Star Wars 5th Edition - anarchy-gameplay

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 It is a time of adventure. Heroes and villains alike seek their fortunes across the galaxy. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Mos Eisley spaceport, a wretched hive of scum and villainy situated on the desert planet of Tatooine.

The Hutts command a strong presence in Mos Eisley, but they are not the only criminals. Rival syndicates and cabals prowl the dusty streets, making profits at the expense of one another and society at large. Inevitably these disparate groups collide, their conflicting interests leading to open strife.

As unrest grips Mos Eisley's underworld, Prello the Hutt contacts a group of mysterious heroes, requesting their aid in locating one of her valued retainers. Can they find him before his enemies do?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjMNNpIksaI

JManFilms

Star Wars Theme Song By John Williams

Mos Eisley is a large starport with a long history of criminal activity. Even when under the firm control of the Galactic Empire, the criminal elements of Mos Eisley thrive, seemingly unhindered by the might of the galactic superpower. In fact, the war of the Rebellion does more to expand the black market on Tatooine than any efforts made by the Hutts in the centuries before or since.

Mos Eisley is primarily controlled by the Desilijic Hutts, but other contenders work on the sidelines. One such contender is Prello the Hutt, a self-described small-timer from the Anjiliac kajidic. Prello's areas of expertise include burglary, stolen art, and obscure artifacts. Though she keeps none of these items for herself, Prello takes a personal interest in their acquisition and dispersal to interested parties. She is a fence - someone who can find a buyer for nearly anything of value that crosses her path.

19:04

In her line of work, Prello maintains a group of employees to perform specific duties on her behalf. Her retinue contains everything from con-artists to spies to thugs for times when violence is the only alternative. However, one of her most valued employees is a Balosar rogue by the name of Barin Trevina.

Trevina left the polluted filth of his homeworld and came to Tatooine in search of a better life. His cousin Olev secured legitimate employment, but Barin preferred to utilise his skills as a burglar for hire. He claims to be skilled enough to gain access to any building in Mos Eisley, and he has gone so far as to accept challenges from anyone willing to risk a wager. That was how he came to the attention of Prello, and he has proven a valuable asset to her ever since.

Recently, Barin has gone missing, and Prello is at a loss without her favourite thief at her beck and call. She had sent him out in search of information on a strange artifact known only as the Fell Star. Barin's last communication with Prello indicated that he had ascertained the location of the Fell Star, but he was not specific about where it was. He mentioned that he had attracted unwanted attention, but he assured her that he could take care of himself.

That was over a week ago, and Prello has grown increasingly agitated as the time has passed.

19:09

Prello calls you all to her townhouse in an upscale part of Mos Eisley. Unlike the typical Hutt, Prello meets her guests at the door and makes a point of fussing over them in person, offering aperitifs and drinks to ease their appetites and thirst. The behaviour is strange and, for a Hutt, perhaps insane. Such might be the case, but Prello is nonetheless charming and accommodating.

19:10

The townhouse is comfortably opulent, without being excessive. The walls are hung with tasteful pieces of art. Exotic palms in hand-crafted pots are placed throughout her home, giving it a sense of life. Fountains, too, play an important role, with nearly every room containing at least one.

As Prello leads the group through the townhouse, Zed walks near the rear of the party. He listens attentively to Prello's charming ramblings, but he hangs back. He's not avoiding Prello, but he's obviously uncomfortable working for a Hutt. He had voiced his concerns to the squad, but he had been overruled. Which is fine with him. He's not in command anymore -- not since the war ended. Zed's blaster rifle, slung across his back, clicks against his worn, matte-grey armor. Or at least, the parts of it that still fit around his slightly-expanded mid-section. His right hand rests on the hold-out blaster holstered at his thigh, the other hand mopping the sweat off his bald head. Damn this planet, he thinks. What I wouldn’t give for a good ol’ Kaminoan monsoon. (edited)

As he follows next to his brothers, being lead around by Prello the Hutt, Gauss thinks to himself; This sure is a change of scenery, a rather hot and terrible one. I wish I was back on a starship, or even Kamino and its endless storms. At least this Hutt seems to be a good host, most Hutts I have had contact with seem to be rather bloated with self-worth. (edited)

Gauss still wears his helmet, even though all its functionalities no longer work and is battered to hell and back, he never feels right without it. He also kept few plates from the Katarn armor he used to wear during the war, attaching them to a less obtrusive combat suit. He carries a simple Carbine Blaster, its all that is let of his DC-17m IWS, having lost all the attachments while escaping the Empire. (edited)

Kite waves off the offer of food and drink. As Prello prattles on he is listening somewhat but mostly keeping his eyes peeled. He doesn't like to be out in the open like this but his brothers insisted that Prello would take offense if he found Kite skulking outside or in a snipers perch. As if the Slug or his half trained goons could ever do so. Though he doesn't share some of his brothers distaste with working for a Hutt, without the army they needed work and the means to prove that the Kamino bred clones were without equals After deserting the Empire he sold his Katarn armor and bought a cheap imitation of Mandalorian armor. The armor is black with gold highlights, while its not of the finest quality you can tell it has been meticulously maintained. He wears this with his helmet on and a carbine rifle slung across his back. The only thing he misses from his old kit is the IWS sniper rifle but it was lost when he deserted. (edited)

A fit and slender female Togruta steps into the entryway of Prello's townhouse. Her bright blue skin pops against a dark grey tactical jumpsuit, tailored in all the right places to show herself off. Even more eye catching are the darker blue stripes wildly adorning her montrals and lekku. She smiles brightly and shares a hug with Prello as she welcomes her. "You always know how to quench this girls palette," Adorhi says as she takes the Alderaanian wine, her favorite, that Prello had waiting. As they move into the townhome, Adorhi eyes the few paintings Prello does keep along their way. Probably from one of her errands for Barin, ugh... she thinks to herself. "So, love, what are we after today? Perhaps a piece for yourself for a change? Something you'd like me to aquire for you?" Adorhi tried not to emphasize "me" too much but to her, it felt like the only word in the question. No response. It's odd for Prello to be so reserved, especially when it was just the two of them. They continue to Prello's main chamber and Adorhi takes a seat on one of the chaise lounges she's accustomed to assuming. Just then, there is a notice of more guests and Prello excuses herself. Wonderful, up against that frizz Barin again. Oh lord, maybe she's putting us on a job together? I'd rather die, Adorhi thinks to herself. After a short moment, Prello returns accompanied by the footsteps of more than one individual. Four to be exact. Adorhi looks over the other guests and can't help but roll her eyes. Bucketheads? What the hell could they be doing here? (edited)

Thumpthump. Thumpthump. Heart pumping audibly in his ears, Testy walks in next to Zed at the back of the group--always at the back of the group, always where he can see them--and takes in Prello's townhouse. As they are led back to the reception room, he mentally notes the back door, seen through a hallway, and all the windows: their sizes, location, and height from the ground outside. His precautions--not paranoia, he thinks to himself--aren't because Prello is a hutt. Hutts are people just like anyone else. Kind of. And they also aren't because Prello is a criminal. He'd worked with enough of those over the last year. They aren't even because this is all new--new location, new associate, new problem. He is just as nervous around the most familiar thing in the world to him: his brothers. It is just...the way things are now. Ever since the last order he'd ever obeyed. As he enters the reception room, Testy's heart, pounding away in his chest, suddenly skips a beat as he sees the blue Togruta reclining on the strange couch. For just a second, he's back in the war. Entering a planning room before a mission to see Haspin, their Jedi, waiting to brief them. But this Togruta isn't Haspin. Aside from the similar coloring, this slender girl looks nothing like the powerfully built Haspin, and certainly doesn't carry herself in the same way. And she's still breathing. Shaking off the initial shock of the unexpected and unnerving guest, he takes up a position right next to the entrance of the room, leaning up against the wall, half facing the group and half facing the door, trying to look relaxed. After checking the strap fixing his old thigh-plate to his left forearm as a make-shift shield, he places his right hand atop the saber at his belt--his saber, not mine--and waits for Prello to get to the point. (edited)

Kite sees the Togruta roll her eyes and Testy rest his hand on Haspin's saber. Kite sighs and hopes his brothers hold it together Kite looks at the Hutt and says what work do you have for us Prello? (edited)

Prello leads the clones into her study, where Adorhi is waiting, and slithers up onto a raised and padded platform, indicating to everyone else to take a seat on one of the comfortable divans in the room. "I've been in the business of sales and acquisitions for decades," she begins, "centuries, if truth be told. In that time, I've seen all kinds of objects cross my proverbial desk. These precious things never come easily, and I've always needed individuals to get them for me. I pay handsome finder's fees for unique things." "Barin Trevina was a Balosar of humble means when he came to Tatooine. He made himself available to me, and in an instant I saw someone who truly enjoyed his work. He was an artist as much as any painter or weaver is. He intrigued me, and I decided to hire him on full-time." "It's been nearly three years since I brought him on board, and he's made me a lot of credits with the items he's acquired. I always knew that there was risk in sending him on my little errands, but I suppose that I'd deluded myself into thinking that he was too good to get caught. He contacted me over a week ago, and told me that he'd found what I was looking for. He was still here, on Tatooine, at the time. He said he'd attracted some unwanted attention, but that he'd take care of it. I haven't heard from him since." "What I require is a group of canny individuals,such as yourselves, to find Barin and bring him back to me. Preferably alive and unharmed. I can provide you with a lead, and perhaps you can discover more through active investigation. Can I count on you?" (edited)

Adorhi audibly huffs. "Come now, Prello. Surely Barin's skills have gone cold if he's found himself in trouble. You can't be having a liability like that tracing back to you. Cut him off your payroll. I," she makes a quick unimpressed glance at the others, " will recover the item."

Kite nods and thinks I hate dealing with civvies ignoring the Togruta and says my brothers and I are highly trained professionals we can find and retrieve Barin, if we take the contact. What's the contract paying and did he mention where the trouble was coming from?

Zed flatly ignores the offer of a seat and remains standing, subtly shifting his weight back and forth. "And just to be perfectly clear," he says, carefully regarding the Togruta, "Our objective wouldn't be to steal the thing Trevina was after, correct? We find him, and get him out alive. That's it." (edited)

So as not to insult the Hutt to much, Gauss takes a seat, but keeps a watchful eye on the seemingly confident, and possibly unpredictable, Togruta. (edited)

19:18

He thinks to himself These are rather comfy seats

Adorhi stands, and walks towards the other group, thinking she gets a sense of slight unease. She slaps a hand on (Zed's) shoulder. "Boys, this isn't one of those gun and run missions. Prello's privacy and involvement in these dealings must be maintained and I can't help but think a bunch of muscles like yourselves, blasting anything that walks by would help that cause."

Zed slowly turns his head to lock eyes with the togruta, raises a greying eyebrow, then turns back to Prello. (edited)

"Each of you will receive one thousand five hundred credits if you can find and return Barin to me," Prello assures Kite. "Twice that if you also return with the artifact that he was looking for." The Hutt glances at Zed, expecting this to answer his question. Her gaze scans the room, looking for reactions amongst the clones, until it comes to rest on Adorhi. The message is clear. If you want the job, bring me what I want. "Unfortunately, Barin wasn't specific about the problems he'd encountered, but I suggest you start by talking to his cousin Olev. The two shared an apartment until just recently." (edited)

Gauss stands up from his seat, ready to move out as soon as possible. As he check through his supplies, he asks Prello, Is there any chance of getting a small amount of the pay up front, for procurement of supplies and equipment? We should be fine without it, but every little bit can help assure our success.

Prello lets out a little laugh, as though almost embarrassed for Gauss. "Oh, my dear, payment on delivery, of course," she replies, bringing one stubby hand up to cover her mouth. (edited)

"Hey, a man can try." Gauss says before finishing up his inventory. (edited)

Zed watches Gauss reassemble his pack and looks to the rest of Hammer Squad. He's not moving until they've all agreed to do this job. This isn't going to go well, he thinks. The money's too good, the intel's too shoddy. I've got a bad feeling about this.

Adorhi gives a heavy glare to Prello expressing her extreme distaste for this job, something she knows many others would lose a limb, or worse, for doing themselves. She then softens it to show her admiration and allegiance to the Hutt. She swiftly pushes through the others and heads towards the exit. "Do try and keep up, boys."

"Huh, she left before asking where Olev is located." Gauss thinks to himself (edited)

"Do you have an address for their apartment?" Zed asks.

Kite chuckles and says also we will need more info on the item Barin is seeking. with the amount of time that has passed he could be dead and to honor our contract we will need to know what we are looking for

As Adorhi walks by him, Testy gets another flash of Haspin, the Jedi passing him after some good-natured teasing of Zed about a successful mission that almost went to poodoo. "Oh and Test? Make sure you get those bombs prepped before first light," the Jedi says, looking back over his shoulder. Test. That's what his brothers used to call him, before... "Do you have an address for their apartment?" Zed's question snaps him back to reality. Kite chimes in, asking about the item they should find. But Testy is here to save this Barin. That's what Haspin would have done. Although the credits for the missing item would be nice. They could use some better equipment. A way to help out the villages being raided down by the Dune Sea. (edited)

Prello nods and flicks a finger across a datapad on a nearby side-table, transmitting the information to the group's own devices. "Olev is a terminal operator at the spaceport. He lives on the lower working-class side of town. You'll find him here." When Kite mentions the artifact Prello shrugs. "It's something than an anonymous client of mine has expressed interest in. A charm in the shape of a seven-pointed star, studded with blue stones. They call it the 'Fell Star'. Supposedly, the item is an artifact of some power, insofar as the Force is concerned. Of course, I'm none too impressed with Jedi parlour tricks, but my clients' superstition is quite often a compelling selling point!" (edited)

At the mention of the Force, Zed looks to Test. Testy. He took Haspin's death -- murder -- hardest of all. He already has enough trouble, Zed thinks. I hope this doesn't make it worse for him.

Testy barks out a laugh at Prello's last statement. Parlour tricks. I've seen Jedi bring back a man half from death and pull speeders right out of the sky, Testy thinks to himself. This Prello knows much less about the galaxy than she thinks. And I get the feeling she knows more about this Fell Star than she's letting on. But she's the client. She can keep her secrets if she wants. "Let's go Zed. We've got to catch up with our new...partner." (edited)

Zed nods. He looks to Kite and Prello as well. "Looks like we're moving out, Kite," he says. "All good?" (edited)

Gauss looks at Zed "Ready, si..." he pauses for a second before realizing that Zed no longer wants to be considered the leader "I'm ready to go Zed" (edited)

Kite nods to Zed and looks at the Hutt and says We will get the job done he then turns to leave

Adorhi is waiting in the vestibule, having some small talk with C-4RL while sipping another glass of wine.

"Do you always drink while on the job?" Zed asks as the squad approaches.

"Aww, did your precious military code not allow you to endulge yourself once in a while?" Adorhi snarkingly replies. If you're worried about a couple glasses of wine, then this is going to be a pretty dry relationship, no pun intended.

"Oh, we could drink, but we prefer not to have our senses dulled when on a mission", Gauss replies with a smerk

"I know we are only eight years old, but can we try to get through the mission without pulling each other's hair or biting, please."

"Alright, alright. I shouldn't have said anything," Zed says. He looks to Adorhi. "As long as your methods are effective, we shouldn't have any problems."

Kite laughs in spite of himself at Adorhi's quip "if you can fight as well as you can talk, this should be a milk run. We should move out though, we don't need the trail to get any colder"

The heat of the suns has yet to fade completely as the group ventures out into Mos Eisley's seedy apartment blocks. A few people move quickly along the winding streets, sticking to the scant shade offered by the squat, round structures that serve as homes in this part of town. The apartments are individual units, inset slightly into the ground in an attempt to deal with the heat of Tatooine's twin suns. The units are densely packed and narrow alleys and meandering avenues have formed between them. The beings that live here stick to themselves, being suspicious of both outsiders and residents alike.

As the group steps out into the light of the suns, Zed immediately begins to sweat. I miss the armor cooling system more than the Republic, most days, he thinks. "I've got that proverbial bad feeling. Anyone feel like checking to see how much medpacs cost?" he asks the group.

"Last I checked they were 300 credits a piece, however they might not be of the best quality, this is Tatooine after all."

At the mention of 300 credits, Zed coughs in surprise. He turns to Gauss. "I miss the days where we could head to the quartermaster and requisition supplies."

"Sorry to break it to you, but no handouts while working for Prello." Adorhi reflects on her culture's structure of equal contribution by every member of the pack. "Shouldn't you know this. You've worked for her previously, right umm.....?" Adorhi indirectly reaches for the clones name.

"I'm Zed. This is Testy, Kite, and Gauss," he says. "We've mostly done guard duty for her before. Not really any reason to ask for an advance for that. This is a bit different. Zed looks in a few of his belt pouches. Only three cells left. "I would like to see if we can find a place to buy some ammo, if we've got the time." (edited)

"If you've got the coin, then we should be able to stock up on the way. But again, these don't tend to be shoot 'em ups unless the dwang hits the fan. IF Barin has been captured, I would assume that those who did so want to keep a low profile as well. I've come to notice this of most of Prello's clients and enemies over the past couple of years." Adorhi internally starts, realizing it's been that long since coming to Tatooine. She reaches up and pats the Akul tooth on her headpiece and thinks of home, of her family. She quickly jerks her hand away when she realizes what she's doing. "My name is Adorhi, by the way, Adorhi Ven." (edited)

"We're not looking for a fight, or at least, I'm not," Zed says. "But we always want to be prepared for one."

"Agreed, unless this "trouble" is Imperial, we should be fine"

Looking into the distance, Testy says quietly "Things always come down to force. Either using it, or being afraid of it." Blinking his eyes and looking right at Adorhi, he continues. "I'm sure we'd all prefer not to fight, but the best way of that happening, is making sure the other guy knows we're ready to end him."

22:15

Looking over at Zed, Testy continues. "Ziza's?"

Zed lets out a heavy sigh. "Ziza's."

At the mention of that name, Gauss tries to shut off any audio going into his helmet, but that function has long ceased working. "sigh"

Kite groans "do you have any more of that wine, I would rather be on the wrong side of frag than hear that Sullustian speak sober, pity he is the only game in town" (edited)

Ziza's shop can be found just off the main market place, set into a wall of white stone. It's low-ceilinged, dimly lit, and crammed full of junk - most of it deadly. The shop's tubby little keeper comes hurrying forwards as the customers arrive. "Welcome, welcome, friends! What can I be getting you? You need new gun, yes? I have gun! Fresh armour? Explosives! Yes, yes, all the things Ziza has. Come inside, take a look. For you, this one perhaps..." The Sullustan grabs the front-most clone by the arm pulling, them inside as he rambles on. (edited)

Zed takes a deep breath and raises his voice to be heard above the Ziza's rambling. "I can't speak for all of us, but I'm just looking for some ammo," he says.

Kite gruffly says "Need a headcom set and 5 power packs, we are in a hurry Ziza"

00:06

"Also a set of binders if you have some"

Ziza is dashing about the cluttered shop whipping items from shelves before Kite has even finished talking. "Headcomm? That's expensive alright. I can do you a deal on the power packs though - buy five, get one free!" The Sullustan sets a basket of items down in front of the clone witha clatter. "Two hundred for the lot." (edited)

Kite hands over his only credits in the world but think it's worth if it will help him get the job done "Thank you Ziza"

"Grenades?" Testy grunts, putting his hand on Kite's before he relinquishes the credits. "And how much for a sniper rifle if we trade in a carbine?" (edited)

"Hold up there, Kite," Zed says. He leans on the counter across from the Sullustan. "Ziza, you rely on repeat patrons for your business, right? Look at us. We've been in here a couple times before. We've come back. But we can take our business elsewhere if you want to give us bad deals like that. 110 credits for the lot, and we continue to come back and do business with you."

Kite gives Zed an appreciative nod he was never one for haggling and misses having a quartermaster and the resources of an army behind him

Ziza shifts nervously from foot to foot as Zed talks, looking anywhere but directly at the grizzled old clone. "I throw in a couple of those grenades," he counters, nodding to Testy, "and we call it 300? A sniper rifle is bigger money than you gentlemen have though. A blaster carbine is only worth so much credit."

"Grenades," Zed says, scratching his chin. Secondhand ordinance is always a good way to lose limbs. "Let's have a look at them, first."

Ziza shrugs, gesturing to a precariously balanced case on one end of a shelf. "Take your pick."

Zed carefully selects two working grenades from the basket and sets the case back on the shelf, adjusting it so that it isn't so precarious anymore. "Alright Ziza. 280 creds and you've got yourself a deal."

Testy adds 80 credits to the pile. "Deal?" He says with just a touch of menace.

Ziza looks like he's about to complain, but thinks better of it when Testy steps in to tower over him. "280 credits!" The Sullustan hastily agrees, quickly gathering up his profits. "I hope to see you again soon!"

As the clones file to the back of the shop to let Adorhi do her shopping, Zed turns back to Ziza, locks eyes with the sullustan, and slaps his hand on Testy's shoulder. "Oh, we'll be back. You can count on it."

Adorhi steps up to Ziza and scans around at the mess that is his shop. "Hey, Ziza, it's been a while. Can you help a gal out with a commlink? My last one fell victim to a grumpy Trandoshan."

Kite heads to the back of the shop and works on integrating his headcomm into his helmet and keeps an eye on Adorhi, seeing if her routine will work on the chatty sullustian.

"For a lady? Of course..." Ziza schmoozes, gesturing to a bin full of scavenged commlinks. "Anything else?"

"I see you're doing a 5 for 1 on power cells? Well those boys bought 5, and said I could have the 1. So just those two things." Adorhi smiles brightly at the Sullustan.

"Yes, absolutely... to you, 60 credits, my azure delight." The bin of commlinks is marked 70 credits a piece.

Adorhi hands over the credits and then pats Ziza on the hand while looking him in the eye. "Thank you so much, darling. Hanging out with these boys will likely bring us back for more supplies again soon...I'm looking forward to it." She winks, takes her comm and cell, and then turns to leave.

Testy hands Kite a grenade as they walk to Barin's.

Kite integrates his head set into his helmet and tells the party "we should sinc our comms, this should be a milk run but it pays to be prepared"

The apartment specified by Prello the Hutt is a low-lying adobe dome, the colour of terra-cotta. The front door is closed, as are most of the other doors in the area. Nothing moves, and the air feels tense. Zed and Kite are the first to notice a parked speeder idling near a street corner. The tinted glass conceals the occupants, but it is obvious after a moment's observation that the speeder has a perfect view of Olev's front door. (edited)

Before the group reaches the door, Zed turns to the rest of the group. "Don't look now, but we've got watchers."

Kite tenses up after he notices the idling speeder he sees Zed has seen it as well and watches him tell the group. Kite turns and faces the group as well with his back to the speeder Kite then makes a series of hand signals pointing out the speeder, indicating that he plans to sneak up to the speeder and cut the lines. He points to Testy and Adorhi and to the apartment indicating that they go up after the lines cut. And then he signals to Zed and Gauss to keep their eyes on both situations and be prepared to move if there is trouble. (edited)

Zed touches a knuckle to his temple in the military signal for acknowledged. He moves across the street and leans against a building, making a show of wiping the sweat from his brow and fanning himself, all the while keeping an eye on both the speeder and the door to the apartment.

Before Kite moves off, Gauss gives him his Tinker's kit and pats him on the back saying, "You got this brother, just don't cut the red wire, we have you covered." He then hangs back with Zed, keeping a watchful eye on the surrounding streets. (edited)

Kite takes the kit and gives Gauss a thumbs up and moves towards the speeder. He remembers his training and tries to move both quickly and silently through the street without drawing attention. He gets near the speeder and in his haste steps on a empty can the street that escaped his notice. Making a noticeable crunch as he does so. Kit quickly moves into position afterwards, admonishing himself for his clumsiness, thinking that he has blown his cover but after a few moments noticing that nothing has changed and thinks to himself that whoever is keeping watch in the speeder is thankfully sloppier than him today. (edited)

Kite then takes a steadying breath, taking out his kit and begins working on disabling the speeder's repulser system. After his slip up with the can he is entirely focused on getting the speeder disabled without any hiccups. He takes a few moments and he believes he is able to successfully disable the speeder

The speeder's repulsors whine and shudder as Kite loosens a compensator with his hydrospanner, and the vehicle sets down with a muffled thud. A shout can be heard from inside the cockpit, and then a string of words in an alien language.

Kite tries to slip away unnoticed but as he rounds the speeder almost runs into the driver, wanting to give the apartment team more time to get in place he shouts at the driver "Hey nerf herder, your speeder almost crushed my foot." He pats his carbine that is slung on his back "Fortunately for you I'm in a good mood but you better get the kriffing piece of junk fixed before someone less tolerant than myself come along"

The driver is a non-descript rodian male dressed in an earth-tone suit. His expression is serene, betraying no emotion whatsoever, and he is armed with a blaster pistol at his hip. (edited)

19:32

Ignoring Kite's spiel entirely he quickly draws it and takes a shot at the clone, who is able to dive to the side in time.

As soon as the others move off, Testy waves a goodbye to his departing friends, making as if he is departing with his girlfriend. He moves of with Adorhi towards Olev's and knocks on the door.

There's no answer at the door, and it appears to be locked. Moments later Testy hears the blaster shot from behind him. (edited)

Seeing that the Rodian fired at Zed, Gauss unslings his carbine and fires a sonically modified bolt towards the Rodian, looking to disable him rather than kill him. Having acted in haste, he whifts the shot to the side of the target, missing him. (edited)

"Check the back!" Testy growls as he activates the greatsaber, attemptig to cut through the door lock mechanism.

There's a flash of sparks as the saber slices through the lock and the door swishes open. Testy sees a sparsely furnished living area in complete disarray. Furniture has been overturned in the centre of the room, and a viewscreen along the eastern wall buzzes with static. Three men occupy the room: two are dressed in the same non-descript earth-tone suits as the Rodian in the speeder. The third is on his knees, nursing a bruised jaw, as if he's just been struck.

Testy takes a step into the doorway, filling it with his large frame while bringing the large blue blade of Haspin's saber up into the room. Is the blade darker than it used to be? "This here is the blade of a Jedi master. The Jedi master I murdered. It can cut through durasteel like a hot knife through butter. So you gotta ask yourselves one question. Do I feel lucky? Well do ya, punks?"

As Testy bursts into the door and announces his presence, Adorhi takes cover on the door frame, blaster at the ready. She puts her other hand on her vibrodagger, wishing she could get up close. She always preferred the element of surprise and quick submission.

The Rodian by the speeder leaps over the front of his vehicle and takes cover behind it, firing off another shot at Kite. His aim, however, is wide, and the blaster bolt just leaves a scorch mark on the wall behind the clone. Meanwhile, the men in Barin's apartment are clearly displeased by the interruption, and they too reach for their weapons... (edited)

"Looks like you got your gunfight afterall, buckethead!" Adorhi yells as she pulls up her blaster at the reaction of the two inside beginning to line up their own. Once again, she's reminded why she likes to be up close and personal, Kriff off Barin, you pile of dwang! Adorhi says to herself as the shot misses.

Adorhi could swear that her shot should have hit home, but, at the last moment, the man in the brown suit simply steps aside, as though he knew it was coming. The phrase 'be careful what you wish for' comes to mind as he raises his gun and blows the hostage's brains across the living area in a single shot. Moving quickly, both men take cover behind the toppled sofa, and the second takes a pot shot at Testy that scrapes the clone's shoulder, leaving a raw red plasma burn. Nothing deadly, but it hurts like hell. (edited)

Kite huddles on the other side of the speeder and pops up and tries to take a quick shot with his carbine at the Rodian. As he pops up the Rodian's shot goes past him, throwing Kite's aim off. He makes a quick snap shot at the Rodian that goes wide. Kite curses his aim but does mark the Rodian with his helmets heads up display (rangers quarry)

Testy hopes his threatening gambit will work, but immediately knows it won't once he sees the cold, resolute look in the men's eyes. Gritting his teeth and ready for a fight, he hopes Adorhi gets behind them quick and thinks to himself I can't believe I trusted that Togruta enough to turn my back on her. She's not Haspin, she... "Blam!", his heart skips another beat when a blaster bolt flies past his arm from behind, shattering his calm and turning conscious thought off. He doesn't even notice it when the blaster bolt from the humans burns across his shoulder. (edited)

As the firefight on the street starts, Zed raises his rifle to his shoulder. Been a while, but you've got this, old man. He flips the weapon to the stun setting and prepares to fire, but the staccato ring of blaster fire coming from the apartment catches his attention. He looks to Gauss, makes a single hand gesture in the direction of the apartment, then returns his focus to the rodian. He pulls the trigger and lets loose a single bolt of energy that hits the rodian center-mass. The rodian staggers and Zed closes the distance to the assailant.

Hearing blaster fire from the apartment, Gauss gets on the comms "Testy, how's it looking over there?"

"Sssssssssssss," Testy's comm replies.

"That's not good" Gauss thinks to himself, as he rushes towards the apartment. (dash action)

As Gauss rounds the corner, he sees Testy standing in the door, ready to fight someone and calls out to him "I got your back brother! Try not to kill them, we need any information they might have." (edited)

Testy leaps into the apartment and onto the overturned couch. As the man below him raises his left arm in a protective gesture, Haspin's saber slashes down, severing it at the elbow, and the man falls to the ground, unconscious. The bloodless, cauterizing strike will later strike Testy as surprisingly similar to how sterile fighting droids was.

I better watch out for this one, Adorhi thinks to herself as she watches Testy fly up on the couch and strike down on of the assailants. She races forward to the other and takes two quick strikes with her vibrodaggers incapacitating him. "That's more like it!" she says, sheathing her favorite weapons.

The Rodian thrusts out a hand towards Zed, who feels a disembodied force try to lift him front his feet. However, the clone is able to cling to the edge of the speeder, resisting the effect, much to the shock of the alien in front of him, who turns to make a break for it and run.

Seizing the opening the rodian gave him, Zed lunges out with his left arm and cocks his fist down, allowing a small blade to slide out of his vambrace. The blade makes contact at the back of the rodian's thigh, cutting the fleeing attacker's escape short. Zed retracts the blade and aims his rifle at the prone rodian. "Toss your weapons to the side and stay on the ground," he shouts.

Testy spins on the couch towards Adorhi and the other fallen man, raising the saber once more, and catches himself just as the back-swing reaches it's apex. Thumpthumpthumpthump "Breathe," he whispers under his breath as he slowly lowers the weapon, the blade still thrumming. Thumpthump. Thumpthump. "Sorry. You startled me." Testy says in Togruti. (edited)

Gauss walks into the apartment "All clear Testy?"

The Rodian screams, clutching at its bleeding leg, the blaster pistol long forgotten on the ground nearby. (edited)

"Clear, sir." Testy responds without thought, powering down the saber, and hopping off the couch. (edited)

"Hammer squad, check in." Zed says over comms without thinking. (edited)

Gauss puts his hand on Testy's back, knowing full well that he has never been the same since killing Haspin. "You did good brother." He then replies back to Zed over the comms "All clear in the apartment." He looks to Adorhi and the man she is standing over. "Is he alive?" (edited)

Testy moves to check the other rooms of the apartment, unignited saber in hand. (edited)

Kite stands up and quickly checks his sights on the carbine, hoping to get some better accuracy in the future. He then heads over to the Rodian and handcuffs him and says into his head comm "All clear lets get him inside and see what we can learn" He then grabs the rodian and drags him inside

Olev's living area contains only simple furniture, spread across the floor where it has been tossed. The scattered remains make the living area somewhat treacherous in the dim light. Both bedrooms are nearly identical - each contains a bed and a simple desk built into the wall. The beds have been overturned, and the drawers of the desks have been upended onto the floor. The only room that seems unharmed is a small kitchenette, which is relatively clear of obstacles. Shelves and cupboards line the adobe walls, and an unused stove occupies the northern wall.

"Yes, he is. Just taking a heavy nap. How are things outside?" Adorhi responds to Gauss but keeps her gaze locked on Testy and his weapon.

"Good" Gauss replies back "Seems to be clear outside," "I'm gonna go check that speeder, maybe get it working again so we can use it" Gauss says before walking outside, past Kite, and getting his tools from him. (edited)

Zed grabs the rodian and pulls him out of the way of Gauss' work. Propping him up against a wall, he looks squarely in the frightened rodian's face. "Who are you?" (edited)

Kite hands off the tools to Gauss. Heading inside he sees Adhori staring at Testy's deactivated saber and says "You know they still make blasters Testy no need for the glowrod" Kite thinks that saber is trouble it's helped Testy cope with what went down but eventually its going to draw the wrong kind of attention. (edited)

The Rodian's panic slowly turns to hysterical laughter. "You amateurs don't know who you're messing with," he tells Zed, coughing a spatter of green blood down his front. "The Sable Dawn is coming for you." The coughing intensifies, followed by more and more blood, until it becomes clear that this cannot simply be from his wounds. Moments later a death rattle fills the alien's throat and he leans back against the wall, open eyes staring blankly into the distance. (edited)

Zed stands, making sure the rodian's blood doesn't get on his boots. He lets out a long, deep sigh. "Kriff."

Gauss looks back "Yeah, that doesn't sound good"

Zed looks at Gauss. "Ever heard of the Sable Dawn?"

Testy methodically disassembles the kitchen. (edited)

Shrugging, Gauss replies with "Never." "Maybe we should ask Adohi?" (edited)

"Not a bad idea." Zed bends down to search the rodian, finding the discarded blaster, an extra power cell, an ignition key, Kite's binders, and a commlink. Holding the commlink up, he notes that it's tuned to a specific frequency. No voices come through, just an even, steady line of soft static. He turns back to Gauss. "Think you can get that thing running?" he asks. (edited)

Kite heads back outside and looks for a vantage point where he can keep watch and alert the party if any reinforcements arrive

Within a few moments Gauss has redone the work that Kite did to the speeder, getting it operational again. "Just did." "You didn't kriff it up that badly"

Zed waves the cuffs at Gauss. "They probably need these over there," he says. He dumps the body of the rodian into the back of the speeder and hops in the front passenger seat. He tosses the ignition key to Gauss. "Let's park this thing at the apartment so we can get it off the street." (edited)

What at first appears to be a slight Human male is revealed to, in fact, be a male Balosar with curly red-brown hair, brown eyes, and a hole through his temple. Adorhi recognises him as Olev Trevina, Barin's cousin. (edited)

"Copy." Gauss says before hopping in, snatching the key Zed threw, out of the air. He then starts it and slowly maneuvers it in front of Barin and Olev's apartment.

After giving the two aggressors a pat down, and collecting their blasters, power cells, and commlinks, Adorhi turns to their victim, having a confident feeling of what she's about to find. "Barin's not going to be happy with this. This is...was, Olev."

Seeing the trouble Zed had with the Rodian Kite coms the party saying "Check the prisoner inside for any pills/suicide remedies. We don't want him to join his comrades before we get some answers"

Zed drags the body of the rodian into the apartment just in time to hear the Adorhi's comment about Olev, as well as the noises of Testy disassembling the kitchen. "So this is going well so far."

Searching the speeder, Gauss finds mechanic's tools in the trunk. "Nice, I needed some of these." he thinks to himself. He also notices that there are a pair of fluffy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. "Seems someone has a thing for Strongholds and Droids." (edited)

Zed leaves the body of the rodian next to the one-armed body of someone he can only assume was the target of Testy's attacks. Upon hearing Kite over the comms, he moves over to the still-unconscious human and slaps Kite's binders on him. Then with great care, he opens the human's mouth to search for some sort of poison pill, undoubtedly what killed the rodian. He finds what he was looking for almost immediately: a fake tooth -- activated with a hard bite -- filled with poison. With a careful yank, he pulls it from the human's mouth. (edited)

After searching the speeder, Gauss heads into the apartment. While everyone is searching for clues, Gauss heads over to Adorhi and asks, "Know anything about the Sable Dawn? There was a Rodian outside that mentioned that they would be coming for us, shortly before he poisoned himself."

"Uhhh..."

"Not that I can recall." Adorhi replies.

"We need more information," Zed says. "And I know just where we can get it." He turns back to the bound human on the floor and not-so-gently pats the side of his face. "C'mon now, sleepy. Time to wake up."

Clank. Cringringring.

Splash. "Bleh." (edited)

23:10

"Sonofanerfherder, that smells like Dug took a poodoo in a dianoga's mouth." (edited)

23:16

Crash.

23:16

"Ouch! Did I get shot?!?"

"Someone got a hydrospanner?" Testy yells from the kitchen.

Gauss hands him the small one in the mechanic's kit

23:30

"Want some help there?"

Zed sighs as the human remains fast asleep. He brings his hand back for a solid backhand, when a clattering of debris flies from the kitchen. A small vial of liquid rolls and hits his boot with a small clink. The vial reads "Stim" in Aurebesh. Zed picks it up and removes the cap to inspect the needle. Shrugging, he jams it into the human's thigh. (edited)

Testy takes the hydrospanner and, using it like a hammer, hits the part stuck in the back of the oven as hard as he can, knocking it free, and hands the hydrospanner back to Gauss. "Naw, I've got it." He upends the part and a small code cylinder drops into his open palm. "Actually, I think I've really got it," Testy says. Raising his voice, he yells "Guys!" (edited)

The code cylinder appears to be well used, and is marked with the words "KIE'S STORAGE".

Meanwhile, the captured human jerks to life with a gasp as the stimulant floods his system. He stares up at the clone crouching over him, clenching his jaw in sullen defiance. There's a moment of silence and then his eyes go wide as he realises that he's been left without his way out.

"Interesting dental work, son," Zed says. "Is that Sable Dawn standard issue?"

The man says nothing, watching Zed like a Hawk the entire time.

"Not a big talker, eh?" Zed says. "That's a shame." As he paces, Zed thinks. They're willing to kill themselves, so the threat of death isn't going to get him talking. Pain might, but I'm not willing to do that. I don't know if any of my brothers would be. Testy might, but I don't want to ask him to do that. He's struggling as it is. Maybe the Togruta? He walks over to Adorhi and quietly says, "Do you have any experience getting people like this to talk?"

Adorhi does her best to hide an expression of "we did things your way, this is the result" and replies,"I don't tend to put myself in a situation like this where I need someone to talk. Sure, I could get a Kallidahin frozen in carbonite to speak, but considering I was the one to put this guy down, you might be out of luck."

"Do you want to at least try?" Zed asks. "Sounds like Testy found something in there, but the more intel we have, the better our chances are of finding Barin."

"I'm tempted to take the gamble and tell Barin to kriff off. She'll get over it, and then, Prello will have to give me all the high profile jobs." Adorhi trails off, sighs, and walks over to the captive. "Hello there, darling," touching a soft hand to the side of his face, " I hope I didn't poke you too hard. What's your name?"

"You should release me, for your own good," he murmurs as Adorhi comes closer. The words are enticing and when the Togruta looks at her prisoner he starts to remind her of an old friend...

A look of confusion comes over Adorhi's face and she starts a bit, backing away from the captive. "I'm sorry, this all must be a misunderstanding," she says to the man. She then turns to the rest of the group, asking, "Where are the keys to these binders? He offers no threat to us."

Testy comes back into the main room excited to have found what must be a clue. "Guys, I think we gotta go to Kie's Storage," he says in Mando'a, pulling up short, seeing that their hostage is now awake.

At this strange turn, Zed rests his hand on his Hold-out pistol. "Adorhi, what are you talking about?" Zed says. "His friend just got done pasting Olev's brains across the room."

Testy places the data cylinder in his pouch with his left hand as his right slowly unhooks the saber at his waist. "What's happening, Zed?" he quietly asks in Mando'a. (edited)

"Our togrutan friend here wants to release our prisoner for some reason," Zed says in Mando'a, indicating Adorhi and the bound human in turn with his left hand, not taking the right hand off the blaster in his holster. Switching back to Basic, he says, "Snap out of it, Adorhi." (edited)

"If you've got something to say, then say it in basic. I am not a fan of secrets, buckethead." Adorhi angrily exclaims to Zed. "And what are you talking about? Snap out of what? This man offers no help in our task at hand." She then steps away from him and heads towards the exit.

Testy quickly pulls out his comm and radios Kite in Mando'a. "Kite, this is Testy. Adorhi is commin' out and something's not right. Keep your eyes open, and one of them on her."

Kite says in Mandoa "Acknowledged" And stays by the door. He then speaks to Adorhi and says " What happened in there? We have a job to complete, this is no time to go AWOL" (edited)

Testy turns to Zed and says in Mando'a "So what's the plan, Zed? What are we gonna do with this guy?"

Zed leans down next to the bound human. He cocks his fist down again and the blade extends in front of the human's face. "What did you just do to her?"

"AWOL? Just getting some fresh air away from those headcases inside. Don't you worry, I won't leave you boys out here all alone." Adorhi replies to Kite as she steps outside and leans up against the side of the building.

Kite grinds his teeth after she says headcases but decides to ignore the jibe. He regards her carefully trying to get a read on her and says "Testy said you lost your cool, are you 100%?"

"The expert on that sure would notice if so," Adorhi mutters to herself. "Yes," she replies in a normal voice.

Kite gets a bad vibe from how Adorhi is carrying herself. He doesn't know her well but her usual bravado seems a bit stilted or forced right now. "Did the prisoner say or do anything to you, you seem a bit rattled? You handled yourself well in there so I don't think this is your first time in combat, but still some fresh air may help you relax. Hangout here for a bit while my brothers finish up in there"

The prisoner just smirks up at Zed and remains stubbornly silent.

Zed sighs and retracts the blade. Drawing his hold-out, he drives the butt of the weapon into the side of the human's head, rendering him unconscious. "Testy, you want to help me get him in the speeder?" he asks, looking at he much stronger clone.

"Yeah, I'll get 'im." Testy replies, replacing the saber.

Together, Testy and Zed pick up the unconscious form of the human. They move the body into the boot of the speeder and, leaving the binders on, close the human in the boot.

Kite sees them loading up the human and before they close the trunk says "If we are bringing the sithspawn with us we should find a way to gag him. Is there anything in the house we can use"

Before any of this happened, Gauss, at the suggestion of Testy on where to head next, immediately headed out the door to warm up the speeder. Not witnessing what occurred inside.

Testy picks up a rag on the floor of the boot and stuffs it in the man's mouth.

"Should we take him back to Prello?" Zed asks, looking around at the group?

"We should probably head to Kie's first, I'm not to sure Prello would be pleased to see us so soon, without our job being completed." Gauss remarks. "Olev is already dead, so that lead is gone, the only one now seems to be at Kie's" (edited)

Kite nods and says "I agree, no need to let the Hutt know that we let our best lead get a new hole in his head. We should wait until we have something to report" (edited)

Zed nods and turns to Adorhi. "Are we good?" he asks. "I wasn't going to shoot you. It was just an instinct."

"Prello is very fond of her associates. She wouldn't otherwise risk the trail back to her by hiring a group to recover one gone missing. She knows my disdain for Barin and wouldn't have brought me on this mission unless absolutely necessary. So..." Adorhi quickly scans the group, lingering on Testy and Zed, "I would suggest doing what you can to avoid an incident among us."

"Message received," Zed says, looking into the back of the speeder. He winces as he sees the seat and the floor lightly spattered with the rodian's blood. He then looks back at the open apartment door and the multiple dead bodies inside. "Let's try to seal that up," he says, moving towards the door. "And next time, let's listen to Adorhi and try not to make so much of a mess." (edited)

"Tell that to the rodian who shot first" Gauss says laughingly. (edited)

Kite laughs and says "Yeah I will try to be quiet next time I think I've gotten the kinks out. Almost getting gunned down by Rodian helps get the blood pumping." He then moves into the house and takes his fusion cutter out and seals the door after the bodies have been moved

After Kite finishes sealing the door, Zed squeezes in the backseat of the vehicle next to Testy, leaving a seat open for Kite. I wonder how much a LAAT/i costs these days, he thinks to himself. With how tight this is going to be, we should just steal one.

"Everybody in?"

Kite taps the side of the vehicle and says "Lets move out" Kite then turns and looks behind the vehicle to make sure no one is following them

"Copy" Gauss says before hitting the gas, heading in the opposite direction of Kie's Storage for a few minutes before taking a few turns to head towards the south side of Mos Eisley. (edited)

The exterior of 'Kie's Storage' is nondescript, featuring a sloping roof and windowless permacrete walls covered in weatherworn adobe. A number of vagrants use the building's high walls for shade, especially during the hottest times of the day.

"What's the plan here?" Zed asks, looking at the group, still wedged in between Testy and Kite in the back of the speeder. "We've got the code cylinder, but I don't know if they'll let us just go in."

As they cruise past a side street, Zed and Kite notice a speeder similar to their own idling and parked in an alley just south of the building. (edited)

"Anyone see that speeder idling in the alleyway back there?" Zed asks, looking back to see if they're following. "Looked a lot like this one. Let's see if we can't figure out what they're watching." (edited)

Gauss has his arm around the back of the seat, so as to look at everyone in the vehicle. "Ok..." He pauses for a second, thinking about a plan. "Since we have no idea if that speeder is affiliated with our new acquaintances, two of us should take the code cylinder and try to get into the building and find the storage compartment that it goes to. The rest of us will stay here and keep watch for any new "friends" that try to intervene. I'm pretty rusty at sneaking around, so I'll take overwatch and keep the speeder ready in case we need to get out quickly." (edited)

Kite nods and says "Adhori and I can check it out, if she is gunning for Barin's job as Prello's thief she must have some talent in moving without drawing attention" He looks at the Togruta "Sound good to you?" He then checks his gear and mentally prepares himself hoping that his form his back and he won't making any more rookie mistakes.

"Be careful," Zed says, lowering his voice to a somewhat conspiratorial tone. "That rodian tried to use the Force on me to throw me backwards. Whatever we've stumbled into here, it might be more serious than we thought."

Testy pulls out the code cylinder and hands it over to Kite. "Be careful." (edited)

Adorhi stands by the speeder, waiting for Kite to climb his way out. "So, we're looking to see what's behind door number....?" Adorhi exclaims in a poor showman accent.

Kie's Storage has an on-duty clerk - a bored teenager who is charged with renting out storage cubes and issuing code cylinders. He sits behind a desk just inside the front door. (edited)

Kite jumps out of the speeder and says "the kid doesn't seem to alert we could try using your charm but I think it would be easier to walk past with our cylinder trying to stay hidden from the speeder and head to the unit"

"Well, I'll follow you then because I don't know what unit we're looking for. But yes, just act like we're supposed to be here." Adorhi replies.

Kite grabs the cylinder from Test and reads the number off

The cylinder is for storage unit L6.

Two doors at the south-western corner of the building allow access to the lobby. The halls are well lit and each of the storage cubes is fitted with a metal door and a lock.

"Hello there, General Kie...Storage clerk, can you do a girl a favor and remind me which way to unit L6." Adorhi asks, while batting her eyes.

The teen yawns boredly, only to freeze mid stretch when he sees the attractive togruta in front of him. "Uh, um, that way," he stammers, pointing north up the corridor. "Around the corner on the right."

These boys, such simple creatures, Adorhi thinks to herself as she thanks the clerk and heads towards the storage unit. "This way, Edik, my dear," grabbing Kite gently on the arm to get him to follow.

Kite follows keeping alert to see if anyone is watching

Locker L6 turns out to be a battered metal closet marred with old graffiti. A red light on the magnetic lock plate blinks lazily in unison with the other lock plates along the wall. Meanwhile, Zed and the others in the speeder outside see three brown-suited figures dash across the street towards Kie's Storage. (edited)

"Time to move," Zed says, pointing at the brown suits and grabbing his rifle. He clicks on the comm. "Kite, Adorhi, we've got company. 3 Sables entering the building on your six." (edited)

"I'm punching it!" Gauss exclaims before engaging the speeder as fast as he can to the front door of the storage building. Making an abrupt halt just before hitting the wall.

"On guard, Kite. I'm still going to get this sucker open." Adorhi uses the code cylinder and attempts to open the locker all the while thinking to herself, this will be worth it in the end, this will be worth it in the end.

The locker opens easily when the code cylinder is inserted into the security port. The light blinks from red to green, and the door clicks open. The interior of the locker dwarfs its only contents: a datapad resting on the floor.

"Hopefully this was worth it," Adorhi mutters as she grabs the sole item, a data pad. "Eyes or ears on our company yet?" she asks Kite while pulling out a dagger and her light pistol. Adorhi then scans for any other sign of an alternative exit.

Kite takes a defensive position in front of the door carbine in his hand he says "you check the room out I will cover you"

As the speeder pulls up outside the front door, those inside can see that a brown-suited twi'lek has grabbed the young clerk as a hostage.

Eyes locked dead on the hostage taker, Zed kicks the speeder door open and runs into the lobby, posting up just to the right of the doorframe. Raising his rifle and aiming quickly and deftly, he plants a smoking blaster wound right in the brown-suited twi'lek's shoulder. The twi'lek staggers, but remains standing and keeps his grip on the teenage hostage. Damn, Zed thinks. Resilient bugger. Clicking on his commlink, Zed says, "We've got a hostage taker in the lobby. Need some help!" (edited)

Testy leaps from the back of the speeder, running through the door and igniting Haspin's saber to take a swipe at the Twi'lek in front as he continues past him to pursue the Sable-Dawn member down the right corridor, already reaching up to his back with his right hand for a vibrospear as he shift the saber completely into his left hand. The Twi'lek twists to avoid the attack, but also keeps the hostage out of harm's way.

Kite hearing the sounds of blaster fire races around the corner and steadies himself and sees the scene with the Twilek holding the kid hostage. He lifts his carbine and takes a shot aiming right at the twileks head dropping him.

"Nice shot, Kite!" Zed says over the comms.

The man closest to Kite marches resolutely on towards the clone, raising hand and sending him crashing backwards into the wall with a burst of telekinetic power. Zed and Testy see their brother go limp as he slumps to the ground. On the other side of the block of storage containers, another man peers around the corner at Adorhi. "Come with me..." he beckons to her.

