Private You're Lookin For The Other Guy

[Kahlil Noble]

Nar Shaddaa, the jewel of the Hutts. Not a planet that Kahlil liked to go on for a couple good reasons, but sometimes his job as a freighter had him stopping by. This was one of those times. And, like so many times before, he found himself being held at gunpoint down a rather shady alleyway. The man kept his hands up, offering a nervous smile to his assailants in a hopes it might diffuse the situation. Neither of the two thugs looked impressed though. "Their ours, got it? What do you think you are, some kinda Jedi getting in the way of perfectly legal business?" Right. Slavery. Kahlil glanced over his shoulder to the group of three huddled together. Barely adults, here for a good time and taken advantage of.

"Just a guy passing by who happened to see you swapping cards with the ones in your sleeve. Not exactly a fair game, huh?"

The cyborged human gritted his teeth in annoyance as he stepped forward. "You callin' me a cheater!?" Ah, maybe that wasn't the best idea to drop that. Kahlil kept the smile up regardless, staying between the thugs and their victims.

"Let's just settle down. We don't need violence. How much do they owe?"

"Oh? You gonna pay for em? A hundred." Hundred wasn't so bad. Were they really trying to enslave some college kids over a hundred credits? "Thousand."

A hundred thousand. That made more sense. And was way out of Kahlil's price range. "That with the friends discount or..?"

"Shut it! If you're not gonna pay then we're just gonna put you all in chains!"

 

[Raya Krayt]

The tracking fob indicated that she was nearing the target. She knew little about the bounty as she had taken it over for someone else so was going into the job rather uninformed but if they were in a place like Nar Shaddaa then they were probably at least a little shady. It was in Raya's nature to jump head-first into situations and then deal with the consequences later, though she managed to act more responsibly as Alor. However, bounty hunting was an escape from that, now she had relenquished her role as Alor for a while to don the role of bounty hunter - a reputation she much preferred.

As she neared an entrance to an alleyway, she heard voices from within so slowed and pressed her back against the wall near the entrance to eavesdrop. She could identify two voices but based on the content of their conversation she imagined there were more so she knew she needed to be careful not to injure any bystanders. From the sound of it, she assumed the one threatening someone was the bounty and smiled to herself at the other person's quip but such a comment was all she needed to launch into action.

The Mandalorian turned around and stepped out from the cover of the wall, into the alleyway, with two blasters raised. Upon seeing the three figures in the back, she flicked the weapon's setting to stun in case they were caught in the crossfire. She fired towards the nearest man who fell to the floor unconscious and aimed her blasters at the remaining two men.

Upon seeing the bounty's face, it became apparent that he was the one being threatened so her brows furrowed in confusion beneath her helmet as the man who was threatening him with a weapon was not the target. She hesitated, unsure what to do. She was not without morals and so wondered if she would be helping the wrong people if she went through with this bounty.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"I'm all for trying new things but shouldn't you at least buy me dinner before we try out chains?" Humor to deflect the fact he knew he was going to have to fight. Definitely not something he wanted to do. Kahlil was already mentally preparing himself to have to strike out at the pair when something unexpected happened. The larger guy who'd been the silent imposing type was taken out by a stun shot, and a Mandalorian rounded the corner. Relief was instant. He had friends within the Mandalorians.

That still mattered, right?

Right?

The fact she didn't shoot the other brought the worry back. The other guy was panicking too. He even dropped his gun. He knew Mandalorians. "H-Hey. We're fine. I'll just uh. Take my buddy and go. We don't need to mess with each other, right? You can have em. They'll make good slaves. Look at the tall one! He'll fetch a pretty good price as a laborer."

 

[Raya Krayt]

After seeing the man's pathetic attempt at grovelling, she lowered her blaster a little, clearly considering letting him go but after his comments on slavery she paused for a moment, raised the gun again, flicking the setting back to stun as she did and shooting him.

The Mandalorian indicated with her head for the three that were huddled behind him to get out of there and lowered the weapon so it wasn't pointed at them, though her other blaster was still pointed at Kahlil.

