let you know if we find more though, maybe sift through that footage once my droid's up and running again"

"And- here," The boss set aside a small stack of credits for the trouble .
"Call it hush money. Don't need customers hearing about a security breach eh?" He chuckled awkwardly, and waved to the stranger, flicking a droplet of sweat onto the table.

​

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

Cedwyn noted the silence and the exchanged looks, however, there wasn't much he could do to figure it out. Duros were resistant to Mind Tricks and he wasn't going to attempt it since he was not seeking to cause issues with someone. Instead, he watched the engineer walk off to take his break and nodded his head.

"Mind if I attempt to fix the droid and get things running with there? Faster it gets started, the faster I can be out of your hair then." Cedwyn suggested, he wasn't an expert on tech but he had some idea of what he was doing, it helped to know how to hack into things when doing some bounty hunting and he was a person who needed to understand how things worked to be able to backtrack and make them not work.

Taking the credits, he pocketed them and nodded his head. "Of course." He stated simply.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd

"Well, uh..." the Duros scratched his neck anxiously.

"It might take awhile either way. H2's got a lot more memory to sift through, and a lot more copies to delete before we can get him talking again"

He plugged the anti-virus into the droid, keeping a close eye on the datapad that he quickly scooped up from the table. All was quiet at first, but as more and more files flashed across the screen, he began to squint his red eyes down at the tablet, and began to punch in commands almost rhythmically.

"So, you said you were looking for someone, right...? How much ya know about the girl anyway? seems like she's a lot of trouble... think she'll find whoever she's looking for before you...?"

​

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

Cedwyn nodded his head, he wasn't going anywhere and the information he needed was here. If he left then the chances of finding it diminished and he would be taking several steps back. Something he could not accept. So, he remained and observed the Duros silently as he worked on the droid and attempted to restore things back to the way they were.

What caught Cedwyn's attention was the small talk that the Duros attempted. His hand swiftly reached his pistol and held it point blank at the Duros. "I didn't tell you anything about the person I was hunting. How do you know it is a girl?" Cedwyn growled, only the bartender at the cantina had been the person he informed. He had been very careful to keep his words gender neutral and anything identifying about his target vague to prevent the mechanics gossiping such information.

"Seems like you are the one being dishonest here Duros, so choose your words carefully. I don't play around." His tone was deeply serious and he was not going to take chances, "how do you who I am hunting and where has she headed?" It was clear this Duros knew his target and knew where she was heading, so he needed to figure out how to get the answers now.

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

​

​

​

​

​

Cedwyn Blaidd

"No, I guess you didn't-" The Duros carefully set the datapad aside, then raised his hands slowly.

"how do you who I am hunting and where has she headed?"

"Uh... hey- you said the culprit might be a Hunter, right?? Two came by, about two or three- no, Two days ago. A Masked gunslinger type of girl with a big hat, and- and A Mandalorian woman... so I put it together, call it an Educated guess alright?!"

He really was sweating now, unable to even look at the hunter whose cold steel pressed into his blue skin like an itch that couldn't be scratched. But for such a heated world, he sure seemed frozen in that moment.

"Drakengard...!"

"The one from the registry- It's a freighter, belongs to some hotshot Zabrak. The masked bastards tried to bribe me for a peek at the list, but it wasn't enough to get on his bad side, okay! Look- captains pay me a little extra to keep quiet and delete the logs each night- but they must've got it before me and we've been trying to crack into my own system ever since...!"

"Can I please go now before some pirate or smuggler comes looking?!"

​

​

​

​

 

[Cedwyn Blaidd]

Location: Terminus, Sith Order space
Equipment: Lightsaber, Echani sword, 2x blaster pistols, 1x blaster rifle
Outfit: Casual
Tag: Tae'l Vizsla

His pistol didn't lower as he listened to the boss, he wasn't sure if he truly believed anything the guy was saying since it seemed the guy had been holding back on him from the start but he wasn't going to be hasty and just take him out. That wasn't the type of hunter he was anymore, "seems you need to be more cautious on the type of people you work with in the future." Cedwyn stated in a cold tone, before he lowered the pistol and refused to holster the gun just in case.

"Any idea where those two were heading without the records?" Cedwyn asked, he refused to answer the questions that the guy posed, instead focusing on gaining information and refusing to share any more now.

Hearing that there was someone else chasing the pair was not a good thing, "tell me more about the Zabrak as well, any idea of where he was chasing off to, or who he was?" Cedwyn asked firmly, "I ain't looking to kill you, just looking to find the next lead on my target. Will be out of your hair as soon as I have that." His words were honest, he didn't want to stick around and cause anyone any more issues. "Nothing you tell me goes further than just between us."