Gauss hears a loud thud from the back of the building, and what sounds like Kite yelling out. He runs towards the back of the building towards the sound, as he passes by Testy he notices Kite slumped on the floor, unconscious. "Man down!" Gauss exclaims before hurling a Kolto Pack at Kite, he then immediately powers up his Carbine and fires a flaming bolt at the assailant. The shot lights up the dim hallway for a split second before hitting its mark, instantly engulfing the man in fire. "I got to him just in time" Gauss thinks to himself, "I got Kite! I also lit his attacker up like a Life-day tree!" He shouts loud enough that everyone can hear him in the cramped building. "Now, where is Adorhi?" he wonders, as he doesn't see her in view, or hears any fighting further inside the building. (edited)

Adorhi closes up the locker just in time to see Kite shoved into the wall. Just as she begins to make a move to aid him, she hears a call from behind. She turns and see's another figure waving her near. It doesn't feel completely right, but all she can think to herself is yes, I need to get away from these bucketheads. It has been nothing but trouble since we started together. Adorhi then steps towards the man.

Zed glances around the corner and sees the Sable operative, ablaze with fire, and Gauss' carbine, slightly smoking with the energy expended by the charged shot. "Nice work, brother!" Zed shouts to Gauss, noticing the healing kolto energy surrounding Kite. When the Sable operative doesn't succumb to the damage from Gauss' shot, Zed raises his rifle and fires a single shot. The shot flies wide, scoring the wall far to the left of the operative. Blast, Zed thinks. Scanning the end of the corridor, Zed doesn't see Adorhi anywhere. Better go make sure she's okay, Zed thinks as he takes off running down the other hallway. Not that she needs our help. She's a perfectly capable fighter. Shame we're not on the same page about tactics. Hopefully we don't get her killed. Rounding the corner at the end of the hallway, Zed spies another operative. "Got another one down here!" he calls over comms. (edited)

Running side by side with his brother like the old days, Testy feels in fine form and confident. He pulls one of his vibrospears from it's holster on his back, the weapon automatically humming to life. As he rounds the corner, he sees another Sable Dawn member mostly turned away from him. At the extreme end of his range, Testy grits his teeth as he heaves with all of his might, letting loose the silver missile at his distant foe. The spear, audibly buzzing almost as if in anticipation of the hit that it is about to score, alerts the man, who turns, taking the blade across his shoulder and releasing a thin spray of blood as the spear cuts through cloth and flesh and leaves a long gash--a near twin to Testy's blaster burn across his own shoulder. (edited)

Kite comes back into consciousness still reeling from the force blast. Something he hadn't encountered since the purges. With Gauss's kolto field buzzing around him. He sees a one of the brown coats standing above him. He then grabs his vibro dagger and launches himself up from the ground and lodges the dagger under the humans chin. He grips the dagger and shouts "thanks for the save brother." he then shouts "Kriffin jedi should have learned after order 66 that you aren't a match for us clones" He then moves closer to adorhi

The remaining Sable Dawn member grabs Adorhi by the hand and takes off to the east, disappearing around the corner and out of sight!

Kite says into his head com "they took Adhorhi out back, the huttspawn tricked her"

The moment Gauss hears that, he bolts back to the speeder, hits the gas to full throttle and zooms to the North-west corner or the building, hoping to catch Adorhi and the Sable Dawn member. As he reaches the corner he sees nothing amiss, just a closed door, Must not have reached the back door yet... I sure miss the days where the Force-users were on our side. (edited)

"It sounds like the numbers have turned against us. " Adorhi says as she follows the last remaining member of the Sable Dawn. "What's our gameplan?" (edited)

Watching Testy hurl a durasteel spear down the corridor and listening to Kite's words on the comm, Zed thinks to himself, Can't let Sable get away with our new "partner." Gathering his strength, he sprints, full-tilt toward the corridor that Kite indicated. Rounding the corner at full speed, he spies the operative and the togruta at the end of the hall. Without stopping, he raises his rifle. His hand shakes. Sweat drips. His eyes blur, and his aim drops off target. He stops, shakes his head, and aims down the sights of his old DC-17m. *Inhale. Count to four. Exhale. Count to four. Squeeze the trigger. The rifle kicks. The Sable operative drops, a plasma burn smoking in the back of his head. His body hits the door, opening it and spilling out into the alley. "He's down," Zed says into the comms, taking a moment to steady his breath and regain his focus. "Adorhi, are you okay?" (edited)

Just as Gauss starts to jump out of the speeder and head towards the door, he hears a BANG and a loud thud, as the door swings open violently, to reveal a man.. shot... dead. "Nice shot! Target down." He shouts into his comm. "No more targets in sight."

A slight fog dissipates from Adorhi's mind. A feeling of remorse. For the man slumped over, hanging half out the doorway. A feeling that she's almost certain shouldn't be there. Feelings that shouldn't be there. Painful memories flash to the front of her mind. Memories of arguments with her father long ago. "Uh...yeah...yes. I'm fine. Looks like you boys got another round of shoot 'em up in, huh?" She pulls out the data pad she grabbed from the locker showing it to the group. "This is all that turned up in the storage unit. Anyone able to check it out?"

As Gauss walks up to the scene, he hears Adorhi's question and responds with, "I can, my wristpad can link directly into it" (edited)

Testy follows right on Zed's heels, impressed with his burst of speed. As Zed appears to hesitate with his shot, he thinks you've got him, brother. And he does. "Nice Shot. Just like old times, isn't it? Get's the blood moving." (edited)

Zed is bent over, arms braced on his knees, breathing hard. "Yeah. The blood moving. Yeah," he says between staggered, panting breaths.

After taking the Datapad from Adorhi, Gauss gets out his slicing tools and gets to work on the datapad. He had difficulty getting through the encryptions at first, but after much trial and error he finally got access to the contents. He lets out an audible sigh. " Looks like more cryptic clues and some galactic coordinates and a single word, Nadir, our adventure continues on." (edited)

Making himself useful, Testy searches the bodies, pulls out their poison-pills and retrieves his spear.

Testy finds more blasters and comlinks, but little else.

Kite takes a breather and checks his armor and gear to make sure the force blast didn't damage anything. While his armor is only a cheap imitation of the traditional mandalorian armor it has been his prize possession since leaving the GAR. He is relieved to find that the brown coat jedi didn't damage his gear. He then walks up to Adohri gives her a pat on the shoulder and says "Don't let it get you down, their so called force is a bunch of Bantha Podoo. See any more of them better to put a bolt between their eyes before they get a chance" (edited)

As the clones talk, anyone near the speeder starts to hear a banging from the back of it. (edited)

Zed, having finally caught his breath, straightens and heads toward the door to the alley. He pulls the dead brown-suit inside the building and then heads out into the alley, spying Gauss and the speeder idling near the road. "Good thinking, brother," Zed says, starting to approach the speeder. "Always good to have a backup plan." As Zed approaches the speeder, he hears the banging coming from the back. "Sounds like our prisoner wants to talk." Walking around to the back of the speeder, Zed shouts, "What do you want in there?" (edited)

The banging stops, and there's a moment of silence after Zed speaks, followed by a dull impact as the speeder's storage compartment strains from within.

Kite notices Zed talking to the trunk and hears vehicle strain and sighs and says in mandoa " they all are kriffing jedi" he draws his pistol and walks to Zed and the trunk and asks " how do we want to deal with him. The trunk isn't going to hold him long" (edited)

"I figure, we open it up, see if he wants to talk now, and if he tries to use the Force on us, we shoot him," Zed says, replying in Mando'a. "And then the problem will be taken care of." (edited)

"sounds good to me" he then readies his pistol preparing to shoot if anything happens

After fiddling with the datapad and gaining access, Gauss headed back to the speeder with Kite and Zed. He also hears the man struggling to get out, and adds in to Kite and Zed's plan. "Honestly, with how many times they seemed to have controlled Adorhi, and the lack of any information we have gotten from any of them, I think we are better off just opening the trunk and lighting him up instantly. He would likely use the force on us just as we opened it anyway. Or... Testy can just stab him with Haspin's saber before we ever open it, it may be morbid, but these guys have not shown any wavering in talking to us" In Mando'a (edited)

"No," Zed says. "We're not murderers. We captured this guy. We're not just going to kill him in cold blood." He looks around at the others, seeing the hardness of their faces. His stomach drops. "...right?"

Kite nods and says "that's the smart way to do it. But I don't know if testy and the rest will go for it"

17:25

Kit looks at Zed and says "they have tried to kill or control us multiple times. They are too much of a risk to kid glove "

"It was just a thought, I don't enjoy it either, but these guys are very persistent on killing us."

"I'm not suggesting that we use kid gloves, but let's just give him another chance to talk," Zed says. "If he tries anything funny, we shoot him."

"If you really want to do it that way, Ret'lini (means just in case) I'm gonna stand on the side with my blaster pointed square at his head, if he so much as moves his hand in an odd way or says anything that feels like he is trying to control one of us, I'm shooting him." (edited)

Zed charges his rifle and raises it to his shoulder, one hand on the boot latch. "I fully agree," he says. He looks at Kite and Gauss. "Ready?"

Kite takes position and makes a hand sign indicating ready

"Tsikala" (ready) Gauss powers up his carbine with a sonically modified bolt, If he lives and tries to run, its gonna hurt he thinks to himself.

Zed counts down. "Ehn, t'ad, solus, jii!" He throws open the boot!

The boot opens... and is empty.

"Open fire!" Zed yells, loosing a few bolts from his DC-17m. (edited)

Gauss instantly fires into the trunk, aiming to cover as much of it with the sonic bolt as he can, before then firing a few more rounds, spacing them out so as to cover any space. (edited)

As the clones light up the boot of the speeder, the plasma-marred corpse of the sable dawn member swims into view.

"I guess my plan it was. Ke nu'jurkadir sha Ramikads!" (don't mess with commandos) (edited)

"I have no problem with what just happened," Zed says, reading the charge on his rifle -- five shots left. "He was trying to escape. My morals are satisfied." (edited)

Kite nods and hauls the body out and drags it to the storage unit. He then takes his time and investigates the storage unit for clues

"I'm going to go check out the other speeder," Zed says, and walks down the street towards the alley across from the front entrance to the storage facility. (edited)

"I'm coming with you, we don't need more unexpected things to happen" Gauss says, following quickly behind Zed, carbine at the ready. (edited)

"We should grab the keys first," Zed says, heading inside to grab the keys from who looted them from one of the Sable bodies. Haven't dealt with force users since Order 66, Zed thinks as he and Gauss walk to the speeder. Testy's taking it about as well as I expected. Kite, too. Both of them had very different reactions after we killed Haspin. As Zed nears the other speeder, he raises his rifle to his shoulder, aiming at the speeder and treading forward carefully. These Sable Dawn characters for sure aren't Jedi, though. Where are they coming from? (edited)

Zed leaves the nondescript brown suit in the speeder and shoves the mechanic's kit into the boot of the speeder they drove here. He also tosses 100 credits he found in the other speeder's glovebox to Gauss for safekeeping. He then moves the Sable speeder to the other side of the street, near the storage facility. Stepping back inside the lobby, he asks, "What's next?" (edited)

"Well, I'm gonna go back and bring the other speeder to the front door." Gauss says before spinning the keys around on his finger while walking towards the speeder in the rear of the building. (edited)

Meanwhile, Testy moves over to the front desk and searches through it, finding a hidden shotgun under the desk, and papers in the desk including rental information and contact information for the owner. He sees that several lockers were rented the same day that Barin rented his locker, and suggests to Kite and Adorhi that, perhaps, we should take a look at these other lockers in case he opened another locker that day under a pseudonym. (edited)

20:01

Testy unloads the shotgun, putting the cartridges in the desk drawer, and mentions the shotgun out loud, but leaves it under the desk.

Kite's search just turns up chewing gum and old death stick butts. The locker doesn't appear to have any kind of hidden compartment, and the only other items of interest are behind the front desk. Files, a cash register, code cylinders to free lockers, and the shotgun that Testy found under the tabletop. (edited)

As the rest of the team finishes up searching the lockers and taking care of packing equipment and bodies, Testy contacts the owner, informing him of what appears to have been an assault or robbery which he and his companions happened to witness and stop. He suggests that he send someone out or come him/herself to secure the site because, although he and his friends were able to save the life of his employee, the boy ran off scared out of his wits. He also assures the owner that they will even take care of the bodies for the owner, and mentions that there was very little blood. "My friends and I are former soldiers...we do clean work." Testy also suggests that their good deed be recognized, mentioning that, yes, credits will do fine. (edited)

After the search of the unit came up empty Kite finds Adorhi and helps her use her security kit to break into the other 3 units that came up suspicious in Testy's review of the ledger. They find a room full of pictures of a Twi'lek and human male. Kite thinks it could be potential blackmail and keeps a picture incase it becomes valuable. They then open the next door and find a freezer full of steak. Finally they open the next door and find a lab, Kite then looks around the lab to see if he can find out what they are making.

Kie, the proprietor of Kie's storage, is surprised, to say the least, when he receives Testy's comm. It seems that most residents of Mos Eisley know better than to cross him. A squeaky-sounding alien voice thanks the clones for protecting his business and requests that they wait for him to arrive with guards of his own, in order to ensure the security of the site. He assures Testy that the squad will be appropriately compensated for their time and trouble.

Kite investigates the equipment in the lab with spending so much time on Tatooine in the company of hutts and other outlaws he has learned a bit about spice and how its made. After looking over the equipment he is certain this is a spice refining lab. "Found a spice lab, unless anyone objects I'm going to lock it back up with the boss on the way we don't know if he approved this or even if its his so I'm going to lock it back up"

Testy fills the group in on the compensation, and suggests Adorhi and Kite find places nearby to hide and help if things go south.

About ten minutes later, Kie shows up with a pair Gamorrean bodyguards, each of which is wearing body armour and carrying a blaster rifle. Kie himself, it turns out, is a fuzzy little Chadra-fan businessman dressed in a sharp blue suit, and he takes in the state of his place of business with a keen eye. "Nothing a coat of paint won't hide..." the alien muses, mostly to himself, as peers up the corridor at the scorch marks on the floor. "Which of you gentlemen did I speak with earlier?" Kie shuffles over to a nearby container, which quickly opens when he slots in his code cylinder. Inside a bank of computer screens displays the feed for several hidden cameras, and he begins to spool back to check the sequence of events. (edited)

Testy leans up against the wall near Kie. "That was me sir. Hopefully you'll find everything is in order. That couple that came in before us opened up a couple of lockers after the fight...I don't think they were their lockers, but I made sure they didn't take anything. Anyway they left after I called you. Some gratitude. Those suits almost killed the guy. Luckily one of us has some medical training from the war."

Kite gets in position that he believes to be out of sight and watches the exchange with the chadra fan and Testy. He thinks why does every two bit "boss" on Tatooine use Gamorreans, they are big, dumb and slow. Good for shaking people down but not the best in a fire fight. Should hopefully make life easier if this goes south.

Kie sits in silence as he watches the events unfold on screen. Once he's finally satisfied with what he's seen, the little Chadra-fan turns to address Testy. "You're right. Nothing was taken without a key - although your friends are nosy. I'd like to meet them, if you don't mind. I expect they're still nearby. You do have my thanks for saving young Liam though. He's a good kid, and his mother would never forgive me if anything happened to him. What brought you here today, soldier? It seems unlikely that this was all a coincidence."

Kite takes a deep breath and readies himself to attack in case anything happens

"We were simply passing through, sir, when we happened to see those individuals run into your facility armed," Zed says, raising his shoulders in a shrug. "Like my friend said, we're former soldiers. We do get bored from time to time, and saw an opportunity to sate our fighting instincts and possibly do some good while we're at it." Zed looks at some of the blaster burns in the walls. "We are sorry about the damage though," he says. "We did our best to keep it clean."

Kie shrugs. "I suppose it doesn't really matter either way. My business is safe, and for that you have my thanks. I'd like to give each of the three of you a gift. A lot of things get left in a place like this, and when the lease runs out they go to my cube for confiscated property." The squeaky little man closes up the container full of screens and walks over to another. His code cylinder slides into the lock with a metallic click, and the doors slide open with a hiss as the seal releases. Kie's bodyguards watch the clones warily the entire time, their chubby hands steady on their rifles. The interior of the container is a treasure trove of abandoned goods of all kinds, including a wide variety of weapons and armour. "Are you looking for anything specific?" Kie asks. (edited)

Kite sees a sniper rifle in the vault and gives a sad sigh but holds position

Kite sees Testy going for the sniper rifle and cracks a big smile behind his mandalorian helm

Zed looks about the locker. His eyes go first to the weapons, but in Zed's heart, nothing could ever replace the DC-17m IWS. I wish I could find a anti-armor attachment for it. Maybe someday, he thinks to himself. He spies a set of armor plates hanging at the back of the locker. Configuration isn't quite right, but they look like they could replace some of the missing plates and components from his Katarn armor. At Kie's nod, he takes the armor off the wall.

Testy finds that he has loosened up a bit over the last day, even though by all rights he should be a mess. The action he and his brothers have been in today have been the only serious fights they have seen in the last few years. He knows he hasn't worked through all of his issues yet, but the trust in his brothers has really been restored at an instinctive level. Even though they--he--betrayed one who was like a brother to them, they hadn't betrayed their actual brothers. And he was beginning to feel deep in his bones that they never would. They had his back. Kite, in particular, always has his back; even now he was watching it from far away. Well, he could watch our six a bit better with a better rifle. Testy grabs the sniper rifle from the storage unit for his brother and says "Thank you sir. That's mighty generous of you." (edited)

Gauss takes a look around the large storage cube, he sees many interesting items, armor, tool kits and supplies, but in the way back he spots the familiar outstretched polarizing orbs of a Wookie Bowcaster. He admired thier sheer firepower back when his squad was sent to Kashyyyk on a mission. I'm sure the wookies rather have one of thier weapons in the hands of someone who fought side by side with them, rather than gathering dust in the back of some storage building. Gauss thinks to himself as he grabs the Bowcaster. He starts to look it over, making sure it still functions, looks good "I'll take this then Kie, I fought with the creators of this type blaster during the war. I have a feeling they rather it be used than sit in the back of a storage locker."

"Let's roll out gents. We've got bodies to dump."

Kite sees that the group is wrapping up and since they don't seem to be in any danger he sneaks out to the speeder trying to go unnoticed

Kie thanks the clones again and wishes them farewell as he closes the storage cube and goes about making some calls, leaving his own guards to watch the building's perimeter. Once the team has the Sable Dawn corpses loaded into the speeders, they head out into the desert to dump them. The suns outside have reached their zenith and those inside the speeders find themselves incredible grateful for the vehicles' air conditioning. It doesn't take long to find a canyon a few minutes outside Mos Eisley. (edited)

As the events at the storage unit finally begin to fade from Adorhi's mind - I have never ran into this much trouble before. I need to get away from these kriffin' clones as soon as I can - Gauss's inspection of the data pad she found resurfaces and she recalls that name, Nadir.... She's confident it has come up in passing with Prello. "Prello might be able to shed some light on that name from the datapad," she says to the group, trying to focus on the horizon and ignore the sways of the speeder. She always did struggled with motion-sickness as a passenger. "I can send a message to C-4RL and see what she can tell us if we'd like."

"Sounds like a plan to me"

”I agree,” Zed says, nodding to Adorhi. ”And then after that, I need a kriffing nap.”

"Zzzzzzzzzz...."

Kite nods in agreement his focus after leaving town has been on getting his new rifle configured. his key regret after leaving the GAR was that his rifle was lost in the escape, there is little in life that Kite loves more than an high perch and a good rifle After he gets the sights configured just right, he looks up and gives Testy a light punch on the shoulder and says "the Sniper Rifle is Ori'jate (mando for very good), I appreciate it brother I've missed having a good rifle"

Testy jerks awake as he's punched by Kite. As his heart goes into overdrive, the first thing he sees is Kite's smiling face. He looks down at the rifle barrel extending across his lap. "Oh. Yeah. You like it? You know I'm there for you, right? Sorry if I've been jumpy lately."

Just as Mos Eisley comes into view, Gauss says over the comm "After we talk to Prello about Nadir, and maybe even inquire about the galactic coordinates, we should go sell off the gear we got off these guys, and a speeder or two" (edited)

" No worries brother we all know you have our back"

C-4RL's response comes quickly, and is short and succinct. The group are invited to return to Prello's townhouse. She has information for them that she would prefer to share in person. (edited)

"That seem a little ominous to anyone else?" Testy asks. "Or, like maybe this is going to be a trap?"

Kite thinks thoughtfully for a second and says "The hutt needs us for now, she really wants Barin and the item he has. I think we are safe but it never hurts to be cautious." After saying that Kite puts his mandalorian helm back on and brings his new rifle up and does a quick visual sweep around the vehicles to make sure they aren't being followed

Kite doesn't spot anyone following the speeders. The team appears to be clear for now.

"Adorhi, I know that this hasn't gone exactly the way you would do it," Zed says over the comms from the driver's seat of Kite and Testy's speeder. "The business at Olev's apartment was our fault, no doubt about it. But there was going to be a shootout at the storage facility. They were gunning for you and Kite, so we had to act." He pauses for a second, clearing his throat. "Whatever this 'Nadir' business is, if it requires a gentler hand, we'll try to follow your lead." (edited)

Testy rolls his eyes at Zed's remarks and tries to go back to sleep while they ride to Prello's.

Not long later, the pair of speeders pulls up outside Prello's townhouse, where C-4RL is waiting for them in the vestibule. This, alone, is unusual, since Prello usually greets her guests in person. "Prello is waiting for you in her study," the protocol droid explains, waving the group through. (edited)

"Carl? Is there anyone else here?" Testy asks, his suspicions becoming reinforced as he starts to hear the blood pumping in his eardrums.

Zed carefully regards the droid, then places a hand on Testy's shoulder. "Peace, brother," he says. Even as he tries to calm his more-suspicious brother, Zed's hand drops to his holster and rests his hand on the blaster pistol there. Zed follows the droid's gestures and heads for the study. (edited)

"Only Mistress Prello, I'm afraid," C-4RL replies to Testy in the classic chirpy tone that is characteristic of C-series protocol droids, as he leads them through the residence. When the group arrives at Prello's study, the Hutt is waiting for them as expected, but she's clearly pensive and quieter than normal. "Welcome back," she says, nodding to each of them in greeting. "What have you discovered of Barin?"

As the group enters Prello's townhouse, Adorhi immediately notices the lack of her Hutt friend greeting them at the door. That's not like her at all, the Togruta thinks to herself. Pride and ego force there way past her compassion however as she then thinks back to asking Prello to let her do this job alone. "Carl, darling, no Alderaanian Red for this gal?" Adorhi says to the droid, disappointedly, as they proceed to Prello's study. She takes her usual place on the chaise lounge but offers no initial reply to Prello's first query.

"We followed your lead and checked out the brother's apartment," Zed says. "When we got there, there was a person posted outside the apartment, as well as two people inside it. They said they were part of an organization: Sable Dawn." As he mentions the name, Zed searches Prello's face for any hint of recognition.

Seeing recognition and surprise in the hutt's face, Zed continues, "They executed Olev on the spot when they saw us, before Testy and Adorhi could get to him. These people were devoted to whatever cause they serve. One of them killed himself with poison right in front of me. We were able to take a prisoner, but he ended up being less than helpful." Zed shifts his weight, casually looking around the room for trouble. "Testy found a code cylinder that unlocked a storage locker at a facility owned by a chadra-fan named Kie. Sable Dawn ambushed us there too, but we were able to play it off as us stopping a robbery. In the storage locker, there was a datapad with coordinates and one word: Nadir. Does that sound familiar to you?" (edited)

Prello appears visibly distressed when she hears of Olev's fate, and sighs sadly. "If only you could have saved poor Olev... Barin will be most upset to hear of his cousin's death. 'Point Nadir' is a shadowport built within a rogue comet known as 'Resh 9376'. It's nominally under the control of my kajidic, the Anjiliac Hutts. However, other powers also vie for control of Point Nadir - including the Sable Dawn. If Barin has tracked the Fell Star there, then I fear for his safety all the more." Prello slithers down closer to the group, keeping her voice hushed as she talks. "The location of Point Nadir is a closely guarded secret. My kajidic is very careful about who receives this information. Clearly Barin was able to acquire the coordinates. I can provide you with a transponder code that will grant you free access to dock, but you must tell no one. It's not just my life on the line. Remember that." (edited)

Zed's mind races. A secret star port? Clandestine operations? It's like we're special forces all over again. He clears his throat and half-turns to his brothers and Adorhi. "Let's finish the job, yeah?"

"Sounds good to me, although we are going to need to figure out how to precure transport." he says inquisitively, before looking towards Prello "Do you have anyone in mind that can take us? I'm sure you wouldn't want just any random spacer to know the location of such a secret port." he asks her knowing full well that hutts like to keep their secrets.

22:45

"Or even access to a ship we can take there ourselves?"

Kite nods at Zed and then turns his head to the hutt and says" Also we need any information you have on Sable Dawn. Especially anything related with them to the jedi or force. We went in blind the first time and we will need to be better prepared this time"

"What is it worth to you?" Adorhi aggressively asks Prello, interrupting the current questions about logistics.

22:53

She gets louder and more frustrated, "What am I worth to you, Prello?" Her face visibly flustered, tears beginning to well up in her yellow eyes.

Testy becomes visibly uncomfortable, looking over at Kite, questioningly. (edited)

Kite shifts his feet. Looking very awkward/uncomfortable even in his armor and gives a half shrug back to Test and waits for it all to play out.

Gauss also shudders at Adorhi's outburst Not quite sure I was expecting that

"What have you gotten yourself into? Two years now and I've never had something as dangerous and compromising to your organization as this, let alone my own life. All over that stupa, Barin, and some new fancy artifact? And you have the gall to throw me into this mess for no more than a kriffing bag of spice?" The anger is on full display. Adorhi breathes heavily through clenched teeth, waiting for the inevitable backlash from Prello for her outburst. She knew to keep herself in check around the Hutt. It hasn't turned out well for others. But this past day has pushed her over the edge. She misses home so much these days, and the littlest thought of not getting back is all the accelerant needed to ignite this Togruta's rage.

Prello's distress only deepens when she sees how upset Adorhi has become. "Come here, little one," she calls to the Togruta, opening her arms to embrace the girl, "of course you mean more to me than that. This was never supposed to go this far, but - no matter how you feel about him - Barin is family, and we look out for family, don't we? Bring him home. Bring him home, and the next contract is yours. That, I promise you." (edited)

Adorhi releases a few last sighs as she pulls into Prello. "Yes...I know. I'm sorry," she whispers quietly to the Hutt, while wrapped in her arms. After a moment, she pulls away, gives Prello a look in her eyes, and then leaves the room, addressing the clones, "Well buckets, what are we waiting for?"

"Transport, Dorhi." (edited)

Kite shakes his head and spits out "Intel"

"The dust to settle" Gauss says jokingly.

Gauss' joke cuts through the tension like a vibrodagger. Unable to help himself, Zed lets out a short laugh. "I guess things could have gone much worse, all things considered," he says. Catching himself, he adds, "I wish we had been able to save Olev." (edited)

Kite laughs at Gauss's joke inspite of himself and then looks to Zed and says "Zed you could find the bright side of a black hole. But your right all things considered we came out well. Going up against force users without intel we should have been dead. but we pulled together and made it through. Just like old times"

"Just like old times." The words ring in Testy's ears as he sees Kite next to him, pulling the trigger repeatedly, pouring plasma bolts into the already lifeless body of Haspin. "This is not like old times," Testy says heatedly, jabbing his finger at Kite. "We aren't executing one of our own on dubious orders! We aren't...Phaw!" Testy throws up his hands and storms out of the room to cool down. (edited)

"I can put you in touch with a freighter pilot," Prello muses, "one who can be trusted. Give me a few hours to make some calls. In the meantime, please, stay here, relax and enjoy the facilities. It may be some time before you can again."

Kite winces behind his helm he chose his words poorly, he didn't mean to offend his brother. Kite was thinking of the war itself, when he and his brothers fought against insurmountable odds and survived, not the way the war ended. Order 66 almost tore the brothers apart. The others considered Haspin family, Kite respected him but that was it. He had seen the way other jedi treated the clones, viewing them as little better than droids. Concerned more with their precious ideals than making the sound tactical decision, costing not only their own lives but the lives of his fellow clones. Anyone who was part of an order of beings like that isn't family to Kite. When the order came Kite didn't hesitate, and used maximum force to insure that his brothers were safe. Jedi have to many tricks not too. Kite would let Testy cool down and then try to apologize. Kite thinks they did the right thing but he would rather have his brothers than be right. (edited)

Zed heads out with some of the others to sell some of the gear that the group had collected from the day's skirmishes with the Sable Dawn. That was the most action we've seen in a long time, he thinks as he heads back to the clone's hovel. We're rusty, but we still handled ourselves pretty efficiently. After doffing his broken Katarn armor, he begins to replace components of it with the armor that he had gotten from Kie's place. Replace a few plates here, reconnect some broken wires here. Lastly, he grabs his dusty, old helmet and integrates a new headcomm with its old electronics. He dons the armor. It feels almost the same as the old armor did. He slides the helmet over his bald head. The HUD flickers to life, linking with the DC-17m's ammo count. His breath rasps inside the helmet as he looks through the eyes of a commando again. He checks the armor's connections one more time, then heads back to Prello's place.

After trading in his vibro spears and hand-held comm unit for a chakram and a headcomm with the guys, not to mention a trauma kit and medpack, Testy rests for a few minutes at their hovel with his Alderanian kitteh curled up on his lap. The soft, furry little thing loved being scratched right between it's middle and back legs. "I'm gonna miss you, little one. Hopefully we won't be gone long." After a few more minutes, Testy gets up, cradling the thing in it's arms, and walks next door. Tapping with his toe on the door across the lane, he waits for their grumpy, zabrak neighbor Veets to come to the door. After a minute, Veets opens up, looking like he is about to chew up and spit out whichever canvaser was there to ask stupid questions of him, disturbing his work...whatever that was. But his eyes soften as he takes in the kitteh in Testy's arms. "Hey. I'm gonna be out of town for a little while. Not sure how long. Would you take care of the little guy for me?" The zabrak's heavily tatooed face breaks into a grin as he takes the kitteh from Testy's arms, assuring him that he will take care of the beast. OK. Time to get moving. (edited)

Kite trades in his carbine and purchases a new fiber armor breast plate. He then goes back to their home on the planet. Taking a few hours he replaces his old breast plate with the new one and then works to make sure his Mandalorian armor is in optimal working order. He also integrates his wristpad and few tech enhancements that he had been working on into both his rifle and armor. Installing a Target Lock & Assess the Situation program into his helmet's HUD, he upgrades his rifle with the Combustive Shot protocol, Kite always liked a bit of fire. He also copies Gauss's Kolto Pack design, it saved his life and if it comes to it he wants to be able to do the same for his brothers. After he gets the armor back in working order, he runs to a general store purchases some blue milk and leaves the milk, with a note outside Testy's door. the note says "For the Furball, Kite". He then goes out to a shooting range and practices with his new rifle and recites the Resol'nare the 6 actions that made a being a Mandalorian. One of the Mandalorian commandos who trained the clones taught him this, it wasn't something he really considered until he left the GAR. It gave him comfort and direction in a time where he felt lost. He then gets his gear and gets ready to move out. (edited)

Gauss sold much of what he had on him, either because it was unneeded or worn down to much. He traded in his Combat Suit for a "new" suit of Fiber Armor, keeping what plates of his battered and worn down Katarn armor, that he could. He also sold his old carbine, which was a shadow of it's former self as a DC-17m IWS, even if he could find the attachments, they probably wouldn't work anymore, he bought a Power Belt to attach to the wookie bowcaster he got from Kie's. "This should help with reloading this monster" he said to himself as he attached it to the weapon, loading eight of the power cells he was carrying into it. He also bought some extra medical supplies, "You never know when we will need them he thought we sure did with those last two encounters with Sable Dawn" He also bought a few extra pouches and a bandolier to hold all the gear he bought and could need. Before heading out he neatly packed the Mechanic's Kit and a new set of Armstech's tools in a locker in his room, they are far to heavy for him to lug around all day. He also made sure the power bank for his mouse droid, S1-lv35, was filled. He found it one day bumping against a wall repeatedly, its navigation protocol having malfunctioned. He couldn't find a designation for it, however it was painted with an almost chromium finish, so he nicknamed it "Silver" He spent some time attempting to fix it, he never was one for droids, seeing as he fought them night and day during the war. But the challenge intrigued him, keeping him busy on restless nights. It still doesn't function 100%, but it at least can move around the apartment room and clean dust and sand away. "Don't go wandering off into the hallways while I'm gone Silver, who know what Veets will do to you if he finds you beeping along." (edited)

The next day, Prello calls the team back to her study to meet a dashingly handsome human named Captain Rider. The Captain is wearing a white shirt and a blue leather waistcoat, and stands with his hips aslant and a cocky grin sprawled across his face. "Captain Rider owns the Katarn's Bane," she explains, batting her eyelashes at him. "He will fly you to Point Nadir, as a special favour to me, of course." "Howdy, folks, call me Flynn," the man declares as he steps forwards to introduce himself. Flapping some loose hair back from his forehead, Rider holds out a hand to shake for whoever takes it.

Zed takes the captains hand. "Nice to meet you, captain," Zed says. "I assume your ship is spaceworthy."

Rider returns the handshake firmly. "She's not the prettiest gal, but she's reliable. Get you there and back alive. That's what counts, right? What do I call you all?"

"I'm Zed," he says, and turns to the rest of the party. "This is Gauss, Testy, Kite, and Adorhi."

"Alright," Rider acknowledges looking the group over with a nod. "You all good to go? We take off as soon as you're ready."

Kite nods at Rider and says to Prello "Have you found any additional info on the situation at the station or the Sable organization?"

Adorhi double checks her pack, gear, and trusty daggers. She scans around the room at her new associates and takes in a deep slow breath, doing what she can to set herself at ease for the job in front of her.

Prello sighs, and, although they are in the privacy of her own home, she glances about, as though fearful of who may be listening. "The balance of power on Point Nadir is a delicate thing. The Anjiliac kajidic are the de facto rulers, but both the Sable Dawn and a syndicate known as 'Epsis' exert their own degree of control over the shadowport. The Sable Dawn are the smallest of the three factions, but perhaps also the most dangerous. They are assassins, bounty hunters and terrorists for hire. Barin was searching for the Fell Star. Perhaps the Sable Dawn were competing to find it first, or perhaps it is already in their hands, and Barin tried to steal it from them? Both seem equally possible at this point." (edited)

Kite nods and says "Thank you Prello we will retrieve both the item and if possible Barin."

"What's security like at this place?" Zed asks, sinking back into memories of mission briefs with Haspin and other commanders. "Are we going to be able to walk around freely, or should we keep to the shadows?"

"The population come and go as they please," Prello replies. "The real secret is the coordinates that you have acquired. Finding Point Nadir without the support of one of the factions is usually very difficult indeed. Just be careful not to broadcast your intentions. The local leader of my kajidic is Zietta the Hutt. She deals in slaves, spice and games of chance, and is ostensibly allied with Epsis and the Sable Dawn. Publicly, they enforce the local laws, collect tariffs and keep the economy running smoothly, but behind the scenes all three compete for business and influence."

"Should we talk to Zietta about Barin?" Zed asks. "If she's the local leader of your clan, she might be the best contact point for that."

Prello hesitates. "I would prefer not to involve my cousin in this, if at all possible," she notes with a shark-line smile.

Zed nods. "Copy that."

Adorhi rolls her eyes at Zed's suggestion. Yes, let's get our employer involved right from the start, she says to herself sarcastically. (edited)

Kite shifts and says "Hopefully we don't have to interact with them but what can you tell us about the Espsis faction, I haven't come across them before"

Prello chuckles, as though enjoying a joke unknown to all others in the room. "Epsis is the love child of the Ubese technocrat Liash Keane. Keane's power stems from his control over Point Nadir's connection to the holonet. Without Epsis the entire port would be left crippled. If it runs on a computer, it goes through Epsis."

Testy watched Rider during this exchange, trying to take the measure of this man. He seemed confident in himself and his abilities. Hopefully it's justified. "OK, Rider, let's move out. If we think of any other questions, we'll holo you on the way out, Prello."

Rider bids Prello farewell and leads the group to docking bay 77 of Mos Eisley spaceport, where the Katarn's Bane, a Maka-Eekai L4000 transport, awaits them. "She's a squat little lady, but she's roomy inside!" Flynn tells them as the boarding ramps lowers. "Cabins are on deck 2. Make yourselves at home."

Zed nods to the captain and ascends the ramp. The ship's interior was spacious and somewhat orderly, but not up to Republic Navy military specs. I miss how clean those navy ships were, he thinks. Finding a cabin, Zed sinks down on the cot and falls into the routine of inspecting his kit. Rifle. Sidearm. Blade. Extra cells. Comms. Bandolier. All good.

Before boarding, Gauss inspected the outer hull of old L4000 transport, checking it over as much as he could from a distance. He was always into researching and tinkering with starships during his time with the Republic, although he didn't get to fly them much because of his role. Nowadays he tries to keep up with the newest ships on the market when he can, their specifications and intended uses, even their weaknesses, in case he has to deal with one or fly it himself. The guns look good, although the dorsal and ventral sides are left fairly exposed, but she should do well against some of the newer Mandal and or TransGalMeg fighters that pirates, and hutts, are fond of these days. The hull looks like it could take a beating as well, although it seems it already has. "She sure is one hefty ship, Gallofree knows how to make them bulky." Gauss exclaims as he enters the ship. "As soon as we are in hyperspace, care to give me a tour Captain??" He asks Captain Rider as they begin to board. "I myself am very interested in any manner of starship, especially one that has withstood the test of time, and she seems like a fine vessel."

As Testy heads up the ramp with Kite, he quietly says "Hey, I'm sorry for snapping at you before. I was out of line, brother."

Kite pauses removes his helm and looks at Testy and says " No worries brother I should be the one apologizing. I chose my words poorly earlier. What I meant was the last few days while difficult have been like the good old days of the war. Back when we all knew who our enemy was and pulled together to win. We don't agree on what down, or the Jedi, but my biggest regret is not how the war ended, but how it affected our squad. The squad is my family and I've got your back Test" He then gives Testy a light punch on the shoulder puts his helm back on and gets on the ship.

Adorhi gives a silent nod to Rider, implying as little of a thank you as possible, and heads up the boarding ramp. She makes her way to the ships lounge and settles into a corner seat pulling out a deck of cards and begins shuffling them.

Testy finds his bunk, stows his gear, and settles in as the engines hum to life. Haspin sits cross-legged on a short, cylindrical, cushion-topped chair aboard their specially-modified long-range LAAT incursion ship, the Anvil. He's been sitting motionless for over seven hours now, and Test is not sure what the point of this is. "Why do you do that, Haspin?" he asks. Without opening his eyes or moving a muscle outside of his face, Haspin responds. "I commune with the Force, Test. I feel it. What it wants of me. What it wants to give me. It calms me and focuses me. It give me confidence and peace with our missions. Why do you not do it?" Test responds immediately. "I don't know how." Haspin smiles. "Would you like to learn?" Feeling a bit embarrassed, Test quickly demurs and leaves Haspin to his Jedi practices. Looking down at the saber hanging from his belt, Testy wishes he had taken Haspin up on his offer. Well, how hard can it be? He thought he could teach me. From everything I've ever heard, it seems simple enough in principle. Testy sits up fully on his bunk, crossing his legs and straightening his back. OK Force, what do you want of me? (edited)

"Sure thing, Gauss!" Rider remarks as they stroll on up the boarding ramp. "She may look bulky, but she's real roomy on the inside..."

Once all the clones have settled in a cabin or one of the lounges, Rider heads for the cockpit. Not long later his voice can be heard on the ship's tinny intercom. (edited)

19:55

"Alright boys and girls, this is your Captain speaking. We'll be lifting off shortly, so please stow any loose belongings and secure yourselves until we make the jump to lightspeed." (edited)

20:01

There's a dull rumbling, and the ship begins to vibrate slightly as the old freighter's sub-light engines kick into gear. There's a slight groan of creaking durasteel as the Katarn's Bane gradually heaves off the ground, and then a rush of inertia as the engines kick into a hard burn, pushing to clear the atmosphere.

20:02

A few minutes later, the vessel is clear and everything stills as the artificial gravity kicks in.

20:06

For another few minutes everything is quiet as Rider brings the ship out to a safe distance from Tatooine's orbit, and then there's familiar rushing sensation as the hyperdrive powers up and the vessel is thrust into the swirling blue of hyperspace. (edited)

A rustling sound is heard from the direction of the cockpit, then the swish of the passenger's lounge door opening as, not the handsome Captain Rider, but a short and stocky blue skinned Ortolan comes strolling in, muttering in a Nar Shaddaa accent. "Kriffin' hell... wake me up from my usual midday nap, tell me we've got a charter for the Hutt, and get me calculating a hyperspace jump before I've had my snacks n' caf! Whatta guy, that Rider." He limply throws down an empty orb shaped soda container, nearly hitting Adorhi. (edited)

Realizing it didn't land in the waste disposal like he expected, he double takes, and looks to the room's occupants. "Oh, hey. You guys the Hutt's passengers? Name's Shorlu. Rider's the face, I'm the brains a' the ship." (edited)

Adorhi, a thin, blue Togruta, with darker blue markings on her montrals and head tails, reflexively retracts into her seat as the beverage container completely misses it's intended target. She looks up at the stout, blue creature now joining her in the lounge. "Looks like the stomach of the ship as well," she says half under her breath, with a side-eyed up and down look of judgement and annoyance. "So, what's our travel time, Blue?" (edited)

Once he's satisfied with their course, Rider also emerges from the cockpit. He glances about the crate littered cargo bay, realising that his passengers must have all found their cabins, and shrugs.

Blinking, then squinting and sucking in his gut a little as he walked up to the table and had a seat. "Well, Rider wouldn't say the destination, just had me number crunchin'. Plenty long enough for a game or two, for sure." He reaches into a pouch at his side, and pulls out a metal cylinder. He flicks open the top and plucks out a little pod of meat wrapped in fiber with his trunk. He continues to munch on these, sucking them right through his suction cupped fingers, as he speaks. (edited)

21:56

"So, ya play?" He gestures to the deck of cards.

Adorhi nods her head in response, and begins shuffling again after having to avoid Shorlu's bad aim. "Have you flown with Rider for very long?" She deflects and tries not to stare too long at the Ortolans hands and those weird fingers. I'd really prefer to keep...whatever those are off of my deck, she thinks to her self.

Kite is on the other side of the lounge from Adorhi. He is in what looks to be a cheap apoximation of black and gold mandalorian armor. His helmet is currently off and he a sniper rifle in his lap that he is tweaking the sights on. Kite sits in the lounge and chuckles at Adohri's quip. Thinking that at least she is like that with everyone. He looks at Shorlu and nods and says "I'm Kite, dont mind Adorhi she has had a rough couple of days"

"Oh, apparently I'm being spoken for. I suppose I should go rest up after those rough couple of days. Another time perhaps, Blue?" She taps her cards on the table, collecting them together, directing the question at the Ortolan, and then heads to her bunk.

Kite whispers to Shorlu "she fell for a mind trick by wannabe jedi twice in one day and I cant tell if she is mad about that or is usually just a bit grumpy" He says the last bit with a chuckle "how long have you and rider been working together"

"Nice meetin' ya," Shorlu calls sarcastically as Adorhi swiftly exits the room. "Jeez. Kind of a looker, but not so great a personality, huh?" He says, turning to Kite. "As I was about to say, I've been on this ol' beast with Rider going on five standard years now."

22:21

His brow wrinkles a bit at his last statement. "You said you guys been tangling with Jedi? With an eye for detail one could only gain from years of detective work, he looks Kite over.

Kite gives him a measuring look and says "Force users, I don't think they were actual jedi" he pauses and looks thoughtful for a second and says " they didn't act like jedi and went down much to easy to have been properly trained" He then shrugs looks around to see if any of his brothers are in ear shot and says "makes little difference to me they are dangerous either way"

22:31

He looks for a reaction from the Ortolan, he had heard reports that some jedi had taken refuge in the underworld after order 66. He asks " what did you do before"

"Huh. I see. Well, believe it or not, I used to be a private eye. Ever hear of IntSec? They're an agency, run out of the Core Worlds." Shorlu spoke with an obvious bit of pride. It's apparent not many people have been interested in his past, rather, giving him a similar response to Adorhi's.

Hearing the chitchat and an unfamiliar voice out in the common area, Zed stows his gear and heads out into the corridor. As he exits his room, he nearly bumps into Adorhi as she's headed to her room. "Excuse me, sorry," Zed says, stepping back and out of the way. "Who's the new voice I hear?"

Kite nods "I've heard the name but I'm not overly familiar with them, what type of cases did you handle"

"No worry, Zeddy boy. So, what are we working with here? Our lodging as to be expected given the rest of the ship? And that's Shorlu, Rider's number 2 apparently. Calculates for the ship but clueless as to where we're going..." she has her cards still in her hands and gives them a shuffle. "If you're up for a hand or two sometime, let me know. Oh, and look lively, the blue one likes to throw trash." She continues towards her cabin and heads inside.

"Oh, mostly larceny, jilted lovers spying on their significant others, that kinda stuff." Shorlu chuckles, pausing his snacking to stroke his trunk, reminiscing. He has some more interesting stories, but likes to keep some under his trunk. "Shorlu Podobo, co-pilot at your service." He blinks, realizing this man and Kite have almost the exact same voice and face. "Oh, you guys are clones, aren't ya? Haven't seen any in a while, after the whole uh, reformation thing." (edited)

Zed looks back into the passenger quarters. "I've seen much worse," he says. "As for the cards, it depends on the game. And by that, I mean I'm terrible at all of them. Lost a lot of credits to the others in the squad in my time. But sure, maybe sometime." His stomach rumbles lightly. "As for now, I'm going to find a meal on this bucket of bolts. I bet the ortolan knows where to find some grub."

Testy breathes in and out slowly, as he remembers Haspin doing, his eyes closed. He concentrates on the patterns of swirling colors and popping lights swimming across his vision. Is that the force? he thinks to himself. No. That's stupid. He tries to shift focus, paying attention to the sounds of the ship: the breezy humming of the atmo conditioners; the quiet rhythmic pumping of the fuel pumps; the light swirling sound the hull makes as the ship swims through hyperspace. All familiar sounds to him, but not ones he had ever cataloged before. His concentration breaks as a door opens down the hall, and voices pour out, covering the background sounds that he had been holding onto. Switching focus again, he breathes in more deeply, trying to catch the scents of the ship. The ship still smelled distantly of the dry dessert air of Tatooine with the distant musk of beasts of burden, but the atmo conditioners were already stripping these comforting scents out to leave the familiar stale air of any other starship. And then his concentration is shattered once more as a subtle, fruity scent, like a moist, crisp melon, cracked open on a hot summer day creeps into his cabin. Adorhi, he thinks, as he tilts his head, cracking the joints in his neck. That girl is like a gujuaro bush. All blue and violet flowers until you get close and notice all the thin, sharp needles protecting the blossoms. He opens his eyes, catching a glimpse of her disappearing inside her own bunk. Still easy on the eyes though, he thinks, as he closes his eyes once again. Haspin made this look so kriffin' easy. (edited)

Kite frowns at the Ortolan and replaces his helm and says dryly "Putting those famed detective skills to use, I bet you will tell me Tatooine is hot next." "Though I wouldn't mention that "reformation thing" around the others, some of them are a bit sensitive about it and a raging commando vs a blue elephant is something I would rather not see." Kite then looks down and goes back to tinkering with his rifle

While tinkering with his rifle Kite notices a melon smell coming off of the Ortolan and thinks probably something he ate. And continues working.

"Looks like we'll be in hyperspace for about four days," Rider announces, strutting into the passenger lounge. "You all get settled in fine?"

"Pretty well," Zed says, standing just outside the passenger lounge bulkhead in the cargo bay. "Where can I find some food on this ship of yours, captain? Haven't eaten anything yet today."

"Galley's across the way," Rider replies, gesturing across the cargo bay. "It's standard fare, but it keeps us fed. Well, me at least," he adds, glancing at his co-pilot. "Make yourself at home."

"Much obliged." Zed heads across the cargo hold to the galley.

Over the next few days on ship, Testy continues to try to learn meditation, even borrowing Gauss's datapad to watch some instructional holos on meditation practices. He also spends time practicing with Haspin's saber in the lower level cargo hold, out of the way of everyone else. (edited)

Gauss spends the time traveling, poking around the Katarn's Bane, learning everything he can about the ship, sometimes asking Rider questions about it. (edited)

Shorlu folded his arms behind his head and reclined a little as Kite and Rider's pointed comments rolled off of him. "Yeah, yeah... Anyway, since Her Highness took her cards with her..." He flicked on the dejarik board and occupied his time over the next few days with it, and occasional trips to the galley for some food.

Four days later, there's a familiar sliding sensation as the Katarn's Bane emerges from hyperspace with a jolt. Anyone who looks out a window is greeted by a vast expanse of space. A dim corona of vapour gives a distant comet an eery illumination against the dark backdrop.

21:39

Rider has clearly done this before, and immediately adopts a specific flight towards the comet, forwarding the specifics to Shorlu's station.

21:40

"Sorry for the secrecy, Big Blue. The Hutts are very specific about this place being need-to-know." (edited)

Back in his copilot's chair, Shorlu glances at Rider skeptically. "Uh huh. But y'know, that just makes me feel like I got a need to know." His old investigative habits were kicking in, and the tiny hairs on his arm started to stand on end. He smelled a mystery here, and a damn good one at that.

Rider chuckles. "Point Nadir's an interesting place. If you want to explore why don't you tag along with our passengers? Keep them out of trouble?" He flashes Shorlu a wink. "I have some personal business to take care of while we're here anyway." (edited)

Shorlu's eyes shine with an unspoken gratitude that Rider could surely pick up. "Ahh, why the hell not, right? Someone's gotta keep an eye on those kids!" Prello seemed to like him anyway, so he could always explain things away later.