Before deciding on whether to attack, she questioned the man on his character as she could not justify bringing in someone who had stood against slavery unless he had done something far worse - though it seemed unlikely.

With no use for the other blaster, she holstered it and focused on the man before her. "Were you helping to save those people from slavery?" She asked. Though the evidence suggested so, she wanted him to tell it to her straight.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Well, at least the other guy didn't have to get shot. He'd go free, and Kahlil could talk to the Manda- Oh. He got shot anyway. The Jedi blinked slowly as he once more kept his hands high, especially with the gun still being trained on him. This wasn't a Mandalorian he knew then. Crap. At least Raya Krayt was willing to let the trio behind him go unharmed. He glanced to them and gave a simple nod and a smile. "Go on. Get back home." There was a couple mutters of thanks before they rushed off to try and forget this ever happened to them.

Which left Kahlil alone with the Mandalorian and a couple groaning bodies. "I was trying, at least. Turns out I'm not much for negotiations at gun point." Case in point as he nodded to the gun still pointed at him. "What'r the odds you'll put that down and we can go our separate ways?"

 

[Raya Krayt]

Even with the confirmation that he was trying to help, the Mandalorian remained hesitant to let him go. She was doing mental gymnastics as to whether it would be wrong of her to hand in someone who had done something so selfless for a cause she agreed in.

Then again, just because he opposed slavery and didn't seem like an awful person from first impressions, didn't mean that those who arranged his bounty did. She remained conflicted but hinted that she wasn't about to let him go so easily.

"You have a bounty on you." She stated instead of answering his question. It was likely he knew but it would confirm the reason why she was so hesitant to release him. "And I need the money." She told him. Now she was on her own, she had to provide for herself and didn't want to take unnecessary charity from the clan. "If you try and offer to pay, it won't nearly be enough." She warned him.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Ah. Right." Yeah, that made a lot more sense. Kahlil lowered his hands after a moment, giving a nod. "You took the contract. Shouldn't matter if I had the money or not, I won't insult your honor by trying to buy you off. Which bounty is it?" He made no move to run away. Hell, he did the opposite. Carefully and slowly he'd pull out the saber he kept hidden under his jacket and hold it out in his palm. Open surrender to Raya Krayt. "I'll come along peacefully. Not looking to fight you or any of your people."

 

[Raya Krayt]

The Mandalorian was surprised by how remarkably calm and polite the man was in the face of being captured for a bounty which reverted his rights to little more than a commodity. His demeanour fuelled her doubt about whether she should go through with the bounty but she thought it was equally as likely he could be faking it to manipulate her so she continued to threaten him with the weapon.

"There's more than one?" She asked, confusion evident in her tone, while avoiding answering the question directly as she didn't know the answer. She came to this bounty wholly unprepared.

Raya watched suspiciously as he pulled something from his jacket and was surprised to see it was a lightsaber. She took it from him and ignited the blade to see the colour, though it only confirmed what she could already gather from his attitude. "Jedi." She stated, gazing upon the blade for another moment before deactivating the saber.

She lowered her blaster and held his weapon out to him. Whoever put this bounty on him was not a person she wanted to assist. "I don't hunt for the Sith." She explained as she hostered her blaster, feeling confident the Jedi wasn't about to start a fight.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Ah, well. Yeah, there's a couple." There was a nervous laugh as he once more held up his hands to the woman. Best to try and keep this as calm as he could. Asides, depending on who Raya Krayt brought him to, he could work out a deal of his own. If it was to his sister though.. Well. Thankfully it didn't seem to be the case. There was a moment of surprise as she held out the saber for him to take. Which he did and immediately clipped back to his belt. He didn't want to have to try and remake it. Was hard enough the first time.

"Ah. Well, in that case." He let out an overly relieved sigh as he lowered his hands. "Been keeping my hands up too long. Nice to give them a break now and then." A pause, then he extended a hand. "Kahlil, though I'm sure you know that. Let me thank ya for helping those kids. You hungry?"