A few minutes later a beacon on the outer surface of the comet activates. It's a simple arrangement of lights and transmitters, directing the ship into a large, cavernous opening in the comet's anterior. "There's our welcome," Rider observes. "Got a transponder code from Prello, or we'd have some less than pleasant company right about now. They call this one the 'Jackrab Hole'. You'll see why."

22:24

The comet looms up ahead as Rider brings the Katarn's Bane in close. The hole in the surface appears to be about 500 meters in diameter, and the ship slowly drifts inside under the captain's careful hand. Moment's later they pass through an atmospheric shield that holds back the harsh vacuum of open space. (edited)

22:27

The tunnel is littered with old wrecks, debris and scrap, each piece telling the story of another freighter pilot that didn't pay close enough attention to his instruments. The passage winds ever so slightly, cork-screwing gently towards the comet's heart, until finally it opens up into a massive cavern.

22:28

The cavern seems to encompass the entirety of the comet's interior, and leads, umbilical cables and thick durasteel chains float lazily in the null gravity, some attached to vessels, others unoccupied.

22:33

Small ferries and skiffs flit amongst the docked vessels like insects, carting crews, maintenance technicians, cargo and curiosity seekers from the relative safety of the docks to the more hazardous anchorages nearest the Jackrab Hole. (edited)

"Those're the Slips," Rider explains, gesturing to a series of well-accommodated docks on the far side of the cove. "They'll look after you real good, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg. Epsis controls them. Out here in the Tethers is cheapest, and it's Anjiliac territory, but you'll have to get a skiff to the docks."

A variety of ships can be seen docked in the cove as Rider brings the ship in. Only smaller starfighters and shuttles are docked close to the Jackrab Hole. Otherwise, numerous freighters are moored in the Tethers, and even a frigate or two floats in the thin atmosphere of the central cove. Ships, sloops, ferries and skiffs fly about in every direction, none oriented towards any particular horizon.

Kite holds the seat railings with a death grip white knuckling it , until Rider gets to the docking areas. He has never liked space travel, having to implicitly trust another's skills was something he never grew accustomed too. Even back in the GAR when it was his fellow clones doing the flying, he preferred to be on the ground or preferably a high perch where he could be in control. He exhales as they come to a stop and loosens his death grip and says "The Tethers should work well, unless we want to separate ourselves from even the appearance of being affiliated with Anjiliac" (edited)

Rider guides the Bane in under an out-of-the-way set of moorings and brings the ship to a full stop. "Someone want to come outside with me and hitch her up?"

Zed slings his rifle over his shoulder and lowers the helmet over his head. "How do they feel about weapons here, Rider?"

"This is still the outer rim, so it's almost expected," Rider replies with a chuckle, patting the holster at his hip. "Watch your back," he adds, slightly more serious this time.

Zed looks down at his rifle, checking the ammo count and the settings. "Copy that," he says. "I'll come out with you."

Rider leads Zed to the lift tube near the rear of the ship, using which the top hatch can be accessed.

19:28

"Watch yourself," he warns as they head out onto the hull, "the air gets pretty thin out here."

19:29

Several magnetic tethers dangle just above the vessel, and Rider begins to make his way around mooring them to the Katarn's Bane. (edited)

19:31

"Shorlu," Rider's voice comes crackling over his comm into the cockpit. "You want to hit up the dock authority and get a skiff over here to pick our passengers up?"

"Sure thing, chief." He goes to the console and brings up the ships comms, sending a transmission to the dock authority. (edited)

After a brief conversation with the operator on the other end, Shorlu is informed that a skiff will be at the Bane shortly to collect their docking fee and ferry them to the slips. (edited)

Up atop the hull, Zed sees a one of the open-topped repulsor-borne craft heading in the direction of the Katarn's Bane. Looks like their ride is in-bound.

Activating his commlink with a chin-toggle in his helmet, he says, "Our ride is almost here. Everyone get topside as soon as possible." Then he hesitates. Something about the situation made him revert a few years back into command mode. Reactivating the comms, he says, "You know, when you're ready. If you want. We should probably go, but take your time." (edited)

Disconnecting the comms after sorting out the skiff, Shorlu went to his cabin and gathered his gear. He straps on his backpack, slips on a pair of fingerless gloves and specialized open-toed shoes that wouldn't obstruct his suction pads, grabs his Westar 35C, and finally throws on his old but well-kept overcoat, emblazoned with the IntSec Detective Agency's insignia, an eye bisected by arrows. (edited)

16:18

He now looks a far cry from his casual shipbound appearance, and ready for a foray into the space station.

Feeling his breath course through is lungs in slow, deep surges; the weight of his body pressing on his bunk; and the slight air currents tickling the hairs on the backs of his bare arms, Testy is gently pulled out of his meditation by Zed's voice over his headcomm. Why is he so reluctant to lead now? It worked in the war, and got us through the toughest situations. We need someone making the calls or we are just a bunch of hired guns. We're at our strongest when we act as a unit. Testy get's up and straps on his weapon belt. He glances at his pack, but leaves it behind, preferring to travel light for now. This ship should be safe for now, he thinks, stuffing some rations into his belt pouch, just in case. (edited)

Hearing Zeds message Kite grabs his rifle slinging it over his shoulder and says "on my way" into his helmet comm checking to make sure the new sound proofing is working. He doesn't like the hesitancy in Zeds voice but doesn't want to push the issue. It's something that will need to be addressed eventually but not by Kite order 66 made to much of a rift for him to do so. He then gets outside and prepares to move out (edited)

A couple of minutes later, the skiff pulls up alongside the Katarn's Bane. It's piloted by a Devaronian, behind which stands a Twi'lek flanked by two Gamorreans with blaster rifles. Once the skiff has come to a halt, a gangplank extends onto the hull of the Bane and the Twi'lek steps forward. "Good evening," he greets those present, with a smile full of pointed teeth.

"Thanks." Testy says a little dismissively, and moves to walk up the gangplank.

The Twi'lek side steps deftly, placing himself in Testy's path. "There's just the small matter of your dues," he drawls, the words rolling off his tongue.

Testy looks the Twi'lek up and down, making it very plain that he is unimpressed, and turns toward Adorhi. "Adorhi, you want to handle this?" he says aloud. Under his breath, he adds "for his sake."

"This ain't my charter," she replies to Testy as she looks the gatekeepers up and down. She looks to the Twi'lek, "You'll have to talk to brown eyes," and gives a non-specific thumb point behind her as she steps out of the way.

Kite nudges Flynn "That means you Rider, Adorhi isn't one for using a being's actual name" (edited)

Rider laughs and sidles forwards between the others as he steps up to speak with the Twi'lek in Huttese. "What's Zietta hiked the docking fee up to this time, huh?" The captain jibes good-naturedly. "You should watch yourself, Rider," the enforcer sneers in return, "McCarthy won't be pleased to see you back. The fee is 80 credits, plus another 50 for the skiff." Rider fishes a handful of credit chips out of his jacket and hands them over with a mock bow. "Will that be all?" He asks, his voice dripping with sarcasm. The Twi'lek frowns in distaste as he counts the credits, but nevertheless stiffly steps aside to allow the gathered travellers to board the skiff. (edited)

Testy climbs aboard, situating himself close to the Gamorreans.

Kite walks onboard the skiff, anxious that another variable has been introduced. He says into his headcomm to his brothers who have helmets on. He is fairly confident Adorhi would speak Huttese as well in her line of work. "Our pilot has an enemy named Mcrarthy on station. We should gather some intel from him when we don't have guests. Also total fees are 130 CR. Lets see how honest our pilot is."

Zed looks at Kite and taps his knuckle twice on his helmet, signaling affirmative, understood. He steps onto the skiff, taking care to position himself with good line of sight at the two Gamorreans. This should be fun. (edited)

Kite then positions himself between the Gamorreans and the pilot

Gauss sits next to Kite on the skiff, cautious of his surroundings and the Gamorreans.

Shorlu steps up the ramp and onto the skiff, keeping an eye on the Twi'lek while folding his arms behind his head, appearing casual.

Once everyone is aboard, the gangplank is retracted and the skiff zooms off into the cove, taking a tight arc as it comes about and heads for the Slips. The Slips abut the cove and extend inward for two hundred yards before they give way to other districts. The most luxurious starship moorings and docking facilities are located within the slips. They feature actual landing platforms furnished with inertial generators, rather than umbilical links and extended boarding corridors. A few small cantinas are sprinkled throughout the Slips, with easy access for pilots and crew who don't wish to venture too far from their ships.

As the skiff moves through the facility Kite looks at both Rider and the Twi'Lek and asks in basic through his helmet's speakers "Are there any popular cantina's or meeting places on station, that you would recommend checking out while we are here"

Rider nods. "Three cantinas and a couple of casinos. 'Fische's Pub' is at one end of the Slips. That's mostly a pirate dive. 'Under the Table' is at the other. Good place for business. Lots of smugglers. Otherwise there's 'The Cruelest Cut' in the Nest and the casinos in the Arcade. Watch yourselves if you try the Nest though. It can get pretty rough." The Twi'lek ignores the conversation and not long later the skiff pulls up alongside the Slips. Each of the passengers is handed a token by the Devaronian pilot as they disembark.

Zed looks at the token. "What's this?" he asks the Devaronian.

"Your ticket back to your ship," the pilot replies with a toothy grin. "Don't lose it."

After a quick consultation amongst the group, Testy walks beside Adorhi toward Fische's Pub while Gauss walks behind them about 30 feet.

The trio head right down the Slips, towards an unassuming cantina at the far end. As they get closer they can hear live music pouring from within. (edited)

So glad to be stuck with Mr. Unstable himself... Well, then you should've spoke up, Adorhi's mind pushes back. I'm not here to make friends, but opening my mouth isn't helping any either. I just need to take care of business so we can get back to Prello and hopefully move on. Adorhi usually loved to socialize. She was very good at it. Her looks obviously helped in certain situations, something she was fully aware of but often frustrated with. Prello would be the first to tell her that she's so much more than a pretty smile. It may have gotten her in the door a time or two, but her skills beyond that were the true measure of her worth. She was at her best however, on her own. She keeps quiet for most of the walk to Fische's Pub. Maybe I'll at least bump into some cute red tails while we're here. Her mind wanders back to the years leading up to leaving her home and a thought that at first brought excitement, quickly turns sour. "So, what's the plan here boys?"

Kite nudges Zed and heads off to the Under the Table with Shorlu. "We will let them deal with the pirates, with Adorhi's people skills it will be a miracle if they make it off station" (edited)

"I'm sure she can be charming when she wants to be," he says. "Look at it from her perspective? She's been thrown into some blaster fights that she would rather not participate in, and she's been stuck with us for a while now. Let's be honest, we're not the easiest bunch to be with." As they walk, he looks at Kite's new weapon. "That's a nice rifle," he says. "Not as nice as the sniper attachment on the old DC-17, but still nice."

Kite chuckles and says "Fair enough, we were never the most sociable group even with our fellow clones." Kite then lifts the rifle admiringly and says "Its not the DC-17, but it's the best thing I've seen since we left the GAR. That old carbine I had is like a slingshot compared to this beauty."

Rider walks along with Shorlu and the two clones as they head left up the slips. "So you're looking for this Barin guy, right? Where do you plan to start?"

Kite freezes and thinks may have spoke too soon, this guy has the sublty of a Rancor. We may be the ones in need of a miracle. He then looks at Rider and abruptly says "No names in public." He then pauses for a bit remembers this is their ride home and says "We are going to check the bars and see if we can get any leads first and continue searching from there. Our primary goal though is to stay under the radar"

Turning to Adorhi, Testy says quietly,"I'd prefer to leave the planning to you this time. You let us know if you need anything killed. Otherwise, I'm planning on just looking tough to make sure no one tries anything funny." (edited)

Rider nods in understanding. "Sorry, didn't realise it was a secret. I'd check the docks if I were you. See what ships came in lately. He had to get here somehow."

Kite thinks that is a much better plan, but unfortunately doesn't have ale. Kite nods at Rider and says " I like that plan Rider, good work. Lets check the docks."

"I have someone to meet," Rider adds with a shrug. "Maybe our paths with cross later. If you need me, I'll be in 'The Cruelest Cut'. Good luck!" With that he heads on up towards the Nest.

Kite gives Rider his comm information and says "If you find yourself in trouble call us"

Shorlu gives Rider a casual wave goodbye as he departs. "See ya in a bit. And don't go messing with no Twi'lek girls, we don't need another Nar Shaddaa incident!" he calls after him.

He looks to Zed and Kite. "Yeah, that's a story and a half. " He chuckles. "But anyway, let's get to business." In a lower tone, he asks while looking over his shoulder, "Can you describe the guy you were looking for? I'll wanna know if I happen to spot him." (edited)

Rider saves Kite's contact details and heads on with a wave back to Shorlu. "Stay out of trouble, folks!"

Kite gives Shorlu a run down of the information and afterwards says sincerely "Your skills as an investigator will be extremely useful with this mission. Lets head to the docks and see what you can uncover"

Fische's Pub is bustling, but not overfilled, as Adorhi, Gauss and Testy step inside. Most guests are relaxing after work. Some are grouped in booths, others sat on stools at the bar. Humans make up the majority, but Balosar, Barabel, Houk and Wroonians are all notably well represented.

Kite heads off towards the docks with Shorlu and Zed keeping alert to see if anyone is paying their group to much attention. They head first to either the dockmaster or registrar to see if they can get info on incoming ships

The dockmaster's offices are located in a control tower overlooking the slips. The ground level is open to the public and a wroonian secretary sits behind a desk besides the elevator doors.

Shorlu approaches the desk and politely clears his throat to get the secretary's attention. "Good evening. We just arrived, and we're looking for someone we were supposed to meet here, only there's no sign of them. Would it be possible to check the manifest to see if they arrived?"

19:26

His change in posture and improved grammar are notable to Kite and Zed.

The woman frowns back at Shorlu's intrusive request. "I'm afraid that's privileged information. Those who come and go from Point Nadir value their privacy."

"Ahh, but you see, I'm not asking for me—" Shorlu pretends to be cut off, reaching in his pocket and flipping out his comlink. He turns away as he acts out answering a call, looking concerned. "Yes, yes, I'll find him—look, I'm at the receptionist right now but they won't let me—okay, relax, I'll tell her." He puts away the comlink and gives her a put-upon look. "My, uh, very demanding Hutt employer insists." He looks back and forth sheepishly between the well-armed clones flanking him, as if they're there to make sure he's doing his job. "It'll only be a minute, ma'am."

Kite crosses his arms and stares directly at the receptionist trying to give the intimidating Mandalorian gun for hire look

Well I'll be damned, Zed thinks. Shorlu really knows what he's doing. Zed hadn't seen espionage work that practiced since Haspin had been running things during the Clone Wars.

The Wroonian pales a little at the implied threat of a displeased Hutt. The pair of 'enforcers' backing Shorlu up clearly help to complete the illusion. "I still can't just give you free access to our database," the secretary insists forcefully, before glancing left and right. "What exactly were you looking for?" she quietly asks.

As Adorhi and her co-workers step into Fische's, she turns to Testy and says in Togruti, "Whatever you say, but let's get settled in a bit first..." She notices Gauss in her peripheral and quickly changes to Basic, "Shall we grab a drink?" She then heads in towards the bar looking for an empty seat, making no effort to see if the other two follow.

Testy follows right on her heels, turning around to lean back against the bar and face the room. Speaking over his shoulder to the barkeep, he growls "Fuzzy Tauntaun."

Adorhi's brow furrows as she hears Testy's order, "You actually like those? Way to fruity and sweet for me. Even the smell is a bit much" She leans forward on the bar and calls to the same bartender, "A glass of Andoan amber. Thanks babe."

Gauss takes a seat on the stool next to Testy, "I'll have a Bantha Blaster." before facing towards the crowd, watching and listening for anything out of place, or perhaps mention of a certain Balosaur. (edited)

"It's a battle in a glass. It's sweet and bright and exciting when you first drink it. But then the froth hits you and leaves you tingly and numb." Testy takes a first sip and says a little lower in Togruti, "And if you drink enough you just might forget the terrible things you've done. For a little while."

The drinks are served by a towering Wookiee and come to a total of three credits. In the meantime, Gauss throws a wary eye around the edges of the cantina. Several Balosar, but no Barin, as far as he can see. However, he does notice a stringy looking human deep in conversation with a Neimoidian near the back of the pub. He hasn't seen many of their kind since the war.

Kite uncrosses his arm and moves towards the counter bumping Shorlu as he moves. He then places his hands on either side of the counter and peering over at the secretary with his battered black and gold Mandalorian helm. Saying in a gruff voice through his helmets speakers "we need data on all ships that have arrived in the last week, prioritizing ships that departed from Tatooine or have a balosar as a passenger. The Hutt's are not happy and we don't need to add anyone else to their shit list."

12:49

After mentioning shit list he gives a long look at Shorlu as if to imply that the being was already on the hutt's list

The secretary arches an eyebrow, shaking her head at the vague description. "A lot of ships come through Point Nadir in a week, and most pilots aren't exactly chatty about where exactly they came from or are headed to. Usually, all we have is a hyperspace trajectory and the most recent vessel to come in from that general direction was the 'Katarn's Bane', which moored in the tethers less than one standard hour ago. Before that... a YT-1300 freighter by the name of the 'Mad Line', about 12 hours earlier. They set down in the slips in Bay 226. Then there's the 'Harlequin', a 3-Z light freighter. She arrived two night cycles ago - also moored out in the tethers. The 'Marchana' has been birthed in Bay 132 for three days now. That one's a Ghtroc 690... do you really want to hear the whole week? Many of them have left again already." (edited)

Kite nods and leans back and says "Are there any ships other than the ones you have mentioned that are still here"

The wroonian woman sighs. "Do you have a datapad with you? I'll give you a list."

Kite sends over the details to connect with his wrist pad and drops 20 credits discretely on the desk and says "Thank you for your assistance and discretion"

The secretary quickly transfers the file, glancing furtively around to make sure nobody sees her do so. "Sure, sure. Now get out of here, before I get in trouble."

Shorlu waved a goodbye and lagged behind Kite and Zed as they exited the building. Once they're out on the docks again, he relaxes. "What a great pair of goons you guys make, it's like you do this for a living. Now, I'd hesitate to start checking ships willy-nilly; let's cross-reference the arrival dates with when our guy left Tatooine."

Adorhi tosses out 4 credits for the drinks with a slight nod to the bartender. She then turns to Testy and says in Togruti, "So, your squads general, Togruta?"

"He was," Testy responds quietly. "You probably would have liked him. He was...smoother than we are." Smiling, Testy continues, "He was incredibly deadly. He moved like a shadow and could take out a platoon of clankas without them even noticing. We did all we could just to keep up with him and provide a little support. This was his," Testy says as he pats the saber at his waist. "But more than all of that, he was a good man. He treated us as people. As individuals. And he risked himself for us constantly. He was...he was my friend." Testy takes a quick gulp of his drink and tries to cover wiping his eyes with a cough into his elbow. "You ever meet a clone before?" (edited)

"I did my best to avoid them but was never too far behind. The fallout and destruction from their battles with the separatists was largely avoided which made my line of work a little easier. Although that same destruction also made things harder, as there were less and less artifacts and heirlooms still preserved."

18:30

Adorhi takes the last sip of her wine and leans around Testy towards Gauss addressing him in Basic, "What do you think, Gauss? Other than everyone in here is up to something. Shall we see about some employment? I'd assume trying to get on the sunrise payroll would be a good avenue for information."

"I agree, it also could provide us an in into one of the factions here, hopefully let us roam about without tying us to our mutual benefactor." (edited)

Initially getting blank looks, the tiny detective puts his hands on his hips. "Well, if we knew the name of the ship, that'd get us somewhere. Adorhi and Trevina both worked with the Hutt before, right? Maybe she knows his ship's name." He activates his commlink and dials her number.

Adorhi leans on the bar, holding her empty glass out signaling the barkeep, as she hears here comm. She grabs it and hands it over to Testy. "Probably our friends, can you answer this?" She turns her attention back to the bartender and asks for a refill and then leans in a little more, "I seem to have found myself aboard this station for a few rotations. Who might I talk to about some work to help pass the time, dear?"

"Aoacraao wawoakwowhwac oowh ohacoo rooohu'rcwo anooooorahwhrr aooo ohoorcor wwoorc," the Wookiee remarks amiably, tilting his head at Adorhi as he pours her more wine. "Rooohu oaoohuanwa aorcro woakcahc," he continues, pointing out the door of the cantina towards the Slips, "aoacworcwo'c ra rhoohuwhaoro akoocao ahwh aoacwo coohuor, oorc ah acworarcwa aoacraao raanracaoraahrc ahc anooooorahwhrr wwoorc cooscwooowhwo aooo aorcrawhcakoorcao acahc oararcrroo," the bartender concludes, now pointing across the bar towards a balding middle-aged human.

"Alright twin-tails, I need some info..." comes Shorlu's voice crackling out of the transceiver, now in Testy's hands.

"What?"

"Wait, Test? Where's Adorhi?" Shorlu has apparently picked up the subtle differences in the clone's voices quickly. (edited)

Adorhi slides 1cr over to the wookie and gives half a nod in thanks for the information.

"She's fine. Whaddya need?"

"I wanted to know if she knew the name or model of Barin's ship. We've got a list of ships that came in recently, but no way to narrow it down."

Testy cringes at the lack of opsec displayed by this ex-law pachyderm. "Hey, Dori, you got a name on the ship we're lookin' for?"

"Who's ship? Come on, we've got a new friend to make." Adorhi starts across the bar towards the balding man.

Oh kriffin' hell. "Got to go, Trunks. Good luck," Testy replies as he quickly follows Adorhi. (edited)

"What? Hey wait a sec—" followed by static is heard, as the line is cut. Shorlu looks at the other two clones with him, frowning. "They hung up on me!"

Trunks, Zed laughs. That's a good one. He turns to the ortolan. "I wouldn't worry about it too much," he says. "Testy's always abrupt like that."

Kite breaks out laughing and says "That tracks for Test and Adorhi. Test isn't much of a conversationalist and I think Adorhi hates us. Let me get a message to Gauss and see if he can figure it out"

22:17

Kite then taps on his wrist pad and sends Gauss a message asking "Find Adhorhi and have her tell you the name of Barin's ship if she knows." (edited)

Gauss's wristpad starts playing fanfare into his helmet speakers. He quickly looks at it to check the message sent to him. After reading it, he replies back with "Copy, as soon as she is done carousing the locals, I will ask her"

Kite says to Zed Shorlu "Gauss is on it, at least they have one adult with them, lets see what we can find out at the Tethers while we wait"

"Well, let's get moving in the meantime. I'd rather not stand around out here." He glances around, checking for any shady characters. As he walks, he folds his arms; not out of frustration as one might expect, but because he's brainstorming another way to get into the ship, once they'd actually ID'd it.

"Hm. Actually, we've got the information we needed out of the docks, now how about we head over to that other cantina, 'Under the Table'?" (edited)

22:42

"We could scope the place out, while I start my investigative process."

The balding man is well dressed and still has a spattering of light blonde hair around the sides of his head. Sharp, craggy facial features gives Adorhi a penetrating look that is part suspicion and part curiosity as she approaches the low, circular table he is sat at. He nods to his current companions, an Aqualish and a Human, and they take off, leaving space for the Togruta opposite him. Sit, he indicates with a simple gesture of his hand. However, he remains silent for now, waiting for Adorhi to reveal her own cards.

Kite nods at Shorlu and says "Agreed. It will be interesting to see your famed detective skills in action." Kite chuckles and pats Shorlu on the back and heads towards the "Under the Table"

Zed nods and heads out after Shorlu and Kite. Over the comms, he says, "We're headed to 'Under the Table.'" As they walk, he keeps his head on a swivel, looking for anyone acting suspicious. Lots of beings set off his radar in this place, so he had to raise his standards on what suspicious activity actually was.

As far as Zed can tell, the trio is not being followed, and after a short work they arrive outside 'Under the Table', at the other end of the Slips. This cantina has a low-lit interior and a grungier aesthetic than the bubbling atmosphere of Fishe's Pub. Patrons clad in dark clothes hold murmured conversations in their shadowy booths, and the background music is decidedly less lively.

"Cheery place," Zed deadpans, and looks around for a table.

There are a several tables free about the dingy cantina, and the trio quickly claim one for themselves. A bored-looking and heavily made-up waitress soon makes her way over to them, waiting with an expectant stare.

Shorlu sniffs the air a moment, trying to catch the scent of food.

"Just a water for me," Zed says, thinking, I'm on duty. I've got to keep a clear head. Who knows what's going to happen in this hive.

"Gimme a double bantha burger with everything on it, a couple slices of Coruscant pie with all your toppings, a side of 'Mustafarian fire fries' and a large Sprit." Shorlu lists without missing a beat.

Kite asks for "Corellian whisky double." He then nudges Zed and says "Live a little, one of the very few perks we have since we left the GAR is that we aren't bound by any regs."

18:12

Kite then does a sweep of the room looking for any Balosars or anyone who stands out or carries themselves with authority

"I'll let you drink enough for the both of us," Zed chuckles, patting Kite on the back. "I do my best work with a clear head."

Adorhi gets a good look at the two leaving the table before she accepts the balding mans invitation and takes a seat. "The fuzzball behind the bar pointed your way when asked about some possible short-term employment. Why they would put a thing that can't do much more than grumble in a job like that makes zero sense. Adorhi," she offers her name with a slight raise of her glass. "sorry if I interrupted. We can catch up another time if that works better for you, Mr...?"

"Call me Alastair," the man tells Adorhi, raising his glass in kind. "If I might lend you a word of advice, Adorhi, Andy over there is something of an institution in these parts. He's managed behind the bar of Fische's Pub for longer than most here can remember, and it seems that he had no trouble pointing you in my direction, so maybe pay him a little more respect, hm? Regardless, as for 'short-term employment', I do have a job I could use some extra hands on, but why don't you tell me a little more about yourself first, my dear? What is it you do, hm?" Alastair leans forward as he talks, clearly interested to hear the mysterious Togruta's story. However, his sharp eyes don't miss the two clones hovering a few steps behind her.

Meanwhile, the waitress in 'Under the Table' jots down the trio's order without so much as a smile. "That'll be four credits," she declares dryly, before carrying the order off towards the kitchen. Kite spots a few different Balosar about the cantina, but everyone except the staff seems to be keeping a low profile.

"Acquisitions." Adorhi pointedly replies.

"Or eliminations," Testy adds. (edited)

Alastair muses on the two answers as he savours another sip of his drink. "Well then, how about we begin with an escort, and if that's no trouble then perhaps we can discuss a prospective acquisition that will take you further afield? Does that sound amenable?"

"We have lots of experience with escorts," Testy whispers to Adorhi in Togruti.

"Makes sense, utilize your help for something other than their expertise," Adorhi mumbles to herself. "Sure, what are the details?"

Alastair leans back in his chair and temples his fingers. "I've a cargo that needs unloading from a vessel in the Slips and transporting to a warehouse in the Trade District. Of course, Adorhi, if you feel that this is beneath you, I'm sure I can find another nascent group of mercenaries in search of some work. You came to me looking for 'short-term employment', did you not? Acquisitions jobs typically run a little longer. Or have I misunderstood you?" Back in Under the Table, it isn't long until the server returns with a steaming pile of greasy fast-food for Shorlu. (edited)

when the food & drinks return Kite hands the waitress 4 credits and sets another pile of 10 credits to the side and says "Thank you. My friends and I are new in town and looking to get the lay of the land. We would greatly appreciate any knowledge you have on major recent happenings and the major players on the station"

Adorhi kicks out her chair and stands up, finishing off the last bit of her wine."If someone asks, who are we working for? Just Mr. Allstar? Or do you belong to some group of even more charming fellows?"

With that response, Testy's mental image of Adorhi snaps. He hadn't realized it, but he had somehow made himself believe that Adorhi was some confident, smooth operator. Her disdain for the clones had read as supreme and justified confidence in her own abilities. For a while now, he had been heeling her like a hound heels his master....like a clone heels his Jedi. Oh stars... Testy thinks to himself. She's broken. She's broken and I've... Emotionally overwhelmed, Testy turns and flees to the bar, demanding a double portion of Dagobah Whiskey, slamming it back hard. The smokey flavor of the bog peat with the hot burn of the alcohol making the drink taste like a campfire, burning away the confused thoughts running through his mind.

"What do I look like, an information broker?" The girl drawls sardonically. "You're on the wrong side of town, Reg." ---------- "Mr Alastair will do just fine," Adorhi is told as he taps briefly at a nearby datapad. "Docking Bay 53. They'll be expecting you." Testy's abrupt departure earns an arched eyebrow from Alastair in turn. "Although, I suspect that you might want to first ensure that your friend is up to it." (edited)

Kite flips one of the 10 credits to the rude waitress pocketing the rest and grumbles "Civilians. Well if you aren't interested in earning some extra credits, then you can be on your way." he then adds the next bit as an imitation of the way she said "Reg" "Server"

Adorhi nods her head at Alastair and turns to Gauss, "Go get the nerve burner, will you? I'll meet you both outside. By the way, have we heard from the others at all? I'd bet Shorlu is still trying to find the bottom of some bottomless Dewback ribs." She heads out of the bar, keeping a specific eye out for the Aqualish and Human that were conversing with Alastair.

Upon being presented with the platter, Shorlu removes his gloves and flexes his fingers, letting out a hearty "Phooowah!" With all 10 finger pads working and his trunk free, he is able to talk and eat at the same time.

21:21

"Appreciate your covering it, but let's not spoil the meal with attitude, eh?"

Kite looks a bit unsettled as Shorlu eats but quickly gets over it now that his drink is here. He puts a straw into his drink and continues to survey the bar as Shorlu devours his food. He gives a quick glance at Shorlu and says . "What's our next move? I know you have some training/talent with chasing down leads." He then quickly looks away from the carnage

Shorlu nods, and extends a floppy ear to start listening for any conversations in the cantina. Most of them are hushed, but his keen hearing can help him pick up more than the average listener.

The waitress snatches up the credit and flounces off. Meanwhile, Shorlu catches a familiar snippet of conversation from a pair of men in Epsis uniforms. "Puzell has them watching the Mad Line." Outside Fische's Pub, Adorhi spots the Aqualish heading into the Souk. (edited)

Gauss asks Adorhi before she heads out the door, "Hey, before you go outside, Kite wanted to know if you had the name of Barin's ship?" (edited)

"Barin's ship?" Adorhi replies with a slight chuckle. "He doesn't have one. Either hitched a ride or one was hitched for him."

"All right then, I'll let Kite know" With that, Gauss sends a message back to Kite, while walking towards Testy at the bar. "She said he doesn't own a ship, so either he paid for passage here, or someone did it for him." By the time he makes it to Testy, the message was sent. "Hey Testy, are you doing good?" with a knowing and sympathetic tone "Adorhi has already left, whenever you are good to go we can go."

"I'm kriffin' fine. Let's get the dosh out of here," Testy says, slamming the short glass back on the bar with 3 credits.

Shorlu surreptitiously glances at the two Epsis members, before looking back at Kite. He snakes his trunk up closer to his and Zed's ears to speak in a whisper. "Don't look now, but it seems our 'lead' is right at that table behind you. Seven o'chrono. Epsis is keeping an eye on the Mad Line. Try and get on the horn with Twin-tails again. If that name rings a bell, we gotta know ASAP."

Kite looks at the data pad and back at Shorlu and says "The Mad Line is on the list of ships we got from the registrar. I think we have found our ticket in. I think we will want the full squad on stand by for this so I will let the others know. Keep an ear on the table though in case they say something else" Kite then taps on his wrist pad and sends message to Gaus with these details

Did you get ahold of the others? Have them meet us at the market, the Souk." Adorhi says to Gauss as he and Testy come out of Fische's.

"All right then..." Gauss says with a sigh We sure have a lot we have to do huh? He goes to his wristpad to type the message, before noticing Kite's message. "It seems like the other group has a "lead" as well. They are looking to get aboard a ship known as the Mad Line. I guess we can figure this out if we meet up first." Gauss then sends his message to Kite. (I guess we accepted a job moving cargo from a ship in DB 53, Adorhi also wants to head to the market district, Souk is what they call it. We should meet up there before deciding what to do next.) (edited)

"Already on it," comes Shorlu's quiet reply, as he continues listening to the two Epsis agents, just in case they mention something else. His plate of greasy food is now sparkling clean.

The Epsis grunts have moved on in their conversation, and are now discussing the going odds at the bookie's for pod races.

The Souk is a true interstellar open-air marketplace and the heart of Point Nadir. The streets lined with stalls selling food, exotic beasts and even spice and slaves. The odour of many creatures living together in less than sanitary conditions permeates the area. Adorhi can see the aqualish who she was following ordering a fried gorg from a street vendor's stall. (edited)

Adorhi scans the various food stalls, looking for a quick snack in the form of fresh fruit. "Are the others on their way or what?" she says to Gauss. (edited)

"Seems that's all they had to say about it." Says Shorlu, leaving a 2 credit tip of his own. Sure the food wasn't great, and the waitress was worse, but it was another Ortolan custom that he couldn't simply ignore. He hops down from his seat, and gestures to the others. "Let's get moving." He starts heading for the Souk.

Zed kept his head on a swivel as he followed the Ortolan. "On your six, Shorlu," he says. "When we get to the Souk, we should keep our distance from the other group. Communicate only via comms." As Kite, Shorlu, and Zed reach the Souk, Zed activates his headcomm with a chin-toggle in his helmet. "What's the plan now?" Zed asks, spying Adorhi, Gauss, and Testy across the market.

Kite spreads out from Shorlu and Zed keeping them & his other companions within his field of vision he says into his head Comm "Who are we tracking"

Fresh fruit is easy to come by on the bustling market place, though far from cheap. One credit a piece or five credits for six!

Adorhi scans the bright colors of fruit in one of the stalls and eyes a basket of rich red apples. "You drive a pretty hard bargain on this fruit," she says to the vendor. "I assume it's a bit of a rarity here on Point Nadir?"

"Just expensive," the Ithorian vendor harumphs, "and popular."

"The fruit is expensive, or the permits to run this stall?" she replies. She picks up a few of the expensive fruits, keeping an eye on the Ithorian's reaction as she does.

"Importing fresh supplies to a port most of the galaxy isn't supposed to know is here doesn't run cheap," the alien remarks, clearly annoyed about being asked to justify his prices. "That'll be four credits," he notes, nodding to the fruit that Adorhi has taken.

"So you're independent? No papers needed to set up shop here?" She looks at the three apples in her hands and looks back at the Ithorian with a glare over his bad math.

"The Anjiliac take their cut, but rent is rent," he replies with a shrug, holding out an expectant hand.

Adorhi holds up the three fruits and hands over 3 credits. She gives a nod and heads back to Testy and Gauss. "Something fresh, boys?" she says handing them each an apple. On the other side of the market, she sees the rest of the crew show up. "About time," she mutters to herself. Then to Testy and Gauss, "The others are over there, let's go catch up." Adorhi waits for no response and heads across the market to meet up with Zed, Kite, and Shorlu.

Kite sees Adorhi heading over and what looks to be a fuming shop keeper in the background. he says "Making friends I see. Did you find any additional info with the goons you were following? If not I think we should formulate a plan to get into the Madline hopefully without attracting any undue attention."

Shorlu walks along with the group, choosing to use opsec terminology now that they're in a much more populated area. "We know the destination. Let's walk while we talk."

19:44

He notices the juicy-looking fruit Adorhi was handing out and mumbles sheepishly, "ᵂᵉʳᵉ ʸᵒᵘ ᵍᵒⁿⁿᵃ ᵉᵃᵗ ᵗʰᵃᵗ⁻" as she takes a big bite of hers, either not hearing or willfully ignoring him. (edited)

Adorhi ignores Kite's snide remark and question and turns to the others. "I got us a job, over at Bay 53. That is where my priority stands. It would be rude to keep a new employer waiting. And if all goes well, it would be very beneficial to have an acquaintance here on Point Nadir."

Testy turns and starts walking next to Shorlu. "Here, Trunks," he says as he tosses the fruit at Shorlu in a languorous arc without checking to see if he catches it.

Kite nods and says " I don't want the lead on the ship to go cold, it may be best to split into two squads again. Put most of our muscle in the escort team to make sure that goes smoothly and some of our more stealthy members into the break in team."

"What exactly is this lead? You did get the response about my best friends transport, right?" Adorhi replies.

" We know that the Madline's vector is very similar to our own and arrived at about the time frame that we would expect Barin to have gotten to the station. We also know that a criminal element has it under surveillance, its definitely worth looking into."

Kite can see that both Adorhi and Testy seem set on carrying out the job and sighs saying "How about you and Testy group up with Zed and handle the escort mission, the detective, Gauss and myself should be able to sneak onboard and see if we can find any intel on what's going on with the ship" (edited)

"Aye."

"Sounds like a plan," Zed says. He looks at Kite. "We don't have scramblers anymore, so we should operate at comm silence. If you run into trouble, just give us two comm clicks, and we'll come running." As he walks away with Adorhi and Testy, he turns back to the other group, "Don't get caught. I imagine that punitive measures on this station are pretty harsh."

Docking Bay 226 is a roomy facility, complete with cargo lifts, refresher facilities, a HoloNet hookup, and other accommodations unavailable to ships docked in the Tethers. However, access to the bay is not restricted, and Shorlu, Gauss and Kite have no trouble walking in. The Mad Line sits alone in the docking bay, taking up most of the space. The ship's ramp is down.

Kite sees the Mad Line on it own in the docking bay and thinks this makes it a bit more difficult we know, its being watched and without any other ships in the bay it will be easier to spot us. He then tries to look around the hanger to find if he can spot anyone who is watching the ship

Shorlu eyes the surrounding area pensively as well, knowing to expect company, if not out here, then inside the ship.

20:49

He quietly moves up to the loading ramp, and peeks inside, drawing his blaster just in case.

The interior is sparsely furnished and smells faintly of old sweat, burned wiring, and industrial lubricants.

Kite notices a group of humans keeping tabs on them and stops at the next crossway and looks at his wristpad like he is lost and taps into it "we are being watched, humans in blue jump suits" He then says "I'm not sure which way we need to go can you two read heads or tails of this map"

"Ah jeez, I just dunno. You think anyone in here might know? I'll just ask 'em." Shorlu responds. He mutters, "Watch 'em. They make a move, we blast 'em." just before heading to the ship, and peeking, before entering with his blaster, checking out the interior more closely for anything out of place.

Kite mutters as he sees Shorlu running to the ship "Sithspawn, I was hoping to sneak in but at least it will be interesting" he then looks at the three humans to gage their reaction. He leaves his rifle slung on his back but is prepared to quickly ready it

Gauss stands next to Kite, also watching the three humans, and for anyone else that may enter the bay. "What's the plan if someone questions us on why we are standing here?" He asks Kite.

Kite shrugs and quietly says "neither of us is great with people, but if we get questioned lets say we are a bounty hunting duo stalking a human who owes the hutts money, we certainly look the part"

"Or better yet, an Ortolan, if Shorlu comes out during any questioning, we can say that he is our target." Gauss says with a laugh. (edited)

"I think they saw him with us, when I noticed them Shorlu was here."

"Well, just those guys over there did. Anyone else shouldn't know however"

The ship's cargo bays are empty, and nothing seems out of place. However, when Shorlu checks the stateroom, he finds a human male in his mid-thirties with close-cropped dark hair and aquiline features. He's dressed in an olive drab flight suit with dark spots on the shoulders and seems to be sleeping. (edited)

Holding back a curse, Shorlu carefully steps back out of the stateroom, to avoid waking the man. Having checked everywhere else he could on the ship, he tries to get back to Kite and Gauss.

Meanwhile, Testy, Zed and Adorhi make their way to Docking Bay 53, where they find a male blue Twi'lek waiting outside a freighter besides a hauler droid that is loaded up with crates. (edited)

When he gets back to them, Shorlu wipes a bit of sweat from his brow. "Nothing relating to Barin. There's just one guy there, asleep, and he wasn't a Balosar. Those Epsis guys, they must be on him for another reason."

As Shorlu makes his way back down the boarding ramp, eight armed sentries in combat jumpsuits and wielding blaster rifle hustle into the docking bay and array themselves about the ship, weapons at the ready. "Halt!" A loud voice booms out in Basic. "Throw down your weapons and you will not be harmed!"

"Karking hell..." Shorlu drops his gun and complies, seeing he's outnumbered.

"Heh, I know how this looks, but there's an explanation for this, gents..."

Kite grumbles "Kriff I thought we were smarter than this" He raises his hands but doesn't unsling his rifle and says "What is the meaning of this" (edited)

Testy says to the Twi'lek, "We were told you'd be expecting us. You have something you need moved?"

Kite continues to speak and says "my associates and I are tracking a bounty, we had some bad intel that led us here." Kite gives a nod to Shorlu "Trunks over here got scammed and has made us waste time and quite a bit of credits on this wild bantha chase. I don't want to waste more of your time here, lets say we make a donation to your organization and we forget this ever happened. Sound fair?"

A Duros in a brown leather jacket and a red shirt steps forwards from behind the sentries. "How's your friend Phellip?" He asks, before adding. "Drop the gun." --------- The Twi'lek looks the trio over. "I guess you do fit the bill," he admits with a wry grin, tossing Testy a datapad. "Address is on that. Get her there safe and sound. Any questions?"

Kite gingerly lays down his sniper rifle and drops his blaster pistol keeping his hold out pistol hidden in his armor. and says " We don't know a Phellip and he certainly isn't our friend. Trunks mentioned finding a man blissfully sleeping on board that could be who you are talking about we don't know him and he didn't match our bounty. As I said lets forgot about all this and make your pockets a little heavier"

Testy checks the datapad for the address and hands it to Adorhi. "Anything in particular we should be watchful for or concerned about?"

"Thieves," the Twi'lek tells Testy simply. ---------- The Duros shakes his head. "Your friend Trunks isn't very observant. Phellip is dead. How about you all come with me and we discuss this somewhere in a more comfortable setting?"

Kite is getting antsy and he remembers the clones streets smarts training you never let them bring you to a secondary location he says " you knew he was dead before so you know we didn't kill him, he doesn't match our bounty so at this point no one is happy. Lets settle things up here in the open, we can give you some credits and you will be happy, and this not getting ugly will make me happy." He then turns off his helmet speakers clicks twice on the comm and opens a comm to Gauss and the rest of the crew outside of Shorlu and says "what are you thinking, this is about to get dicey with 8 of them and 3 of us I'm not sure we can win the fire fight but I don't like the idea of them bringing us somewhere. (edited)

The Duros sighs and his men finger their weapons. "It wasn't a question. There's been a murder on my docks, and we're going to ask you a few questions. If you cooperate it will be easier for all of us."

"Roger that," Testy replies. Turning to Zed and Adorhi, he says "I want a low-profile formation. Adorhi: on his 11, five foot spread. Zed: on his 7, fifteen feet. I'll be close contact on his 3. We're going to stay in the slips until we're one block past the quickest route directly into the trade district. We'll go right in and then back-track that last block once we pull up parallel to our drop zone. Keep sharp. Any questions?" (edited)

Kite sighs and says **"We will comply" he then walks over with his hands up. He leaves his comm line open to the others hoping that may give them some edge in finding them. (edited)

Shorlu nods to Kite, and walks along with him non threateningly.

"Copy that," Zed says, falling back into military jargon and protocol with ease. "Falling in." (edited)

Adorhi comes to attention and gives an exaggerated salute before spinning on her heels into position per Testy's orders. She turns to the Twi'lek and asks, "To ensure proper delivery, who is our intended recipient?"

"The droid is programmed to access a warehouse in the Trade District," the Twi'lek tells Adorhi, "just make sure it and the cargo arrive intact." ---------- Guass, Kite and Shorlu are brought to an Epsis command center for an 'interview'. The Duros, it turns out, is a 'syndicate representative' - an underboss by the name of Puzell. "Search them," Puzell tells his men, who approach to frisk for additional weapons. Once this is complete each 'interviewee' is brought separately to a plain room with a gunmetal table and set of chairs.

"Will do," Adorhi replies to the Twi'lek. Turning back to the others, "Shall we?" and then slaps the droid on it's back yelling out "Hit'yaaaa!"

The hauler droid jerks into motion with a clank, old limbs screeching as it starts to lumber towards the exit from the docking bay.

Kite hated being on this side of the interrogation, he had assisted in a few during his time with the GAR mostly to watch the suspects reactions, he had a small knack for reading people and their ticks. He thinks hopefully the Espis interrogaters are as incompetent as their searchers or this will get bad quickly. It was a small blessing they didn't find the holdout blaster or take my helmet. He leaves the comm channel open and says outloud through both the helmet speakers and into the comm knowing the integration room would be recorded ."Time is money Puzell, we have no issue with Espsis lets settle this and let everyone go home happy" (edited)

Two guards stand inside the interrogation room, flanking the door and watching Kite carefully while they wait for Puzell. When the Duros arrives, he wastes no time pulling up a chair opposite the clone. "I couldn't agree more," he ascents with a nod. "So, Mandalorian, why don't we start with your name and that of who you work for?"

Kite leans forward and stares directly at Puzell he knows from experience that to some beings the blank visor of a mandalorian can be intimidating, he doesn't think it will work on Puzell but never leave a trick unplayed. he says " My name is Kite I'm a bounty hunter, my crew and I were on a job to find a human who stole some spice from the Desijilic Hutt Clan. I'm the point of contact for my crew, the rest just know that we are hunting a human who is thought to be on station."

Puzell observes Kite impassively, contemplating the response. "Alright, Kite. Why was Phellip killed?"

Kite shrugs his shoulders and says "You would know more than me, I didn't even know he was dead until you told me. Trunks got fed some bad intel and we thought he was our mark. His ship had a vector that would match coming from Tatooine which is where our spice thief came from, he was the first ship we checked on our list. " Kite shows Puzell the list of ships matching the vector "We thought we could grab our mark and get out of here but found ourselves in this bantha poodoo."

Puzell pulls a data tape from his jacket pocked and slips it into his datapad. "Why don't you tell me what you think of this, hm, Kite?" A holorecording from a security camera begins to play. It shows, first, a short-haired Balosar male in gaudy green and blue clothing leaving the Mad Line. The cameras track him until he leaves the Slips and show that he is headed into Point Nadir's Trade District. The recording cuts to another, which shows the arrival and departure of a group of men. The men are dressed in simple earth-tone suits. Their leader, a Human of similar posture who wears earth-tone robes, enters the Mad Line while the other three wait behind. He emerges later, and the group departs. "Phellip's body was discovered by an Epsis protocol droid that was sent to collect his docking fees. He died of asphyxiation. His larynx was practically crushed. Critical flight systems have been removed from the ship and the weapons systems have been disconnected. Whoever did this wanted to keep the Mad Line from leaving Point Nadir, and knew precisely what needed to be done to accomplish that. Now, I have a pretty good idea of who's behind this, but what I don't yet understand is why. You're sure that you don't know anything about that?" (edited)

Kite notices the Balosar and thinks great we found the right ship but at the wrong time he says " That looks like Sable dawn, they were causing some trouble on Tatooine before we left. They actually killed a Balosar out there to, it was the talk of the town before we left. As a personal favor my team can work this case for you for our freedom and a small fee. Believe it or not we are usually an effective unit, and some people are more likely to talk to us than the law."

Kite goes onto add " I know there is a delicate balance of power here as well if it ends up being Sable Dawn using a third party to solve it may make for less of a headache for your bosses"

Puzell nods slowly, pursing his lips and staring at Kite with his big, red eyes. "Now we're on the same page. Good. I suspect that the Sable Dawn is hunting the Balosar who left earlier. If I were coming to Point Nadir to hide from someone who wanted me dead, I'd probably find a nice cosy safe house and wait them out. At that, he leans forwards, still fixing Kite with the same unblinking red-eyed stare. "Evad Court is the the best one here, though I doubt this Balosar could afford more than a couple of weeks in one of their smaller safe houses. The only trouble is - and this isn't common knowledge - Evad is a part of the Sable Dawn. If they discover that he's alive in one of their safe houses, I don't expect he'll be alive long enough to pay the bill. Try Fetwin Porlo. He's an information broker. Runs a shop called 'Down Low'. He might know something about this Balosar." (edited)

Meanwhile, the hauler droid clanks on up the Slips, lugging its heavy cargo. So far the job seems pretty quiet and easy. Most who eye the droid with interest are discouraged by the armed escort. Up ahead, the buildings of the Trade District cast dark shadows across its streets. (edited)

Kite nods and says "Not a good situation for our friend, my team will intercept and provide some protection and get to the bottom of what's going on. Normally this would be an expensive job going up against sable dawn but in light of our circumstances I think 2k credits upon success sounds reasonable. If you can get me my rifle and crew we can head out now. Sound fair?" (edited)

Puzell arches an eyebrow. "I don't think so. I'm no friend of the Sable Dawn, but I can't move funds to act against them without drawing attention that I don't need or want. If you bring me actionable evidence that the Sable Dawn is assassinating customers hiding out at Evad Court, then I can pay you three hundred credits." (edited)

Kite nods and "Fair enough, lets get my crew and we will be on our way"

Kite is shown back to Shorlu and Gauss, and all three are released into the foyer of the building and returned their weapons.

Zed keeps his head on a swivel, scanning the beings around him for any signs of trouble. The speakers in his helmet click once, then once more. He looks at Testy and Adorhi as Kite's voice comes filtering through the comms. "Sounds like Kite may have things handled," he says. "Let's finish this quick." (edited)

"That was quick," Gauss exclaims to Kite, "What happened in there?"

" We have a new job boys, our kind friends here want us to find a Balosar. And are giving us our freedom and 300 credits to do so. Lets get a move on and clear this debt so we can get back to our bounty." (edited)

After walking a bit Kite tells the team over comms "We're clear, had a bit of a dust up with Espsis but it actually led to a lead on our friend. What's your location? He is most likely holed up at a safe house named Evad Court" (edited)

Shorlu straightens his coat and checks his weapon after it's returned. "Sorry about that, fellas. Usually I can sniff out an ambush better than that! That said, it sounds like your wannabe Jedi friends are causing us an awful lot of trouble."

20:55

"As much as I'd hate to keep Big Eyes waiting, I'm thinking we oughta link back up with the others when they get back to you."

"We're proceeding through the Slips towards the trade district on an escort mission," Zed says to Kite over the comms. "What's our rally point?"

"Acknowledged, what is your drop off point we will head that way and meet you there "

"Drop off is a warehouse in the trade district," Zed says. "We're a few minutes out. See you soon."

Not long later the two groups reconvene near the edge of the Trade District. The hauler droid plods ever onwards towards its destination.

Kite waves at the other group and falls into formation to protect the package taking up the rear and keeping his eyes open for any signs of theft or attack (edited)

Zed looks at Kite. "What did you learn at the ship?"

"We found the ship that Barin came to Point Nadir, we also made a contact in Espsis named Puzzel. He showed us that Sable found Barin's ship, killed the pilot and disabled it. Puzzel thinks that Barin has gone to ground at Evad Court but we need to check with an information broker to see if we can get info on where he is exactly. After we drop the package off we need to head to the Down Low"

Zed nods, all the while watching out for anything suspicious. "Alright. Let's do that. Stay frosty, people."

The hauler clanks steadily on, heading down the narrow streets of the trade district towards the warehouse. It doesn't take long before Kite and Zed notice that they've picked up a couple of tails... and then a couple more, and a couple more...

Kite notices their growing entourage and looks over to Zed and sees that he is aware of the threat. he says into his head comm "Look alive we have a following, how does the group want to play this? I think it may be smart for a few of us peel off and try to get behind the tag a longs. The others can try the diplomatic solution and if that doesn't work we hit them from both ends"

"I say we approach them now," Zed says. "They're in the wrong, we're in public, and they don't outnumber us."

"Should we look for a defensive position or keep moving? Perhaps switch up our route?"

Kite nods "While there is some semblance of order out here there are 3 competing factions. I'm not sure being in public will help us get past this. I do like the idea of finding an easy to defend position"

"Never mind. I don't think this thing's stopping for me. Kite, Zed, Gauss: weapons free. Let's start and finish this."

Kite unslings his rifle and heads up, in front of the droid keeping his eyes peeled in both directions

When he turns to look, Shorlu sighs. "Ready when you are, guys." He puts a hand on his blaster and looks for a spot to grab some cover.

Testy tells Kite to stay with the package and then he drops back, asking Zed to point out targets as he draws his saber. (edited)

00:08

My saber. (edited)

Gauss joins Kite, but sets up right behind the droid instead.

"Six targets, following at 11, 12, and 1," Zed says, turning to face the direction they had come from. "Do not engage, let's try to scare them away." Zed raises his rifle. "Stand down," he shouts at their tails. "First and final warning, or we take you apart, piece by piece." (edited)

"Bitches."

More followers are gathering near the edge of the street, but seem hesitant to do more than watch in the face of armed guards. On the road ahead of the party, a human woman steps out about fifteen feet in front of the droid's path. "How friendly of you," she remarks. "Do you even know what you have there, boys?"

Zed gives a mere glance at the woman blocking their path before continuing to watch their followers. "Knowing what we have isn't part of what we were paid to do, ma'am."

She rolls her eyes. "Yes, well I don't suppose Alastair has paid you yet. That's really not his style. I'll help you out. The medical supplies that that droid is transporting could save hundreds of lives, but he'll sell them for close to 1000 times what they cost to produce. Does that sound fair to you?" (edited)

"Sounds like it'll save hundreds of lives either way."

"What's your stake in this?" Zed asks, still half facing the people behind them. "I suppose you're going to tell us that you'll just give them away?"

The womans eyes harden when she hears Testy's response. "At cost. We all have to eat too. Everyone here knows somebody suffering under Alastair's boot. I get the impression that you have very little stake in this. What would it cost you just to walk away?"

"I took a job lady. I'm not walking cause you don't think lives are worth the money he's asking. Why don't you go make some more of whatever's in here and be useful instead of just playing a shell game with what's not yours."

Near the rear of the convoy of escorts, one of the gathered gang members seems to snap and breaks ranks from the shadowy crowd near the edge of street, charging towards the hauler droid with a roar. "Wait-," the woman shouts stretching a hand out helplessly. (edited)

As the gang member rushes headlong at Zed with a bared blade, Testy waits for Zed to stun the man. As Zed seems to hesitate and the gang member swiftly approaches, a murderous glint in his eye, Testy realizes how young the man is. Barely a man at all. Testy steps diagonally in front of Zed, igniting his blade and sweeping it across the man's path, slicing the man's blade from it's hilt. "Everyone stop. Go home," Testy shouts, holding his blade up, pointed at the disarmed man. (edited)

Zed raises his rifle reluctantly and points it in the kid's face. Kriff. He's just a kid. How desperate do you have to get to rush a group of armored troopers with a vibroblade? "My friend here could have just killed you. Listen to what he says," Zed says, a wave of sobering fear crashing over him. "Go home." This Alastair has a lot to answer for, Zed thinks, his mind racing, trying to think of a way to get these meds to the right people. But he pauses as he realizes that at least Testy isn't with him. Testy wants to do the job and get paid. (edited)

Shorlu keeps his blaster out but lowered, eyeing the others in the assembled group, hoping they don't try anything as rash as the first one.

The kid drops to his knees, clutching shakily at the useless hilt of his weapon as he stares up at the shining blue of Testy's lightsaber. Ahead of the droid, the woman steps aside, but shoots the clones a filthy look as the other gang members back away in fear. "You've chosen a side today, remember that." (edited)

"Sorry about your blade kid. You've got guts. Go make something of yourself." Testy powers down his saber as he backs away from the kid a few steps before turning around and continuing to follow the droid.

Zed lowers his rifle as he and Testy leave the area, keeping pace behind the droid while backpedaling, keeping an eye on the crowd they were leaving behind. He says nothing. He always knew there was corruption. No organization is ever truly good. But he always imagined that he, at his core, was good. That he did good. But in this moment, all he feels is an unravelling inside him, as if all the good he ever did was undone right then.

The words hang in the air, but leave their mark on Shorlu. He nudges Testy (or rather, Testy's shin) and whispers, "I know it's risky having a guy like Alastair on our hinds, but... ya think we could throw 'em a bone? Maybe make it easier for them to take this stuff back? I'll take the blame for it."

"Whatta ya mean take it back? It ain't theirs. Their problem isn't with Alastair, it's with their limited opportunities. I don't know how this place is run, but if someone is preventing more of these supplies coming in, that seems to be the person they should be lookin' to string up." (edited)

"Yeah. Always a buck to pass. Right. I'll clamp this old trunk of mine." Shorlu is dissatisfied, but doesn't force the issue. He gradually begins to remember beyond the excitement of being "back on the case:" the shady deals, the looking the other way time after time. It had worn on him then, and he knew it wouldn't be any different now. But still, he had a harder time letting it go than in his youth.

Testy's mouth twiats as he eyes the ortolan and then the other members of the squad. All of a sudden I'm feeling the odd man out even more than before. First the deep remorse and personal loss associated with murdering our friend. Now this. Sometimes I think they programmed me different than the others. Or maybe the programming just didn't stick with me. (edited)

The hauler droid trundles slowly on, until it arrives at a warehouse near the center of the Trade District. A SCOMP link unpacks from the side of one of its arms and opens a large sliding freight door. The droid waddles on in and the door seals automatically behind it.

Kite hears the woman's speech and is unmoved. A key tenant of being a Mandalorian is that if you take on a contract you are honor bound to complete it. Even though he didn't give his word to finish this job, his squad did which to Kite is the same thing. Kite notices Shorlu & Zeds resolve weakening and is worried that they will give in to the mob. He then sees the kid run up and his him lined up in his scope but hesitates to shoot, his honor is precious to him but he doesn't want to risk another rift with his brothers. As he is debating this he sees Testy activate his blade and runs up and quickly cuts the kids blade in two. Kite smiles and thinks good work Test As the crowd disperses and they follow along behind the droid again he claps Testy on the back and says "you made the right call Test, we took the contract and gave our word we would complete it. We had no other options" (edited)

"There's always another option," Zed says. "But it's too late now."

Kite shrugs " Were you paid already? If not lets collect and get to the Down Low"

"Yeah," Zed says, fire in his eyes behind the unreadable visor of his helmet. "Let's go get paid."

Kite thinks for a bit and says "Our Balosar friend may not last that long payment will have to wait. Lets head to the Down Low"

"Alastair's supplies seem to be pretty automated, aside from the escort. I would hope he wouldn't mind us taking a little detour. We did complete the job after all."

"Unless you need me to contribute to your next bust up, I'll see myself over to Alastair and get our payment." Adorhi interjects. "Meet back at the Souk?"

Kite nods and says "Don't fall for any mind tricks while we are gone." He chuckles and adds "if you run into trouble comm us"

Without concern for any further blessings from the rest of the group, Adorhi heads off back to Fische's pub. As she heads towards her destination, she keeps an eye out for a holographic system.

Adorhi sees a large number of flickering holographic advertisemets, but it's not until she emerges from the Trade District back into the slips that she spies a public terminal on the docks.

Finding a holo system, Adorhi looks around and sees herself mostly alone. With a deep breath, she steps up to send a message to Prello but stops as she notices an Epsis insignia on the machine. "Not an ounce of a chance that they don't screen these calls regardless of encryption..." she thinks to herself with frustration. She slams a fist down on the machine and turns to continue on towards the pub.

Shorlu and the clones find 'Down Low' behind a grimy door to the basement level of one of the buildings in the Trade District. A knock on the door is met with distant shouting from the far side, and a short time later a metal grill opens to reveal a pair of bulbous green eyes set into blue-green skin. "Hello, hello, and welcome to the Down Low. Information... for a price. What do you want?" The voice is somehow simultaneously nasal and hoarse.

Meanwhile back in Fische's pub, Adorhi finds Alastair at the bar chatting with Andy.

"Know anything about a Balosar, come in on the Mad Line?" Shorlu speaks just loudly enough for the sentient on the other side of the door to hear.

The eyes glance left and right, scanning the faces gathered outside the door. Four soldiers and an Ortolan, all in search of one thing - information. "Aaah, you want to do business. Come inside, come inside," the voice replies. The grill shuts with a clack, followed by a series of rattling and scraping noises, after which the door opens with a creak. The group find themselves face to face with a portly Toydarian, who flutters about nervously, never staying in one spot for long. He's wearing a baggy, single-piece lounge suit that looks like it's in desperate need of laundering. "Fetwin Porlo, at your service," the Toydarian introduces himself, with a miniature bow in mid air as he shows the group inside. He speaks in a rapid, distracted manner. "As I always say, if they respire, then there's something that they don't want someone else to know!" Porlo laughs hard at his own joke, before composing himself. "I probably know what you need, for a price," he adds, with a smile full of crooked teeth. "Give me some specifics!" (edited)

Kite walks into the establishment and listens to Fetwin chatter to himself he then says "Fetwin we need information on a Balosar who has a habit of wearing gaudy clothing we think he is hiding out inEvad Court and he arrived on planet on the Madline ship" (edited)

"Mhm, mhm, and who might you be, yeah? Not the talkative types, huh? Evad's got a whooole lot of safe houses out in the Fissures. It's not just one. They've got good ones, and then they've got not-so-good ones. Your friend? He's in one of the not-so-good ones." The Toydarian scratches his prodigious nose before continuing. "I got the directions here... for a price. You might want to buy some extra firepower too. Maybe some explosives, eh? These places, I hear they're tough nuts to crack! I can show you to a weapons dealer, and I'll even do it for free! Ha!"

Zed narrows his eyes. Nothing's really free. Not unless he has some stake in this game. "You wouldn't happen to be a part owner in that weapons store, would you?" Zed asks.

Fetwin laughs, tapping his temple with a wrinkled finger. "Clever boy. Payment for services rendered. One hand washes the other, you know? Speaking of payment... 1500 credits for the Balosar's location. Cash please." The Toydarian rubs his fingers together expectantly.

At Fische's, Adorhi makes here way up to the bar and finds a seat next to Alastair. Addressing the wookiee bartender first, "A glass of your amber, please darling, and get this gentleman a refill as well." She gestures to Alastair's beverage and turns her attention to him. "You've got some pretty in-demand product. But, the delivery made it to the warehouse."

Kite stares at the merchant and says "Puzzel sent us and said your prices were reasonable, I don't think he would be happy to hear you tried to fleece us"

Alastair throws Adorhi a sidelong glance as she pulls up besides him and Andy serves their drinks. "So I noticed," he remarks, tapping lightly on his datapad, which rests atop the bar. "Good work. Andy, would you be so kind as to pay the lady?" The wookie reaches below the bar and sets a stack of credit chips in front of Adorhi. "I do hope it wasn't too much trouble," Alastair adds. -------------------------------------------------- Across town in the Trade District, Fetwin's mouth twists into something between a grimace and a smirk. "1200 then, I have to live on this, you know? You're short on cash? How about you head over to the Arcade. Put what you got on a winner. Maybe you'll win, maybe you'll lose. The chance is something you'll have to take, I think."

Adorhi quickly thumbs through the credits and puts them away, but not before sliding 5cr on the bar over to Andy for the drinks and his service. It's not the best pay for a job like that she's gotten, but not the worst either. She was used to a variance in credits for her work. And often, the payment came in other forms - information usually. "It'll likely be talking to a wall," Adorhi thinks to herself as she puts together the right questions to ask Alastair. Discretely acquiring her employers' requests was her specialty, but getting information to set up those heists was still required. She had to at least try. "You would know better, I'm sure, of how much trouble those charity workers would've been, but my lovely acquaintances felt the need to puff out their chests and might've escalated things more than necessary. Regardless, no, it wasn't much trouble. Not as much as we've been finding ourselves in otherwise. Ever since I've grouped up with those bucketheads it's been nothing but trouble. And it's followed...er, lead us here." Adorhi gives her drink a gentle swirl before taking another sip. Amber...red...her favorite color. "You certainly seem to be a man with some power and knowledge around here. Is that fair, darling? Would you humor a gal with some of the latter?"

Alastair chuckles and sips at his own drink - a tumbler of golden hued liquor that smells like smoke. "My, my, Adorhi. You're certainly an eager young go-getter, aren't you? It does sound like you handled those bleeding hearts quite well though. They can be troublesome sometimes. How about this? First you humour me with your full name and then you ask your questions."

"Ven, my family name is Ven. You'll have to let me know what dirt you dig up. My turn?"

Alastair arches an eyebrow at Adorhi's abrasive manner. "That's the game, my dear. Go right ahead." (edited)

Adorhi searches for the best phrasing, the right tact for her question, but quickly falls back to her usual straightforward approach. "Your thoughts on the Sable Dawn?"

"They're capable killers, who like to pretend that they're more than just hired thugs."" Alastair replies with a smug grin. "Have you run afoul of them? Certainly dangerous enemies to have."

"Thanks to my shoot-first companions, yes, we seem to have ended up on their bad side. Who do they work for?"

"Whoever pays them the most, or, in other words, their own self-interest." Alastair sips from his drink again and laughs wryly. "I can't say that most of us are much different, in that respect.

"Who collects the paycheck for them?"

"Virec Xan," Alastair tells Adorhi with a look of distaste, as though merely saying the name is unpleasant, "he's their administrator here on Point Nadir. He's unquestionably loyal and a dab hand at finding out what others would rather remained unknown. Virec has a seat on the council here. Not a man to cross lightly."

Adorhi throws back the last of her wine and slides the empty glass away from her. "Good to know, and good talking with you, Alastair. I'll look for you here if I need some more work...or information?" She stands from her seat, gives a nod to Andy, and heads out towards the Souk to check in with the others.

As Adorhi goes to leave, Alastair slides his datapad across the bar towards her. "You did well today. Are you still interested in that acquisitions job?"

"I'll hear you out, sure. What's caught your eye?"

"A clone wars era remote droid processor," Alastair summarises, tapping the the datapad to bring up a star map and a set of coordinates. "An informant of mine recently discovered an intact segment of a wrecked Trade Federation Lucrehulk-class battleship named the Starworm. The scans indicate that at least one hangar bay is more or less intact. The processor should be amidst the wreckage."

Adorhi's mind goes back in time. The clone wars, afterall, were mostly responsible for who she was today. "How many hands do you anticipate this will need? And what's your timeline?" (edited)

"I hear there were six of you escorting that shipment at the end," Alastair remarks. "That should do, and I'm not in a hurry. I imagine that the journey alone will take you several days in hyperspace. Shall we say two weeks?"

"And for our time and effort?"

"Two thousand five hundred credits each. If you bring back the processor, you can keep anything else you find. Otherwise, you get a 15% cut of the sale price."

Kite takes a hard look at Felwin looking for any tells that he may be feeding the group bantha podoo to get their credits. He finds that Felwin is being upfront and is at the lowest price he will offer. Kite thinks that info brokers like Felwin may have need of hired help and says "I will give you a free piece of information to see if we can work out a deal, my friends and I are highly trained soldiers who fought in the clone wars. Our skills are invaluable but we would be willing to trade our services for the information. We would need the info upfront since time is an issue, but I give you my word we will complete the job." (edited)

Fetwin strokes his chin and gives the group of soldiers and their Ortolan companion a careful look of appraisal. His interest is clearly piqued, but he's not entirely convinced. "I rarely find myself in need of such... brute force. However, as you are aware, information is my daily bread. You are a group of enterprising mercenaries. I'm sure that on your travels throughout the galaxy you encounter many unique morsels of knowledge. If you agree to become part of my network of informants and to supply me with whatever unusual facts you might stumble upon, then I will lower my price by an additional two hundred and fifty credits. Is that acceptable to you?" (edited)

Kite nods and thinks getting the info and having a friendly information broker definitely a win win he then brings out the 950 credits and hands them to Felwin and says "Agreed, I think this can be the start of a great partnership. Give me your comm info and I will send over information that I come across that I think may interest you" (edited)

17:04

he pauses and asks "any information that you find particularly lucrative or would like us to focus on"

Fetwin nods and spits on his hand to shake on the agreement. "Blackmail is my speciality, but any detail, no matter how small, can be worth something to someone!" Once the credits have been handed over, the Toydarian provides Kite with the address for the safe house where the Balosar has gone to ground. He appears to be using the assumed name of 'Ely Salphella'.

Kite shakes his hand with his armored gauntlet and says "Understood, I will be in touch" he then comms Adorhi and says "We are heading to the safe house meet us a few blocks away and we will hopefully rescue your competition" He then heads out to the rendezvous point

"Now we're talking," Adorhi thinks to herself. "I'm certainly up for it but I'm sure I'll have to get the blessing of my counterparts. I'll let you know by this evening. See you around, Alastair." Adorhi resumes her exit and goes to check in with the others when Kite chimes through her comm. "Roger Roger," she replies with a chuckle, "on my way."

A little less than half an hour later, the party reconvenes in the Fissures, close to the Arcade district. Kite has chosen a spot to wait two blocks from the Evad Court safe house. The Fissures are Point Nadir's slums, in large part because they encompass a winding series of cave-like fissures between the Arcade and the mines. Those with no place else to go eke out an existence in the Fissures District, spending their time sorting through garbage in the hopes of living for one more day. The poorest of Point Nadir's residents constitute the majority of the Fissures' population, but more affluent individuals occasionally spend days or weeks hiding from enemies in the district. The Fissures are technically part of the mines, and given that the mines are a prohibited area by Anjiliac decree, violent encounters between Anjiliac thugs and the impoverished residents of the Fissures District are common.

"This place," Zed says, looking around at the destitution. "I hate this whole asteroid."

"Yeah its no resort. Lets grab the thief and get out of here before someone takes a shot at us." He looks over to Test and Adorhi "Test and Adhori I think it would be best if you two go to the door and have Adhori do the talking they may not be friends but he knows her and knows she works for Prello. The rest of us can keep a lookout and will be ready to back you two up incase it goes sideways" (edited)

"I can keep a lookout closer by. I've had a bit of training with blending in for stakeouts."

20:31

Shorlu wrinkles his jacket and turns it inside out, and begins to prowl the area around the safe house with a cheap-looking tabac stick in his trunk.

"He's quite an operator, that one," Zed says, gesturing over his shoulder at Shorlu. "Those of us wearing armor might have a bit more trouble blending in. Let's find a spot to keep a watch on things."

"Sounds good to me. Dori?"

Kite then looks for a high perch where he can see a good view of the safe house and the road within 90 ft of the door

"Sure thing," Adorhi replies, "I can't wait to see the look on his dumb face when he finds me standing at his door."

Kite heads up to the top floor of a run down block of flats across the road from the safe house. However, the door to the roof is secured with a rusty old lock.

10:31

The safe house appears to be nothing more than a run-down casino from the outside. It's a single-story permacrete structure in the middle of a large cavern in the lower part of the Fissures District. There seems to be no external security, and no one is seen leaving or entering the building. A quick walk around the area reveals three entrances: two airlock-quality doors in the rear of the building, and a single metal door in the front. (edited)

Zed and Gauss find a burnt out old home with what probably used to be a nice bay window that has a good view of the casino entrance. "So," Zed says. "Certainly the most exciting our lives have been since the war ended."

Adorhi walks up to the safe house door and gives it a few knocks. She takes a small step back and puts her hand at her side at quick reach to her pistol.

Testy takes up a position a few feet from Adorhi, keeping an ear out for anyone trying to sneak out one of the back airlocks.

Shorlu is just around the corner, watching the back exits himself.

The door slides open with a sharp hiss when Adorhi knocks on it, revealing twenty foot by twenty foot room, capped at the far end by a pair of sealed airlock doors. Two armoured transparisteel windows, on on either side, reveal two well-dressed guards seated at consoles. The guard to the left looks up from his monitors and asks through a speaker, "can I help you?"

Testy takes the room in as he bends his head left and then right, cracking the joints between his vertebrae. "Play nice, Dori," Testy says in Twi'leki under his breath.

"A-dorhi" she replies while throwing a stare at Testy as she walks into the room towards the guard who spoke. "Hello there. We're here to see a friend. Ely Salphella. " (edited)

Testy is startled by Adorhi's correction. Another crack in his understanding of the world that should have come long ago, perhaps. He was assigned a number at creation, but he had been given a name by his brothers. Earned it, in fact, whether he liked the name or not. But he liked it because he earned it. But Adorhi hadn't earned the nickname "Dori". He'd used it because it was quick and because "Adorhi" sounded too much like "adore" and it made him a little uncomfortable. He wasn't close enough to her to feel right using her real name. But I'm not close enough to giver her a nickname either.

22:57

"Sorry, Adorhi," he says in basic as she walks away.

The guard on the right side waves Adorhi and Testy up to the desk and consults his computer. "Hm, I don't have a visit scheduled on the list. What are your names? I'll have to call through and ask if you're expected. Hold on a moment please..." (edited)

"Prellos Hutanski"

"Adorhi"

The guard turns aside for a moment, speaking quietly into his comms, before looking back up at Adorhi and Testy with a plastic smile. "I'm afraid there won't be any further visits today. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Could we speak with him via comm, please? We weren't expected, but I'm sure he'll be glad to hear from Adorhi, here."

"I'm afraid not. Our residents often find themselves indisposed for company."

"Fair enough. May we come back tomorrow to check in? As for a message, just let him know we stopped by." (edited)

Outside the building, Shorlu has blended in well with the garbage. He gazes upwards at the roof of the safe house, and gets the beginnings of an idea...

Kite looks on from his perch and activates his head comm and says "whats your status Testy & Adorhi"

The guard simply nods, although it seems a little non-commital.

Testy nods back and walks out with Adorhi.

Outside the building, Adorhi speaks in to her comm to the group, "You paid how much for this dead end?" Turning to Testy, she hands over 200cr. "Speaking of, here is Guass's and your cut of the escort job."

"Thanks."

"Couldn't charm your way in, eh. Well, that's a shame..." replies Shorlu into the transceiver, before standing upright with a jolt of inspiration.

17:54

"Wait a sec, let's meet up at that hovel down the street. I got an idea to get him out to us."

18:00

When the group does meet up, he lays out his thought process. "So, whaddya think? It's a little tricky, but the comms look like our best shot."

Kite nods and says "I agree I think this will be our best shot at finding him"

"Sounds like a plan," Zed says. "Kite should go back and provide overwatch, and those of us not going on the roof should spread out and cover the ground. Sound good?"

"Want me to come along on the roof? I can cut us in if we need to?"

Kite shakes his head and says " Gauss & Adorhi can handle it on their own, we can keep it quick and quiet that way" he then heads back to his perch and attaches his grappling hook to his sniper rifle and readies his shot. (edited)

20:26

Kite takes a deep breath and shoots the grappling line across to the safe house building after he feels it sink in he takes the line and secures it to his side of the building. He motions to Adorhi and Gauss and says "whenever you are ready"

"Good copy, brother. I'll just keep out of sight 'till I'm needed."

"On our way"

Meanwhile, Zed finds another hidey-hole with good line of sight on the safehouse, this time, behind an overflowing garbage disposal container. He wasn't sure what was making him more nauseous -- the smell of the garbage, or the fact that they had just kept medical supplies from desperate people. He had been tempted to crack the box of supplies open right there in the square and letting people take them, but he knew that they'd just end up being sold anyway. He knew that there wasn't a clear "right thing to do" in that situation, but a small voice in the back of his head kept pestering him about it. It didn't sit right. He squashed the thought down. Focus on the mission at hand. You can worry about it later. (edited)

Testy goes with Shorlu, trusting him to find a good stake out vantage.

20:55

"Hey, Shorlu. Just wanted to say I'm sorry about the 'Trunks' thing. I uh...I'm. Well, I'm sorry. That's all."

Shorlu meanders back down the street in a casual manner, pretending to be looking for food, as his race were wont to do. Subconsciously, he begins to fall into his old method. A few steps forward, a half-step in one direction accompanied by a sniff from his trunk here and there. The last time he'd done this for a job had to have been on Ord Mantell...

20:59

"Huh?" He says, snapping out of his reverie for a second, before realizing what Testy was talking about. "Oh, that? You don't have to apologize for that. I really like the name! The galaxy needs more sentients with a sense of humor, I find." (edited)

21:06

"Me, I'm just happy to be doing what I'm best at again. Piloting's fine, but eh, a side gig's a side gig. Right here." He mutters as he coolly slips into an alcove, leaning against the wall of a building within sight of the safe house, then hands him a cheap tabac stick. "Have one. Even if ya don't smoke."

Huh. Well...yeah, maybe I should have taken up smoking a while ago. Calm my nerves a bit. You got a light?"

"Blending in's my first priority. But yeah, it helps." Shorlu takes the power cell out of the carbine in his jacket and wedges it against the end of the tabac stick, getting it smoldering in seconds. He does the same for his own. "Old spacer's trick." he quips afterwards. He focuses on the building while remaining outwardly relaxed.

Adorhi reaches up to the zip line and gives it a firm tug, testing it's hold. It was an almost automatic reaction, one she made hundreds of times before. "Ready?" she says, looking back to Guass, as she grabs the rope, ankles wrapped around it as well, and slides to the other roof.

After Adorhi lands on the other side, Gauss climbs across the rope, his boots making a slight thud as he lands on the other side. "Seems we made it without raising any alarms" "Let's get this comm relay sliced" he says before quietly making his way to the relay and pulling out his tools.

Gauss opens the casing on the communications antenna and, after identifying the correct cables, splices an interface to his wrist pad. Once the connection is established, the engineer taps into the system, isolating the different channel frequencies that should correspond to the internal comms system of the different rooms inside the building.

"I'm in" Gauss says to Adorhi "We can monitor the comms, since you know Barin, could you point out his voice if it comes up?" (edited)

Shorlu keeps an eye out on the street and on the door, ready to buzz Kite over their own comlinks in case someone comes along and might see the wire line.

Shorlu gets on his comlink and checks their progress, only to learn about the new snag they've hit. "Okay, Test, I'm gonna have to head in there for a bit. Keep an eye out and let Kite know if someone's gonna see that wire." He tosses his smoke, and flips his jacket so he's wearing it the right way, but leaves it wrinkled. Now he looks less like a hobo and more a detective—one who's been having a pretty bad day. He then begins jogging in place for a minute, long enough for a chubby, out of practice Ortolan to work up a sweat. "Wish me luck, or whatever you believe in." He breaks from his stationary jog into a run towards the door of the safe house. (edited)

"May the force be with you," Testy says too low to be heard as the Ortolan sprints towards the safe house.

Shorlu hurries up to the safe house door, practically throwing his small body against it, and bangs on it a couple times urgently with his fist.

The exterior door slides open with a soft hiss once Shorlu is close enough, and the two guards give the unusual looking Ortolan a puzzled look as he steps inside.

Now panting, Shorlu gathers himself a bit before he can speak as he steps to the booth. "Ex-Excuse me, you haven't seen two sketchy-looking characters come in here, one Human male, one Togruta female?"

The guard on the right nods and signals to Shorlu to approach the window. "As it happens, they were in here less than an hour ago. What's your business with them?"

Shorlu clenches his fist with visible frustration and mutters, "Dammit. I'm always a step behind!" He looks to the guard. "Look, I don't have much time to explain: I'm a private investigator, and it was probably obvious, but those two are bounty hunters and Ely's their target. My client just wants him to know I'm on their trail. I'd have let him know myself, but he won't pick up his personal comlink!"

Kite is nestled in his perch using natural skill to stay hidden from any onlookers. Continues to sweep the street using the rifle scope to enhance his sight. Checking on both the ground and roof teams and keeping an eye out for anyone approaching the group/safehouse. This is where I belong, up high with a rifle, and a purpose. Since leaving the GAR even though the squad had taken on work, they had lost their purpose. But with this mission and some of the additions it feels like they back where they need to be As he does another sweep worry starts to eat at him the longer they are here the more chance Sable has to recognize Barin is hiding out in their own house. Purpose means nothing if they get gunned down before fulfilling it.

As Shorlu disappears into the building, Testy concentrates on his breathing and lets his mind just feel all of the sights and sounds washing over him, pushing his own thoughts away so as not to distract his senses. The slightly thin air of the asteroid helped to offset the heaviness of the odors from this quarter. The streets was mostly quiet with the distant buzz of conversation occasionally punctuated by a shout or an argument from afar.

Inhale. Count to four. Exhale. Count to four. Zed's mind refocuses on the mission at hand. "Overwatch, ground team," Zed says over comms. "Can you see anything from your position, Kite?"

Kite continues his sweep as Zed checks in activating his head comm mid sweep"Nothing yet, Shorlu went into the safe house a few minutes ago but no movement in or out after that"

"Copy that. You're our best eyes out there, so let us know if you see trouble," Zed says. He shifts his stance and braces this DC-17m on the window frame. He clicks his rifle from the stun setting back to full power.

The guards glance at each other and back at Shorlu. "I'm afraid that we can't let you inside, but you can leave a message for your client if you'd like."

"That's all I want, for you to wire him a message: those two are not to be trusted when he's back on the streets. Please don't blow this off, it's really important that he knows that his enemies are closer than he thinks, and that he's gonna wind up trapped!" Shorlu wipes sweat from his brow, and pretends to check a chronometer under his sleeve. "I've already spent too much time here, I gotta get after them!" He makes for the door, and starts to book it down the street.

A couple of minutes later, Gauss registers a text message being sent from one internal terminal to another.

Once he gets around the corner, Shorlu leans against the wall, huffing and puffing more sincerely. He calls in to Gauss and Adorhi. "Okay, I worked with what I had. Not a hundred percent sure they bought it. Can you tell if they contacted him?" (edited)

Gauss taps the text message on his wristpad (edited)

//////////////////////////////
30.27.28.28.87.76.31.04
TO:   APARTMENT 2
FROM: FRONT DESK
//////////////////////////////
BEGIN MESSAGE
//////////////////////////////
Ortolan male came in looking for his client, Ely. He said he was a private investigator and left a message.
Message: two bounty hunters, a Human male and Togruta female, are targeting Ely. The Ortolan is on their trail.
//////////////////////////////
END MESSAGE
//////////////////////////////

After the message comes through, Adorhi turns to Gauss, "See if you can send a message to that same address: The Connoisseur picked tails this time. Keep your head up." "Have a fusion cutter?" She adds to Gauss as she grabs her own. (edited)

"Sending now." He replies as he sends the message to apartment 2. "I do, not a big one, but it should work. What was your idea?"

"Time for an extraction. I'd let the other boys know what's up and to get eyes on all exits of the building just incase Ely decides to run." (edited)

After catching his breath, Shorlu will head for the north east back exit, and keep an eye out for anyone trying to leave.

Testy sneaks over to the north west.

Adorhi heads to the corner of the building with Gauss where apartment 2 is located and does her best to pick a central spot in order to get through cleanly. "Here we go, boys!" she says to the others through her comm before firing up the fusion cutter and going to work. The sounds of battle of the Clone Wars were usually enough cover for the loud nature of the fusion cutter. There wasn't the same luxury here. The cutters in her hands were bittersweet, however. She began to get the usual rush she did when executing an extraction, but knowing what, or who rather, she was extracting dampened that feeling.

About a minute or so after the cutting begins, Kite spots a human exit the front door of the building, looking for the source of the noise. The man is wearing a sharp black cotton suit, accented with a red square of silk that emerges flawlessly from the breast pocket of his short coat.

Kite activates his head comm and says "We've got company it looks like a well dressed man probably the boss is looking for the source of the noise. I can eliminate him or we can try to grab him but we have to ask fast" He then levels his rifle at the man and gets him lined up in his scopes

Shorlu sighs. "I got a bad feeling about this," he breathes, before speaking into his comlink, now attached to his lapel. "Do what ya gotta do."*

"Acknowledged, Zed you should be able to get a bead on him as well. get a lock in him and then lets shoot on a 3 count. 3....2....1...go" Kite takes a deep breath steadies his aim while counting and gently pulls the trigger on go while aiming at the mans head

Zed exhales as Kite counts down and squeezes the trigger of his blaster rifle a millisecond after Kite says 'go.' Both bolts collide with the well dressed man and he hits the pavement hard. Zed moves out into the street to begin dragging the body back into his hideout.

A few moments later, the roof plating drops into the building with a clank, swiftly followed by a blaster bolt that fortunately doesn't come anywhere close to hitting Adorhi or Gauss. Cowering behind the bed in the room below is a Balosar who looks small, even for a member of his species. He's dressed in a gaudy suit of dyed leather that includes a green vest and bright blue pants tucked into black boots that rise to his mid-calf. His brown eyes dart back and forth like those of a hunted animal. Adorhi recognises him as Barin Trevina. "Stay back!" The thief yells as he shoots, his voice shaky. However, when he sees Adorhi Barin's manner shifts to one of utter surprise. "Tails?!?! Oh kriff, it's actually you. I thought it was a trick. What the hell do you think you're doing?!" (edited)

"What am I doing? Perhaps you'd like to answer that for yourself? But first, we need to get your ass out of here. You know how easily it would be for me to just let you rot, so don't screw around and let's move. Gauss, help me with this rope, will ya?" Adorhi unravels her fibercord and throws one end down into the apartment while handing the other to Gauss. With Barin holding on, she pulls with Gauss until the Balosar is on the roof with them. "Kite! Drop the cable from your end. We'll use it to scale down the building. Anyone have a bright idea of what to do then?" Adorhi yells in to her commlink as they rush to their initial arrival point on the roof.

"Let's make for the ship on the double," Zed says. "Even if we're not leaving, we can at least get Ely safe." Or safer, Zed thinks to himself. "We talk about the item we're searching for when we get back, unless he has it with him now. Feel like asking, Adorhi?" (edited)

"Sounds like a fine idea to me." says Shorlu into his commlink, as he peeks around the corner and signals to Testy. Together, they go around the building and meet up with the others before getting the hell out of there.

Kite undoes the line and lets it fall over. He says "I will keep watch until you climb down and then move out"

00:06

He keeps his target lock program running with the info feeding through his helms heads up display and keeps alert incase anyone else comes through the door

"Whoah, whoah, whoah, I'm not going anywhere!" Barin tells Adorhi incredulously, stepping back away from the dangling fibercord. "In case it wasn't obvious I'm hiding out here. You're making that kind of difficult right now. Why would I leave and who is that?" The Balosar demands, pointing an angry finger at Gauss. (edited)

"If you are hiding from Sable Dawn, you should probably do it somewhere else. They own this side of town and specifically this building."

"What? Bullshit..." Barin replies, but there's a clearly a waver in his voice as the news shakes his confidence. "Tails, what are you trying to pull?"

Barin, I could give a womp rats ass if you end up dead in this druk hole," she didn't really mean this, "but I'd prefer to stay in Prell's good favor by bringing you home. The Dawn are nothing to mess with and they will get to you if you stay here." Adorhi assumed she looked purple now that her blood had rushed to her face in the rage over Barin's foolishness. How he was Prello's number one she'd never understand. But still, number two to someone as influential as Prello wasn't bad either, right? And it was so much more than just a working relationship. Prello was like family to Adorhi. One of the few she could be close to among years and years of being on her own. Leaving her family was the hardest thing Adorhi ever dealt with, and in an exaggerated swing of the scales, she pledged to solitude and independence to prevent any possibility of that same devastating heartbreak again... ...even in a working relationship... ...with four trigger happy bucketheads and a living garbage disposal... As the hint of tears begin to surface, Adorhi shakes off her thoughts and again yells down to Barin, "You have two seconds to grab this rope and come with us, otherwise we'll take you back in a bag. One....two...."

"Okay, okay..." Barin concedes hastily, paling a little at Adorhi's threat. She doesn't look like she's joking. As the Balosar takes a step back towards the rope hanging through the roof of his safe house apartment, the door slides open to reveal two of the building's guards. "Hold it right there!" They shout.

While waiting for Barin to take the rope, Adorhi hears the apartment door slide open followed by a loud shout from someone on the other side. She takes a small step back to be out of their initial line of site while cursing to herself.

"I guess we're going hot!" Gauss exclaims as he clicks a setting on his bowcaster, charging it with a small plasma burst firing at the guard that opened the door. The bolt hit its mark, engulfing the man in fire and staggering him. Gauss immediately backs off so as to not get hit by return fire. "We have been found out, at least two targets outside Barin's room, southwest side of the building. Just look for the bright flickering light." He then gives a quick glance at Adorhi, who has backed off before the men could see her, "I set one on fire, the other is on his left, let's get this job over with." he says quietly to her. (edited)

Testy hears things going south on the roof right above him. He leaps up, grabbing the roofline and hauling himself up. As he runs towards the hole in the ground, he arms his frag grenade on the timer setting before lobbing it into the hole as he yells "Fire in the hole!"

Hearing the blaster shots Kite does a sweep with his rifle and not seeing any hostiles he opens his comm and says "what's the situation?" He then steadies his aim and readies himself to shoot the first hostile that pops out

Shorlu, with his carbine already out, keeps a watchful eye on the alley behind him, and the street ahead of him, anticipating reinforcements from either direction.

As Testy's grenade lands inside the apartment, the guards dive for whatever cover they can find, training their guns on the hole in the ceiling. Meanwhile, at the front door two more guards carefully peer around the edges of the entrance, looking for trouble. (edited)

Kite notices a guard peer around the door and thinks stupid shabuirs (mando for jerk), no battle field experience at all, poking their head out when an unidentified sniper is controlling the field He then brings up his rifle and lines up a quick head shot with the one on the left side takes a deep breath, lightly pulls the trigger and watches as the guards head explodes. It looks like those quick field mods to the rifle paid off he says into the head comm "not much of a safe house if your guards behave like adiiks (children) on the battlefield, you get what you pay for I guess. One down"

Shorlu catches wind of the two guards as they exit, though Kite is quick to annihilate the first one's skull. He fires off a few shots at the one next to him, but he's too far away to draw a bead on.

18:48

Regardless, Shorlu figures that the suppressive fire (and more importantly, his comrade's sudden death) ought to accomplish the goal of scaring the guard back inside.

The guard twirls on the spot in surprise as blaster fire assails him from several sides. He ducks back inside around the edge of the door frame and fires a retaliatory shot back up at Kite. A lucky hit grazes the sniper's shoulder.

A moment after Gauss fires a shot into the building, Adorhi sees Testy pop over the wall onto the roof, dash towards the opening, and toss in a detonator. "Are you karking mad?" Adorhi yells at Testy. She then steps back towards the hole, rope still held strong, and yells down to Barin ready to pull him up as quick as she can. "Get on the damn rope NOW!"

Zed hears the sharp retort of a few blaster shots and peels around the corner from where he dragged the body. He sees the being in the doorway aiming a blaster up at Kite's position. He stops, takes a quick look down the sights of his rifle and fires. The bolt slips between the narrow angle of the doorframe and tags the being in the shoulder.

Barin's eyes go wide as the grenade lands at his feet and suddenly the Balosar leaps into action. He's up the rope faster than most would expect him to manage and rushes past Adorhi to the edge of the roof. "Well? Are you coming?" The thief asks Adorhi, glancing back over his shoulder at her with a smirk. (edited)

"That's one way to get people to move!" Gauss yells out at the sight of Testy throwing a frag down the hole. As Adorhi helps Barin out of the room and onto the roof, Gauss sprints to the south side of the building, jumping off the edge, landing with a roll, before sprinting towards the other side of the street. When he gets a safe distance away, he quickly turns around and flips a switch on his bowcaster, charging it with plasma, watching the front door for the first guard to appear out of cover. "Front entrance is covered! Clear that roof!" he shouts out loud.

Testy follows Gauss, just glancing over his shoulder to see Adorhi pull Barin's sorry ass out of the fire and into the frying pan. Pulling the greatsaber from his belt, he toggles it on as he dives over the side of the building, digging the azure blade into the building to slow his decent. As his feat hit the ground, he toggles the saber back off, hearing the roar of his grenade detonate behind him and pumping his legs to put distance between himself and the safehouse.

Kite winces as the guard's bolt clips his soldier. Feeling some of the energy and heat of the bolt bite past his armor. Just a singe but still uncomfortable. He thinks As soon as I have the credits, I'm going to the clans on Mandalore and buying a set of Beskar'gam. This old armor, has done its job and I'm proud to wear it but it's a pale imitation of the real thing He then levels his rifle at the one who shot him and lines up a fast shot going for center of mass on the guard and catchs him right in the chest taking him down. Kite says into his head comm last visible guard on the ground has been neutralized. I'm bugging out from my post we need to disappear before Sable sends in their heavies" (edited)

14:05

He then runs to the exit in his building trying to move quickly if he can make it to the door he will try to sneak his way out

"You heard the man. Get your identical asses in gear and let's get out of here!" Shorlu adds into his own comlink before heading west, further down the street, and grabbing whatever cover he can.

Two additional guards emerge from the rear of the building, running down the sides towards Shorlu and Zed. These two don't bother with warnings, and the Ortolan is met with a hail of carbine fire as he retreats.

As Barin leaps up from the hole and runs towards the roofs edge, Adorhi does everything she can to resist pushing him over as she makes the dash herself. Without a second thought, she jumps off the roof, landing in a roll, and pops back up on her feet. A move she's made 1,000 and some times before. Her hand immediately goes to her blaster with the sounds of the very recent shots still in her mind. She takes off towards Gauss and Testy, in the direction of the continued alleys to find some cover. All the while being ready with her blaster for the first sight of the guards or any further trouble.

Zed sprints west down the road, moving to head off whatever blaster-wielding bastard poked his head out of the alley. He watches Shorlu nearly get cut down by blaster fire. "Go, go, go!" he shouts, perhaps unnecessarily.

Barin follows Adorhi, leaping equally gracefully from the rooftop... only to catch his boot on the edge and fall in a tangled and painful looking pile on the rocky ground outside. Standing and dusting himself down as though nothing has happened, the Balosar quickly hurries after his rescuers.

Shorlu scampers off quite handily, but just as he dives behind the wreckage of an old airspeeder, he is caught by a blaster bolt to the back. He lets out a pained whistle, but doesn't hesitate to turn and fight back; just in time for Gauss to toss him a recognizable kolto pack. "Thanks!" He yells as he jabs it into his back, healing the wound quickly.

As everyone else gets off the roof, Gauss turns around to start running west, when he see Snorlu get shot from behind. He yanks one of the kolto containers on his belt off and throws it to him, "Catch Snorlu!" he calls out. As he runs, he see the guard that shot him down the ally, he quickly turns to shoot back at him, but realizes he slightly out of preferred range of the old bowcaster, "Kriff, better take my time with this one" he thinks to himself as he looks down the sights, waiting for the assailant to get closer, so he has a clearer shot. (edited)

Testy sees shots hitting Shorlu and Gauss setting up for a shot on someone coming up the alleyway. He creeps along the edge of the building pulling out his chakram with the hand that is not holding the saber, ready to toss the vibrating ring of steel at any goons coming into view.

"How quickly can you get to us Kite?" Gauss asks over the comms. (edited)

Kite slings his rifle and starts sprinting down the stairs to the exit

Shorlu takes a moment to breathe, and more clearly takes in the situation. Kite should be making his own way down from his perch, no need to worry about him. Adorhi had Barin, and they were getting down with no problems, relatively. The other clones were on the approach as well, and could flank the guard that shot him. He scrutinizes the guard, and realizes he's seen many security forces use the same moves and tactics, and begins to predict them in advance. He aims at him and fires, but his calculated shot is thrown off by residual pain in his back. He drops down to his knees before the guard can shoot back.

The guards on each side of the building move closer to the street, raising their weapons to head off the intruders...

A blaster bolt from Zed's rifle was already flying by the time the guard's entire head had popped out of the alley. Taking the plasma to the chest, the being slams back against the wall of the next building. The being staggers back to its feet, hurt, but not killed. I might need a new rifle, Zed thinks, looking along the barrel of his old DC-17m. This old thing doesn't seem to be cranking out enough power.

As soon as the guard is within range, Gauss fires off his blaster, the bolt deviates slightly to the right, merely hitting the man in the arm, but the charged bolt sets him ablaze. That's gonna leave a mark, he thinks to himself. (edited)

The guard by the east corner of the building returns fire at Zed, catching the squad leader with a glancing bolt the knocks his shoulder back. Meanwhile on the west side the other guard sends blaster bolts sailing over the heads of Adorhi and Barin as they exchange fire.

Maintaining her trajectory towards hopeful cover, Adorhi checks over her shoulder for the pursuing guards and fires off a shot with her pistol. It connects and causes a stutter in the guards step but he pushes through. "Some boys just don't know when to quit," Adorhi mutters to herself as she lines up another shot to take the guard down.

Zed takes aim at the final guard, firing once -- into the guard's cover; firing twice -- right between the eyes. He looks at the rest of the group and their new Balosar companion. As the group hightails it away from the not-so-safehouse, Zed gestures at the Balosar. "You had better be the right guy," he says. "We're not going back in there."

"I'm not sure there is anyone left in there" Gauss says with a laugh. (edited)

Zed lets out a laugh despite himself. "Yeah, we sure did a good job of moping up in there."

"That jerk owes me a grenade."

Barin glances about at the clones a little nervously as the group disappear into the twisting streets of the Fissures. "Where did you find these guys?" He asks Adorhi incredulously.

Kite catches up with the group, checking for any sign of pursuit as he does so. Once he catches up he says "Feels like the old days brothers even though those shabuirs were easier to take down than the clankas" he looks at Shorlu and pat his shoulder and says "You came through detective, getting them to message Barin, made our jobs much easier"

Not now, Barin." Adorhi keeps her gaze forward as the group heads through the alleys to their ship. "And, we'll be the ones asking the questions."

The commotion in the Fissures clearly hasn't gone unnoticed. More than one group of what look like armed enforcers can be seen heading into the district as Barin and his rescuers cautiously make their way back towards the Slips. A short skiff ride back across the Cove to the Tethers and the Katarn's Bane can be seen moored up ahead... but something isn't quite right. The freighter is hanging at an odd angle and has drifted very close to a neighbouring vessel. As the skiff draws closer a Gran can be seen stood atop the other ship. "Is this your bucket of bolts?!" He demands angrily.

"Who, me? Ah, it was nothin'..." Shorlu says, waving off Kite. His blue cheeks grow a little darker. The happy moment is pretty quickly ruined though, as the Katarn's Bane comes into view. "Oh, Maker's sake, what now?" Once the skiff is close enough, he'll try to assess the ship for any damage.

18:11

He replies to the Gran as he does so. "Yeah, it is. And we've had a long day, so ease off with the attitude, drukhead!"

At the hostility from the gran and their new ortolan friend, Zed not-so-subtly brings his rifle around to be more obvious -- a deterrent to violence. Hopefully.

The Gran stalks up and down grumbling to himself as the skiff deposits its occupants atop their vessel. "Look what that scrap pile has done to my hull!" He yells across the gap. "That'll cost at least a thousand credits to repair. You'd better pay up, Ortolan, or mark my words there'll be trouble! "

The Gran's threats fall on now deaf ears, as Shorlu focuses on the ship. He enters it, and runs a diagnostic when he reaches the cockpit. He pulls his commlink and tries to contact Flynn. "Hey, come back to the ship ASAP. Something's screwy." As an afterthought, he glances at their antennapalp'd guest and adds, "By the by, we got the package." (edited)

According to the computer the ship is fine. However, when Shorlu comms Flynn he gets no response, which is unusual to say the least.

Zed shouts at the gran. "You're just going to have to wait a karking second there, friend, while we sort this out."

19:22

He activates his headcomm with a chin-toggle in his helmet. "Shorlu, we should probably get Flynn out here."

Zed reels in one of the loose lines and pulls it down to get a look at it. The line was corroded. It looks like it hadn't been checked, much less oiled in months -- probably years. Zed waves the corroded line at the Gran. "Not our fault. Talk to the Anjiliac goons."

Shorlu was relieved to see it was only the lines, but gets a bit concerned when Flynn doesn't respond. It had been a bit long without any updates from him.

"I agree, I'm not getting any response from him." He responds to Zed. He slouches back in his chair and sighs, putting a hand to his face. "I'm thinking I'd better go look for him. We oughta let our Epsis pals know we got "Ely" out too, before they get all restless. No evidence, though." (edited)

The Gran doesn't make any further accusations, but continues to prowl about on top of his ship, occasionally inspecting the damage and looking over to scowl at Zed.