 

[Raya Krayt]

While taking money from the Sith would've been nice, the Mandalorians had no current quarrel with the Jedi who had been helpful in assisting their recovery after the battle on Mandalore. She could at least respect that despite the groups' strained relationship in the past.

Raya was hesitant to take his hand as the situation felt peculiar, though she trusted that the man wouldn't attack her. Jedi weren't like that. She took his hand and shook it, introducing herself in return. "Raya."

His following suggestion both intrigued and surprised her greatly. Never before had a bounty hunt ended with the offer of lunch from the bounty. "No problem. Slavery is an. Abhorrent business." She told him before accepting his offer. She didn't get to speak with many Jedi so it might prove interesting. "Sure, why not?" She shrugged.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Raya." He repeated the name out loud, hoping he might at least recognize it. He didn't, unfortunately. Raya Krayt was truly someone the Jedi wouldn't know from the Mandalorians. Well, maybe it was good there was still enough out there for him not to know by name after his fathers betrayal. Ah, yeah. Good thing she either didn't care about his last name or didn't know. That'd be a conversation and a half.

"Perfect. There's a coffee shop close to the docks I like to use. Not a shady place, which is rare around Nar Shadaa." There was another smile from Kahlil before he stepped past the Mandalorian to lead the way to the shop in question. "I know lunch won't really help with the money though. There a job you need help with? So long as it's not someone innocent I wouldn't mind helping."

 

[Raya Krayt]

"Krayt." She added in case it made any difference. It was often the case that clans had more of a reputation than individuals but she didn't expect as much in her case. Her clan were relatively small and few know about them unless they were on Tatooine.

"Sounds good." She replied, allowing him to lead the way but walking beside him. "Yeah, I have another." She pulled out a tracking fob to show him but quickly realised she accidentally pulled out his own and gave an awkward chuckle. "Not that one." She said as she got out the correct one. "A drug dealer. But he's not on this planet. Well not yet anyway." She told him.

He was being oddly polite to her but being a pretty talkative and charasmatic person, she had no issue maintaining conversation, even if he had been her bounty five minutes ago which attached a certain amount of awkwardness to the situation.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Clan Krayt? Nope, didn't ring a bell to him. Grant it, his interactions were with the Cadera clan during the fall of the UCM. Never too late to learn more though. "Like the dragon, right? Strong name for a clan." He kept his pace even to keep from leading leading. The Jedi had a lot of respect for any Mandalorian, especially after everything that had happened to her people. There was a laugh as he looked over his fob.

"Look at that, they got an actually good image of me this time. I'm flattered." There was a light chuckle before he looked over the other one. Not on this planet? "I could be persuaded to go off world with you. Lunch first though. It's pretty great, not gonna lie. They have these bagels to die for." He chuckled again, flashing a grin. It wasn't a long trip, thankfully, and they'd arrive at a pretty homely looking coffee shop. Definitely not the kind of place anyone would expect a Jedi and a Mandalorian to go to.

He'd find them a spot to sit before taking his own seat. "Right, so. What do you wanna eat?"

 

[Raya Krayt]

"Yeah. We were founded on Tatooine." Raya replied. Underneath her helmet, she smiled at him calling the clan name strong. She prided herself in her clan. They were still growing and recovering after the battle of Mandalore but they were far from weak. There were many more experienced warriors than her in the clan though none had challenged her for the apparently undesirable position of Krayt's Alor as of yet. Clan politics were strained at the moment and it seemed no one wanted to take them on.

The Mandalorian chuckled at his comment, thankful that he lightened the mood to take away from the awkward feeling of what she had just done. She was surprised he offered to help her even further than what she had thought he would which she conveyed through her following comment. "You really don't have to do that. I could've killed you." She told him. While she wasn't about to deny his help, she wanted to ensure he knew he was not indebted to her.