Zed keep the gran in his periphery, making sure the being kept its three eyes on its own business. To the others over the comms, he says, "Some of us should go try to find our pilot and a few of us should remain behind to guard the ship." To Shorlu specifically, Zed says, "Does he normally disappear like this?"

"No, not quietly, at least." Shorlu thinks for a moment, and remembers with a harsh twinge of guilt, that there was a "McCarthy" here upset with him. I shouldn't have let him go alone. Instead, he got too caught up in chasing leads with this group. He gets on top of the ship again and speaks face to face. He boards the skiff, ready to leave posthaste.

Once onboard the ship Kite takes off his helmet and frowns. "Of course the pilot got himself kidnapped, finding him and babysitting Adorhi's competition is going to stretch us fairly thin. Shorlu does this ship have any defense mechanisms that we can turn on once we get upright again?"

On the ship, Adorhi grabs Barin by the shirt as she begins to head towards her cabin. She turns and yells at the others before slipping away, "Just to be clear, we're not going anywhere until I get back to Fische's." Turning back to Barin, "We have some talking to do," she dryly states as she pulls the Balosar into her cabin, locking the door behind them. "So...spill it!"

"None to speak of," Shorlu replies to Kite. "If someone's on board watching it while it's locked, it should be fine." "What?!" Shorlu blurts out as Adorhi yells before yanking Barin into the ship. He turns to the clones. "Look, my best friend's in danger, I don't really give a womp rat's ass whether she gets mad or not. Anyone coming with me to The Cruelest Cut, or what?"

After Adorhi pushes past and throws Barin into her room Kite scowls and says "Unkriffing believable." He nods at Shorlu and puts his mandalorian helm back on and says "Yeah lets go save your buddy so we can get off this rock"

"I was just about to say those two should get a room..." Testy trails off, a small grin growing on face. Turning to Shorlu, he nods, "Let's get your friend."

"Round 2, let's go" Gauss remarks as he grabs his Bowcaster and follows behind the others.

"I'll stay here and guard the ship," Zed says, moving to lock the door once everyone has left. "Shoot straight and run fast out there, squad."

Shorlu looks around to everyone on the skiff. "Thanks, guys. I really mean it." He raises Adorhi and Zed over comms. "We'll be right back, otherwise... well, take care of the ship!"

"Alright, alright, calm down!" Barin huffs at Adorhi as she manhandles him around. "Spill what, exactly?" Out on top of the ship, the Gran is on his comm, watching the gathering clones with narrow eyes as he talks. "You'd best be getting my money!" He yells as he sees them boarding the skiff. "I'll get it one way or another!"

"WHAT EXACTLY?!" Adorhi exclaims, loosing all restraint. "Perhaps why you're in hiding? And from the Sable Dawn? What does this all have to do with the Fell Star?"

When Adorhi mentions the Fell Star, Barin suddenly ducks his head and starts looking around, as though searching for eavesdroppers. "Sssh, don't just go bandying that name around, okay! I see Prello told you half the story. What do you know about Salovan Fische, Adorhi?"

"I only know the name Fische. One of the local bars here," Adorhi seems to think for a moment, "and out here, Fische's cove. Related? Who is this Salovan guy and how do they fit in?"

The skiff pulls off, and is piloted over to The Slips. From there, Shorlu and co. will head for The Cruelest Cut.

Barin sighs and rubs his temples. "Fische was a Corellian pirate captain a few centuries back. Real extravagant guy. He made this comet his base of operations, back before anyone else was here. Fische's mining droids carved out the first tunnels of the Fissures and he stashed aaall his loot away there. 'Fische's legacy' the locals call it, and every two-bit treasure hunter dreams of finding the hoard and making his fortune. Thing is, it ain't just one pile of booty. Fische hid caches all through the deepest parts of the comet, and the Anjiliac's have been digging them up ever since they took over." Barin watches Adorhi for a moment to make sure that all this has sunk in before continuing. "Now, it happens that I know a guy who claims to have found one. Sure, him and every other fool on this comet, you might say, but he described the Fell Star perfectly. Too perfectly. This guy has seen the thing. He tells me this whole tale about where to find it too... and the next thing I know the Sable Dawn are breathing down my neck. Still, Prello wants the thing and so here I am on Point Nadir waiting them out so I can go get it. Then you and your friends show up." "You trying to steal my job, Tails?" Barin adds with a wink.

By the time Gauss, Kite, Shorlu and Testy arrive at the Cruelest Cut, it's packed with raucous customers that can be heard from all the way down the street. In fact, the cantina is so full that patrons are spilling out the doors. Lights flash from inside the building and some kind of muffled commentary can be heard over the cheers and hubbub of the event's audience.

After a moment to take in the Balosar's words, Adorhi pulls up her comm and calls to Zed. "Thirsty? Let's grab a drink in the lounge. We're finally getting somewhere with our task at hand." Replacing her comm on her belt, she turns to Barin, "Come on. We'll talk more over a drink. Hopefully this hunk of scrap has something decent in the cooler."

Barin sighs in relief when Adorhi appears to relax a little, and hurries out to the galley, keen for the promised drink.

Zed pours out three tumblers of whatever Flynn had laying around as Adorhi and Barin come into the galley. Zed gives the glass a quick sniff. "I don't know what this is. The bottle doesn't have a label. But it sure smells strong," he says, coughing a bit at the strong, fiery smell.

Shorlu gets a patron's attention: "What's goin' on in there?"

"You must be new here," the heavy set man replies, "tonight the Floor is open!" From this close the sounds coming from inside are more directly audible... it sounds like somebody is being hit.

"I got a bad feeling about this." Shorlu mutters for the second time that day, as he starts making his way inside, putting his small size to use slipping between and underneath various sentients.

Shorlu gradually makes his way closer to what appears to be a fighting pit. The audience is clustered around it so densely that it's almost impossible to reach the edge. However, the fight is also being shown on several screens to expand the number of viewers. Almost unsurprisingly, Rider is in the ring. He's facing a Trandoshan significantly larger than he is, and to say that he's looking worse for wear would be an understatement.

"Dammit." Shorlu looks around to see if there's a boss here, orchestrating the pit.

All Shorlu can seem to find is the bookie's desk and the commentators' box overlooking the pit. (edited)

Shorlu heads up to the bookie's desk. "Hey, the matches here, they're not to the death, right?"

The Bith behind the counter shrugs. "Not always..." he answers. The reply doesn't fill Shorlu with confidence.

Growing concerned, Shorlu thinks up a lie. "I gotta talk to McCarthy. I have a huge bet in mind. Not the type to put on a marker, if you get me."

The Bith stares back at Shorlu with unblinking black eyes and gestures with what seems like confusion towards a fearsome looking man with sharp features and a red beard. He's stood on the far side of the Floor, right up against the barrier shouting and laughing.

Shorlu begins making his way over there, gesturing to the clones to remain on standby in case things went sideways. He'd have to do the talking. As he gets near McCarthy, he begins acting a bit more casual—given the environment, anyway. "Whoa-ho, alright, fight fight fight!" He does some half-hearted cheering and clapping. He comes close enough to talk to McCarthy over the furor. "Oh, Mr. McCarthy! Fancy meeting you here! Weren't you the one what set up this bout?"

Kite spreads out picking a position where he can see both Shorlu and get as close to the pit as he can. He does his best to blend into the crowd and not draw attention to himself. (edited)

At first McCarthy seems to completely ignore Shorlu. Perhaps he simply hasn't heard him yet.

Shorlu gives him a couple of firm taps to the knees, before speaking up even more. "HELLuva fight! Didn't you set it up, McCarthy?!"

McCarthy glances down at Shorlu like he's discovered an unpleasant stain on his shoe. "And who the fuck are you then?" He demands in thickly accented basic.

"Shorlu Podobo, private dick. And that guy currently getting the kriff beat out of him, is my coworker. Look, our boss Prello the Hutt, she'd love to have him back in one piece. And, well, able to fly a ship."

McCarthy scoffs a laugh at Shorlu's request. "Aye, I bet she would! An' I'd like my MONEY RIDER," he yells aggressively into the pit as the Trandoshan lands a particularly brutal kick in the middle of Flynn's chest. McCarthy's face turns bright red as he shouts, spittle flying in all directions. A moment later he reigns himself in and glances back towards Shorlu with a congenial smirk. "But we can't always get what we want."

"Okay, how much did he owe ya? We can get this sorted out, between you, me and my boss. You can still get your creds. But, and here's the kicker: won't work out if Rider is dead, or so broken he might as well be. Prello's all touchy-feely that way." Shorlu manages to keep the emotion out of his tone, though it's difficult. "I get it, he crosses you, you gotta teach him a lesson. Well, he definitely learned it by now. And if by chance he forgets, I'll be reminding him myself, hey?" Shorlu puts up his dukes and does a little shadowboxing to make his point, with a chuckle. (edited)

Zed slides a tumblers to Adorhi and Barin, then sits quietly. For the first time in a long time, he’s the outsider in a conversation. He knows that these two have history, and judging by Adorhi’s past comments and the yelling he heard from Adorhi’s cabin a few moments ago, it’s not a great one.

Adorhi takes the drink and gives it a quick sniff. It almost causes her nose to wrinkle, but after the days events so far, it's exactly what she wants. She gives a raise of the glass and a nod to Zed as she takes a seat. "Barin here was just about to tell me about a contact of his that knows the supposed whereabouts of Prello's prize." Adorhi turns to look at Barin as she finishes her statement, giving an expression of well, go on.

"Um, well," Barin stutters, "Ghorus is on Tatooine and I sort of had to leave town in a hurry, but he told me everything! If you can get me into the mines, I'm sure I can find it." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Twelve thousand four hundred credits," McCarthy rasps angrily at Shorlu, over-enunciating every number. "Even mummy dearest ain't gonna cough up that kind of cash for the likes of pretty boy down there." The crowd roars as Rider takes a scaled fist to the cheek. "Then again, he might not be so pretty when this is done!" McCarthy adds cheerfully.

Ever the sniper, Kite's eyes are drawn to the rafters of the building over the pit. If he could get up there, he could feasibly let a line down. Getting out again would be almost impossible surrounded by the angry crowd though...

As Adorhi searches the back of her mind for any trace of this Ghorus contact, she interjects Barin's plea to go spelunking. "I'm sure you can. But I think it would be a good idea to let the dust settle on the matter. In fact, I might have another job that could put some time and distance between the Dawn and ourselves." Now turning to Zed, "Something I think you bucketheads would lose your druk over at the chance of it. Fancy yourself an excursion out to a lost Lucrehulk?" Adorhi brings the strong beverage to her lips once more and takes another sip, all while keeping her eyes on Zed's reaction.

"Adorhi, you don't understand," Barin interrupts. "If Sable were after me, I'm willing to bet they found Ghorus too. We have to get in there before they find it first!" (edited)

Kite notices the rafters on the building and has the beginnings of an idea forming he comms Gauss and Testy & says "keep an eye on Shorlu, I'm going to scout around". He looks and walks around the room maneuvering around the crowd hoping to find a power juncture or control panel that would control the lighting for the building. (edited)

"Then it'll be me that gets you the credits." Shorlu says, with a furrowed brow. "All I want is for him to be left alive until I can come back with the money. That reasonable?"

Zed smiles a little at the mention of the old ship class. It wouldn't be the first time he and his brother's stormed a Lucrehulk. Probably fewer clankers this time. But Barin's point brings him back from his memories of the Clone Wars. He looks at Adorhi. "Not a bad point," Zed says, gesturing to Barin. "If we're going to get this Fell Star, we've got to move quickly. Though I think that myself and the rest of the squad would love to sink our teeth into a clanker ship -- at some point." He looks at Barin. "How long will it take in the mines?"

Kite spots a breaker panel through a swinging door labelled 'private'. A Gammorean bouncer stands watch outside. Meanwhile, Shorlu's hasty claim grabs McCarthy's attention, and the tall human looks back at the Ortolan like a bird of prey inspecting its next meal. Something seems to fall into place behind McCarthy's sharp blue eyes and he raises a hand to signal that he withdraws his fighter, illiciting a wave of boos from the crowd as the match is stopped and a bruised and broken Rider is carried off through a door in the side of the pit. "Aye, blue. You've got yourself a deal - except the price has gone up. You want pretty boy back, I want what I'm owed plus 15%, because he's late. You know, I can't abide lateness..." Back on the ship, Barin shrugs back at Zed. "A couple of hours, I think, as long as I can find the right tunnels." (edited)

Shorlu does the math in his head almost instantaneously—14,260 credits was no small sum by any means. He knows better than to haggle, though, when the life of his friend is at stake. "Alright, 14,260. Gimme 20 standard days, and you'll have your cash."

"Never have an issue with that, do ya Barin?" Adorhi says with a chuckle, full of sarcasm. "Now, Ghorus," speaking again to Zed, "he's an old, drunk pirate, and loves to flap his gums. If Prello is after this thing, then I believe that it does exist. But, any info or directions from that old smoke blower is nothing to count on."

McCarthy returns Shorlu's gaze with his own wild-eyed stare. "Two. Weeks," he corrects emphatically, "and not a day more, blue. You'd best be able to put that money where your mouth is, or mark my words it'll be you in that pit next time." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Barin's antenna twitch nervously. "Like I said, Ghorus described it too well to be making this up. We need to get there first." (edited)

"Fine. Two weeks. Be seeing ya." Shorlu kept his words short and clipped, then turned to disappear into the forest of clamoring folk.

Kite notices the crowd's reaction and sees that the Trandoshan had stopped using Rider as a punching bag. He looks around for Shorlu and not seeing him decides to hold off on his plan but he does make a note of where the power box is, and the door they took RIder through for future reference.

16:43

He then casually heads out of the bar and looks for his companions

Shorlu leaves the bar himself, and will beckon to the others once he's out of the raucous pit. "Guy wants money, of course. Let's talk about it on the ship."

17:16

He starts on the way there.

Kite nods and heads back to the ship keeping his eyes open for signs of any one tailing them

Zed takes a sip from his tumbler, staring across the table at Barin. The balosar seemed confident -- maybe overly so. This guy wasn't an operator. Zed wouldn't trust him to be at his back in a firefight or, say, storming an enemy occupied safehouse. But if Prello was to be believed, Barin knew his stuff. And he got results. "If time is of the essence, then we need to get into those caverns," Zed says. "Besides, according to Prello, you're both excellent at what you do. If you work together," he pauses, putting special emphasis on the word, "Then we'll be in and out before they even get here."

There was likely no use in fighting with the rest of the group. The mission afterall was to find Barin and if we could, the Fell Star as an added bonus. "Maybe only the former if your good buddy Test decides to recklessly throw some detonators around again. But whatever, if you want to follow a drunk man's lead into a bunch of caves, so be it. I do, however, need to give an answer on the Lucrehulk yet tonight." Adorhi finishes off her drink, and then stands up and heads to her cabin. Sitting on the bed, she props herself up against the wall and begins dealing out her cards for a game of Solitaire. (edited)

"I think it's safe to assume that we're in for the Lucrehulk job," Zed calls after her. As she disappears, he looks to Barin. "She seems to think you don't have it in you," he says, smiling. His eyes meet Barin's and his smile drops to a scowl. "You do have it in you, right, Barin? I'm not risking my men's lives on you say-so."

Barin holds Zed's gaze with a confidence that the clone has so far seen little of in the Balosar. "It's there," he replies with conviction. "Get us into the mines, I'll show you where and we all get a nice fat pay day."

"I'm in," Zed says. "I'm sure the others wouldn't mind a few more credits to their names." Zed finishes his drink. "Pretty sure there are some open quarters onboard if you want to get some rest. I can wake you up when the others get back."

Barin nods slowly and mooches off to find a free cabin.

22:14

A short time later, Shorlu and the other clones return with news of the events at the Cruelest Cut.

"So yeah, I'm a little stressed out," says Shorlu, popping meat snacks by the handful. He had just got done pacing around the lounge as he explained the situation. "I'm gonna need some creds—or barring that, a chance to plan out a way to kill the red-haired wahlahl." He stopped himself, and added, "Well, I'd need to know if he's untouchable first. Anyway, if you've got jobs lined up, I say we knock 'em out quick, and get some kind of cash flow."

Kite takes off his helmet and watches Shorlu pace and says "Yeah lets get Prello's job sorted, much easier to just have one group gunning for us at a time. Afterwards we will look into Macarthy's fate and what Rider is into to owe 11k to him. I'm happy to put a blaster bolt into Mac but coughing up 15k for fly boy is going to be a tough sell." (edited)

23:21

Kite pauses and adds "I need to find something worth while to trade or some credits but the information broker that led us to Barin could be a good first stop"

"Let's give him 15k for his ship and a job as our pilot," Testy grumbles mostly to himself as he chews on some tough rations.

"First things first," Zed says, having retrieved Barin from his borrowed cabin. "We've got to secure the Fell Star before Sable Dawn get to it. Then we can worry about Rider. Shorlu bought us plenty of time to get the money."

Kite sees the bottle on the table grabs a tumbler and pours himself a healthy drink and gulps it down quickly. He then dons his helmet and says through his helmets speakers "Lets move, Sable most likely has a head start but luckily for us a Squad of Clone Commandos" he looks around at Shorlu chuckles then adds "And friends. Is better than any of these Force pretenders. Lets put these Di'kuts (Mando for fool) down, and get paid" he then checks his rifle and makes ready to leave (edited)

Zed looks around and doesn't see Adorhi. "Kriff," he mutters, getting up from his chair. He walks to Adorhi's cabin and knocks on the door. "Adorhi. The others are back."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Shorlu says, feeling a little reassured. He then realizes Adorhi hasn't actually been around for the whole talk, but is glad that Zed went to go get her, so he didn't have to. He was still a little sore at her, and figures his own attempt to pry her out might come off poorly. He decides they'd have to quash their beef when he sees her though: going forward, group cohesion would be a must. (edited)

17:01

He reaches up to the table for a little liquid courage to help, only to find his and Rider's bottle of Zabrak-brewed Firewater empty, as everyone had been drinking it for a while now. His luck had always been on the downslide, but today was really not his day. (edited)

As Adorhi follows Zed to the Bane's lounge, she sees the stout Ortolan sulking over the empty bottle of alcohol on the table. She pulls out her flask of Sullustan gin and throws it over to him. "Hey Blue, catch. This is much better than that paint remover you had there. Any luck finding Rider?" She continues to survey the room, seeing everyone present, including Barin, and addresses the group. "So, what grand adventure is up next, boys?" (edited)

Shorlu catches the flask, feeling an odd bit of deja vu for when they first met. "Good news, and bad news. I did find him, but he's in deep with a gangster called McCarthy. He's having Rider get the kriff beat out of him in his fighting ring. Says he'll only let him go if he gets what Rider owes him: 14,260 credits. Lucky that a little mynock told me you found a job that pays 15 grand, huh?" He chuckles, then adds: "Eh, just joking, though. I'm not gonna cut into your or anyone's fair share of the profits." (edited)

At Shorlu's mention of the job, Adorhi immediately throws a look over to Zed. Her firewater clouded mind then clears, reminding her that the Fell Star gig also brings in 15k and she does her best to play off the sudden snap movement and expression on her face.

Zed raises an eyebrow at Adorhi's look, but keeps his mouth shut about the Lucrehulk for now. "Well, we've got the Fell Star job that we should move on quickly, according to Barin here," Zed says, gesturing at the Balosar. (edited)

Shorlu looks between Adorhi and Zed for a moment. He might've simply paid no mind, if he were just a bum off the street, as his looks suggested—but he was indeed a detective. "Wait a sec. I got a feeling I'm not in the loop on something here, run it back: do we have... another job that pays around 15 grand?"

Adorhi does her best to shake off any reaction to Shorlu's intuition and deflect his question. She steps towards him, hand out, in a silent request for her flask. "So, Barin, what all do you know about the Dawn?"

Barin freezes with a mouth full of booze, before gulping sheepishly. "They're big stuff on Point Nadir. They want the Fell Star and they're not afraid to kill people to get it." The Balosar shrugs. "That's what matters, right?"

Shorlu gives Adorhi a look, but takes a measured gulp from the flask through his trunk before returning it to her.

"Do you know anything about how the Dawn stands with the other groups on this rock?" Gauss asks Barin inquisitively. (edited)

"I think this whole rock is based on an uneasy truce, but I've really not looked any deeper into it than that," Barin admits.

Kite nods and says "Mirrors what Prello and some of the others have said. Lets head out, hopefully we can beat them there and if not we can gather some more info from them in person"

Barin checks his pistol in its holster and makes for the hatch. "We should head for the Fissures, that's where the entrances to the mining tunnels are. Just so you know - they are off-limits. The penalty is, uh, 'summary execution'. They're rarely patrolled though, if ever. Just, uh, keep your eyes open for ministry goons, or, you know, spiders..."

"Kriffin' hell. I hate spiders," Testy shivered. One of the side benefits of his kitteh was her constant vigilance against the insidious threat posed by creepy-crawlies. (edited)

Following Barin, Zed slaps his brother on the arm. "Could be worse. Remember the geonosian brain worms? I hate those things."

Once Shorlu has righted the Katarn's Bane and new moorings have been attached, the clones and their newfound friends catch a skiff back to the Slips, before heading for the Fissures. The streets seem quiet and at the rear of the enormous cavern the gaping tunnels at the entrance to the mines extend into darkness.

Shorlu identifies the entrance, and checks his weapon. "I don't picture this as an espionage kinda job. Let's get in and get out." He gets out a small glowrod, and activates it, casting soft green light into the mines.

Kite nods "right lets move quietly though, hopefully we can get the jump on Sable if they are here." He pauses and tilts his head and says "And a Giant Spider Fang would make for a great trophy if they are real"

"In that case..." Testy holds aloft his ignited saber.

Zed activates a glowrod and holds it in his left hand, bracing the rifle on his forearm. He looks a head into the tunnel. "This should be fun."

Gauss turns on the glowrod hanging from his bandolier "Reminds me of the Geonosian tunnels we had to climb through at the beginning of the war" (edited)

Testy shivers again as his mind drifts back to those tunnels. He moved as quietly as possible and, although never quiet as nimble as some of his brothers or Haspin, Test usually managed to get the drop on foes in these situations. But he didn't like it right now. Haspin had gone another route, and they planned to meet up further down the tunnels. That meant he was all alone up front, on point. He knew his brothers had his back, but right now he was more worried about what would be behind the next bend. As he rounded the corner, his infrared scopes lit up, revealing a mass of oddly-jointed, carapce-encrusted, wing-flitting geonosians waiting for him. He brought up his vibrosword quickly, but they pulled him in passing him through to a second wave of the creatures and he went down underneath them, their bodies crushing and pawing at his armor. His vision was blocked by the press of the bodies all around, tearing at him. He yelled for help over his comm unit and he quickly heard the reassurance of his brothers. They spoke to him, telling him they were coming. The sounds of blaster fire filled the claustrophobic tunnels and spoke to him too, reassuring him that they were, indeed, coming for him. He wasn't sure how long it took--perhaps mere seconds--but it seemed like the pressure and the quickly moving limbs everywhere would never let up. Until they did. And Zed pulled him out of the pile of corpses. The smell, not fully filtered by his helmet, should have nauseated him. But to him, the smell would always trigger feelings of relief and freedom. Of life.

Setting out into the dark, Barin leads Adorhi and her allies into the labyrinthine network of tunnels. They twist and turn, but the Balosar never hesitates, only muttering to himself as he repeats the old pirate's story back like a mantra. Eventually they come to a wide cavern that seems to have been expanded recently. The tell-tale signs of plasma diggers on the shaped walls indicate recent excavation, as does a large amount of fresh rubble piled in the corners. The sounds of small mechanical treads turning and whirring, accompanied by a glowing pair of droid photoreceptors, approach from the dark cavern ahead.

The small droid is low to the ground, and moves confidently on a pair of noisy treads. A single plasma jet projector emerges from a mount on the unit's back. It does not appear to have yet spotted Barin or Testy. In the distance additional droids can be seen rolling about and mining the walls.

Kite moves stealthily through the caverns bringing up the rear of the party, making sure they aren't being followed. He notices the mining droids at work he moves quickly and quietly to evade their notice. He sees Testy & Barin do the same and thinks Barin is a natural thief if I didn't know he was here I would have lost track of him. He looks at the rest of the party Good work brothers. Even Zed in his bulky armor is moving like a ghost through the caverns. He spots Adorhi moving stealthily but still standing out Adorhi has some moves but its clear why Barin is Prello's number 1 thief in comparison. He then sees Shorlu about to trip over a burnt out droid shell and silently rushes up and grabs shorlu by the shoulder and gently pulls back as Shorlu's foot clips the shell. A noise echos through the cavern but fortunately the droids fail to notice it. He pats Shorlu on the back and moves back into the rear position. (edited)

At first a little surprised, Shorlu steps back as Kite guides him, and gives a little signal of thanks. He keeps his glowrod covered, so as not to shine too much light and reveal them another way.

Testy continues to walk next to Barin, telling him to hush it up a little so as to not attract the attention of the droids. Barin asks in a whisper how they should approach the droid situation. "Keep trying to sneak, Barin. But don't look like your trying to sneak." Barin gives him a withering look. "I don't know...sneak casual." (edited)

The cavern is filled with rubble and loose rocks, making footing treacherous. The ceiling is relatively high, although smaller, more confining tunnels lead off to the left. At least seven droids trundle about the immediate area, using their plasma projectors to mine at the walls.

Looking ahead, Shorlu sees no easy way around the droids, nowhere to hide, and no likelihood of them simply abandoning their mining. He stands up a little straighter, and starts acting like he belongs here, hoping the others can pull it off too. For his part, he moves with rather convincing pomp and circumstance.

Shorlu strides through like he owns the place, but the clones are less convincing, armed and armoured as they are. Several of the little droids turn to face them, raising weapon-like protuberances from the top of their chassis. (edited)

Testy is practicing his calm breathing although he can feel the fear rising within him. As the droids turn on them, raising weapons, it's like he's back there again surrounded by Geonosians. But as he brings his arm down to hold the lightsaber between himself and the droids, his left hand joining his right on the long pommel, the fear vanishes, replaced by a calmness and focus as he becomes almost one with the closest droid. Bringing his visualization into reality, Testy rushes forward as the hum of the saber fills his ears as it rips through the air towards the droid. Just before connecting, his mind is filled with an...image...for lack of a better term...of scalding pain. He immediately twists the saber away from the droid into a defensive position as two gouts of plasma crash into him. The saber catches the streams, diverting the flows mostly around him, leaving his left side feeling a little cooked from the intense heat and his right side blistered from it. (edited)

Kite sees Testy rush forward and while thankful for the extra illumination is a bit concerned that Testy is still using the traitors blade. He shakes this thought aside and thumbs a switch on his rifle turning on his combustive shot protocol and thinks I will just have to add some light of my own. He lines up a shot at the droid Testy is rushing towards, Testy's blade isn't able to get a solid hit on the droid but the attack does push the droid right into Kite's sights. Kite lightly pulls the trigger and blasts a whole right through the droids center of mass. Setting the husk on fire with his Combustive Protocol. He holds position at the back of the group (edited)

The droids roll forward on their tracks, two of them spraying gouts of plasma at Testy and Barin. The Balosar quickly leaps out of the way, but Test is not so lucky and takes the brunt of the burning wave. Another pair emerge out of the darkness, launching devastating plasma bolts across a seemingly bottomless drop at Barin and Zed.

Zed drops to a knee as he takes the plasma bolt directly to the chest. His armor heats quickly, and he can feel the skin beneath begin to crackle and burn. He steadies himself, takes aim, and fires back at the droid, but the blaster bolt zings past as the droid slides out of the way. By instinct, Zed cries out, "Medic!"

Barin yelps in surprise and pain as the droids harry him and Testy with plasma, shooting an errant blaster bolt off behind him as he dashes back around the corner. It's a glancing hit, but a hit nonetheless.

Rolling out from any semblance of cover she could get from the cavern wall, Adorhi pulls up her pistol and takes a couple shots towards the mining droids now turned aggressors. The first hits its mark, and with a seemingly extra bit of force as it catches the droid off guard. Now aware of the new threat, the droid is able to avoid the second round from Adorhi's pistol. Out of options for now, she tucks back behind the cavern wall hoping to escape from the droids' memory, if only until she sees another opening at attack.

Shorlu darts around the corner, backing up Zed. He quickly takes stock of the situation, seeing that a number of their group was already seriously injured, and focuses on Testy, nearly surrounded by the attacking droids. "Test! Knock down the rubble!" It was a hasty plan, but it might just kill two mynocks with one shot: if a rockslide occurred, it could damage the droids, and hamper their attempts to get closer. He raised his blaster to help get the droids off Test for the idea to work, but couldn't split his careful attention between Test and the droid behind him, missing.

It's gonna get bright real fast!" Gauss shouts while running forward, launching an impact flash bomb from his wristpad to the other side of of the pit, "Flash out!" In an instant, a bright light, followed by an ear-piercing sound, fill the tunnel, blinding the sensors of the three closest droids to the explosion. Immediately after, Gauss hurls a kolto pack at Testy, which bursts into a healing mist. "I have your back Testy, throw those clankas into the pit!"

Shielding his eyes from the flash bomb and toggling his blade off, Testy grunts with effort as he pushes one of the droid's over the edge of the pit into the blackness. Pain lances through his shoulder as his tender flesh presses against the cold durasteel of the droid. Wish I could do this the way Haspin used to...with his mind.

Kite rushes around the bend and sees the bright flash of light go off temporarily blinding his scope. He shakes his head and whips his rifle around and targets the droid that Adorhi is blasting with her twin pistols and lines up another shot center of mass and blasts through it. He then taps on his data pad and syncs up a kolto pack for Zed and throws it over to him shouting Can't let you get roasted alive by the offbrand Clankas, us clones have a reputation to uphold.

Two of the droids close on Testy, extending whirring buzz saws on tool arms in front of them. However, Test is too quick for them, even slicing the saw off the front of the first. The blinded droids remain stationary as they reboot their photoreceptors and from behind them two more appear out of the darkness, launching further bolts of plasma at Testy. A glancing hit scorches him, but in his trance-like state he shrugs it off.

Zed catches the kolto pack and jams it into his chest, under his armor. The cooling surge of fast-acting medicine bolsters him, and as the pain leaves his mind, the combat instinct floods back in. Test engaging two contacts, two more within close range. Move to support. He sprints up behind Testy, placing a hand on his brother's back so he knows he's there, and doesn't slice Zed's head off with the lightsaber. Zed takes two quick shots at the droids across the seemingly-bottomless gap, damaging one. The second bolt strikes a unarmored part of the droid and with a small plume of smoke, its lights and photoreceptors go dark.

Barin presses himself against the rock, remaining out of sight until he dares take another shot, but the blaster bolt flies high over the top of his target. The Balosar curses and fishes a stimpack from his jacket, jamming it into his thigh.

Seeing Barin fall against the wall in a fury of pain next to her gives Adorhi a quick bit of twisted satisfaction given the wonderful situation this stoopa put her in. But quickly that fades and the frustration floods back in and stands in the way of her aim. Two more shots from her pistol, both coming up short. She rolls back against the cavern wall and takes a long look towards the way they came in. Do it, Adorhi, just leave this mess. (edited)

Shorlu watches with mild surprise as Testy, having expected the sudden flash, instead opts to shoulder check the droid adjacent to him instead. He suddenly remembers a crucial fact: these guys were clone troopers. They'd likely been working as a squad as far back as they could remember. It'd take more time together before they started listening to his half-baked plans over their own strategies. He spares a brief glance at Adorhi, wondering how she fit in with this squad—if she even did. His mind moving a mile a minute, Shorlu performs a cooling flush, then aims at the droid once more, scrutinizing it with his gaze. He wasn't an expert on droids per se, but he could start to see the patterns of its movements and attacks. He fires into the melee once more, a bit more accurately, but only grazing its armored exterior, doing no lasting damage.

Spotting a small group of droids directly on the other side of the pit, Gauss slips behind Shorlu, attempting to get a better shot, charging the bowcaster's spread shot. "Now, lets see how this spread fire setting works" he thinks to himself. Aiming between the two droids, the bowcaster makes a loud brruzzt sending several high powered bolts flying towards the droids, the attached power belt quickly cycling a new power cell. However, having not fired the weapon like this before, Gauss miss-judged his aim, missing both droids, blowing huge chunks into the walls and floor of the tunnel. "Kriff, lucky droids..." "Go for center mass Testy!" he exclaims to his brother, as several droids start to surround him. (edited)

The droids melt away and are replaced by geonosians in Testy's mind. Deeper in the mines and still no sign of Haspin. He and his brothers are all surrounded now. The Geonosians are as think as Corellian molasses. The stout, vibrating blade in Testy's hands flashes out, severing bony limbs as the scent of burning flesh--of freedom--fills his nostrils. His brothers' blaster fire rings out in a continuous blaze, but the Geonosians are coming too quickly. Then he feels a hand on his back and the flash of an extending lightsaber. Haspin's finally made it. They fight back-to-back, the five of them. A few minutes later, they stand alone in a small depression of corpses, walled in by the vanquished, and collapse together as one, still back-to back. "What took you so long?" Testy asks Haspin. Oh, your mother and I had a previous engagement." Haspin replies, the grin on his face visible in the sound of his reply. Unconscious of the current threat, Testy's humming blade slices through the next droid as Zed's hand touches his back, indicating his presence. (edited)

Kite runs forward ejecting his rifles power cell as he runs and jamming a new one in once he gets into position. He sees that Testy is still being harried by one of the droids he then raises his rifle and takes aim at one of the pesky clankas. He begins to pull the trigger but his HUD display targeting protocol lets him know that shot would fail to hit the droid so he slightly adjusts his shot and pulls the trigger catching the droid center mass and bringing it down.

One more droid emerges from the shadows, even as the remaining automatons advance on Testy and Zed. One plasma bolt flies past the lightsaber while another slams into Gauss's armour. The remaining two mining bots send burning waves sweeping over the two frontmost clones, who drop to the ground as they succumb to their wounds.

15:44

Once more, Barin pops out of the shadows behind Adorhi, this time placing an unexpectedly effective blaster bolt. There's a loud band and the rearmost droid grinds to a halt with a puff of smoke.

Shaking her desire to run, Adorhi again rolls out from the corner of the cavern to take another shot. The sight of two of the clones down rattles her. One more than the other, at least. Testy and his big ego, his pride for killing their leader. Making a point that Haspin was Togruta, and using Adorhi's native tongue, a slap in her face. Throwing around his lightsaber like some hot shot; likely a compensation for his own shortcomings. She'd never find a way to let her guard down with him. But Zed. Adorhi liked Zed. The only one so far who seemed to give her a fair chance, who seemed to understand that she was a complete outsider to the rest of the group. The only one she would've, and did, tell about the Starworm. Kite, Mr. Tactical Droid himself, didn't seem to be able to read an emotional situation outside of a training sim even if it hit him in the face. Gauss. Gauss wasn't bad, just a little stiff sometimes. And Shorlu, not a buckethead, although maybe that would've been better as you might know what you're getting. On her own, she'd have been careful. But once again, she was helpless. Thrown into this group of others and with no way to help her fallen counterpart. Her shot goes wide...

As he sees Testy and Zed go down, Shorlu redoubles his efforts. Though he hadn't known them as long as he had Rider, he knows he'd need everyone's help to even have a chance at getting him out. He hones his focus on the previously damaged droid, using its predictable movements to line up a shot straight to its core, finishing it. Knowing they'd retaliate, he takes several steps back out of precaution, but running is the furthest thing from his mind. (edited)

"Kriffing clankas" Gauss curses under his breath, as the plasma bolt hits him. As he recovers, he spots Testy and Zed both falling unconscious, he sprints towards his fallen brothers. Before he is even close to them he has thrown a kolto pack at Zed, the green mist regenerating some of his burns. As he gets to Testy he yanks off the traumakit hanging from his backpack, using the bacta stim and gauze bandages to alleviate the wounds and get Testy on his feet. "Get 'em brothers" He says with a pat on their backs, before retreating a short distance away. (edited)

Testy's mind is shocked back to the present as a hit of adrenaline courses through his system from the stim. He hears Gauss urging him on, the final two droids a few feet from him. He pushes himself to his knees and then his feet, and reignites the lightsaber right in the first droid's head. It ceases functioning.

Kite sees Zed & Test go down and nearly freezes thinking This can't be the way the squad ends, not after all we survived, from the killing fields of Geonosis, to the daring outer rim raids, and even surviving the incompetence of our so called enlightened leaders. It can't all end with us going down to some knockoff Clankas He then sees Gauss rush and heal both of them and loudly whoops and shouts "Kandosii Gauss, lets end this" (mando for good job) He then levels his rifle at the last one and pulls the triggers. rushing to his comrades after the droid crashes to the ground. He slaps Zed & Test on the back and says "Thought we lost you two, thankfully Gauss was able to patch you di'kuts up. He looks at Test and says "we really need to get you a good blaster, that things is going to get you killed"

"Ow," Zed winces as he staggers to his feet. He stretches and feels the burned skin pull taught. He coughs with the pain. Going to be a rough time until I get a good bacta soak in, he thinks to himself. He sees Kite's blaster bolt destroy the last droid and begins to scan the immediate area for any other signs of trouble.

22:00

"Everyone okay?" he asks.

"I'm good, let me see those wounds Zed." Gauss says as he starts first aid on him. (edited)

"Thanks, brother," Zed says, sitting on a nearby rock while Gauss patches him up.

Testy looks down at the saber in his hands. "If the force wills it," he says under his breath.

Kite gives Testy another pat on the shoulder as he looks deeply at the unlit saber, and walks over and checks on Barin and says "How you holding up? You got a nice shot in there at the end, can definitely see why you've made a name for yourself with Prello"

Barin leans against the rocky wall of the tunnel, steadying himself as his breathing slowly returns to normal. "Not my first firefight," he quips back. "Thanks though. You too. I wonder what they were digging for." (edited)

"Think it was your Fell Star?" Zed asks, checking his weapon's charge.

"No... that cache is deeper in. We need to continue through the back of this tunnel. Still, who knows? Maybe Fische stashed something near here too."

"You really want to stick around?" Zed asks. "That wasn't exactly quiet. Someone might have heard."

Barin shrugs. "I think those were the guards. There's nobody else out here to hear. Well... except maybe Sable." He adds with a gulp at the end.

"We could hole up nearby and patch ourselves up. Keep an eye out for any more droids or Sable guys," Shorlu says, cooling his blaster before slinging it in his jacket's holster. It made sense that they'd keep mostly droids around here to simultaneously guard the area and do the dirty work of mining. But still... better safe than sorry. (edited)

22:34

He approaches the droid wrecks, and starts picking through them.

Kite nods looks at his wrist pad and says "I agree I think a quick rest would be useful for everyone. My armor's energy is drained I should be good in an hour though. Also give us a bit to continue patching up, if we come up against the force imposters again we don't want to fight wounded"

Kite takes a quick look around the cavern while Shorlu is tinkering with the droids to see if he can find any additional info on what they were digging for

Shorlu squats down and sets to work, explaining as he went. "See, what I'm looking for here is any kind of relay. If they're equipped with comms and let somebody know about us before engagin', we'd obviously be in deep poodoo. I uh, actually meant to try and stun the last one of these, so the internal components wouldn't be too damaged and make this easier." He looks back over his shoulder. "Oh, no problem there, you guys really clean house." He gives a little thumbs up to the clones.

"You should have seen us when we had our military grade equipment, those droids would not have done such a number on us." Gauss says with a half-winded chuckle.

"Eh, in my experience, it's not the size of the blaster, it's how ya use it." He chuckles a little at the innuendo in his kernel of wisdom, before yanking out a particularly stubborn part, recognizing it as a plasma cell. "Speaking of blasters, Happy Life Day." He tosses some plasma cells around to anyone who wants them, keeping one for himself. He then indicates a couple of heavy armaments mounted on the droids, easily detached. "These babies still work. Just gotta do a little retooling, if you're up to it. This pachyderm needs a break." He stretches his short limbs and sits on a bit of rubble for a rest.

Zed yanks the makeshift blaster cannon off the droid and hefts it. It was a heavy, unwieldy thing -- but serviceable. He loads a power cell into it and checks the charge. Levels look good. This thing looks like garbage, but it could pack a punch. He gets to work on the rifle, removing the shoddy integration patch extra bits of soldering. "I'm with Shorlu. Let's take a bit of a rest, then continue on our way. Keep your eyes and ears up, though. Don't want any of those Sable shabuire to catch us flat-footed."

Shorlu's gaze was drawn back to the lightsaber when Kite remarked on it. He'd noticed it before, in more tense situations like the one just now, but only now did he fully consider how odd it was for him to be carrying it around. "So, where in the kriffin' hell did you get that from, anyway?" He says in reference to it, while dimming his glowrod. "Rider could probably use a laser sword himself, maybe he wouldn't get grabbed so easily." He opted for the colloquial term, though he had learned quite some time ago that they were actually called lightsabers.

"I don't think they are easy to come by. This one...I got from a Jedi after we...after he died. How did you get mixed up with Rider anyway?"

Interjecting, Adorhi says, "How did he die, Test?"

Twisting his head up to look at Adorhi while his face twisted with emotion, his eyes reddening, Test responds. "How did he die? He died in confusion. He died a hero. A hero confused by why his friends were betraying him.". Switching to Togruta, he adds "Because we were following orders." Testy spits and gets up in frustration, going over to the cave wall and punching it hard enough to draw blood.

In Togruta, a sarcastic reply, "A good soldier follows orders."

"We were the kriffinest best soldiers in the kriffin' Galaxy!" Testy shouts back at her in Togruta, pointing his bloody hand at her. "I wish he had been faster! Fast enough to kill a bunch of lousy test-tube-grown, motherless son's of bitches. But we were kriffin' good. And kriffin' cowards!"

Testy hits the rock wall with a resounding crack and a small portion crumbles away, leaving a palm-sized hole that reveals a hollow space on the far side. (edited)

Zed drops his rifle and intercedes himself between Testy and Adorhi in perhaps a futile attempt to hold his much-stronger brother back, should he choose to do something rash. He looks at Adorhi. "We were tricked," Zed says. "We were pawns in a much larger game." (edited)

Kite grimaces under his helm after Testy barks out that the traitor died a hero. He almost lets it go until Zed add on that they were tricked. Kite jumps to his feet and removes his helmet and breaks his usual monotone speaking pattern and shouts "The only deceivers were the jedi. They orchestrated the whole war, in a bid to take over the Republic and turn it into a jedi run theocracy. Fortunately the Chancellor was able to see through their lies. We were made to serve the Republic not the traitors, we didn't just follow orders we did our duty to the Republic itself." He looks like he is going to continue until he sees that Testy's blow left a hole in the cavern wall revealing a hollow space. He places his helmet back on and moves to look at the hole

"What Republic?" Zed says. "It's gone. The chancellor wanted power, and the Jedi were in the way. He orchestrated the war, not the Jedi." Adorhi and Shorlu can easily tell that this conversation has been had before between the clones, in more or less the same way.

Through the gap in the rock, Kite spots some kind of metallic silver container. It's engraved with #43. With a little more firepower, it should be possible to enlarge the gap. (edited)

As he is looking over the wall Kite still emotional but getting closer to his normal tone says "The Senate used their power to make the Chancellor an Emperor, he was duly elected. The Jedi sent assassins in the night to kill him. They probably expected us to back them in their bid for power, but fortunately we did our duty" He pauses and then says the "It looks like there is a metal container behind the wall with the number 43 on it"

17:38

He adds in near monotone again "the Chancellor held the Republic together, he couldn't have orchestrated the war. The jedi on the other hand had one of their most accomplished masters leading the CIS."

Calming down, his tone turning into a sneer, Testy replies to Kite, not for the first time. "You don't even believe you're own bantha poodoo. Why shouldn't a Jedi lead the CIS? What's wrong with wanting an independent system from the Republic anyway? Which faction used slaves as soldiers and which used machines?" (edited)

Zed sighs. He was never going to get through to Kite. The Chancellor had used his own power that he had convinced the senate to give him to make himself the emperor. He never surrendered his emergency powers. And as for Dooku leading the seppies, Haspin had said that Dooku was one of the Lost 20, or something like that. As for Testy's comment, Zed didn't have any grand ideas about what kind of system would have been better for the people of the galaxy. But he knew it wasn't this one. The Empire was cruel on its best days, and probably genocidal on its worst.

Kite scoffs and says "You are right the faction with the entire jedi order on its side was the one who ordered our creation, and made us the finest army in the history of the galaxy. You may think you were a slave but I was a soldier and fought with pride. But if you feel you were a slave then Haspin was the one holding your leash" (edited)

"I didn't kill the entire Jedi Order. Maybe the Order was corrupt. I don't know. But I killed Haspin. And you and I both know he didn't treat us as slaves, even if we were. And if we were just soldiers? Then you executed your commanding officer. No court martial. No military tribunal. Just your blaster and an order. From some other superior."

Kite shakes his head Haspin did treat our squad well, but Kite never understood the Force and seeing its power made him uncomfortable. Especially when the jedi used the force to impose their will on others minds. Kite in the back of his mind always feared that they would one day turn the power on him and his brothers. Part of why the jedi coup and order 66 made sense to him, he thought they overplayed their hand and paid the consequences for their betrayal. He sighs and says "We killed a traitor at the behest of the Supreme commander of the GAR. But I don't want to fight with you brother I choose to run with the squad vs staying in the Empire. We've all made our choices, keeping each other and the squad alive is all that we can do now" (edited)

Kite and Test's debate brings it flashing back to Zed's mind. His holocomm beeps. A hooded figure appears. "The time has come, sergeant. Execute Order 66." And mechanically, he replies, "Yes, sir." Only after it had already happened, did they stop to think about it. It ate him up inside every time he thought about how quickly they had acted. They were good soldiers. But whatever scheme the now-emperor had plotted had torn them apart. Now, we brandish lightsabers in the faces of scared children just trying to get medical supplies. Some soldiers we are. (edited)

Shorlu was a bit taken aback—he wouldn't have guessed the wounds that he'd be opening up here. Whatever had been going on between the GAR and the Jedi Order, the details hadn't been made public; all he knew was that the Jedi usually led the clones on the battlefield, right up until it was announced that they had attempted some sort of coup, trying to assassinate Palpatine. Had he still been at IntSec, maybe he would've had access to more details... but here were people who'd lived it right in front of him, a stellar opportunity! (edited)

"At the very least, the Empire has not treated its people well, why else would we be in Hutt space, rather than heroes of the war?" "If the Jedi did betray us, the Empire has as well. We can only do what we can do, together. " Just now noticing the hole in the wall with the metallic box, Gauss starts walking slowly towards it; flashes of the events at the end of the war racing through his mind. "Now let's see what is inside this container, hopefully it will lighten the mood." (edited)

"Sorry, I've just been curious about this whole mess since it got started. I didn't mean to start a squabble. I always thought there was more to the story, though." He looks each of the clones over, noting their reactions to the topic as it was broached for probably the umpteenth time among them, specifically looking for trauma. Brothers in arms don't just up and turn on each other because of orders, I know that for sure. The entire clone army had been very quick and unanimous in hunting down the Jedi they'd been serving less than a day ago.

"It was going to come up sooner or later," Zed says, returning to his blaster and hefting it. "We've been around and around this argument before. We've got our disagreements, fundamental though they might be. But we're brothers. That bond comes first, and it can't be broken." As he said it, he made a silent prayer to the Force or whatever the hell was out there listening. Please let that be true. He turns to the hollow section of rock. "Well, you heard Gauss, Testy. Cut the box out of there and let's see what's inside." (edited)

"Psssshhew. Vwwomvwomm. Ksssssssssssssssssssss......"

With a hiss of molten rock the remaining chunks fall away, revealing a hollow on the far side. A pale light emanates from behind the rounded silver locker. Some kind of creamy fluid has leaked from the back of the chest, resulting in the growth of a small cluster of cyan crystals on the stone wall behind it.

As Testy pulls out the container, Gauss sees the faint light coming from the crystals that were behind it. He moves closer to them, a faint memory of Haspin appears in his mind. Haspin had often meditated alone in his room on their assigned Venator cruiser, one time Gauss came to inform him on information about a mission they were on. The Jedi had been slowly deconstructing and reconstructing his lightsaber, to Gauss, it seemed to be how the jedi kept maintenance on their sophisticated weapons. He saw a small blue crystal floating in the air, before being slotted into the hilt of the saber. "Hey, these crystals that were behind the container resemble the ones used within the lightsabers of the jedi." Gauss says as he slowly recalls the past. "I'm not sure what they used them for, but they did seem important to them." (edited)

"Y'mean besides powering that weaponry of theirs? Well, they're pretty rare. I bet anyone would keep em close." Shorlu shrugged. "Uh, speaking of which, if there ain't any objections, maybe I could pawn these for a profit. I don't want to be thinking of money first but, 'we can't always get what we want.'" Shorlu says this last sentence with an overdone, sarcastic parody of McCarthy's thick accent. He spits on the ground.

"An objection, indeed, sticky fingers. Did that brilliant investigative mind of yours even think for one second that this could be our quarry?" Slapping Barin on the back, "You've got the details, this look like anything of importance?" (edited)

Shorlu snorts. "Ah, come off it kid. As if the legendary Fell Star, sought by the wealthy, was this little lump of crystals, growing out of-" He sniffs at the weird, creamy substance with disgust. "Whatever this gunk is. Euch."

"Besides, Twinkletoes said the cache we were looking for was further in."

"My friends, I do believe that we have stumbled across one of Salovan Fische's hidden caches!" Barin declares with a broad grin, eagerly wringing his hands. "Not the Fell Star, but hopefully still something valuable or useful. Shall we open it?"

"Might as well, although it might be a good idea to check for traps; pirates probably don't take kindly to others taking their loot, wouldn't surprise me if he left a little present attached to his caches."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind holding in to onecor two of those crystals, but otherwise, have at it. As for the box, unless you think you can open it, Gauss?" Testy gestures to the lightsber blade.

"Let's check it for any surprises first" Gauss remarks to Testly before having a look-over the box. After a short amount of time he finds explosives strapped to the underside of the container, latched to the lid of the container, which sets them off when opened. "We got explosives. Zed, wanna exercise your demo expert muscles? They are located on the underside, hooked to the seal. The rest of us should stand a safe distance away, just in case." (edited)

Zed pulls out his bomb disposal kit and goes to work. He carefully removes the outer plating of what was essentially an anti-personnel fragmentation mine, leaving magnetic strips on each of the four corners, as to not detonate any anti-tampering failsafes. Swiftly and assuredly, he begins to work on the internal wiring, removing components from the actual explosive, which was a small detonite charge surrounded by metal shrapnel. "This is pre-Clone Wars era junk," Zed says. "Even the droids had better bombs than this." In a few minutes, the bomb is disarmed and the box is ready for opening. "Easy," Zed says, dusting his hands off. The bomb defusal was actually less stressful than the conversation they had been having.

As Testy holds the light for Zed and hands him tools, Testy quietly says, "Hey, brother. I appreciate what you were doing back there, but you know I wouldn't hurt someone over an insult or because I got hot under the collar, right? Adorhi might be a moof milker sometimes, but she's one of us for now. And even if she wasn't...well, that's not the kind of man I am. Anyway, sorry for getting heated." Testy lets out a little laugh. "She really does get under my skin though."

"I didn't for a second think that you would do anything like that," Zed says while he works. "But I wanted to make sure that she knew that, you know?" There's a few moments of silence before Zed speaks again. "You know, I think that he'd be proud of how you've taken up his saber."

Stepping up to the metal container, ignoring the thick tension towards her from the two clones, Adorhi pulls out her tools and prepares to do her thing. "I'll take your not stepping back as trust in your work, Zed," she says with a dry smile. "Let's see what's in box number 1!"

The brief reverie broken, Zed stammers a bit before answering. "Uh...I guess we'll see, won't we," he says, not stepping back.

With a couple of helpful tips from Shorlu, Adorhi's deft hands make quick work of the aging mechanism. There's a soft click and then a hiss as the container decompresses, releasing a chilly puff of centuries old air as the top swings open. It looks like some kind of cryogenic storage unit, which explains the coolant leaking from the back. Inside, a series of pen-style injector vials are arrayed in a grid of vertical chambers. Those on the right hand side look oddly discoloured, but six on the left end of the case appear to have survived, along with what look like three energy shield type devices.

Kite sees the loot letting go of some of the earlier tension and remembers that the number 43 was on the crate. He says "Lets keep our eyes peeled, the crate had 43 written on it so there may be more scattered around the area"

Shorlu compares the stuff in the vials to the slime leaking out, realizing that the medicine must've had some chemical reaction. He gently pries the crystals off of the wall and places them in a small container. "Like I said, no Fell Star, but they might be worth something." He remembered a pretty amusing case he had in his old career, the client being a rather ditzy Coruscanti celebrity who got swindled for fake diamonds. He then looks over to Barin. "There's seriously at least fourty-two more of these things in these tunnels?"

"Hundreds, if you believe the legend," Barin confirms with a nod, "and Zietta isn't exactly publicising how many her goons have already found."

Inside the lid of the cryo box, a still hologram of a man in an old fashioned uniform flickers. He grins knowingly at whoever is in front of the container.

Gauss takes the various stims and puts them with his gear. "Oh, hi little man." He says as the hologram appears. (edited)

The holo doesn't react. It's clearly just a still image.

"Salovan Fische, I presume," Zed says, gesturing at the hologram. "Ostentatious."

After seeing the crystals Kite is a bit uneasy Between the Sable members casual force use, and now confirmation that the stash may actually have jedi relics. Sable may be working to restart the order or at least establish themselves as a new sect of force users Kite clenches his fist and swears to himself that will not happen. "We should move out, with the confirmation that Fische actually has jedi relics, we can't allow them to fall into Sables hands."

Barin leads the group on through the tunnels and after another hour or so the passage opens up into into a large natural cavern that extends off into the darkness. The air here is still and motes of dust float lazily through the air. Though the atmosphere is still breathable this far from the dubious comforts of the shadowport, the temperature is near-freezing, and the gravitational pull of the comet is low. A series of dark chasms abut the path, one to each side, their depths lost in darkness. Footing along the meandering path is treacherous and the ceiling is high and cracks and crevices give it the appearance of a rocky moonscape. "Ghorus spoke of this place," Barin murmurs, "Fische's legacy should be on the far side."

"Nice place," Zed says, scanning for signs of movement. "Pirates always pick the nicest places to bury treasure."

Shorlu sighs, his breath becoming visible in the frigid air, but is clearly not bothered by the cold. The shadowport proper was bad enough, but this place really gave him the creeps. "I've got my reservations about following some geriatric pirate's directions, but I'll credit him for knowing about the caches."

Just as the group pass the half-way point along the path, two bulbous creatures the size of a man emerge from the shadows. Five spindly legs sprout from their bodies and a single mouth surrounded by five jagged beaks and five black spots flexes open and closed menacingly. They leap at Kite, snapping viciously at him, but the clone's reactions are too fast.

Testy, always alert for danger, sees the movement of chitinous limbs gathering to propel hideous spider-like bodies towards his brother. Shouting, knowing it is to late to effectively warn him, Testy brings his already-lit saber down in a swinging arc severing one of the many legs from the closest beast as it tries to strike Kite. (edited)

Kite hears a faint rustling and jumps to the side just in time to avoid the two beast's mouth. As he dodges the spider he sees Testy rush forward and slash one of monsters with his saber. Kite realizes he is to close to use his rifle and doesn't want to give the beast an opening to take another bite at him so unsheathes his vibro blade and makes a deep slash at the monsters face

Testy sees Kite dig his knife into the beast, and he follows up the downward stroke of the saber with an upward one, slicing the beast clean in two.

Zed moves up next to their new ortolan friend and raises his new cannon, aiming at the remaining spider. With a squeeze of the firing stud, the industrial cannon jumps back into his shoulder, releasing a destructive blast of yellow energy. Woah, he thinks, allowing himself a slight smile under his helmet. Not a bad piece of armament. He pulls the firing stud again, tagging the spider in one of its spindly legs. It manages to steady itself, much to Zeds chagrin.

The blast from Zed's assault cannon echoes about the cavern, disturbing five mynocks from their resting places. The creatures are blue-gray in colour and flap about on leathery wings. They swoop about and caw menacingly.

After the loud blast from Zed's weapon, Adorhi pulls up her pistol to hopefully finish off the creepy crawly. The piercing sound of mynocks fills the cavern but she holds her concentration and is able to put down the remaining long-legged beast. With that threat taken care of, Adorhi takes aim towards the swooping creatures above and manages to snag one in the wing on its pass overhead.

The mynocks swarm the group on the narrow pathway, slashing with razor sharp claws and battering with their wings as they fly by.

22:33

Barin runs for the cover of the tunnel ahead, shooting wildly over his shoulder at the mynocks as he goes.

In the space of a few seconds, Shorlu whirls around to see Kite narrowly dodge two spiders swiping at him, only for them to be sliced and shot to death. For just one second, he lets his guard down. Just in time for a cobalt mynock to swoop in and rake him hard across the back, aggravating an old wound. "Gyaaargh!" He shrieked from his trunk, as he got eyes on the mynocks. Dammit. Never can catch a clean break on this rock. He watches the mynocks flitting in the dark carefully, ready to get out of the way when they inevitably came back for seconds. He makes ready to assist Zed, figuring the big gun ought to take them out easiest. "Zed! Light those sons of bitches up!" (edited)

As the mynocks swarm them, Gauss pulls out the repurposed vapor projector and points it towards the closest group. "This had better not explode in my hands" he thinks to himself as a wave from fire engulfs two of the mynocks. One managed to avoid most of the blast, but the other was not as fortunate, it's flapping body scorched from the flames. He then quickly throws a pack of kolto at Shorlu before bringing his attention back to the swarm. (edited)

Kite sees Testy slash one spider in half and then Adorhi blast the other. He looks up to see Mynocks swooping down and Gauss blasting them with fire. He then unslings his rifle and takes a shot at the one above Shorlu's head. Hitting it with a glancing blow. (edited)

Testy begins to run after the disappearing Barin, running right past two Mynocks. Slicing one in half, the other rakes his shoulder lightly drawing thin, shallow lines of blood.

Zed runs forward and jams the blaster cannon into a mynock's fleshy body and looses a bolt, transforming the power-sucking parasite into a pile of goo. He takes a calming breath and runs after Barin. "We've gotta move! Everyone move!"

As two of the mynocks thump to the floor from Testy and Zed's attacks, Adorhi starts her move towards Barin and takes a couple shots at one of the remaining creatures. Their erratic movement combined with Adorhi's focus on escape is enough to throw off her aim, both shots missing their target.

The remaining mynocks swoop back and forth, strafing both Kite and Zed, but the battle-ready clones are too fast for them.

20:24

Meanwhile, Barin ducks inside the mouth of the next tunnel and ineffectually makes potshots from a distance.

Shorlu grabs the kolto pack out of the air and injects it into his back. His almost crippling pain is quickly replaced with invigoration, allowing him to spring into action, darting towards the next tunnel with Barin and Adorhi.

Gauss quickly reloads the projector with another tank before moving with the rest of the group, firing another stream at the closest mynock. Which escapes the flames relatively unscaved.

Kite sees the party running off and sprints to catch up with Barin. Keeping his eyes on the Mynocks as he runs

Testy settles on defending the party as they flee from the mynocks, readying himself to attack the first one that comes into range of his blade.

Zed sprints after Barin and the rest and takes a knee at the mouth of the tunnel. His eyes dart between the three remaining mynocks, trying to judge which one would be the first to attack.

With a bit more focus, Adorhi hits with a couple more shots at a mynock while still making her way deeper into the cave.

As the mynocks dive towards the group, Zed takes aim at the one swooping down toward Gauss and blasts it into tiny pieces.

The mynocks continue to harry the group as they head for the tunnel on the far side. Another swoops in towards Shorlu, but this time the little Ortolan is able to duck out of the way. Another comes in fast towards Testy, claws extended as he brandishes his saber...

And slashes at it, scoring a shallow cut across it's belly.

At the far end of the cavern Barin holds his position, taking shots from a distance, to little effect.

Shorlu continues running forward, now putting his focus on the mynocks still following him. With a focused eye, he is able to predict their wild movements, and lands a couple of shots on one of them as he moves down the tunnel.

Gauss advances towards the rest of the group, sending a stream of fire towards the mynock to his left, before stopping next to Shorlu. Let's go Testy, we can deal with them more easily if they no longer have a pit to fly over!" He exclaims towards the saber wielding clone.

Kite continues running and gets just behind Barin, he then drops to one knee quickly lines up a shot at the Mynock above Shorlu's head and quickly pulls the trigger catching the beast center mass and bringing it down.

Testy continues to warily back into the tunnel, trying to protect the rest of the group.

"These mynocks are nimble little vaar'ika," Zed shouts, blasting another one into charred remnants. "C'mon Testy, Gauss. Let's get moving!" Zed turns and runs to catch up with the others.

Testy throws a mock-dirty look over his shoulder at Zed, saying "I'm workin' here!" His lightsaber just barely intercepts the last mynock which swooped at him as he was distracted, the blade neatly bifurcating the mynock as it speeds towards his face, the halves flying by on either side. (edited)

Zed nods, smiling under his helmet. "I see that," he says. "Have enough fun for today?"

Rubbing some ichor from his cheek with his forearm, Testy grins, saying "I hope so. These things are a lot messier than clankers." (edited)

With a chuckle, Zed turns back toward the others. "Everyone okay?" he asks, panning his glowrod over everyone.

"If you've got a kolto pack to spare, I wouldn't say 'no'."

Gauss gives Testy a kolto pack, "They didn't seem afraid of fire either, which is surprising." He remarks, giving the projector a quick look over. (edited)

"Maybe the ones scared of fire are further from those droids we took out. Let's be more careful as we continue."

"I could use a trip to the healing baths when this is done with, but yeah, I'm good." Shorlu rubs his back a little, finding a couple of gashes in his jacket where the mynock scratched him. "Dammit. Gotta patch that later."

Barin pants and holsters his blaster. "Well... Ghorus never said anything about man-eating mynocks!"

Kite checks his rifle and slings it over his shoulder and says "On the way out, I'm taking a trophy off of those kriffin spiders if I had been a second slower they would have taken my leg off."

"Do what you've gotta do, but move fast," Zed says. Turning to Barin, he asks, "How much farther?"

"It can't be far," the Balosar replies, "this way!" Barin leads the group on through the winding tunnels, occasionally stopping to sniff the air or take a fork. Finally, they turn a corner into a vaulted cavern, in the centre of which sits a single durasteel cargo crate labelled #128. The mummified remains of two Humans, seemingly locked in eternal battle, are the only occupants of the tomb-like chamber. (edited)

"Well that's ominous."

Shorlu cautiously steps forward into the room, and begins to look around. This place was starting to remind him of one of those cheesy holo-serials. What was it called again? Mon'taana Jos and the Palace of Death? Hardly the time for reminiscing anyway. He approaches the cargo crate, and looks it over.

Shorlu inspects the container. "This was trapped before, but someone else took it apart. I'm gonna open it."

"Careful. You don't want to end up like those Sith in Ides'dahoe J'onzz."

The door slides open with the rusty creak of metal on metal. Inside sits another long dead corpse leant up against the door. It tumbles backwards onto the stone outside as the door slides aside. Its stiff withered hands clutch a seven-pointed silver star studded with blue stones to its breast. Barin's eyes go wide and he immediately begins heading for the trinket.

11:11

Inside the container, a true fortune has been stashed. Twenty bars of gold and silver bullion are stacked besides a number of hermetically sealed casks.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume," Zed says, pointing at the star in the corpse grasp, "That that's what we're looking for."

Testy is getting the heebie-jeebies and extends his blade between Barin and the corpse to stop the impulse to just grab it. He asks if anyone minds if he cuts a premptive hole in the door in case this room is booby trapped still. (edited)

Barin jerks to an abrupt half as the lightsaber swings out in front him. "What's the big idea?" He asks, starting to edge around it.

Kite is on edge between the force relics and being confined on the ground in a small space he is out of his element, he hears Testy mention cutting a door and says " Good idea Test, we don't want to end up trapped here like our friends. Barin hold off on grabbing it for now, you see how many bodies are around if you could just walk out with it they would have. Lets cut the hole, check for traps and if its all clear grab it and run." He points behind him "I will keep watch to make sure we don't have any followers or traps sprung on us" He then heads to the back of the room and stays vigilant rotating between keeping an eye on the way they came and watching the room for any changes.. (edited)

Testy moves to keep himself and his blade between Barin and the star, giving him an intimidating look. "Be patient...or be stopped."

"Definitely a much more appropriate place for it," Shorlu says in response to Zed. "And yeah, good thinking. I dunno who came here before and did this dismantling, but I don't like it." Shorlu leaves the treasure where it is for now, and checks the various corpses around this cavern. Maybe they had some sort of significance?

Only a thin covering of leathery skin remains on the bones of the aging corpses. They wear a mix of what might have once been pirate clothing and light armour. One clutches a crusty blaster pistol with a half-charged power pack, the other a vibroblade with a dead power pack. They also carry a couple of glow rods and a liquid cable dispenser.

"Don't mind him. He's mostly talk if not for that fancy glow sword," Adorhi says to Barin, referring to Testy. She walks around the other side of Testy, towards the large crate to further inspect inside, seeing what could have been triggered to cause the corpses demise. She then turns towards the corpse, pulls out her dagger, and uses it to snatch the relic by the chain from the lifeless hands. She kneels down, slings her pack around off her shoulder, and delicately drops the Fell Star into an empty pocket and then strapping it closed. (edited)

Barin narrows his eyes at Testy, but Adorhi grabs the Fell Star before he can do anything stupid.

As Adorhi moves by him, Testy winks at Adorhi with a small grin, glad she took advantage of his delaying tactic.

Shorlu carefully checks the inside of the crate with Adorhi's help before pulling out a few gold and silver bars. It was still suspicious to him, but maybe he didn't need to look a gift ronto in the mouth.

The bars are heavy. There's no way that Shorlu can carry more than one at a time.

Grunting, Shorlu pulls one gold bar and one silver bar out. "Well, I should be more careful what I wish for. I wanted to get rich quick, and I can hardly carry the stuff."

"No way we can get all this out of here, unless we can get some sort of transport," Zed says, stepping up behind Shorlu and inspecting the bullion. "Maybe we just take what we can carry and go."

"I'd say you're right. I'd really wanna come back though, getting Rider out won't be a problem at all if I could just sell some of these."

19:55

Shorlu heads over to the corpses and takes the liquid cable dispenser and blaster pistol, making sure they're in working order.

Adorhi watches the clones and ortolan drool over the spoils like bonegnawer's on a pack of womp rats. Amateurs, she thinks to herself, slowing yourself down is the last thing you want to do when making an extraction. You take what you came for, and get out. If a return trip seems worth it, then you figure that out later. Adorhi almost never made a return trip. It wasn't worth it. The repeat business of her employers was where the real financial gain laid. She looked over at Barin and was pretty confident he was having the same thoughts. "Ready?" she said to the Balosar, patting the pouch with their prize, while giving a head nod towards the way out.

"Don't be too long now, boys." Adorhi calls back to the others as she begins to leave the cavern keeping an attentive eye and sense out for any more mynocks or creepy crawlers.

As Adorhi passes Testy he hears whispering voices just on the edge of his perception.

Testy quickly puts his hand out on Adorhi's shoulder to get her attention "Adorhi, I...." Quickly thinking better of trying to take the star from her, he retracts his hand, immediately. "Never mind. Sorry." (edited)

20:37

His head spins. He is somehow perceiving voices...voices appearing to be associated with the Fell Star. The object was supposedly associated with the Force somehow. And earlier today he had been arguing about the legacy of the Jedi and how he had killed his friend, one of that order, and he had, seemingly by chance, lashed out in frustration at the cavern wall, finding equipment...finding lightsaber crystals, apparently. Haspin always spoke of the Force working in mysterious ways and guiding destiny. He had always thought Haspin had been a little deluded on that score, especially after what they had done to him. That was Haspin's destiny? But this...this was beginning to overwhelm his doubts. (edited)

Zed hefts a gold bar into his backpack and tests the weight. "Fierfek," he says, straining as he settles the pack on his shoulders. "That's heavy." He looks at the group. "Maybe we should hide the rest and come back for it?" he asks. Zed wasn't a greedy sort, but with money and resources, they could get better equipment, fight tougher battles, survive longer. Maybe take on the Empire itself, he thinks. He shakes his head at his naiveite. Don't be stupid, old man. No amount of money will get this squad to fight the Empire. Not with how mixed their loyalties were these days.

"Lets take as much as we can carry. We run into trouble, we can always drop it."

"I agree, we might be able to buy a hovercart back in town and come back for the rest."

Testy starts using his cord to fashion a make-shift carrying strap, binding several bars together.

Zed shrugs and places the industrial assault cannon next to the crate. Can always buy another one, he thinks. He then grabs another two bars, following Testy's lead and lashes them together with some fibercord and hefts them in his left arm. (edited)

Kite sees Adorhi making to leave and moves from his post and grabs 1 bar that he places in his pack and another that he just carries along with him. "Lets move before, we get trapped in here as well"

Gauss drops the projector and tanks next to the cannon "You were fun, if ineffective." he thinks to himself as he wraps an arm around one of the silver bars, following closely behind the group. (edited)

Shorlu takes one bar of gold, and places it in his pack. One step closer, for now. "Yeah. Let's go. We can figure out the rest later."

Shrugging off Testy's grab of her shoulder, she and Barin continue on out of the cavern. She concentrates on her montral receptions while also keeping here eyes focused on the path ahead. "Just like old times, Sonic and Tails, Prello's dynamic duo." Adorhi lets out a sarcastic but also genuine chuckle while giving Barin a playful jab to his shoulder. Barin was good, she would never admit out loud of course, but when Adorhi came around, Prello saw the potential of the both of them together. Between the two, they covered almost all the senses. Barin with his heightened awareness to sound, and Adorhi's vision in the dark, and of course her tremorsense. Together, they were something of an art when it came to extracting precious treasures and ancient relics. "Let me know if you hear anything."

Kite sees Adorhi actually leave the cavern and sighs and says to the group "Lets get a move on our contract are walking off" He then runs off with his newly acquired gold bars.

Barin flashes a wink back at Adorhi, before dropping slightly behind her. "All clear, let's head for the Fissures."

Along the way, Shorlu will attempt to leave small markers on the trail, to allow them to trace their steps later, without Barin.

"Hey. Let's be a bit more discrete. Gauss, can you vid capture our route on the way out so we can recreate our journey without leaving a trail for someone else?"

"Sure." Gauss hits a few buttons on his wristpad, enabling the holorecording device in his helmet.

"You needed these? Well, we got the gold now, so... sure, I guess." Shorlu gives Testy the crystals.

"Thanks, I...I appreciate this more than you know."

22:19

"Kriffin' hell, where'd they go? Let's double time it guys."

The trek back through the mines takes well over an hour, and Adorhi is nowhere to be seen as she and Barin forge ahead until they arrive at the exit back into the Fissures. The strange silence here seems out of place. The air smells of the cooking fires of the Fissures District's residents, but no signs of life can be heard in the darkness. It's as if the area ahead has been cleared of all indigenous life. Either that, or they're hiding.

As they come to the exit of the mines, Adorhi blinks away the drastic change in lighting. Her instincts kick in to use caution while exiting and she is quickly reaffirmed why it was a common practice of hers. Something felt very off about the Fissures. She scans the area looking for anything, while also feeling for any movement within range.

Barin casts a furtive glance at Adorhi, noticing the distinct lack of life. When they left the Fissures were filled with Point Nadir's destitute denizens. Now nobody can be heard talking. There are no children crying and no footfalls other than those of the two thieves.

Keeping tight to the cavern exit, she can't help but feel something is amiss among the silence. One disguise kit and two of them. Probably not much help there, she thinks to herself. She begins to plot a course between the darkest and tightest rows and alleys of the shanty town towards the more established structures of the Arcade. She turns to Barin and in a whisper says, "Quiet and quick. If we can get to the Souk, the crowds might offer some cover until those bucketheads can catch up. Any other thoughts?"

Barin glances left and right, but also can't see an alternative. He nods to Adorhi and gestures for her to lead the way.

Adorhi is like a shadow as she flits from shack to shack between the dwellings of the shanty town. However, not far from the mines' exit she halts as her montrals sense a spread of four humanoids lying in wait for anyone leaving the mines. (edited)

Adorhi's montrals pulse in vibrations as she exits the mines. Three, no, four figures, somewhere, waiting. Kark, Adorhi says to herself. She puts her hand out towards Barin and waves him back into the mines. Once behind the cover of the cavern entrance she reluctantly gets on her commlink and sends a quick message in Togruta. "Company at the exit. Standing by."

"Guys, looks like we might that be penned in. Adorhi has company at the exit. They haven't engaged yet. Think we can find another way out?"

"We should rendezvous with Adorhi and Barin first," Zed says. "Have them backtrack a little bit. Then, between you and Barin, I'm sure we can find another way out." He thinks for a moment, then says, "No guarantees they aren't waiting at other exits." (edited)

As they journeyed through the mines, Shorlu has been scratching the external rust off of his blaster and techblade, slotting a power cell in the latter. "Yeah, we might be blasting our way through them. I'm more concerned about the ship. So long as we can get past them and get to the ship, we're good."

As the groups meet up, they make plans to ambush the the beings laying in wait for them. "Let's take it slow. Kite and Adorhi first, the rest of us following behind. Once we go loud, go fast, and then let's get back to our ship."

Kite Nods checks his rifle and holds one of his grenades out he says "Sounds good Number 2 and I should be able to clear this mess up and get out without to much headache. This may be a good time for an explosive distraction if anyone wants a grenade"

19:34

Kite also lays his gold bar near the party and thinks hope I get that back. That money was going in the jet pack fund

Adorhi snatches a grenade out of Kite's hand, giving him a glare for his nickname of her. "Just in case," she says while rolling the charge in her hand. Addressing the sniper, "I'll try and get a jump on one of them and you take out the other closest to. Sound good?"

Kite nods and says to the rest "Once you hear my rifle, come out blasting." He then quietly heads down the tunnel

Kite cautiously approaches a rocky outcropping and slowly peers around the corner, only to be met with a flash of red plasma from a waiting blaster. Fortunately, the clone is fast enough to pull back before it hits him.

"Stoopa!" Adorhi says under her breath while looking at Kite. She hugs up against their cover and peers around to see if there are any further threats on her side, while looking for continued cover to make an advance. A glance down along the rock formation shows little for accessible cover as well as another ambusher, but just out of reach. Let's work with what we can, I guess, Adorhi says to herself. She spins off from the rock wall getting an eye on the first gunman that shot at Kite. Two quick blasts from her pistol aim true and connect, her element of surprise doing more to inflict damage. A small inlet reveals itself on this side of the rock and she takes the opportunity to duck in to the new cover. (edited)

Testy hears their ambush falling apart with the blaster shots coming in rapid succession, none of them coming from Kite's distinctive-sounding sniper rifle. "Head that way!" he bellows, pointing towards the faint glow of Kite's glow rod. He dashes towards and along the near wall of the shanty in front of him, igniting his saber as he passes the far corner, attempting to undermine the structure to cause confusion and take out any enemies inside or nearby with a collapse. As he passes the far corner, he nearly stumbles into a man whom he surprises by his sudden appearance. The man instinctively shoots at him, but doesn't get off a good shot.

Testy's foe is dressed in a loose black outfit with a hood that is pulled up to hide his features. He lowers his rifle and reaches out towards the clone with the free hand, clenching his fist. Testy abruptly finds himself locked in place and unable to move. Blaster fire flares out of the dark, but it seems the Force is with Testy this day and it merely impacts the wall behind him.

Meanwhile, a human wearing an earth-tone robe over a simple tunic and trousers advanced on Adorhi and Kite. He carries himself with pride and confidence and moves with the grace of a trained killer. Raising one arms he sends a devastating bolt of lightning towards the two. Although they are mostly shielded by their cover, Adorhi still falls to the ground smoking.

Kite sees Adorhi gun down the first hostile they came across. He hunkers down raising his rifle keep watch for any hostiles to approach the pair. Then out of nowhere he sees a flash and then is hit by a bolt of lightning. He sees Adorhi fall and quickly snaps his rifle up and takes a shot at the human catching him center mass. Kite is panicked and thinks kriffin force users, he had heard tales of Dooku using the technique but had never imagined it would be this painful (edited)

Barin dashes out after Kite and Adorhi. Rounding the corner with unexpected speed, he comes up besides the unconscious Togruta. Glancing around to ensure that everyone is distracted, he deftly removes the Fell Star from her pouch and secretes it, before jamming one of the stims from Fische's cache into her. (edited)

"You're alright Tails, I've got you," he quips with a wink.

Shorlu starts creeping down the street quietly, ready to try for a counter-ambush, but moments later, he hears the telltale sounds of blaster fire. No doubt something went awry, not too surprising. Before he can heed Test's directive, a bright flash of something (lightning?) issues from around the corner. He spares a brief moment to gawk with surprise, before hearing blaster fire coming from Testy's direction. Figuring he'd been jumped too, Shorlu hurries to his aid. When he sees him standing stock still, he realizes he's somehow been paralyzed. Shorlu calls out to him, "Focus on one limb! The rest'll follow!" It was a good tip for shrugging off the effects of poison. Little did he know, this was a power far beyond something so mundane.

Gauss hears the loud crackling sound come from the south, and sees Kite duck into cover, visibly singed from whatever hit him and the faint figure of Barin dashing towards Kite and Adorhi. "That can't be good." he says under his breath, dropping the gold bar he was holding, before dashing towards Kite, kolto pack in hand, tossing it at his brother once he is within range. (edited)

Zed sprints around the corner and spies Kite opening fire on some target out of Zed's line of sight. A blast of crackling lightning singes Kite, and Zed, gold still in hand, follows Gauss toward their brother. (edited)

With a heavy gasp, Adorhi jolts back to consciousness from the shot of the stim. Shaking her head clear, she sees Barin kneeling beside her. What the kriff was that? she thinks to herself. One moment she was tight up against the rock wall crevice, and then a rush of lightning energy bends around the corner sucking the life from her. Without having a jump on this new assailant, she opts for the grenade. Still slightly dazed however, her toss comes up short, leaving the target out of the main blast radius.

Kite body still spasming from the lightning onslaught. He sees Barin help Adorhi come back to consciousness. Good while she may be less pleasant than a hungry rancor, no one deserves to die like that Kites breaths are short and shallow within his helmet. It can't end like this, killed by a fool pretending to be a jedi He hears a shout from Gauss and turns snatching a kolto pack instinctively as he moves. He looks up he sees his brothers backing him up. He then raises his rifle clicks on the combustive mode and pulls the trigger blasting the wannabe in his chest. Kite looks on as the fire spreads and shouts "E Chu Ta pretender" (edited)

Testy loses feeling in his body which goes rigid, as if someone else is controlling it. As blaster shots speed toward him, just missing, he thinks to himself that the force seems to be calling him to destiny today, and is protecting him from harm, even. But this Jedi wannabe is twisting the force to his will...twisting it away from what it seems to want. Haspin always said that, although not as flashy as the dark side, the light side of the force was more powerful than many suspected, because using the light side of the force involved at least some surrender to what the force was trying to accomplish anyway. It was like running with the wind. It didn't feel like you were running as fast as when you ran against the wind, but that was only a trick played by your mind. An artifact of your own point of view. Testy concentrated on the lack of feeling and willed himself to once again feel his body. And all of a sudden, he did. Like a dislocated bone popping back into it's socket, his body slammed back into his mind--painful at the first instant, but right and true. "Focus on one limb! The rest will follow!" he hears Shorlu shout as his feelings return. I agree heartily, he thinks to himself as he focuses on parting a limb from this fellow's frame. After all, he was willing to bet the Force was cool with that. (edited)

Out of the darkness, Testy feels a tendril of darkness wrap itself around his brain, drawing the strength from his limbs and sapping him of the will to fight. The black-clothed man opposite him strikes rapidly with hands and feet, but he's expecting Testy to still be rooted in place and the clone is able to move aside in time.

09:02

"Come on! Let's get out of here!" Barin yells, pulling at Adorhi's sleeve and making a break away in the drection of the Souk.

Shorlu came running up the alley. The shooting and crackling in the other direction had stopped after a shot from Kite's sniper rifle rang out, so he had something of a guess as to how things went there. He drew the pistol and slammed the plasma cell in it, hoping it could handle its first full charge in years. As he rounded the corner and fired on the dark-robed man (it was kinda nice to not have to issue a warning or read him his rights first for once), he discovered that gun handled it perhaps too well, almost launching out of his hands with powerful recoil. Naturally, the shot missed—but that was fine. His purpose was to distract, after all...

Zed rounds the corner and sees no enemies. Spying Barin legging it toward the Souk, he sighs and sprints after the Balosar. "Hold up, you karking moron," he shouts. "You really wanna be all alone on this station?"

"This guy really doesn't know the meaning of teamwork or playing it safe, does he?" Gauss thinks to himself as he chases after Barin.

Amidst the scramble away by Barin and his pursuers, Adorhi thinks she hears continued engagement back towards the center of the court. She could catch Barin, sure, but it would be no good with another bolt of lightning to the back. She instead runs along the rock wall coming around the corner to see one more ambusher duking it out with Testy. Apparently still shaking off the earlier blast, her first shot misses its target. With a slow and deep breath, refocusing, she lines up another at the back of this pile of bantha fodder's head. The hint of a groan, quickly snuffed out by the loss of life, followed by a heavy thud of the corpse to the ground. With seemingly no further sense of other threats, awareness floods back into Adorhi's mind. She replaces her pistol in its holster and instinctively puts a hand on the pouch with the Fell Star. Nothing. Barin. Filled with a rage she has not known in such a long time, she yells out as loud as she can in Togruta towards the clone. "Test!" Funny, the nick name Testy. It was so appropriate for him, Adorhi thought. He always seemed to be put off by the simplest of things. But did it fit because she perceived him that way, or did the name actually only contribute to that perception. With what Barin just did, any fraction of loyalty that might've been there to begin with was now gone. Shattered. Unrepariable. But with Test and these clones. She respected his loyalty to the others, which possibly included an ounce towards her. They'd never understand why this situation was so difficult for her, but she had to admit that that wasn't a reason to not give them some sort of a chance. Or respect. Test, not Testy. "Test," she echoes once more, still at the top of her lungs, "Barin stole the Star."

Kite sees Gauss and Zed chase after Barin. Satisfied that their charge was being watched, Kite runs through the dark trying to close the distance with Test. He wasn’t going to leave his brother to fight alone in the dark against these force freaks. As he runs he taps on his data pad and has his armor inject him with kolto he exhales in relief as the soothing kolto hits his system and thinks No one being should be able to unleash that much power, nearly killed Adorhi and he did it all without a weapon. This is why Order 66 was necessary these freaks are to dangerous He sees Adorhi drop one of the thugs and hears her yell something to Testy sounding near tears. He recognizes that its Togruta but has no idea what she said and he yells ”What’s the situation Adorhi, have they brought in reinforcements?” Kite then takes position hoping to cover Test & Adorhi’s escape, preparing to shoot the next hostile that comes into his range of vision (edited)

Testy roils inside at Barin's betrayal of Adorhi. "Traitor!" he yells in Mandoa as he races towards Barin as fast as he can, still feeling weak from the black tendrils that had drained his energy.

Barin doesn't break his stride, taking off through the Fissures towards the Souk.

Shorlu had fired, expecting Testy to finish off the mysterious attacker, only for two more shots to ring out. The man stopped and collapsed, revealing a scorched Adorhi behind him. And despite having killed her target, she still looked pissed. She yelled at Testy in Togruta. Then he bolted off. He ran to try and catch up with them. "Thanks, Adorhi. You're smoking. I mean, uh, literally smoking, you gonna be okay? And what'd you say to Testy?"

Zed continues after Barin. Hearing Testy's shout of "Aruetii!" surprised him and spurred him onward. What did Barin do? He spies Barin running into a side alley. "Stop running, you fool!" Zed shouts after the balosar. (edited)

As Gauss is chasing after Barin, he hears Testy yell far behind them. "Who's the traitor Testy?" He asks in Mando'a over the comms, knowing full well he may not get an answer.

Kite hears Testy furiously shout "Aruetii!". Kite thinks Haar'chak, the fool must have lifted the Star when he healed Adorhi. Noting the anger in Testy's voice. Kite thinks I need to get to him before Testy, in his mood he is likely to kill the fool . Regardless of what he did we took the job and gave our word to bring him back in one piece. He looks around the battlefield and notices that Shorlu is still back in the cavern and yells to himself "Hutspawn". He activates his headcomm and tells Shorlu "Double time detective, the squad is on the run." Kite slows his speed, normally he wouldn't wait for any being who wasn't a brother to him, but the Ortulan had proven his worth and Kite enjoyed the dynamic he brought to the group. He activates the comm to the entire group and in Mandalorian says "Don't harm the fool, we took the contract our honor depends on getting him back to Prello unharmed. Get him out of here and we can sort this out on our way back" He then turns and covers Shorlu. (edited)

"Anybody got some kolto?" Testy asks his brothers as he pours on the speed, strength fully returning to his body. Running as fast as he can, fueled by rage at being betrayed, Testy closes the distance with Barin, having returned his saber to his belt, replacing it with his chakram. (edited)

Barin continues to run...

Testy swipes at the fleeing Barin with his chakram as they race together through the comet and back to their ship, scoring a shallow gash across his back.

Barin yells in pain as Testy draws blood and reflexively lashes out with his hand, unleashing an unexpected burst of telekinetic force that almost knocks Testy off his feet!

Barin yells in pain as Testy draws blood and reflexively lashes out with his hand, unleashing an unexpected burst of telekinetic force that almost knocks Testy off his feet! "What are you doing?!" The Balosar yells, a quiver in his voice as he puts as much distance between him and the clone as he can, shimmying up atop a nearby shanty house. (edited)

Zed sprints, trying to catch up with Testy and Barin. He levels his blaster pistol at the balosar. "Barin, STOP!" he shouts. "If you stop running and give the kriffing thing back, you won't be harmed. Test, put the weapon away."

Shorlu continues running, huffing and puffing a bit. This was definitely the most exercise he'd had in a 24-hour period in... months? Years? But he wouldn't even dream of complaining. He loved it. He lived for the thrill of adventure. Breaking out a person of interest, spelunking and finding pirate gold, nearly dying, in some ways this was even more intense than his detective days. The clones weren't bad, though Kite seemed a little single-minded at times, and Testy seemed to be keeping more than a few things bottled up. Again, Adorhi stuck out a bit, and he wondered about her past, and her history with Barin. As he turns to reiterate his question though, he sees her darting ahead at nearly twice his speed without a word. "Hey! You could at least gimme a hint, Maker-dammit!" (edited)

As the extremely winded Testy sprints by Gauss, he throws him the last kolto pack he has in Testy's direction. As Barin clambers up the shack, Gauss stops a couple dozen yards from him, flips a switch on his bowcaster, readying a stun bolt to fire on the balosaur if he continues to run. "Stop running!" He yells in Barin's direction. (edited)

Testy slices open the bag in mid air, the spray bathing over him like jumping through a mountain waterfall, breathing new life into his lungs.

Catching up to the others, Adorhi spots Barin just getting over the edge of a nearby roof. "No more running, stoopa," she says in clenched teeth. Pulling out her pistol, reluctantly setting it to stun, she fires off a shot. It hits and Barin falters but doesn't go down. In frustration at his resilience, she shouts to the two clones nearby with weapons trained on the Balosar. "Take him down!" She then begins scanning the area for the quickest way up to Barin.

At Adorhi's shout, Zed squeezes the trigger of his pistol. The blue concentric circles of the stun blast catch Barin in the chest and the balosar drops to the ground with a heavy thud. Zed immediately whirls around to face back the way they had come, waiting for any of the ambushers to show themselves.

At the behest of Adorhi, Gauss discharges his weapon immediately after Zed, the sonically enhanced bolt sings through the air smashing into Barin, further knocking him unconscious after Zed's shot knocked him out. (edited)

Barin stumbles, turning to look back at Adorhi in confusion as her shot catches him in the back. "...Adorhi? Why?" The words barely leave the Balosar's lips before Zed's stun ray takes him in the chest and he crumples atop the roof. (edited)

"Let's get him down from there," Zed says, waiting until Kite and Shorlu appear, just to make sure there are no more pursuers. "Then slap some binders on him and wake him up."

Testy drops the make-shift gold bundle and stows his chakram as he waves Adorhi over, making a cradle with his hands to boost her up to the roof as he keeps watch for pursuers.

Gauss spins around, slowly walking backwards towards where Barin fell, searching for any more hostiles.

"Wait a sec, wait a sec," Shorlu sputters between breaths. "I don't even know why we're shooting him in the first place."

"I'll use a boost to get through," Adorhi says to the clone reflexively in Togruta. "Good idea, Test." With a slight skip and step into his clasped hands, she uses his assist to push off and get on the roof. Standing over Barin, she almost shivers at what she was about to do. A dirty move by even the lowest of thieves, but with recent events seemed that much more necessary. She kneels down, takes the Fell Star off of Barin and replaces it to her pouch, tightly securing the latch. Now in basic, Adorhi says to the others,"I'd love to kick this pile of druk off the roof, but probably not the best of ideas. Thoughts on getting him down?"

Zed watches Adorhi pulling the Fell Star out of Barin's pocket and points it out to Shorlu. "That's why," he says. "The moof-milker lifted it." (edited)

Kite runs up with Shorlu checking behind him for signs of pursuit. Seeing Adorhi over Berin's body, he grimaces thinking I can't believe they gunned him down. He then hears Adorhi's remarks about getting him off the building. He breathes a sigh of relief thinking at least he is still alive. We gave our word, the Squad can't be both deserters and oathbreakers Kite then coldly remarks "That wasn't necessary. We had eyes on him, and he wasn't trying to duck us. And starting a secondary firefight while we were under attack by those force freaks was beyond di'kutla." "Prello contracted us in part to bring back her prize thief. Gunning him down isn't going to win us any favors with a Hutt who was actually willing to pay to protect her people." Kite then throws Adorhi his set of binders, takes a deep breath and refocusing himself and says "Lets get him bound and get out of here. No use crying over what's already happened. And we need to move before Sable calls in reinforcements." He checks his wrist pad and says" If we need him conscious my armor has enough charge to power another kolto pack" (edited)

"You better. I ain't carrying him."

"Well, I'm sure he'll be extra cooperative when he comes to." Shorlu sighed. "I dunno why Barin did something so stupid, but this should've waited until we got back to the ship. Put the binders on him if you want, but we gotta make tracks." It felt as though they'd made nothing but enemies here. This comet was starting to resemble a giant Kashyyyk jaw plant, about to close around them. (edited)

"Are we all clear behind us Kite?" Gauss quickly asks, still on the alert for any enemies that may try to ambush them.

The Fissures seem quiet. Deathly quiet. Besides the three corpses near the exit from the mines, there's no sign of the black and brown clad operatives who were lying in wait.

Kite does a quick scan of the area alert to any signs of movement/noise and says "No signs of pursuit, but it still feels like we are in the middle of an ambush." He checks to see if Adorhi has placed the binders on Barin yet and readies his armor's kotlo protocol to go off once he has been bound. As he does so he looks at Shorlu and says " When he wakes, it may be best if you speak to him. He probably isn't found of clones or Adorhi right now"

"Let's collect our gold and get moving," Zed says. "More Sable could be on their way at any moment."

Atop the roof, Kite's binders land at Adorhi's feet doing nothing to break her out of some sort of daze and fascination. Eventually, the raised voices of the others snaps her out of it. She binds Barin, sits him up and calls down to Kite, "All yours, doc." Adorhi then finds her way off the roof and takes some distance from the group on her own, going back into her own thoughts.

"Yeah, I s'pose that's obvious." Shorlu replies to Kite. "Oh, and about the gold-" He lowers his voice a touch as he says the word 'gold.' "Maybe wrap it up in cloth or something? Wouldn't want to draw more attention to ourselves." (edited)

"Good idea," Zed says, tearing off a piece of his tattered kama and wrapping it around his bundle of gold.

Kite nods and says "We should probably get him down first. Zed can you give me a hand bringing him down safely?"

Zed nods and assists Kite in pulling the unconscious balosar down off the roof.

Kite then taps into his wrist pad and releases a mist of kolto over Barin

The spray of healing fluid settles over the Balosar like morning dew and Barin awakes with a sudden gasp of air. He scrambles upright from where he is lying sprawled out on the ground, only to realise that he has been bound and restrained. "Have you all lost your minds?" The thief hisses. "We need to get out of here before Sable catches up. What are you doing?"

Zed looks down at Barin, the visor an unreadable mask. "We didn't even make it back to the ship before you tried to steal from us," he says. "Get up and walk, sleemo."

Barin's eyes go wide at Zed's accusation, but he does as he's told. "What are you talking about? We're on the same side. All I had was my bar of gold from the container." He adds, glancing wistfully back up at the roof.

Kite gives a hard look at Barin, He had some training in interrogation and was looking for tells if Barin was being deceitful. He says "We can sort this all out off planet." Kite hops on the roof and grabs Barin's bar saying "I will hold on to this for now, based on what we hear you may get it back"

"Whine when we get back to the ship," Zed says, narrowing his eyes at the balosar. Did this rotter really not know that he lifted the star?

Bit by bit the Fissures grow ever more populated as the group heads away from the mines. By the time they're nearing the Souk, the poor and the destitute hover once more on every corner. However, the usually bright and gregarious Barin is downtrodden, depressed and resolute in his innocence. "What am I even supposed to have stolen?" He demands. "You all have your loot and I sure as hell don't have the star. It's right there in Adorhi's pouch, right?" (edited)

Kite turns his head to the man and looks at him through his mandalorian helmet. Trying to see if he is bluffing or honestly doesn't remember what happened. Kite asks "run us through what you remember happening during the fight with Sable" Kite intently watches him as he gives his answer.

"Uh, Tails and I went ahead," Barin begins. "She sensed four of them waiting for us and stopped me from running into a trap. Then we went back to the rest of you. Tails and Kite went to spring the trap, then all hell broke loose. There was fire on all sides, then a big flash of light and sparks by Adorhi. I went to see if she was alright and she'd been knocked out, so I jabbed her with one of the old stims! Then we made a run for it and you bucketheads started shooting at me!"

"You missed the part where you lifted the star from Adorhi's pocket," Zed says. "Just keep moving. We'll talk more when we get to the ship." More like if we get to the ship, Zed thinks, glancing around for anyone following them. He doesn't pick up on any tails, so he focuses on getting back to the ship. This was all very confusing. Did Barin really not remember lifting the star? If that was true, what caused him to do that? What kind of Jedi mind trick was being pulled on them. Haven't been this confused since I stepped out of the growing vats, Zed thinks to himself.

Kite watches Barin closely as he speaks and notes the inflection, word choice, and Barin's body language as he recounts his story. During his time within the GAR Kite often assisted Haspin in interrogations, Haspin taught Kite how to become adept at spotting the ticks liars generally displayed, or methods operatives used to disguise their lies. Showing Kite how to do this, even without a connection to the force. Kite thinks interrogation is one of the few areas Haspin didn't completely rely on the force. Haspin frequently said in determining a being's fate, its better to have two methods of confirmation vs one. As Barin finishes his story, Kite is nearly stunned and thinks He completely believes what he is saying, this shouldn't be possible. His word choice, body langauge and inflection all mirror someone who feels deeply betrayed and believes he is telling the truth. He must have been mind tricked by Sable Kite opens a head comm channel and says "I'm not sure what's going on but he truly believes what he is saying" (edited)

Moving on through the Souk, the party eventually arrive in the Slips and grab a skiff back to the Katarn's Bane. As they draw closer they can see a figure moving about on top of the ship - their angry neighbour the Gran. (edited)

"What in the Sand Dunes is that moof-milker up to?"

Kite shakes his head and says "Making a bad day, kriffing worse" He then looks around the ship and area to see if he sees anyone/thing else (edited)

"He better not be damaging the ship, pretty sure Flynn would not be to happy about it"

22:23

"And we kind of need it if we are to fix any of these messes we have found ourselves in."

"Not sure if Flynn will be too happy?! I'm not sure I'm happy about it!"

As the group's skiff comes to a slow halt at the Slips something washes over Adorhi. A sense or feeling she's never known or experienced. A dream? It felt so real. Too real. Coming out of it, she screams. "It's going to blow, everyone get DOWN!"

"Fair enough Shorlu"

A split second later there's an almighty boom as the Katarn's Bane explodes, sending chunks of durasteel flying in all directions. The shockwave rocks the skiff even as the shrapnel shreds the Gann's own vessel besides it.

Kite drops to the floor of the skiff as the explosion hits and yells "What the kark is going on?" He then unslings his rifle and takes a look at the wreckage and around the area to look for clues. (edited)

The Gran is ash in moments, consumed by the ensuing fireball. Immediately chaos erupts all over the cove. Several ships rapidly take off, making for the Jackrab Hole and a siren begins to sound from the Slips.

"SON OF A KARKING SCHUTTA!" Shorlu screams at the burning wreckage. He thuds a fist against the side of the skiff. Feeling a mixture of emotions, he settles for a quieter fury. He knew, deep down, that the ship would likely be compromised. He should be glad, really, that Rider wasn't on it. But this was too much for one day. Too. Kriffing. Much.

"Anyone have a plan B?" Gauss remarks, as he searches for anyone that looks like they may have had something to do with the explosion. (edited)

"Barin's ship? His pilot won't be needing it anymore."

"...wha- what do you mean he 'won't be needing it anymore'?" Barin demands incredulously. "What happened to Phellip?!"

"Seems our friends killed him in his sleep." (edited)

"Oh yeah, and we didn't get to your cousin in time either. Sorry."

Barin's head slowly falls as he brings his bound hands up to rest his face in them, utterly defeated and empty.

Kite feeling conflicted since he thinks Barin is innocent changes the subject saying "Lets focus on getting out of here alive ourselves." (edited)

22:46

"I will comm Puzzel, to see if they are still watching Phillip's ship and to tip him off that the explosion was most likely Sable. If the group agrees?"

"Yeah... yeah. Let's go. Tell it to that Duros. We don't have his stinkin' proof, but we're living proof ourselves. Kark it."

"Sounds good, keep an eye out for anymore surprises however, I highly doubt that last encounter is the last we will see of those kriffing force users." Gauss answers to Kite. (edited)

22:48

"If he wants proof, it's probably gonna follow us." He remarks to Shorlu. (edited)

Zed watches the chaos around him. His ears were ringing. His brothers were talking. Barin was sitting down, head in his hands. Eyes unfocused, he looks unblinking at the explosion. His hand hurt. He realized he was squeezing his blaster pistol with a white knuckle grip. It wasn't in his holster, just hanging at his side. He didn't remember drawing it. The explosion had... Zed shakes his head, clearing the ringing noise. Barin's ship, his cousin's dead, talking to Puzzel, we need proof it was Sable. "W-we need to get out of here," Zed says.

Shorlu spares one last look at the Katarn's Bane as they turn the skiff and leave the smoldering wreck behind. Five years worth of memories were on it. Not a long time in his four decades of life, but definitely the happiest. He passed a hand over his eyes, and exhaled. He'd had his doubts before, but this was it. Thanks, Sable Dawn. Detective Podobo is back. (edited)

Kite attempts to comm Puzzel as the skiff is heading towards the slips

"Let's take these binders off him. No point to them." Shorlu will do it himself once someone hands him a key, then gets Barin's attention. "We'll get 'em back for this, but we'll need your help. First, while you were at that safe house, did anyone touch your clothes or gear? I want to make sure you weren't bugged, these guys know too much about where we're going and when." His tone is cool, patient, and not accusatory. He affords him all the courtesy he would to the kin of a murder victim, a sort of interrogation he handled often back in the day. With Barin's consent, he'll try to conduct a search of his person. (edited)

Kite nods and retrieves the key for the binders and moves to hand it to Shorlu (edited)

"Whoa there. Even if you buy this guy's story, that doesn't mean we can trust him. We don't know how long mind magic works. And what if the Star did it to him? No way is he getting out of those binders yet."