Raya sat down opposite him and reached up to remove her helmet, revealing a young blonde woman with her hair fastened into a single braid behind her head. She placed the helmet on her lap and then her elbows on the table. "You've worked me up for this bagel now." She replied.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

That made a lot of sense. There wasn't an animal stronger than the Krayt Dragon on Tatooine. Quite the grin formed as she mentioned she could of killed him though. "It wouldn't of been as easy as I made it with surrendering, if that was the case. Sides, you get use to it." And he didn't go into why. Good that he caught himself before divulging the whole Sith past thing in case that ruined the mood for whatever this was.

His smile brightened as Raya Krayt pulled off her helmet. "Badass and beautiful. Two bagels it is." He pulled out the holopad to make the order. "Coffee or anything?"

 

[Raya Krayt]

"Oh yeah?" She replied with a raised eyebrow and a smile, clearly relaxing into the unusual situation. "I could've shot you where you stood." She told him. From her point of view, he looked pretty defenceless when he handed over his weapon. She knew Jedi could be powerful even without their weapon, at least more than non-Force using Mandalorians, but she didn't think he could've reacted quickly enough to stop himself getting shot in the situation they had been in.

"That's why we wear the helmets: to protect our pretty faces." She joked to avoid accepting his compliment. While she was flattered, she didn't know how to respond so masked her response with humour. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind one, thanks." She replied. "So you're a Jedi..." She started, seemingly intrigued. "How did you come to join them?" She asked. Maybe this could be the answer she needed to better understanding Force users and helping her clan to understand such people better.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"We'll never know now, unless you change your mind about that bounty." There was another smirk as he set the tablet down. Food was ordered. Now they just had to wait, if only for a little bit. His smile stayed even as she was quick to deflect the compliment. It was a pretty funny joke. "That does explain all the helmets." A light chuckle escaped him as he glanced around where they were. Not many people. And no one searching for him specifically, that he could tell. Good.

"Dad didn't like the idea of be becoming a Jedi, so I decided to be." There was way more to it than that, but again. Details he wasn't sure Raya Krayt would even care to know. "What about you? What brought you into becoming a Mandalorian?"

 

[Raya Krayt]

"I think it would be impolite to do that now. It's not every day someone buys their bounty hunter lunch." She joked. "Though arguably, if I had known the details of this bounty then I wouldn't have taken it. I didn't realise who I was hunting for until I met you. I took over the bounty for another hunter and they didn't give me much to go on." She explained.

In one way, it was better that he had made the offer as there were likely still hunters who were looking for him, whether it be now or later but by treating her nicely she was more likely to defend him if they came across the pair. However, if the next hunter was a Mandalorian then that would complicate the matter.

"You did it to spite your father?" She seemed both interested and surprised. "Interesting..." She commented idly. The question on her own origins made her shrug. She was as simple as they came. "I was just born into it. My Mother was Alor." She told him.

Kahlil Noble

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"I hear there are some cultures that would expect you to shoot me. Guess it just depends on the world we go to next." Their drinks came by next, which Kahlil gladly took to start sipping at. His was pretty.. Outrageous. The kind you'd expect some hipster to order from a spacebucks. He took a sip of it before nodding. Made sense. Mandalorians were very family oriented. Though Raya Krayt's mother being an Alor was an interesting fact to think on.

"Something like that. So your mom's in charge of your clan? Pretty big responsibility. Being an Alor isn't easy, from what I've learned."

 

[Raya Krayt]

"Well I always say it's not a good date unless someone gets shot." She quipped before taking a sip of her coffee and realising what she had just implied but she didn't want to awkwardly backtrack so she just left it and hoped the conversation moved on without a hitch.

"Yeah, I know..." She chuckled nervously. "My mother was killed in the battle of Mandalore and I inherited the title through her. We're a pretty small clan so it's not awful but we've definitely been going through it. I'm one of the more... controversial Alors we've had in recent years." She told him. While it could be considered a relatively personal topic of conversation, knowing that he was a Jedi and thus Force sensitive made it easier for her to open up to him about her clan's issues.

Kahlil Noble