As Barin receives the news of his pilot friend, and then of his cousin, Adorhi goes dizzy and then doubles over in pain, falling to her knees with an urge to be sick. She knew the feelings he was undoubtedly having, but she was, impossibly it seemed, actually feeling them herself. It was so much worse having known this pain once before. This feeling of loss. Emptiness. Helplessness. Seeing the clones out the corners of her eyes drove the point home even more. ...Just a young Togruta making a living, if you could call it that, cleaning up after the war. The Separatists and Clones would lay waste to a city and then she would come in and dig out what she could for the highest bidder. If she could get ahead of the battles and save more relics and ancient artifacts though, she stood to gain much more. Enter Daesh'. A bit of a fellow thief, together they cleaned up and cleaned up well. With contacts on both sides, they would gain information on the next strike, the next advancement, and get ahead of it. They were inseparable. A blur of violet between Adorhi's bright blue head tails and montrals and the deep red lekku of Daesh'. Since leaving home, this was the first time Adorhi had begun to feel almost completely whole again. Having someone to share her life with. But war generally doesn't have a happy ending. A job that seemed all so routine, an attack came early. Daesh' was gone... How? Why? What was making her feel the Balosar's anguish? (edited)

"You don't have to trust him anymore than you do me, Test. Look at it logically: he hasn't done anything to cross us of his own volition. The only time he did, or even acted shady, was to take the Star, and even then, he still took the time to revive Adorhi, and wanted us to follow him to safety. So long as I can do a thorough search of him, for the reasons I mentioned, he'll be fine." "If it was a Sable Dawn guy somehow controlling him, wouldn't they just have him bring the Star directly to them, not a word to us, let alone healing someone? And if you're worried it's the Star..." Shorlu turns to give Adorhi an inquisitive look. "...You should be talking to the person who still has it. Which reminds me: Adorhi, how'd you know the ship was about to explode?"

Arguments against and apprehension at Shorlu's plan flee his mind as Test sees Adorhi go down. Extricating himself from between Kite and Shorlu, he goes to one knee, instinctively running his hands over Adorhi looking for a wound. Shrapnel? Sniper? He asks in Togruta, "What's wrong?" (edited)

The sense of a hand on her back is just enough to snap Adorhi out of the agonizing emotional state she somehow found herself in. Reflexively, she pulls away from the touch shooting back a glare to it's owner. Seeing Test should have softened the look but a larger concern now washed over her. She takes a step back, making note of everyone and her surroundings, her hand going to the pouch hanging on her belt. "Nothing. I'm fine."

A driver of the skiff swerves violently to avoid the blast and flying shrapnel, and the repulsors wine with the strain as he heads for the Slips at full speed.

Shorlu watches the two, folding his arms as the awkward scene played out in front of him. At first, he thought it was Adorhi feigning something to avoid answering his questions once more, but it does seem she was actually dizzy. That wasn't much better, though. "That... didn't look like 'fine' to me. The Fell Star must be messing with your head, like Barin." As he speaks, he leans against the railing of the skiff to brace himself while the pilot whipped it towards the Slips. Shorlu didn't know a lot about the Jedi and their "Force," but there was clearly more than superstition to it. If this artifact had something to do with it all, it might make sense.

"Makes me really miss the Jedi, if that thing truly has that kind of power, they would know what to do with it. But alas, they are gone, now we are just left with this band of persistent nerf herders that refuse to let it go, even at the cost of their lives." Gauss says, at hearing Shorlu's remark about the Star messing with minds. "There is no way they were all traitors. Maybe some of them were, maybe some of them weren't, but what i do know is, we could really use their help right about now." he thinks to himself, as he turns back to keep an eye out for any Sable members that might get in their way, again. (edited)

Kite stares in disbelief as Shorlu connects the dots between the Fell Star and the strange behavior of Prello's thieves. It can't be true. It shouldn't be possible to change a beings biology and give them the jedi's powers. Kite's hand grips his blaster, knuckles scrapping against his armor. The jedi cannot be allowed to return, he knows he should pull the blaster take the relic and destroy it. But a memory holds him back. Kite is back on Kamino with his brothers training with the Cuy'val Dar, under the eye of a Mandalorian named Krin Ordo. Krin had taken to teaching the clones both the mandalorian language and culture during their brief respites from training. One of the lessons that stuck with Kite was when Krin *"Most of the galaxy sees the Mandalorian people as mercs for hire, but we are much more than mercenaries. Mercs will cut and run, mercs will take on contracts and turn on their clients, and mercs only fight for credits. Mandalorians fight because we are the best in the galaxy, and have been for generation's . What separates us from simple mercs is that if a Mandalorian takes a contract, he gets it done. He doesn't double cross or break his word, he does his duty." Kite's fingers loosen and while he doesn't like it, his decision is clear. (edited)

A fuzz of static rushes in Kite's ear as he tunes his comm to contact Puzell, replaced with crisp silence as the Duros picks up the line. "Puzell."

"This is Kite, I've got good news and bad news. Good news we were able to find the Balosar you told us about. The bad news is that Sable is after us in a big way. We believe they were responsible for the explosion at the Slips that destroyed our ship. We need to get off planet, if you can provide us with a ship that would be optimal. If not my ask is to stand aside and let us take the ship your men were watching in the Slips"

The line goes quiet for a moment before Puzell answers. "A witness is a start. This isn't exactly a core world court. I just need something solid enough that the council will buy it. Can you bring the Balosar to me?"

Kite listens intently too Puzell and says "That could work. I've promised him safe passage off planet back to his home. If you give me your word that you will protect him and provide or assist us in locating a means to get off planet. I'm sure I can convince my companions to trust you"

"Understood," Puzell replies. "You can disembark on top of the building. I'll have an escort waiting. See you soon."

As the skiff floats in the cove with no set destination, Adorhi calls to the pilot. "Get us to the Slips." Turning to Test, "Accompany a gal for a drink?"

Kite nods and says " We will be there soon" (edited)

"He's ready to meet with us?" Shorlu asks Kite.

Kite nods and says " He wants us to bring Barin to him to testify in front of the council about Sable. Hopefully that will deter Sable from attacking us for a bit until we can find a route off planet. Also if asked don't mention Prello or the fact that we were hired to find Barin." He looks to Barin "When they question you keep your story short and simple, Puzell is sharp. Just tell them you were here to find the hidden stash in the mines, technically the truth and we have gold bars if necessary to prove it. If they ask we were attacked by Sable and haven't been able to retrieve the rest yet" (edited)

"Roger." Shorlu, with the key, resumes unshackling Barin. "You heard that? You should be safe where we're going. I'm sure you need a bit of a break from cursed artifacts and trigger-happy clones anyway, hey?" Shorlu chuckles a little, then returns to his more sincere expression. "And I really am sorry about what happened to your friend and cousin. We'll try and make things right." For his peace of mind, he will still check Barin for any kind of tracker after removing the binders.

After Shorlu removes the restraints Kite takes his binders back and silently hands Barin, his bar of gold.

Although he shouldn't have been, Test is caught off guard by Adorhi's quick recoil from his touch. When she quickly transitions into her almost-teasing not-at-all-serious flirtatious query, Test narrows his eyes and responds "sure," in a half questioning manner.

Barin glances at the gold in his hands, torn somewhere between grief and greed. After a few more moment to compose himself, he settles for the latter and packs the loot away in his own bag. A couple of minutes later the skiff sets down at the central taxi point in the heart of the slips.

As Adorhi and Testy move to disembark, Zed pulls Testy aside and quietly says, "Whatever that thing is, it's making people do things." He gestures vaguely toward the Fell Star in Adorhi's pocket. "I know you know this, but I'm saying it anyway: Keep your guard up."

Kite interjects as they move to disembark "I'm not sure what you two have planned but the Star should stay with the group. Sable maybe able to track it through the force and the two of you won't be in a good position to fend off an attack on your own. Especially if it continues playing mind games." (edited)

Zed pauses, looking at Kite. Maybe the clone-turned-Mandalorian's paranoia and hatred of the Jedi was making him sharper than Zed gave him credit for. "I hadn't considered that," Zed says.

Shorlu nods in agreement with Kite's words.

Walking off the skiff, Adorhi snaps her head around to the group giving a heavy scowl towards Kite. A reflexive hand to her belongings, she slowly continues to put distance between herself and the others. "Not a chance you greedy duplicates. Just like all that damn gold that nearly got us...no, did get me killed, you all seem to have lost sight of the end goal here. We have what we came for, and now we need to leave. I'm going to find us a way." Now turning to Test, "This," she pats the pouch on her belt, "this is where our trust restarts. If you're going to side with them however, you can stay here. Either way, I'm going to get us a ship." Still keeping her attention on the group, Adorhi continues to distance herself, not caring so much anymore if Test is joining, ready to slip into the alleys of the Slips on her way to Fische's Pub.

Kite scowls under his helm and says "Our mission is to retrieve the Star and Barin, and you would do well to remember your near death experience. That is what fighting a force user is like, next time there may not be someone there to save you. Also we were ill prepared for the ambush because you and Barin, decided to split from the squad and go off on your own limiting our options. I won't take the Star from you but if your task is that important, its a squad mission and the rest of us will be tagging along." Kite then places a hand on Barin's shoulder and leads him off the Skiff.

Test puts a hand up to forestall Kite and the others. "Brothers. We've got to earn each other's trust to function as a unit. And sometimes speed is as important as force concentration. And we aren't exactly inconspicuous as a group," he says looking down at the 3 foot tall elephant and across at the men dressed almost like imperial storm troopers. "Adorhi and I don't draw attention just by being there, and I swear that I will protect her and the Star with my life." (edited)

Zed trusted Test. He knew something was guiding his brother, even before he had just happened to find the cache in the caves. The Force, Zed presumed. He didn't know what it was all about, but he knew that it had been their ally in the past. Haspin had recited that old Jedi maxim time and time again: "May the Force be with you." Zed had always responded the same irreverant way Krin Ordo had: "Shoot straight and run fast, sir." But now, with all the Sable Dawn agents and premonitions and ship's blowing up and being chased, Zed felt like he didn't have much else to rely on, except his brothers, and maybe even the Force. He puts his hand on Kite's shoulder. "He's right. We're not exactly inconspicuous like this. And they'll comm us if they notice anything suspicious." (edited)

Kite hears Testy's reply but continues to move after Adorhi, Test may trust her but after her abandoning the squad in the mines, I don't. She is unpredictable and undermines squad cohesion. He feels a hand on his shoulder and freezes after Zed steps in. It had been years since the squad left the GAR, but whether Zed liked it or not he was still the defacto leader. Kite wasn't happy about it but if this is the way squad wanted to play it, he will stand down. Kite Grunts and says "Your call Zed. Splitting the squad and sending out the smaller unit with the primary objective. When Force freaks are hunting us, feels like a mistake. Even before the fact that the Star is able to manipulate us." Kite leads Barin back into the ship and says "Stay alert Test" Kite pauses and hesitantly says "Don't be a hero, we can reacquire the Star if need be" (edited)

"Understood."

Zed looks at Barin. "I'm sorry about how that went down," he says. "We didn't know that the star could control people like that. And I am sorry about your cousin. There wasn't anything we could do."

Before Testy and Adorhi leave, Gauss throws a couple of medpacs their way. "If you intend to go with just the two of you, you are going to need these. I won't be there to fix you up, so just be careful."

Splitting up again is a mistake. Shorlu had the same thoughts as Kite voiced them. Stalkers on their trail, no ship, and a mind-affecting relic? You didn't have to have an Ortolan's trunk to smell trouble of this magnitude brewing. But he can't tell them what to do, especially Adorhi; forcefulness might only serve to push her further away at this point. Testy was going with her, after all. As he'd said, he was definitely looking out for her safety. "Well, you better radio in the second you see anything suspicious—or feel out of sorts, and we'll come running. We're all on the same side, and we gotta be a team if we wanna make it outta here, like it or not." As the skiff pulls off, he calls down to them. "And have fun on your date!" He laughs to himself. Like dropping off rambunctious kids. Maybe I should've settled down, had a family. (edited)

As Test catches up with Adorhi, she says to the clone,"We've kept Mr. Alastair waiting long enough, hopefully he's still at Fische's. Want to keep to the shadows or see if the market has some inconspicuous garments?"

Test is about to comment about not minding a new woolen poncho, but stops himself. "I'll follow your lead on this. This is your terrain." Testy was used to following orders, and even if Adorhi was an unlikely commanding officer, he thought that surrendering to her will would be good practice for surrendering to the force.

There's a low thrum from the skiff's repulsors as it takes off once more. Down on the docks Adorhi and Testy's receding backs can be seen heading right, making for Fische's pub. They quickly disappear amongst the crowds, moving quickly and quietly. It doesn't take the skiff long to reach the roof of the Epsis command tower, where Puzell can be seen waiting with an entourage of security troopers, as promised. "Why the stop on the docks?" He asks with a frown as the skiff sets down at the edge of the roof. "I thought you were in a hurry?" Across the Slips all seems quiet in Fische's pub, although at first glance Alastair is nowhere to be seen.

"We were, believe me." Shorlu flips his trunk, an expression equivalent to rolling one's eyes in other sentients. "But having our ship blown to hell shook things up a bit. Besides, we have your witness." Shorlu gestures to Barin. (edited)

Inside Fische's, Adorhi's first scan of the room shows no sign of her quarry. "Kark." Adorhi says under her breath. "Perhaps the Wookiee can help. Let's go get that drink," she says before heading to the bar, not waiting to make sure Test follows.

Test glides over to the bar, following in Adorhi's wake. "I could use a good drink..." (edited)

Kite looks to Puzell and says "We appreciate your help. When do you think we can speak with the council? I don't want us to be the reason that Sable attacks your people."

"Rroooowa wohowowhahwhrr rawaoorcacah," Andy says, looking up as the Togruta girl approaches. "Anooooorahwhrr wwoorc raanracaoraahrc?' Meanwhile, atop Epsis's tower on the docks, Puzell shakes his head. "If they do that there's no hiding it from the council. I need to interview your Balosar. On the record. Then I can pass that up the ladder to present to the council. What's your name, son?" He asks. Barin glances warily at his escort for permission.

"This man gave us information that helped us find you, before Sable Dawn did. He had a chance to lock us up when he found us poking around the ship you came here on, but he decided to give us a chance to find you and any find information on the men who killed your pilot. We can trust him more than most people on this rock." Gauss says to Barin, after seeing his hesitation. (edited)

Kite matches pace with Puzell and says "I've given my word to get him home safely, I would prefer to stick with him during the interview. Also do you have any combat droids in your charge? Sable is employing force users who are skilled with manipulation, and droids are immune to their efforts. "

"Barin Trevina," the Balosar finally replies, stepping forwards to present himself. However, Puzell holds up a finger to Barin to wait, as he is still occupied with Kite. "Excuse me, Sable is doing what?"

Kite nods "I wasn't sure if it was common knowledge, but the operatives we have come across have displayed abilities unique to force users. One of them nearly fried me with lightning. With how open they were about it I'm surprised its still a secret"

Kite sensing an opening adds "This is something Epsis and the Hutt's should deal with quickly. If Sable keeps employing Force Users its likely the Empire would eventually take an interest in Point Nadir and that would be bad for everyone's business"

"On the other hand, aren't there bounties on Jedi nowadays? There's a monetary incentive for both your group and the Hutts to take Sable apart. You could make bank turning 'em over to the Empire," Shorlu opines.

"I'm not sure it would be a great idea to bring the Empire into this. They care not for the rules of this comet, and will more likely seize it than just simply take a couple of non-jedi force users." Gauss says, knowing first hand what the Empire can, and will, do. "These guys also have poison in one of their teeth, so if they are captured, they rather die than live." He says, wishing he had taken them from Testy before he left the skiff. (edited)

For a long moment Puzell fixes Kite with a penetrating stare, his blank red eyes alien and unreadable. "No. That isn't 'common knowledge'. If Sable has hidden operatives with such abilities and are openly pursuing you with them, then you must have something that they want very badly indeed. We should get inside." Barin, Gauss, Kite, Shorlu and Zed are all escorted to a rooftop turbolift, which transports them down and away into the bowels of the building. When the doors open again they're in the lobby of a dispatch centre for Slips security. There's an island in the centre of the room manned by two uniforms. Armed officers regularly come and go as the daily business of running the docks continues. "Clegg, I need an interview room, now," Puzell barks, leading the group off down a corridor without waiting for an answer. "Yes sir... room three sir!" One of the officers behind the desk calls after him. Puzell leads everyone into a plain gunmetal room, just like the ones they were interrogated in earlier that day. He pulls up a chair with a clank and gestures to everyone else to make themselves comfortable. "You, sit down," he tells Barin firmly, nodding at the chair opposite before glancing over his right shoulder. "I want this all on holo," the Duros calls out in the direction of a pane of reflective glass, before looking back to Barin. "Now. From the beginning. I want to hear everything." Reluctantly, Barin begins to tell his tale...

"...as we got closer we could see somebody moving around on top of Shorlu's ship. It looked like the Gran that the squad had mentioned was harassing them earlier, but before we could work out anything else the whole thing just explodes. Durasteel flies everywhere, takes out a couple of other freighters for good measure. Everyone's thinking that it's gotta be Sable, and Kite said that our best bet was to call you. So we dropped Testy and Adorhi on the docks and came to meet you on the roof." Puzell sits for a while, processing what he's just been told and glancing at the others in the room to gauge their reactions. "Why drop the other two at the Slips if you're so concerned about Sable? Don't you think they're also in danger out there?"

Kite is unable to restrain a cold laugh and says they are in danger. Dropping them off wasn't a group decision. One of our associates is prone to making rash choices. And unfortunately we were not able to persuade her otherwise." (edited)

Puzell grunts in agreement with Kite, but otherwise accepts this answer and drops the matter. "I find it odd that the Sable Dawn would be so fervent in the pursuit of mere material wealth. There must be some kind of deeper motivation here. Especially if they're prepared to reveal these powers in public to discover the location of this cache."

"If they're after something else, we don't know what it is," Zed says. "But Fische's cache is pretty large, from what I've heard. Is it possible they're after something else in it?" (edited)

Puzell rubs his brow and stands. He paces back and forth briefly, before knocking on the window and waving a hand to cut the recording. "They're going to want to talk to all of you, you realise that? They'll want to see the bullion as evidence too, and the Hutts will more than likely demand it be confiscated... The trouble with this whole story is that it's too easy for Sable to deny all involvement with it. You thought it was them. Somebody is just trying to pin blame or slander their reputation. There's no proof. Did you catch any of this on holo? Your story sows seeds of doubt, but it's not enough to topple a regime." (edited)

At the mention of a holo recording, Gauss remembers that his gear has been recording since the group left the cache. He starts tapping at his wristpad, separating the footage of the skirmish with Sable Dawn, making sure to cut it off before Adorhi screams, so as to avoid information about the Fell Star. "It completely escaped my mind until just now, because of the hell we were going through. I have a recording of our last encounter with Sable in the Fissures, by one of the entrances to the mines.: "I did not get a good look at them however, Zed and I ran after Barin as he tried to escape the chaos, we had to protect our charge after all. But, there is at least footage of a powerful lightning strike being directed towards Kite here. It might not point directly at them, but it's something." he says, as he hands Puzell a copy of the clipped footage. Would have been nice to have gone back to look for clues or information, but not knowing how many more there were, definitely would have been dangerous. he thinks to himself as he shuts down the recording. (edited)

Puzell brings up the holo on his own datapad, and spools through to the point where Gauss and Zed pass in sight of the corpse of the brown-robed Human who hurled lightning at Adorhi and Kite. "There," the Duros asserts, freezing on that frame while he calls up another recording. The footage from the security camera of docking bay 226 appears in the air besides the image of the dead Force user. The same recording that Puzell showed to Kite during his interrogation. The Duros freezes the holo on a sight that Kite recognises. A shot of the arrival of a group of men dressed in simple earth-tone suits, led by a Human in earth-tone robes. The same man who lies dead on the ground in Gauss's recording. "Those suits are Sable's standard uniform," Puzell explains, "but I've never seen their operatives robed before. It's circumstantial, of course. Anyone could buy a brown suit. It's something though. There's no proof here, but it suggests that it was indeed Sable who went after you." The Duros leans his head back in his chair while he thinks. "That means that the Sable Dawn can be associated with the murder of an Epsis customer and with the assault of a neutral party in Anjiliac territory... Of course, the trouble there is that you were in the mines without permission from the Anjiliac clan. The one thing that we really have on them is a recording that appears to show the Sable Dawn employing Force sensitive operatives. Valuable intelligence, but not enough to force a vote..."

15:00

Puzell sits back up and temples his fingers, fixing the clones with another long stare. "Ever heard of Virec Xan? He's the Sable Dawn administrator on Point Nadir. How do you boys feel about cracking another Sable facility? I need actual evidence that the Sable Dawn are responsible for the bombing in the Tethers and the murder of Phellip. If you get me that then Epsis can push Zietta to move against them in the council and you get paid, but I need solid evidence. Files from their computer systems, or from Virec's office. Something to really tie them to all of this." (edited)

Kite shifts in his armor and tries to stretch his back a bit. His muscles are still sore from the lightning blast, and its caused his back to lock up a bit. Even without the attack its been a long day. They would need to rest before attempting anything. Kite looks at Puzell and asks " I would have to talk to the rest of the group but that is something that is definitely within our capabilities. But we gave Barin our word we would get him home. How soon do you need us to get this done?" He pauses and adds " I'm sure my associates would accept if you could lend a ship and a pilot to transport us there and back and allow us to keep our promise to Barin. It could even be a piece of our payment."

"How are ya, Andy? Glass of Andoan for me, please. A Fuzzy for you, Test?" Turning back to the Wookiee, hoping the response will make some sort of sense, she asks, "Alastair around?"

Puzell scratches his ear and stands. "This is a matter of interest to Epsis as a whole, but the only time sensitive element is keeping your friend here alive," he admits, waving a hand in Barin's direction. "If you want my professional opinion, he won't be truly safe until we work out what it is that Sable wanted from him in the first place. Regardless, if you think you can protect him better off-world, then do so. As for the Mad Line... hand over the bullion that you recovered from Fische's cache as evidence and I can release it to you." -------------------------------------------------- "Wwahwhwo aoacrawhorc," Andy replies, pouring Adorhi and Test their drinks. "Acwo'c ahwh aoacwo rhraoaor, cacoohuanwa ah oaraanan acahsc?" He continues, gesturing to a door marked PRIVATE at the back of the cantina.

Thankful for at least the gesture by the Wookiee, Adorhi looks along the bar for a protocol droid who might help fill in a few more pieces of Andy's response.

In the shadows of one of the booths around the edge of a cantina, the insectoid head of an RA-7 series protocol droid glistens.

"Andy, my Shyriiwook lessons haven't started yet, but I'm looking forward to it. For now, mind if I ask that droid to help us bridge the gap here in our communication?" Adorhi says while gesturing to the droid. (edited)

"Orwowoak anahcaowowhahwhrr rawhwa rooohu'anan akahoaor ahao huak," Andy replies with a toothy grin. The wookie nods in affirmation, but also pulls a datapad out from under the bar, tapping out a message with surprisingly dextrous claws. Boss is in the back.

Shorlu's trunk wrinkles at the offer. His padded hands feel for the weight of the gold bar in the pack strapped to his side. Heavy, but reassuring in its weight. He was loathe to give it up, and not out of greed. This gold, in combination with its cousins still in the mines, could easily purchase Rider's freedom. He glances around at the clones, his thoughts fairly evident to them: Like we need that particular ship that badly, right? The blasted thing would take even more money and work just to get flying again. The Duros knew that. He gives Puzell a skeptical look. "Uh-huh. That is something we could do. Say, how much did you say you'd pay for this dirt on Sable, out of curiosity?"

Test takes his drink, looking around the bar for threats. Why am I always looking for threats? Maybe 'cause I keep finding them. Wonder if I started looking for other things I might find them instead. As the drink runs over his tongue and brushes his lips, he feels the tingle of it, enjoying the sensation. He'd always enjoyed this drink for the numbness it gave him, bit this is the first time he stopped to pay attention to the tingle that came before the numbing. The drink was made with an extract of some blossom from some bush on Ryloth. Or was it Dantooine? But now that he was looking for the excitement, he found it. A pleasent sensation tickling his mouth. Maybe there was a lesson in that. Maybe he should look for more in life...more in others than just threat or back-up. Maybe it was time to look for that tingle that made life worth living for its own sake, not just the outcome that got him through the day. Heh. Next thing I know I'll be lookin' for a gal to hang on my arm, he thought to himself as he gave an audible laugh, looking around the room for more than just threats. (edited)

"Three hundred credits," Puzell reiterates slowly. "That bullion is important evidence in this matter. Barin here said you took most of it, which doesn't quite make up the value of the ship, but it comes close enough for our purposes. A fair deal for all sides, well, except Sable."

"You said Sable took the flight computer and disabled the weapons? Have any idea where we can get one on this comet. ideally for three hundred credits or less?" Gauss asks inquisitively. (edited)

Puzell pulls a face that is something between a smirk and a grimace. "Try ten times that for a new one. At least. What I can do is give you access to the port authority's impound lot. Maybe you can salvage something from another ship." He pauses for a moment. "Just get the job done. I'm not giving you all this help for nothing. I'm tired of Xan having his cronies do whatever they want whereever they want. I want them out of my way." (edited)

"Better than nothing I suppose." Gauss says with a laugh. "This comet is nothing like the GAR" he thought to himself. If he needed a part for something, Gauss would requisition it and it would be there as soon as possible, they were fighting a war after all. But here, in the outer rim, the squad either has to cough up all the credits they have, which is not a lot at this point or go scrounge through a a pile of scrap. (edited)

Gauss and I should be able to find the parts we need and get the ship back running without to much time & effort Kite nods and says "Sounds fair enough." He looks to the rest of the squad and says "Any objections?"

"It's a very generous offer," Zed says. And he knows we can't refuse.

Kite nods and glances at Shorlu and looks back to Puzell. "We do have one other request. Do you have any knowledge of Macarthy or the business he deals in?"

Puzell nods to Zed as the deal is accepted. "You've probably noticed by now that the legend of Salovan Fische carries a certain weight here on Point Nadir. That bullion is more useful to me than an aging freighter. Leave what you have here and when your friend returns with the rest I'll release the Mad Line to you." McCarthy's name provokes a scowl of distaste from the Duros. "Spice, prostitution, gambling... McCarthy doesn't like to limit himself to just one vice. Vicious too, when things don't go his way. Not a man I'd recommend getting into bed with."

"He's got our pilot," Zed says as he dumps the two bars of bullion from his arms and opens his backpack to retrieve the other. "How well connected is he?"

Kite takes out his gold bar and thinks well there goes my jetpack fund. "We will get the rest once the other members of the squad check in"

Before Shorlu breaches the topic himself, Kite and Zed have already begun asking about McCarthy. It threw him off a bit. He'd been anticipating more of an uphill battle as far as that was concerned. Well, maybe it was more Test and Adorhi who would be the hard ones to garner support from. Test, who didn't really like or trust those outside of his circle (Am I an exception?), and Adorhi, who didn't seem to like anyone, unless they were of use to her (In which case, turn on the charm.). But of course, he didn't begrudge them for it. They were practical people in an impractical galaxy. He'd seen far colder types in his golden years. And to them, Flynn was only an acquaintance. But still, he had to make his intentions clear. Even if it meant he had to split off from this touchy, yet so far comfortable group, he wouldn't give up on Rider. After all, Rider didn't give up on him... That was for later, though. Let's focus on the present. "If you got anything good on Gingerbeard—weak spots, his defenses, any of that—I-we can hear it after we've done you your favor. 'Che Uba, ara Je.'" (edited)

"Relatively," Puzell admits, in response to Zed's question. "The man has a lot of 'friends', although most are really just afraid of him. Folks who cross McCarthy tend not to be seen again. Not in one piece anyway." --------------------------------------------- Meanwhile at Fische's, Testy spots a pink skinned woman in a tight black dress perched against the end of the bar. She's sipping a dark drink from a cocktail glass and brushes a scarlet lock back out of her face when she spots Testy looking her way.

"I'm gonna keep watch out here while you talk to your friend, if you don't need me?" Test asks Adorhi as he stares a bit too long at the woman in the black dress.

With a chuckle, Adorhi replies to the entranced Clone, "Just make sure you keep watch on more than just the end of the bar. She's certainly something nice to look at, aye? Just means she'll cause that much more trouble though. A little too light colored for my tastes as well. Back soon." Tossing a few credits on the bar and giving a nod to Andy, Adorhi makes her way to the back of the bar towards Alastair's current whereabouts.

Kite takes the information in and says " We need to wait for our companions to return before we can access the Mad Line, but would you permit us to inspect the impound lot while we wait for their return?"

Test takes a deep breath, feeling sweat bead on his brow as his nerves take him like they hadn't since his first mission. After taking a half step down the bar towards the beautiful woman, he spins back towards the Wookiee, placing both hands on the bar top, his half-empty drink right between. "Never done this, ya know. Got any tips?" (edited)

05:58

After the barkeep just guffaws as only a Wookiee can, Test continues, "Yeah, well, see I ain't just your average Joe who at least grew up with girls around. I didn't even have a mother. Hell I didn't even really grow up. Adorhi's the only girl I ever said more than a few words to. Are they all like that? You know what never mind. I'm sure girls are great and all, but there's more to life right? There's more that a man can live for than that? Kark it, I'm just plain scared. Yeah I know you know, you don't gotta give me that look. It's probably easy for a chap like you. Got connections. A job that literally dispenses pleasure. Surrounded by girls. And come on, I mean your obviously quite the specimen. I mean you're what? Eight-two, eight-three? I bet the girls throw themselves at you. And me? I'm shabby. Haven't cut my hair or trimmed my beard in weeks. Hell I haven't bathed in a few days. My clothes are half caked blood and half scorched linen. I don't talk good. The one girl I've talked to bounces between hating me and making fun of me. What the hell kind of chance have I got with a girl like that down there? You know what? No. That's just fear talkin'. I gotta conquer fear. Look inside, take hold of the fear and show it who's boss. And you know what? Maybe it's time to do it. If I get rejected, I get rejected. It's not the end of the world. Hell, it won't be the 7th worst thing that happened to me today, most like. What the hell am I waiting for? Let's do this." Test gives the Wookiee his biggest smile, grabs the half-full glass from the counter and dumps the contents down his throat. Feeling invigorated, he turns back to the end of the bar to see a furry, male Defel. "Kark it." (edited)

Puzell nods. "Speak to Clegg at the desk we passed, he'll arrange you an escort." (edited)

"Thank you for your help," Zed says, extending his hand to Puzell. Getting into bed with a syndicate like Epsis could be dicey. But the squad didn't have any other choice. I miss having the ability to call in an orbital bombardment, Zed thinks. Not that it would solve much in this situation. It's just nice to have options.

"I'd like to suggest Barin remain here," Puzell adds as he returns the handshake. "For his own safety." -------------------------------------------------- "Rooohu cacoohuanwa akahoaor huak ra rrahrcan ahwh aoacwo coohuor," Andy tells Test with a chuckle. "Cacwo ohoowh'ao rhwo rarhanwo aooo rcwowwhucwo!" At the back of the pub, Adorhi tries the door handle and it swings out towards her with a slight creak. On the far side is a far more modern corridor with sleek silver walls, punctuated periodically by doors, of which one is labelled MANAGEMENT. "Come in," Alastair's voice can be heard to reply from the far side when Adorhi knocks. Inside, she's confronted with another stark change in aesthetic. Alastair clearly favours old world comforts, complete with dark wooden furniture and real paper books that must be worth a fortune. "Ah, Miss Ven," he welcomes with a smile, gesturing to the Togruta to sit. "To what do I owe this pleasure? Here to take the Starworm job?"

"Barin's probably not safe anywhere," Zed says. "No offense to your security measures, but I don't think they were built to keep out Force users." He turns to Barin. "You should come with us, I think."

Looking around Alastair's office, Adorhi quipped in reply, "Management, huh? Certainly there's a better ruse than that for your other endeavors? But yes, I am here to take the job and need to discuss additional resources needed, namely transport." Out of habit, she fell into a silky smooth voice and putting on the charm. The male species was so easy to manipulate if you made them think you had something to offer. Getting her wits about her, she quickly turned it off, knowing that Alastair was likely not the type to fall for foolish games. "What can you do to help a gal out?"

Alastair throws Adorhi a confused frown that quickly transitions to a look of amusement as he joins the dots. "So that was your ship that just went off like firecracker out in the Tethers, hm? That's rotten luck. I can rent you a freighter if that's what you need. Just don't let the Sable Dawn blow this one up, or you're paying for it!" -------------------------------------------------- Puzell gives Zed a look that is something between incredulous and amused. "Whether that's true or not, this building's defences are definitely more secure than a street escort of four mercenaries. I highly doubt that Sable will dare to publicly assault an Epsis command center."

Kite looks at Puzell trying to get a read for him. During their last conversation he seemed to be a fairly honorable straight shooter for his line of work. And based on his body language and demeanor it seems he is playing it straight now as well. "That definitely makes sense Puzell, if you have any combat droids it would definitely let me rest easier knowing they are also keeping watch on him. Barin choice is yours but it seems like this may be the safest place for you until we can get off planet."

Zed nods. Kite makes a good point. Still not totally comfortable leaving Barin here alone, but if he has droids, that might waylay Sable's efforts if they did try something. Still not totally used to working with droids instead of blasting them.

"And the going rate for said freighter?" Adorhi reluctantly replies, still scanning the room at Alastairs collectibles.

"Three thousand five hundred credits for the duration of the job," Alastair rattles off on cue, smirking a little as he notices Adorhi surveying his souvenirs and trophies. They seem to heavily feature items characteristic of low-tech worlds. Model sail boats and bottles of rare spirits. Analog navigation devices, stone sculptures and a great many books. -------------------------------------------------- "I don't, but I'll look into it," Puzell tells Kite with a shake of his head. Barin glances left and right between the Duros and his rescuers, obviously torn, but in the end he sighs and nods. It's the safer path.

"I'd wager that you don't have another group of Clones on your list of errand boys. And you can't deny they would provide quite an advantage to the successful completion of this specific task." Adorhi leans against Alastair's desk, then leans further to reinforce her point. "Surely that's worth something towards our request?"

"Alright," Shorlu said, checking Barin's reaction, and noting the atmosphere of the room. "Sounds like an offer we can't refuse. And I know a lot about those. So..." He gives a little shrug to the group, for anyone else who was willing to part with their gold, to do so. He, for his part, does not. He carefully makes small adjustments to his posture so as not to give away that he has a bar on him. If I can just hold onto this, it could go towards getting Flynn out more easily... He glances at the eyes of his compatriots. They wouldn't rat on me, would they...?

Alastair holds Adorhi's gaze as he muses on her proposal. "Something, certainly. An even three thousand then."

"Now now, oh so generous! I wouldn't want to put you out." Adorhi says sarcastically. She grabs her comm and calls Test to come join her and Mr. Alastair.

"Kark it." As Test quickly looks around for the girl in the black dress, Test hears Adorhi call him over his headcom, and his frustrated scowl softens. "Be right in" he responds. Test turns to Andy and says "Not sure what you just said big guy, but maybe I should go looking somewhere less classy like the Souk. Anyway, duty calls." (edited)

When the Clone enters the room, Adorhi turns to him and reflexively begins speaking in Togruta but immediately restarts in Basic after giving Alastair an apologetic look and a shrug showing it was just habit. "One of your bars?" she says holding out a hand to Test. "Mr. Alastair has been kind enough to lend us a ship."

"One of ours," test corrects as he hands over a bar to Adorhi. Turning to Alastair, he adds "Nice place. I dig the old stuff. Feels real." (edited)

Taking the gold bar and turning back to Alastair, giving it a slight shake up and down in her hand to show off the weight, she offers it out to the gentleman behind the desk. "One of these now, and one when we return. A man with your tastes and interests in such relics and objet d'art surely knows the real value here and even more so knows how to get that value."

"Rhrowo aowocao," Andy says as Testy heads off to find Adorhi. Alastair raises an eyebrow when he sees the bullion, which clearly isn't what he was inspecting. Taking it from Adorhi, he inspects the Old Republic seal with great interest. "Where did you find this?" He asks. -------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, Shorlu's hidden bar of gold doesn't appear to draw Puzell's eye.

"I told you when we first met that I was good at finding things," Adorhi says with a grin. "If you're good with our offer, then perhaps we can see about sharing those additional details when we get back with your prize."

Alastair carefully looks Testy up and down. "You're holding out on me, Miss Ven," he tells her with a smirk. "Just how many of these do you have? At least five, from the looks of it. Maybe more? Just a few hours ago you were willing to do grunt work for a fist full of credits - which means that this windfall came to you on Point Nadir. Quite the change of fortune." Alastair continues to turn the bar over in his hands, inspecting it from all sides. "I didn't take you for a fan of spelunking," he notes as he lays it down on the table in front of him, watching Adorhi's face carefully with his piercing blue-eyed stare. (edited)

Holding back a tinge of annoyance, Adorhi replies, "That grunt work was accepted out of respect for this process. This isn't my first rodeo, and I know it isn't yours either. Sure, we may have stumbled upon something here. But that's just it, we did, not you." Adorhi lets out a sigh, struggling further to hold back the frustration. "We're simply here asking for the resources to complete your job. Does that work for you?" (edited)

Alastair chuckles, clearly well aware that Adorhi is right in some of what she's saying. "Most certainly," he answers, sliding the bullion to the side, where he obviously intends to keep it, "but, you see, now you've also drawn my attention. This isn't just any old gold. You've retrieved a portion of the legendary treasure of Salovan Fische and it's only right that it should reside in the house that bears his name." Alastair pauses and raises his hands to indicate the building around them. "You did say that you were good at finding things and maybe I underestimated that talent. How much more is there, Miss Ven? I don't believe for a second that it's just five bars."

Test says in Togruta, "Pride can be priceless. Ships are commodities. Maybe he lets us keep the ship for the other bars and the location of the rest?"

Adorhi puts up a hand as Test speaks, and says in Basic. "We're not here to tell secrets, Test. Trust and respect is key. But I think you've got a point, if you'd like to share?"

Kite notices Shorlu holding onto his bar and frowns. The squad gave their word and so far Puzell has honored his end of the deal. He won't rat the Ortolan out, but will remember this. He nods at Puzell walking out of the room and finding Gregg say "Puzell said that you should be able to get us access to the impound lot. My associates and I would like to get there ASAP"

Clearing his throat, Test turns to Alastair and says "I apologize for that. I'm usually just the muscle here, so I didn't want to speak outta turn. But I was sayin' that, especially seein' as this gold here is a matter of personal pride for you, and is, you know, old and important like...well maybe we could give you the rest of the gold we have here, and give you directions to the rest of the cache we couldn't carry in exchange for a ship for keeps. They ain't cheap a'course, but I think what we got here is close to priceless if I'm readin' the politics of this comet right. And of course, we can still do this other job for ya, and maybe more in the future. So think of it as seed money for a new Fische franchise."

Alastair's mouth twists into something akin to a grimace as he wrestles with Testy's proposition. "Fische's gold is a powerful symbol, yes, but it doesn't amount to the value of a freighter. Not just a few bars anyway. The full set though... that's a different story. That treasure is greater than the sum of its parts. Now, it sounds to me like it hasn't been on the streets all that long. A couple of hours or so, yes? That makes it unlikely that any has yet left Point Nadir. Bring me the lot and you can keep the ship - and I mean all of it. You can bet that if anybody else claims their piece of the pie then it won't remain a secret for long." -------------------------------------------------- Puzell accompanies Shorlu and the clones out, nodding to Clegg as Barin is escorted away. "Yes, of course. I'll have an airspeeder and an escort made ready for you on the roof." (edited)

Adorhi was used to some hard negotiating in her line of work but Alastair seemed to be hitting a nerve. Her neck and face maybe starting to turn a shade of purple as the blood rushed to it in a growing frustration; an anger. Her hand subconsciously goes to a pouch on her belt. "Sorry, Alastair. You've over reached. We'll be back when we have a ship to do your errand." Adorhi snaps in reply while grabbing the gold bar off of his desk. She turns and heads towards the exit, addressing her counterpart on the way out. "Test, let's go find the others." (edited)

Alastair's eyes narrow and his grimace twists into a scowl when Adorhi snatches the bullion from his desk. "Walk out that door and you can say goodbye to fifteen grand, Miss Ven," he snaps. "I have neither the time nor the patience for your games. Two bars of bullion to rent a transport, that is if you're not confident in your skill at finding things."

Stopping short of the door, Adorhi pauses, lets out a deep sigh and turns. Through almost gritted teeth, she says to Alastair,"A rental it is then. Where can we pick up the ship and what about the info on the 'hulk?" Turning to Test, "If no objection, give the man his two bars." (edited)

Test takes out two bars of gold and sets them gingerly on the desk, making sure not to mar the well-polished wood. "It's been a long day," he says quietly to Alastair.

A touch of tension seems to leave Alastair's shoulders as Testy lays the bullion down and his manner quickly returns to his usual controlled calm. "Docking bay three, the Messenger. They'll be expecting you. You'll find the coordinates in the ship's navicomputer. Good hunting, Miss Ven."

As they head back into Fische's pub proper, Adorhi asks Test to call the others and let them know we have our ride.

"We got a ride. Meet us at docking bay 3."

Zed pauses as they ascend to the roof of the Epsis complex. "Copy that," he says. "We also got a ride, but it's in pretty bad shape. In fact, we're headed to a scrap yard to salvage parts for it right now."

"Good copy, brother. We'll meet you there first then. Having a second ship could come in handy." Turning to Adorhi, Test tells her that they need to meet up with the rest of the team at the scrap yard first.

An airspeeder and security officer wait atop the port authority building, just as Clegg has said. The man is clearly expecting Shorlu and the clones, and once everyone is in the vehicle they zip off towards the Utility Ward where an oddball mix of abandoned vessels sit gathering rust in a fenced area near the rocky inner wall of the cove.

"Alright, Kite and Gauss, I assume that you know what you're looking for?" Zed asks. "I've got little to no experience with these sorts of things."

Kite steps out of the speeder, hearing Zed he says "We just need a flight computer but might as well see if there is anything else worth salvaging that we can add to the new ship. Lets start with the YT's Gauss." He then looks for the nearest/best looking YT model in the yard

Zed queues up his comms. "Adorhi, Test, we're in the salvage yard past bay one, looking for a nav computer. Meet us here?" (edited)

"Exactly my thoughts." Gauss says as he walks towards the nearest YT-model (edited)

"Roger that. We're 2 minutes out." (edited)

"I wonder if they actually managed to grab that ride without catching the eye of any Browncoats." Shorlu muses, his hands in his pockets as they proceed to the impound lot. He feels for another tabac stick in his pockets. None left. No problem, there were more—on the Bane. Kark. He let out a sigh, which sounded more like a low-pitched hoot. "Before you go, listen for a second. I can show ya a thing or two about searching a place like this more thoroughly..." He spends a minute teaching the clones some tricks of the trade. (edited)

Zed listens to Shorlu intently. After it's over, he nods slowly. "Sounds good," Zed says. "You lost me about 40 seconds ago, but sounds good."

After a targeted search of a couple of slowly decaying YT model freighters, Gauss manages to extract a functioning flight computer from YT-1000 that looks like it's about to fall apart at the seams.

"Found it." Gauss says over the comms "Anything else look salvageable to you guys?"

"Let's move out. Once we meet up with Test & Adorhi we can get Puzell the rest of his gold and get off this crazy comet."

"Hey there brothers. So you bought a whole ship with the gold, eh? Nice. We've got a rental waiting for us. Kite you want to escort Adorhi and me over to this Puzzle fellow and we can drop off the gold?"

As Adorhi and Test approach the others, she notices a key figure missing among them. Still fuming a bit from dealing with Alastair, she can't hold back her anger. "Where the kriff is Barin? We came all this way to find him, go through hell to do so, and you lose track of him?"

"He's with Epsis, who want to keep him alive as badly as we do," Zed says. "He's a safe as anywhere else on this rock."

Shorlu folds his arms behind his back, and begins rocking back and forth in place. "Yep. Wasn't nothing so silly as losing track, Twin-tails. Besides, if I gathered right, we oughta be bringing Prello both Barin, and that nice piece of jewelry. Speaking of which, I was gonna ask if you've been feeling alright, no...outbursts or anything? But eh, nevermind. Guess that answers that question." Ceasing his taunts, and his rocking, he looks to Testy. "Yeah, we cut a deal with Epsis: we turn over the gold in exchange for the ship Barin rode in on. If the others are done salvaging, we can head right over." Shorlu feels the weight on his side again, and adds quietly, "He doesn't know precisely how much gold we took, y'know." He felt obliged to say that much. (edited)

"If the agreement was all the gold I have, he's going to get all the gold I have. But thanks for giving me the 'heads up.'. Adorhi, can I have that last bar back?" he says with a smirk. (edited)

Giving not an ounce of acknowledgment to Test, Adorhi's eyes narrow at the Ortolan. "If you want an outburst, I'll give you an outburst you short little sack of druk," Adorhi begins in a steady but angered tone, progressively getting faster and louder. "Your tiny little brain is correct, we are to bring Prello the item AND Barin. I have us a ride out of here, I have the item, but YOU apparently left the third, and most important, part behind. We could be on our kriffing way off this rock." With a slight relax in volume, but still a very angered tone, she asks, "So, please do enlighten me as to why you felt it was a good idea to leave..." Something seems to distract Adorhi, cutting off the end of her question. She begins looking around for something, at first almost cautiously and then building in panic, before eventually falling to her knees, hands to her shaking head.

"Adorhi!" Zed shouts. "What is it? Is it the star?" He kneels down next to the togruta while raising his rifle and scanning the area for hostiles. (edited)

"And that, is what I was waiting for." Shorlu says, now approaching the cringing Adorhi after taking her rant on the chin. "You ought to let someone else hold onto that. For your own sake." There's more than a hint of concern in his voice. (edited)

"You stay away from me! This belongs to Prello now and I won't have you pawning it off to bail out your friend from his self inflicted problems." Adorhi says to the Ortolan. Adorhi stands up and slowly begins to put distance between herself and the group. "Test, I'm going to the ship. Get Barin and let's get the kriff out of here." (edited)

"I'll meet you there," he warily replies. "C'mon Kite."

Zed sighs. He liked Adorhi, but they had made a smart, tactical decision to leave an asset with an ally in a secure location, while she had taken one-half of their quarry into unknown territory with little backup or support while not explaining her plan to the rest of the squad. Well, maybe Puzell's not an ally, but he has as much reason to keep Barin alive as we do. She was becoming a tactical liability. Zed really didn't know what to do at this point. He had tried his best to be a peacekeeper between the squad and Adorhi, but he didn't have a response for this. He nods to Kite and Test as they head out. "Just to be clear," Zed asks. "What ship are you going to? Because we have two now." (edited)

"You three get yours up and running, and Kite and I will travel with Adorhi in the second ship."

"Barin stays at Epsis and then comes with us," Zed says. "If we're travelling separately, might as well divide our assets to minimize the chance that our whole job goes up in smoke at once."

Kite seeing Adorhi breakdown and then storm off. Scowls and mutters "Hutt Spawn". Thinking I wish one of my brothers or even Shorlu picked up the star. It's hard to tell how much of her current erratic behavior was due to the star's influence and how much was just pure Adorhi Kite dryly says in a near exhausted tone "that one is going to get us killed." he looks at Testy and says "Vod, you need to convince her to take a break from the Star, once we get on the Ship we can lock it up. She was never the most stable and whatever the Star is doing isn't helping" (edited)

The Epsis security officer stands awkwardly by the airspeeder outside the gate of the impound while Adorhi fights with her travelling companions. Once everyone is out he locks the gates once more and takes Gauss, Shorlu and Zed back to the port authority to collect Barin.

Looking at Zed and Shorlu, "Let's get to the Mad Line and fix it as quickly as possible, then go get Barin and leave as soon as possible. Not having the full team is dangerous for sure, the more time we spend here, the higher the chance Sable will find us... again." Gauss says with a sigh. (edited)

Gauss never liked when the squad spilt. Even during the war they had to split up to accomplish their mission, but not being able to back up half his squad never sat right with Gauss. He needed to be able to when his brothers, or friends, were in need but he understands that sometime they had to, even if it wasn't what Gauss considered the best solution. Being separated like this did give him focus however, the quicker he could get his respective task done, the quicker the squad could rejoin. Only then would he feel safe and secure, when he and his brothers were fighting side-by-side, not running this around dangerous scum filled comet where most beings are only out for themselves.

After giving Zed and Guass his gold bars, Test runs to catch-up with Adorhi. "They're going to settle up with Epsis and get Barin after he's given his testimony." Test checks around trying to keep an eye out for anyone watching or following them as they head over a few slips to their rental.

Shorlu shook his head as Adorhi and Test left, then nodded to Gauss as he listed their objectives. "Yeah. Not the smoothest way to get the ships, but traveling in two separate groups is a good idea. Throws the bad guys off our trail a little. Either way, I can't wait to be rid of the 'jewelry,' and I'd like to see Barin home safely, anyway. Let's go." As they walk along, Shorlu also keeps an eye out for any stalkers, Sable Dawn or otherwise. He then speaks up to Zed and Gauss. "You guys know I wouldn't do that, right? Nick the 'jewelry' and sell it myself? We've only known each other a few days, sure, but... you know me better than that, right?" Though he wore a good sabaac face when dealing with others, it's rather apparent that the Ortolan's feelings are hurt. He stops walking for a second, and opens up his pack, showing the two that he still had his bar of gold. "Obviously, I'm holding onto this to go towards getting Flynn out. Unlike with the artifact, this doesn't really belong to anyone as of yet, and what Puzell doesn't know can't hurt him. Besides, heh, I know a bit about law, and stealing from pirates is fair game. But if you think I should turn it over with the others, I'll listen." (edited)

"I understand Shorlu, this day has been hard on us all, hopefully helping Epsis will lead us to helping out Flynn, maybe without having to pay McCarthy. After we bring Barin to our contractor, we can come back and deal with all of this, except this time prepared and better equipped for everything this comet has against us." Gauss says with a confident tone, one that knows the capabilities of his brothers, and what they can do with the proper gear and preparation. "You teach us how to search for clues and to look at things from various perspectives, we can teach you how to fight a war, that is the least we can do." (edited)

Kite follows along with Test & Adorhi. Walking a bit behind them, to keep watch on both outside threats, and keep an eye on Adorhi. He says to the group "This day has been a week. You two never mentioned how you got this ship. I bet there is a story behind it" (edited)

Docking bay 3 is just a five minute walk up Slips from the impound and when Adorhi, Kite and Testy come around in front of the wide shuttered doors they find a Sullustan leant against the boarding ramp of a Barloz-class medium freighter. "Ah, the salvage crew, right? What's your names, folks?" -------------------------------------------------- The Epsis driver has Gauss, Shorlu and Zed back at the port authority tower within minutes and takes them back down to the same level where Puzell interviewed Barin. The Duros is occupied elsewhere, but after a short wait comes out to see them. "You find what you need?"

Test quickly responds. "Name's Test. This is Kite and Adorhi. You are?" (edited)

"Call me Garon," the Sullustan replies, tossing the clone a code cylinder. "See you round Test. Good huntin'." With that he stands and saunters off out of the hangar towards Fische's, leaving the trio standing in front of the open ship.

"Yep, and here's the gold our companions had on them." Shorlu gestures as Zed and Gauss reveal the bars. "Gotta say, I wish all my ship transactions could go so smoothly. By the way, have we got any kind of ETA on when Barin can testify and get outta here? He's got a warm bed and a cousin to mourn on Tatooine."

"Oh," Puzell laughs with an eery grin as he looks over the four additional bars of pirate treasure. "No, no need for him to testify. We're not doing that. I have the recording and it will only open an unnecessary can of worms for both of us with the Anjiliac. No, the deal is that you bring me the evidence I need on Sable. Understood? Take the Balosar home, and if you recover any more of Fische's treasure then bring that to me too. I think you and your team show promise and that you can be useful, so I've been generous so far. I expect a return on said generosity. We all on the same page?"

"Right," Zed says, remembering the proposed snatch-and-grab at the Sable Dawn headquarters. "We'll be coming back after making sure Barin is safe."

Once Test gets on board he asks Kite to check the ship to make sure everything is in order and asks Adorhi to join him in one of the larger cabins to talk privately.

Puzell nods to Zed in return. "This is your team as I understand it, Zed? Steer them right and there's plenty more work for you down the line. I can use capable operatives, and while this has been messy you have survived the Sable Dawn, which is more than most can say. Bring me what I need. Barin will be with you shortly and the guards on the Mad Line are expecting you. Get some R&R on the ride home, you're going to need it." With that said, the Duros departs to go about his other business.

Zed looks at Gauss and Shorlu after a few beats. He shakes his head. "That's the sketchiest Duros I've met since that bounty hunter back during the war."

"You would be sketchy too if you lived on this rock. Look at us, trying to scavenge what little we can, just to leave it."

"Sorry that we lost the gold," Zed replies. "This has been a helluva day."

"Let's just be glad he is willing to work with us, and not against us"

23:48

"Hey, we got a ship out of it, I say that's a win"

"For now," Zed says. "Keep your guard up."

"I'm with you on that, Gauss. I don't want to see nothin' but unfriendly faces when we get back to this dirtball."

23:52

Shorlu thinks back to the almond-skinned woman who confronted them when they were with the droid. Yeah, better off making friends than enemies, wherever possible.

Kite hears Tests request and nods. Heading out to inspect the ship looking to see if its in working order as well as keeping an eye out for any tracking devices/signs of sabotage. Thinking Please let this ship be good to go, today has been too long and I need to get out of this armor

Aboard their rental starship, Adorhi takes a lap around the cabins and through the cockpit before running into Test. A request by the clone to talk privately hits her with a variety of emotions and the most recent events with the others aren't helping. In some very weird way, she had done a 180 with Test. He had almost become the one she now trusts the most, second of course to trusting no one. She never bought into fate or destiny and was mostly indifferent on the Force. But something was just so damn coincidental she thought, about her and this clone, who spoke her language, coming together for a job. Even then, she couldn't help but feel that this conversation would turn into an attack, or worse yet, an attempt to take Prello's new relic. Adorhi does her best to concentrate and keep aware of Test at all times following him into the cabin. "So, fill me in on why you didn't go get Barin. Instead, you let those bucketheads go pick him up after they were the ones to leave him behind in the first place."

After closing the door, Test goes to sit on the bunk. As he talks, he takes off his pack, unbuckles his weapons belt, and unstraps the small shield on his arm, placing them on the floor. "For a few reasons, Adorhi. One, 'cause I trust Zed's judgment about the tactical risks. It's a trust built over years...built with sweat and blood. And two, 'cause I wanted to talk to you alone. Adorhi I...I heard voices...whispers comin' from that Star when you walked by me earlier. I know it seems to have somethin' to do with the Force and...well ever since we...ever since Haspin died I've wanted to be more like him. And lately, with you be Togrutan like Haspin, the same color even. And with finding the lightsaber crystals after us gettin' into a fight, and you having this Star that seemed to call to me and seems to call to you. Well, I...kriff this sounds weird but...would you...meditate with me?" (edited)

Kite inspects the ship both inside and out, but his focus is anywhere but on his task. Thinking about the Fell Star and the implausibility of what has occurred since they have found it. Something like the Star shouldn't exist, he remembers speaking with Haspin regarding the Force and being told While the force is all present and binds everything in the galaxy, to be able to actively call upon it you need to have the genetics for it. Something about a parasite in the blood. Kite couldn't exactly remember what Haspin called it, but while the blood parasite sounded ridiculous the logic tracked. They need to lock it up until they can return it to Prello. But even that is starting to concern Kite, Hutt's are greedy and self serving. Prello will sell it to the highest bidder, and if it can create new force users, the galaxy could return to the chaos of the Republic. He reboards the ship, and hearsTest talking to Adorhi, and says "I will be in the cockpit, if you need me"" (edited)

Frustration in her voice, Adorhi brushes off Test's request and switches the topic. "What was our job, Test? What were we hired to do? We were set, we have the relic, we had Barin. And then I...you and I got us a ship so we could get the kriff off this cursed rock." Adorhi slowly paces in the cabin. "I'm sure you trust Zed very much, I will not question that. But there were three others involved, one of them being someone we all just met barely a couple rotations ago. Regardless of your opinion of them, my actions have 100% been dedicated to our mission. Can you say that about our little blue friend?"

The Epsis guards at docking bay 226 are obviously expecting Shorlu, Barin and the clones. One of them hands Zed a code cylinder on the way in, but they otherwise hold their positions for the time being.

Zed takes the code cylinder and turns to hand it to their pilot. It suddenly strikes him that they have two pilots here. "Which one of you is flying?"

"I'm pretty used to copiloting. Gauss, if you want to take the lead on that, feel free. But let's not put the cart before the rickshaw droid, gotta get this thing spaceworthy first." Shorlu starts busying about, fixing up the ship using whatever tools are on hand.

19:06

"Don't forget to slot in that flight computer," he says, before crawling into a maintenance port.

Kite opens a channel to the other squad. "Our ship is good to launch, let me know when the Mad Line is repaired and we can take off together. That way we can watch each others backs in case Sable tries to ambush us before we jump to hyperspace."

"Copy all," Zed says into his helmet mic. "Things seem to be going well over here, but if I'm honest, I have no idea what's happening."

"Just keep an eye out for anything weird Zed, Shorlu and I have the maintenance covered" Gauss says to Zed before heading to the cockpit to connect the flight computer they found and look over the rest of the ship, searching for any out of place systems, fixing them, then moving on to the next one. (edited)

"I'll keep an eye out," Zed replies. The traffic he could see was at the worst, curious about the ship. The Epsis guards seemed to deter any visitors.

"I've not questioned your actions, Adorhi. And I don't know about the blue fellow, but Zed and Gauss aren't moof-milkers. They won't let Shorlu pull a fast one on 'em. But lets not argue. We'll know if I was wrong soon enough. But for now, would you sit with me?" He extends his hand towards Adorhi, suddenly becoming very aware they are alone together in a bunk, he is asking her to join him on the bed, and he has already taken off all of his gear. As his face flushes from his sudden realization, his voice cracks as he asks "Trust me now?"

Soon enough indeed. The bars of gold the Ortolan still held on to were all the evidence Adorhi needed to expose his self interests. Back in the moment, Adorhi couldn't help but chuckle inside her head at Test's red face. She dealt with all sorts in her days. Arrogant, stubborn, impatient, shy...the list went on and on. But one trait they all seemed to share was cluelessness. Sure she used her charm and looks to her benefit a time or two, but she was also not too shy about her own tastes. The thing with most men she'd met was they cared more about what they wanted than what they were getting. She knew that wasn't Test's intention, but wasn't about to give up the chance to chaff him about it. "Keep your pants on, buckethead." She said overtly sarcastic. She sat down on the opposite side of the room, crossing her legs, and holding her arms out, palms up, in a typical meditation pose. She continued her satirical tone while letting out exaggerated sounds of concentration. "Ohmmmm. Ohmmmm... When do I start floating?" the blue Togruta finally asks with a dry laugh. Adorhi fought intensely with an internal struggle. Sitting down with the clone and attempting whatever it was he wanted through meditation put her in an extremely vulnerable position, which of course meant risk at losing the relic. But at the same time, she was curious if this process could provide clarity, or more answers, to the mysterious feelings it seemed to be teasing her with. She closed her eyes, let out a deep slow breath, and tried to open her mind.

"I'm gonna guess you've never done this before. It's ok, I'm no expert, but I can guide you through some of it. Our minds throw thoughts at us that distract us from what we feel. Makes us think we are ridin' around in our heads like some sort of flesh exo-suit. But that's just an illusion. We do not ride in our bodies, we are our bodies. And yet we are more than just the matter of our bodies. Just concentrate on what you hear. The sound of my voice. The breath you exhale." Adding a touch of levity to his voice he adds, "the sounds your nervous shifting make against the ground. Now add to the sounds what you feel. The floor pressing against you, holding you up. The feel of your arms on your knees. The weight of the Star at your waist." Test feels out for the Star, trying to make contact with the voices he heard. (edited)

After about an hour, Gauss gets on the comms, "Ship is up and running, nothing out of place here either. We are ready whenever you guys are, lets get off this rock for awhile." (edited)

Shorlu pops out of the maintenance port, wiping dust from his hide. He heads over to the copilot's seat and climbs into it, getting everything calibrated to his liking. "Oh, how I've been waiting to hear those words."

Zed straightens up from his position where he had been leaning against one of the YT-1300's landing struts. "Nicely done, you two," he says on the comms. "Let's show this dusty rock our ion trail." Giving one last lingering look towards the bay entrance, he heads up the ramp into the ship. He pops his head into the cockpit, taking off the helmet to reveal his bald pate. "Cannons juiced up? I don't relish going anywhere without armaments." (edited)

Kite had spent the last hour getting familiar with the controls and keeping watch. He breathes a sigh of relief after hearing Gauss on the comms. He was more than ready to get off this comet. He also wondered what the Kark Test & Adorhi were doing. He expected it be a quick and explosive conversation. With Test standing uncomfortably asking to lock the Star up and Adorhi yelling nonsense. But it had been eerily quiet. He thought about walking in the room to check on them, but quickly realized that would end poorly. He begins his preflight check and boots the shipboard coms up and tells the two "Incase you missed it, The Mad Line is ready to launch. We will be as well in the next few minutes." He pauses and dryly adds "When you two are finished doing whatever it is your doing, join me in the cockpit. This isn't driving Ms. Hutta" he chuckles and goes back to prepping the ship for launch.

Darkness. Adorhi closes her eyes and in her mind's eye she sees herself sitting on a backdrop of infinite black. The background whirring of the Messenger's mechanisms rumbles in the Togruta's ears, grounding her in this moment. The vibrations paint a picture through her montrals. Test sitting opposite, eyes also closed and his brow furrowed in concentration. The perspective shifts and she sees the clone across from her on the featureless field of nothing. It's different to the image she feels with her montrals. More like sight, although her eyes are still pressed closed. More than that, she can feel his presence. The image is secondary - she knows Test is there. It seems strange that that might ever have not been the case. His existence in front of her is like a fact etched in stone. Impossible to overlook. The Adorhi in her mindscape looks down and sees the pouch at her belt. It feels heavier than she knows it to truly be, like it's holding her down. Familiar voices begin to creep in, whispering on the edges of her hearing. The Test across from her stirs, his eyes snapping open, although she can sense that in truth they are still closed. He meets her gaze and she knows that this is Test, sharing this place with her as they meditate together. As he watches her, Adorhi knows that he can hear the whispers too. They call to them both and, for a brief moment of clarity, one makes itself heard. Breathy and feminine it murmurs. "Awaken." (edited)

As Adorhi gains awareness in whatever state she was in, a million thoughts and feelings seem to swirl and tug at her all at once. One in particular does seem to try and push through. A call for help, a struggle to resist something dark. But just as fast as it came forward, it is pushed away by the overpowering force of the object in her pouch and she can do nothing to resist. Her eyes snap open.

Testy is helpless to intercede as he watches Adorhi's essence fade away in front him. However, her avatar remains. Its head cupped in its hands, before looking up and hopelessly clawing at imaginary walls on either side of her. He can feel the power emanating from the pouch at her hip. A gruff voice speaks to him over the rustling whispers. "You are difficult to kill."

Test sees that Adorhi, or at least some part of Adorhi, seems stuck...trapped, seemingly by the Star at her hip. He is not quite sure if malevolence in the right word for what he is perceiving--not sure if the gruff statement was one of admiration, frustration, or simple musing--but he knows now that he must save Adorhi from this trap that she has wondered into, even at the cost of his own safety or whatever scraps of friendship and trust that he may have built with her. He tries to stand, planning to lunge at the Star when he feels an unexpected weight at his own hip, mirroring Adorhi's Star: his saber...the one he had already taken off. No, a different saber. As he pulls it from his waist, he feels the heavy weight of it--heavier than the saber he was used to. But as it blazes to life with a blade of pure white he finds it is somehow easier to handle than Haspin's saber, the blade resisting his movements less. He carefully tries to cut Adorhi out of her prison, attempting to plunge the blade through the invisible walls and towards the Star. (edited)

A deep resounding electronic whine echoes in the darkness like the shockwave from a seismic charge. It's the first real sound that Test has heard since he entered this place. The white energy of his blade scatters off of a cylinder that surrounds Adorhi like a force field, sending brilliant bolts of alabaster plasma arcing across the surface. Suddenly, Test hears a different voice in his mind. Calm and familiar and speaking Togruta. "Knowledge and defence."

"Haspin?" Test calls out. "Are you there?" No of course not. Don't be silly. Maybe a piece of him...somehow. But this...this is just all in my head...isn't it? Test pulls his right hand up, interposing the white blade between his body and the invisible cylinder in a defensive stance. He reaches out tentatively with his left arm to place his other hand on the cylinder and feel it. "What are you? What have you done to Adorhi? Why won't you let her go?"

With Gauss' confirmation that the Mad Line's laser cannon is online, Zed climbs up the access tube and seats himself into the dorsal turret. He put his helmet back on and sits. As he does so, the manual controller lists wildly to one side, spinning the turret around nearly a full 360 degrees with a sharp cla-clunka-clunka-clunk before he grabs the controls and rights himself. He curses under his breath. Clicking his mic on with a chin-toggle, he comms Gauss and Shorlu. "Nothing to worry about," he says. "Just getting my bearings." Pulling up the turret's display system, he accesses the ship's communications array and tries to access the Imperial HoloNews Network. He needed to keep his mind off the day's events. The caves, the treasure, the ship exploding...the kid he nearly blasted. The memory of aiming down the sights of his DC-17m at the hard, malnourished face of the kid who had just wanted medicine made him sick. The display beeped once and snapped him out of his nausea: [[NO SIGNAL]] "Figures," he says to himself. It wasn't like the Empire made a habit of broadcasting any news anyway. Ever since the Republic died, more and more of the HoloNet had become used for Imperial military traffic. The news channels that had continued broadcasting were largely propaganda. Sometimes, they would air Imperial Senate meetings, but after a few viewings, it became apparent to Zed that they weren't live and were likely heavily edited. Nothing negative about the Empire ever got airtime. One of the old tactical texts he had read, written by a general from the Old Republic, said, One sure sign of a totalitarian state is the inability of the press to speak against it. Or something like that anyway.

08:28

That was the new galactic order. Hammer Squad had left the Empire because they were all dissatisfied in their own way. Whatever individual reasons the squad had for leaving, Zed knew that something in the core of the Empire was rotten. But it was too big. Much too big to do anything about. That's why, when the squad left the Imperial Army, Zed had suggested running to the Outer Rim. To keep the squad safe from the Empire. You know that's not it, the dark part of his mind says. You're a deserter. You pointed your weapon at a kid today. A kriffing kid. He just wanted medicine. And you kept him from it. You're not a warrior. You're a coward. Zed shrinks into himself, keeping alert, but still allowing his mind to wander. Fast-roping down from a LAAT/i on the Slips. Raiding the storehouses of the rich patrons of this comet. Taking down the thugs with Hammer Squad and the 213th Attack Battalion at his back. Setting up relief shelters and supply distribution for the people who needed it. Securing this base as a stronghold. Building an army. Marching up the steps of the Senate building on Coruscant and arresting the conspirators that destroyed the Republic. Just a failed soldier's fantasy. (edited)

Test's hand reaches out towards Adorhi. He feels a slight resistance and then it passes through. The booming drone echoes again through the dark and Adorhi's pouch begins to shine with a brilliant, white light. It's cold and harsh and chills him to the bone.

The light intensifies. Its light is blinding. It drowns out all else, but still Test pushes towards it. Then something pushes back and Test is thrown backwards into his own body, where he wakes with a start. "To have fallen so far and learned nothing, that is your failure," whispers a fading voice in his ear. (edited)

"No problem there, Zed. Hold onto that gun, though." Shorlu reached for the inciter and gives it a pull, causing brilliant light to stream from their thrusters, and a low vorrrooooooom to increase in volume, as the ship's engines start. He flicks on his comlink one more time. "Okay Kite, we're pulling out now. Next stop, Tatooine. Helm's yours, Gauss. I've got our heading." He begins making the necessary calculations for lightspeed—notably keying in the coordinates for Tatooine without pausing, or having to consult a chart.

"Acknowledged" Kite begins to get the ship into flight mode kicking on the engine and getting the navicomputer booted up. Flying always set Kite on edge, being generous he was at best a novice. He preferred to be on guns or serving as Gauss's copilot. But with the Star and all the of the craziness that follows with it. Kite preferred to personally keep an eye on both it & Adorhi. As the engines are warming up he secures his rifle in the cabin and knocks on the door yelling "Double time you two, the squad is ready to launch". He then heads back to the pilot's chair and prepares to launch. (edited)

As soon as Shorlu ignites the engines, Gauss slowly brings the Mad Line out of the hangar. The repulsorlifts cause the ship to float up slowly, some providing extra lift in order to spin the ship in the direction of the entrance to Point Nadir. Gauss lurches the ship forward, keeping a watchful eye on any ships or rock formations in the path. He spots another ship doing the same thing "That must be them" he thinks to himself, as the Mad Line makes its way out of Point Nadir and into the void of space.

Adorhi is back in the cabin, back in herself, and across from her she sees Test, eyes still closed for a few moments after hers had opened. All she knows in this moment is confusion. And wonder. (edited)

Tests eyes jerk open, staring at Adorhi he takes a reflexive gasp of breath. "Adorhi I...were you there with me? After you left part of you stayed behind and you...you were trapped. I think by the Star. Are you...are you OK?"

The hum of the starship's engines brings Adorhi fully out of her slight daze. Ignoring Test, she stands up and heads to the door just as she hears a knock and Kite on the other side letting them know it's time to push off. Pausing for one final moment, reflecting on what just happened, she then steps out of the cabin and heads to the cockpit to take a seat for departure. (edited)

The Mad Line emerges from the Jackrab hole and the engines begin to push for a burn away from the asteroid field and out into open space where it's safe to make the jump to lightspeed. However, before they've gone far there's a sudden impact against the ship's rear deflector shield. They're under attack! From his position in the cockpit of the Messenger, Kite can see the attacker. One of a pair of Z-95 Headhunters bearing down on the YT-1300. (edited)

"Kriffing Hell" Kite shouts into the cabin he then adds to Test & Adorhi "They haven't noticed us yet, one of you jump on the guns and hopefully we can surprise them and take one of them off the Mad Line."

The impact of the attack knocks Zed out of his reverie, the turret listing to one side. Zed brings it under control and rotates towards the aft section of the ship, spying the two Z-95s bearing down on the Mad Line. "Blast!" he says, and clicks on his comms. "We've got two bogeys on our six. Opening fire!" Zed focuses and bring the cannon to bear on one of the fighters. The weapon pulses with plasma and the two shots connect with the enemy ship, its shields flickering and dying. "Target's shields are down," he says over the ship's comm. Just one kriffing thing after another today. (edited)

The Z-95 fighters start firing at the Mad Line, one of them hitting the shields. Only then do Zed and Gauss notice them, however Gauss is quick to kick the ships thrusters into full power, performing evasive maneuvers to avoid getting hit by the Z-95 that connected it's shots. "Hold on, we are getting out of here!" He then shouts over the comms to the Messanger "Take those kriffing ships out Kite!" (edited)

Jumping to her feet, Adorhi makes for the rear of the ship to try and give support to the others. But of course, not before getting off a quip to Kite. "Good call on picking up a hot ride from those Epsis rats."

Test bounds out of the cabin hot on Adorhi's heels, but peals left out of the room towards the cockpit as Adorhi seems to be dashing for the aft gun turret. As the cockpit doors close behind him, he tells Kite in a low voice. "I think she's compromised. Once we're done with these yahoos, you and I are gonna have to take the Star and stash it away somewhere either she can't find or can't get to. Any bright ideas?"

Kite shakes his head at Adorhi's quip but is too focused to shoot back. He was using all of his concentration on keeping pace with the Z95's & the Mad Line without alerting them to his presence. He isn't a natural pilot and if this turns into a dogfight he will be outclassed. He hopes that Adorhi can get to the guns quickly so they can get the jump on the Z95s. Then Test runs into the Cabin and drops a bombshell. Kite angrily barks out "Huttspawn, any other bad news. Maybe a pair of destroyer droid in the cargo hold wanting to blast us back to Kamino." Kite takes a a deep breath and calmly says " Kriffin Hell, once we get to hyperspace we are just going to have to do it. Maybe inspiration will strike us then"

22:09

he adds "Also what the Kriff were you two doing the last hour?"

Kriffin hell. We were in there an hour?!? Truth to tell, we were meditatin'," Test replies as he spools up the FTL. (edited)

"Just can't take a hint can ya, laserbrains?!" Shorlu gets back on the console and keeps his calculations going. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the model of the enemy fighters, as well as Gauss's planned maneuvers, and quickly comes up with an improvement. "Gauss, bank right before you evade, just trust me!" When he gets a free moment, he turns back and yells from the cockpit. "Barin! Strap yourself in!" (edited)

The Mad Line rocks again as the fighters bear down on it and a glancing blast scrapes its dorsal side. A flurry of laser fire screams overhead as Gauss handily outmanuevers one of the pilots. (edited)

Zed lines up another two shots. The second one punches into the starfighter's drive and the ship begins to emit a thin vapor trail. Just a few more hits, Zed thinks. Why aren't the others firing? (edited)

Test powers on the monitor at the operator's station, seeing that the ship directly behind the Mad Line is lining up for an easy shot on his brothers. Remembering back to a trick Kite taught him during the war he thinks to himself Let's see if your ship has nonlinear collectors. He activates his own ship's radar transmitter at full power, hoping to saturate the headhunter's sensors to prevent the ship from locking on to it's target.

More streaks of red flash by the cockpit of the Mad Line Gauss makes a hard right bank, back towards Point Nadir, with the ship, hoping to not get to far ahead of the Messenger so they can provide covering fire, and maybe get these fighters trapped between them. "Here's hoping one of the tricks Edge taught me long ago works!" he exclaims. Edge was an ARC-170 pilot stationed on the same star cruiser as Hammer Squad. Gauss had always been intrigued, and a little jealous, of the Clones bred for space combat. On some of his days off, he would chat with Edge and some of the other pilots, exchanging stories of their missions. Gauss, about times like when Hammer squad narrowly made it off the overrun Wookie home world. The pilots about some of the insane stunts they would pull off, just to see how the droid starfighters would react, and how many would wind up crashing into each other. This was not one of those tricks, Gauss was not confident enough in his skills, or the capabilities of an old freighter to try it. He did however pick up some pointers on how to successfully evade, and potentially lose, a tailing starfighter. (edited)

The Z-95s swoop and weave, trying to get a bead on the Mad Line. Test's inteference is extremely effective, and one of them fails to get a target lock. However a lucky shot from the other soaks into the freighter's shields. (edited)

Test, seeing the easy shot go wide, continues to pour on the power to the Messenger's dish, but quickly sees the dish's temperature shoot up. Kark it. I'm going to have to better modulate that power output. Maybe try well-timed bursts that don't fry this hardware. That's not a mistake Gauss or Kite would've made. I'm out of my element here. (edited)

Shorlu braces himself instinctively as Gauss weaves, dodging nearly every shot. "Yeah, keep that up!" He leans over to the comms station, and starts fluctuating their signal, to further throw them off. He returns to his calculations, nearly forgetting to carry a two.

The fighter slipped in and out of the crosshairs, flying erratically. Zed tracked it for a few moments, letting the crosshair sit in the middle of the Z-95's juking course. He looked for the pattern. In combat, beings always follow patterns, Krin had said back on Kamino, and it had held true for most engagements he had been a part of, even though the enemy force hadn't consisted of beings so much as mindless battle droids. He watched the ship on the display. Up to port, pitch relative down, strafe starboard, pitch up, roll up to port, pitch relative down, strafe starboard... Zed squeezed the trigger and this time, the bolt caught the Z-95 directly in the engine housing. The trail of vapor became a plume of crystalizing air, burning fuel, and durasteel. "Got one," he says into the comms tonelessly. Riding on a combat high, he swings the gun to the other ship and pegs it in its forward shields. Now it's your turn, friend.

With one fighter down and barely a dent in the Mad Line's shields the second headhunter begins to peel off.

Kite sees Zed disable one of the Z-95s and the other peel away afterwards. He then checks the ships scanners to see if he can uncover any other hostiles in the area. But doesn't spot any so far. He activates the ship's comms to Adorhi and says "Hostiles are retreating, hold position in the turret until we make it safely to hyperspace. Sable has been tricky so far, I wouldn't be surprised if they have reinforcements"

Kite looks over the instruments as the Z95 retreats and sees if the ship is ready to jump to hyperspace

As the other Z95 peels off, Zed swings the turret back to the disable fighter. Better safe than sorry, he thinks. The cannon churns twice and the Z95 explodes in a muted fireball. He scans the area and sees no other hostiles, and decides to check on Barin. He climbs down the ladder and exits the access well. He begins to search the ship for the Balosar. "Barin, you alright?"

No answer comes in response to Zed's call, but after a brief search he comes across Barin in what, until recently, was Phellip's cabin. He's sat on the bed looking sombrely at a picture frame that he holds in his lap.

Zed takes in this somber scene, standing in the doorway frozen, unsure what to do or say. He had dealt with grief before. Grief at losing men in combat. Grief when they gunned down Haspin. But this was different. A much smaller scale and all the worse for it. He removes his helmet again. "Barin, I'm sorry for what happened to him," he starts, still standing in the door. "And your cousin. We tried..." He trails off. The memory of Olev being blasted, mercilessly at the hands of Sable as they breached the door. Kriff. (edited)

Kite still white knuckling the joy sticks starts to breathe easier as they get close to being able to jump to hyperspace. He opens up a comm to the Mad Line and says "Kandosii Vods!" He pauses and adds in basic "Well fought Detective. I apologize for leaving you hanging, they caught us with our pants down and we didn't have anyone manning the guns. And the ship is the size of bolo-ball field. " He pauses again and switches back to Mandalorian "We have a bit of an incident brewing. Testy is sure the Togruta has been compromised by the Star. We are going to try to handle it, but wanted to make sure you were aware." (edited)

Shorlu hoots victoriously as the first Z-95 goes up in flames, and the other one breaks away. "Not so easy to blow up our ship while we're still in it, huh, ya kriffin' cowards!?" He turned to Gauss, with shining eyes indicative of a smile. "Nice flying. And thanks for listening, too. Y'know why I told you to cut right? Get this: those Z-95s? They gotta defect. If they haven't been maintained properly, they get a teensy bit imbalanced towards the port side. Not a lot, but it makes it harder to turn right and shoot accurately at the same time. Nuts, huh?" He finishes up his calculations with his other hand while gesticulating to Gauss, only to be cut off by the crackle of the comms being reopened. "Oh, thanks, but it was really all Gauss and Zed here." He pauses when he hears him speaking in Mandalorian, and looks to Gauss for a translation. (edited)

"Copy that. Is she still vehement about getting the star to Prello at the very least? That at least means she is still in some control. Once we get to Tat we need to see if Prello might have some kind of anti-force container, like a lead box would do for radioactive materials. Fly ahead of us, if we see anything odd, like an escape pod launching, we can hopefully catch it." Gauss responds back to Kite in Mando'a before flipping off his comm and turning to Shorlu "Seems that our feisty friend has been compromised by whatever that Star is. I told Kite that we are going to slow down and let them pass us, in case the Star trys to pull something funny on us, like it did with Barin. We can at least have some kind of advantage." (edited)

Shorlu finishes his calculations over 10 more minutes, enough time to double check his work. He nods to Gauss, and waits, watching for the Messenger to make its hyperspace jump. Once it does, he will pull the throttle himself.

Kite continues speaking in Mando "I'm not sure, she & Test spent the last hour holed up in the ship's cabin, doing the makers knows what." Kite gives Test a friendly nudge at that last part. "Good idea hopefully this will be a blue milk run but if not it will be easier knowing you have our backs. K'oyacyi Vod" He then flies ahead of the The Mad Line and jumps to Hyperspace

"Punch it Podobo!" Gauss calls out to Shorlu.

Shorlu pulls the throttle, sending the Mad Line into hyperspace. As the stars turn to streaks, he lets out a hefty sigh of relief. "Tatooine'll feel like a paradise compared to that rock we just left. Now all I gotta do is work out what I'm gonna say to Prello."

It takes a while before Barin looks up at Zed. "He has- had a sister. On Dantooine. She should know. She should bury him. I..." The Balosar sets the picture frame aside and lays his face in his hands.

Zed puts his helmet back on and keys his commlink to send a pulse transmission to Puzell. "Puzell, it's Zed. We're en route to Tatooine. When we come back, we'd like to take Phellip's body to his family. Zed out." He removes the helmet again. "We're headed back to Nadir soon anyway. We'll bring him to Dantooine." He pauses for a moment, then continues. "I'm sorry for what happened back there. You ran off with the Star. We're not exactly a trusting group and we assumed the worst. I am sorry. For everything." The clone hesitates, then turns and heads for the cockpit. "Found Barin. He's...well, he's not okay, but he's alive. Sit-rep?" (edited)

"Good. He just needs some time to himself, I'm sure. As for your sit-rep, ship's fine, and I'm starving. I'm gonna go find some food, and some games, if you'll join me. I've been itching to play something since Twin-tails stiffed me on the way to Point Nadir." Shorlu leaves the cockpit to explore the ship in search of games and grub.

As the Messenger hurtles through hyperspace Kite releases his death grip on the control panel and stands up. Exhaling a deep breath he didn't even realize he was holding, and stretching has back. Which between being hunched over during the flight, and the blast of lightning he was hit with earlier is locked up and smarting. He unstraps himself and says to Test in Mando'a "No time like the present". He then heads to where he secured his rifle and stores his pistol with it. Leaving just his hidden vibroblade and holdout blaster on his person. saying "She isn't my biggest fan, so hopefully seeing that I am unarmed can keep the situation from escalating"

Still sitting at the controls of the freighter's canon, moreso from being trapped by her own thoughts than Kite's command to keep an eye out, a wave of exhaustion rushes over Adorhi. She sits in silence, staring blankly, until she feels the ship lurch into hyperspace and laboriously climbs out of the gunner seat and makes her way to one of the ships cabins, closing the door behind her and collapsing on the bed. The past days' events seem to rush to the front of her mind all at once and then, again, she feels that piercing sadness and emptyness of loss. Barin, on his good friend's ship, without that good friend. Adorhi couldn't help it, nor held back, and wept. Constantly in motion, her thoughts shift to Test and their meditation. What did it mean? Why was she having these feelings, these thoughts? As if on cue, her mind goes to the Star. As became habit, she put her hands to the pouch that contained the relic and the thoughts of maintaining possession, at all costs, surfaced. Adorhi closed her eyes and slept.

Hearing a cabin door open and close down the hall as Kite is stowing his blaster, Test asks, "What's the plan then? Sneak in after she falls asleep or something?"

"Could use a bite myself," Zed says. "I'm going to find a cabin and de-kit first, then I'll join you in the galley. Zed heads back to find a cabin and removes the helmet and his armor. He give slight groan as the weight of the chest plate comes off and his spine decompresses a few millimeters. He wrinkles his nose at the smell radiating from his armpits and heads toward the refresher for a sani-steam. Coming out after a few minutes, grimaces as he puts his dirty clothes back on and starts toward the galley, but heads to Barin's cabin instead. He knocks on the door and calls, "Barin, we're going to drum up some grub and maybe play some cards, if you'd like to join us." He heads for the galley where Shorlu is already cooking.

Kite nods and says "I think that's our best play. Hopefully putting some distance between the Star and Adorhi will help." Kite then takes his helmet off and looks around for a box/bag he can put the Star into and tries to sneak into the room.

Gauss flips on the auto-pilot as he swivels around and heads towards the cargo hold, searching for materials to upgrade his wristpad. At the sound and smell of food cooking "I'll be there in bit, going to see what kind of supplies are laying around this ship, I have some ideas for my equipment" he yells out towards Zed, before turning into the main cargo hold. After a short while, he comes up short any useful materials, disheartened for the moment, he heads to the galley to get some food, and start their long four day rest from this insane endeavor. (edited)

As they enter the room Kite notices that Test was moving gracefully, and almost imperceptibly. Seeing this Kite signs to Test, for him to "Engage the Target". unfortunately their signs weren't precise enough for a delicate situation like this, but he thought Test would understand. If Adorhi wakes up it will be better if she sees Test. Even without my Mandalorian Helmet, she won't be happy to see my face. Which was more than a bit ironic since we share the same face. Kite muses honestly that isn't completely true anymore, in public Kite always wore his knockoff beskar'gam. His skin rarely was exposed to the elements. Compared to Test, Kite was less muscular and a lot paler As they get into position Kite points to the toolbox that he cleared out and signals Extract target here (edited)

Barin nods and gets up, following Zed to the galley. The Balosar remains pensive, but he joins the others for their meal.

Test creeps forward, annoyed to find both of Adorhi's hands clutching the belt pouch where she keeps the Star. Well, at least there's no doubt where it is, he thinks to himself. Trying to figure out how to possibly get at the Star, Test hopes that a light brush on one of her montrals might instigate a scratch, leaving the Star free. Amazingly, this seems to work, and Test is able to slowly draw the Star out of the pouch as it gleams in the low light from the hallway. He nods his head towards the door, signalling Kite to move out, motioning that he'll place the Star in the metal box once they are out of earshot.

Kite nods and quietly moves out of the room and heads back towards the cockpit keeping an eye on Test. Once they are a safe distance away he tells Test "Good work Vod, throw it in the box and we can find a way to lock it up"

"Will do brother. " Test takes the box from Kite, audibly dropping it in. "She is a master thief though. She'd probably be able to pick anything we've go access to. It's probably safest to keep it with us at all times. I'll be in my bunk."

Kite uneasily hands over the box and says "I can look after it Test, I will be up for a while anyway cleaning my rifle & armor." He points to a deep scorch mark on his armor and says "The Sable Di'kut's bantha poddoo is going to take a while to buff out." Kite adds with a forced laugh "And I've always had the better eyes vod"

"That's true, but she's going to wake up and probably be angry. It might be better if this came from me. Anyway, I was hoping to study it a bit. See if I can remember anything from Haspin that might be important. See if those lightsaber crystals react to it. And honestly, we should probably reduce the number of people exposed to it. Just in case. I'll let you know if it starts talking to me or anything," he finishes with a chuckle. (edited)

"It's not." Test says quietly, as if to himself. (edited)

Kite preferred to look after the Star himself, he worried his brother's curiosity about the force and its artifacts may cause trouble. But he was tired and arguing the point would go nowhere. He nods and says "Don't open it brother, best to just leave it until we hit Tatooine and can make it the Hutt's problem. Good night." He then pats Test on the arm and begins to head into the cabin. Until he hears Test speak again.

Hearing Test's voice and the quite "It's not" made Kite's skin crawl. Hutt spawn, Test is compromised too, we should have worn gloves before handling the Star. Kite's thoughts instantly go to tactics. I need to retrieve the Star ,hopefully the box will block its effects. But if he makes an issue of this there isn't a way for me to take it by force here. I'm no match for him hand to hand, as numerous training sessions and a bad dust up post Order 66 have confirmed. I can't risk using a blaster even on stun, onboard this freighter, and I don't want to pull my knife on my brother. Diplomacy it is Kite turns around and says to Testy "Test you don't look well. I know you know this force stuff better, but I need you to be a 100%. You lost an hour earlier today with Adorhi, you said you were meditating. I know Haspin showed you a few tricks but even with my personal feelings aside, now isn't the time to be flirting with the Force. Especially since you never explained how you were positive that she was compromised after you came back. I think you have been compromised as well, and unless you can say you are 100%. I need you to give me the Star." Kite tries to adopt a relaxed demeanor and kind tone. He adds " You know me, I don't care one cred for this force poddoo but I gave my word and I will make sure that we all arrive back home safely with the Star. You have to trust me" He then holds out his hand but still keeps some distance between them. (edited)

Zed walks into the galley. "So what's for dinner, Shorlu?"

Shorlu has made a small array of breakfast foods from throughout the galaxy. "Breakfast for dinner! 'Cause like Rider always said: 'We're in space, who gives a druk what the time of day is on Coruscant?'"

19:11

Folded golden-brown panna cakes are presented, topped with sunny side-up eggs, with freshly fried happabore bacon on the side.

The smell of the food reminds Zed just how hungry he actually was. "Not sure if I've eaten anything today," Zed says, sitting down and grabbing a plate. Preparing to tuck in ravenously, he remembers how difficult it was keeping up with the rest of the squad today. He glances down at his slightly expanded belly and sighs, and begins to eat, but slower. Stop when you're full, sergeant.

"I'm not a hundred percent, Kite," Test says slowly, backing away from Kite. "But...but you won't be if you take this, either. We have days aboard the ship. Days I can figure out what's going on. Days you can keep an eye on me." Days I can figure out how to keep it. Test pauses, looking pleadingly at Kite. "Let me...," Test swallows, "let me try to do this. For your...for everyone's sake."

Amidst the darkness of her dreams, emotions, feelings, and visions, of pain and power, fill Adorhi's mind. All the distance between them, she continues to sense Barin's pain, in tandem with her own of Daesh'. She feels a power...a force...that invigorates and consumes her. It pulls her in, opening her mind to so many new things. She sees Test across from her in that dark plane. Sees him coming towards her and reaching out. And then, nothing. Complete darkness. Complete silence. Adorhi continues to sleep, a weight seemingly lifted. At the edges of her mind, a bright light now pushes through the darkness.

Kite's face falls as he hears Testy speak and back away. And his hope for diplomacy is ended once Test says "For your...for everyone's sake.". He suddenly felt naked without his helmet, this was going to get bad and he was unprepared. His earlier analysis was still true, he wouldn't win through combat, and if he can't talk is way out of this, his only other option was to call in reinforcements. He decided to give one last try before committing to his plan. Kite move slightly forward says to Test "You've seen what this abomination can make people do Test, look what happened to Barin, think about what it was doing to Adorhi. Haspin would say that the dark side has claimed this Star, I don't think even he would try to handle it on his own. We should box it up and leave it until Tatooine and then get as far away from it as we can. This isn't a fight you can win. Trust me on this Test"

Meanwhile, on the Mad Line. "Pass me the toast there, Barin" (edited)

Test briefly closes his eyes and, as he opens them again, Kite can see--can practically feel--the muscles in Test's neck clenching. A warm wetness drips down onto Test's mustache. His free hand goes to wipe it off and comes away bright red with blood. "I...I'll put it away. With you. In a neutral spot. And you can lock it up. If..." he pauses for emphasis. "If you promise me that we don't give this to Prello. She can't be trusted with it. We can't do that."

Kite watches the blood dripping from Test's nose, and can almost feel the sense the conflict inside of his brother. Test then begins to speak and after Kite hears "I'll put it away" he smiles and starts to walk towards his brother. But freezes once Test says "IF" the rest of the sentence hits Kite like a hover truck. The only way to separate Test from the Star was to break one of the few things in the galaxy that truly mattered to Kite. His code. No one from Hammer Squad flourished after the group deserted but Kite was truly lost. His whole identity was based upon being a Republic Commando, being literally bred to be a part of the best army in the galaxy's history. Losing that left him broken, and without an identity he became despondent & directionless. Spending most of his time drinking or carrying out hits for low level thugs. This continued until he picked a fight with a Barabel and almost got himself killed. Only being saved by the timely intervention of a Mandalorian in blue and gold armor, whose name Kite either didn’t get or was too drunk to remember. The only thing Kite remembers is that after saving him the warrior told him in Mando’a ”This isn’t the way Vod”. (edited)

22:44

After this Kite located his former trainer Krin Ordo and left his brothers for a few months, spending time on Mandalor learning both the Resol'nare, and Jaster Mereel’s Super Commando Codex. Since then Kite has made the code the foundations of his life and hasn’t strayed from it. And one of its central tenets was to honor your word, if you take a job you do it or die trying. Kite sputters as he tries to find what to say to his brother. He wouldn't let his brother die or become corrupted but the Code was life to Kite. “Test….Wwe gave our words. You were right there with me when we said we would bring the Star & Barin back to Prello. I’m not happy about it either, if honor wasn't involved I would space it into its namesake. This Star is dangerous but we promised.” His voice falters and he says quietly in an almost defeated voice ”I...I’m sorry but I can’t make that promise Test. I deserted with the squad and left behind my honor once, and while I’m now happy that I’m not a cog in the Empire. I can’t lose myself again.” (edited)

There's no way out. Can't give up the Star, but he's not going to let me keep it. And I won't hurt my brother. His knife. Take it and lock him up. But how do I take it without hurting him? You know how. What? Reach out with your feelings. Be one with the knife. Be it as it flies towards you. I....Yes. Test closes his eyes briefly to clear the thoughts racing through it. Opening his eyes, he locks them on Kite's forearm and wills the knife to fly towards him. (edited)

Kite's arm is still stretched out to his brother hoping that Test will see reason. Kite then feels something start to pull on his left forearm. Starting small but then suddenly gaining focus and intensity, pulling at Kite's hidden knife. Kite keeps the blade sheathed on his left forearm just under his wrist. The blade's hilt matches his armor's color pattern and is almost imperceptible. Even Puzell's men were unable to find it when they detained him. But Kite's brothers know him better than he knows himself. The knife flies out of the sheath and moves toward Test but Kite is able to leap and catch the blade just in time. Rolling back to his feet in a low combat stance with his knife in his right hand in a reverse grip in a defensive position, with his back to the cockpit door. He looks at Test with tears in his eyes and says "Please brother, I don't want to fight you" (edited)

"Blast me, I forgot to grab a knife." Shorlu says, getting up to find one. "If Adorhi were here, she'd make funna me, call me senile or something. Our little secret, got it boys?" He brandishes the butter knife with a wink.

Kite stays in his defensive position and starts to back up towards the cockpit

As Kite backs up, Test sees his opportunity to get away and darts into the Captain's cabin where he had previously left his gear. Slamming his hand on the door lock, he falls back against the wall breathing hard, tension loosening in his muscles. What is going on? Did the Star do that? Like with Barin? It couldn't have been me? I'm just a clone. Clones can't use the force. Can we? He moves to the bed to pick up the saber and activates it, holding it up close to the intersection of the hatch and the bulkhead, using the heat to spot weld the door so it wouldn't just open if Kite or Adorhi picked the lock. Hopefully.

Kite sees Testy dart into the cabin and turns and sprints to the cockpit. Grabbing and donning his helmet as he runs. Once in the cockpit he locks the door behind him, sitting in the pilot's chair. Trying to figure out what to do now. It's day 1 of a 4 day journey, with no way to get in touch with the rest of the squad and a situation that is KUBAR. (edited)

Zed stands up from the table. "That's enough for me," he says, patting his belly. "You're a good man, Shorlu. You should stick around when we get back to Tatooine. Be nice to have someone around that doesn't look so damn familiar." When Adorhi comes to mind, Zed continues, "And doesn't seem to hate our guts."

"Well, thanks. I dunno what's up her loading ramp, but maybe she'll come around, if you guys are sticking together as a team after this." Shorlu finishes up his own hearty serving, and sets his plate aside. "Now, let's play to see who's gotta clean up." Shorlu looks through the ship for a usable deck, and sets up a game.

"This squad's been through worse than what that comet threw at us," Zed says with more confidence than he felt in his heart. "We stick together. Always." When the ortolan brings back the deck of cards, he grimaces. "I may as well just start cleaning up now." (edited)

Kite slows his breathing and reviews the situation in his head. Coming to the conclusion that there really is nothing else that can be done today he rechecks the lock on the cockpit and settles in for the night. He doesn't like leaving his brother with the cursed star but without running the chance of getting himself or Test killed there wasn't anything he can do. Hopefully with some time and distance from the Star Adorhi will be better and able to help. Either way he needed sleep. He settles into the pilots chair leaving his armor on and tries his best to get some rest.

Taking the Star back out of the tool chest and placing on the bed, Test sits cross-legged in front of it, staring. Why am I so afraid to lose this? It's just some fancy jewelry. No. You know it's much more than that. It would be so easy to just give up. Give in. It would be a small action, but such a large event. Falling isn't a small thing. And neither is rising. It's a hundred small decisions every day. Every moment. It's effort. And practice. And habit. And those small bits add up. So let's start small. Test closes his eyes, refusing to look at the Star, biting his bottom lip to give him pain to focus his mind on. It helps him refuse to open his eyes no matter how much he wants to. After an hour of keeping his eyes closed, with only a few falters, he feels ready to take the next small step. He opens his eyes and slowly places the Star in the tool box and closes the lid. Haspin. If you are somehow still there, help me walk this path. Help me keep putting one step in front of the other. With that, Test moves back a few inches on the bed, slightly increasing the distance between himself and the Star. He feels another small trickle of blood from his nose. This is going to be a long few days.

In her dreams, the white light continues to try and fill the togruta's mind. It bulges with a rapid expansion before suddenly going dim and turning red. Adorhi snaps awake, breathing heavily. Test...no...

Kite stretched out and gave a deep groan as he woke up. He hated sleeping in his armor, he never felt truly rested afterwards. But he needed to be ready in case anything happened. He looks over at his wrist pad and sees one piece of good news. His new Tracker Droid and Temporary boost programs have finished integrating into his armor. When or more likely if, he gets to Tatooine he will have to find a good droid vendor. His mind goes back to the situation at hand. thinking Still as karked as yesterday, but maybe time has helped. We don't know if the Stars effects are permanent, so Adorhi could be an asset. He then opens his pack and rummages through looking for his rations, he eats one and then brings out another that has a gold mark on it. He opens it and smells the cloyingly sweet smell of an uj cake. A favorite desert among Mando's due in part to how well it travels. There is a bar on Tatooine that makes them and Kite always grabs one before a mission, but unfortunately this one is going to be a peace offering. He walks to Adorhi's room trying to move stealthily. He then knocks on Adorhi's door, with the cake in hand. (edited)

Despite jerking awake, Adorhi was still able to find some much needed continued sleep. It came a little easier as the dark feelings that initially woke her seemed to have subsided. After a few more hours, Adorhi woke again feeling...better. It was maybe a good thing they had three more days till Tatooine. She wasn't 100% yet and looked forward to the availability of rest during the trip. That is, if she was going to get the opportunity. While sitting on her bed, reviewing her thoughts and the past days events, she sensed movement coming down the hall of the living quarters from the forward part of the ship. It wouldn't make sense for Test to make the loop up and around and Adorhi didn't think he would be trying to throw her off. This had to be Kite. And if he was coming to her cabin, that only meant one thing. Trouble had already started. Adorhi opened her cabin door in response to the clone's knock and met his eyes with a look of her own that said she understood. "Morning, Kite. Get any sleep?" Looking about the passenger cabin she chose for the trip, she continued. "Not the most capacious for having guests. Shall we talk in the bridge? " (edited)

After another half hour of having the box slightly further from him, Test forces himself to put it on the floor next to the bed and get some shut-eye.

After several hands of sabacc (or really, until Gauss and Zed were tired of playing), Shorlu happily shuffles the cards away. Though he lost, just playing the game with—not quite friends, but friendly acquaintances, was a pleasure in and of itself. He reclines in his seat with a small, satisfied hoot. I'm glad I met these chulhoos. (Ortolan for "good fellows.") "Me and Rider had a nice collection of holotunes on the Bane. The Mos Eisley Brothers, Jorbo and the Love Machines, the T-42s, lots of classics. I was gonna play them for you guys on the ride home, 'till all this happened." He strokes his trunk with an air of nostalgia. "That reminds me, I never answered Test's question earlier, in the tunnels. 'Bout how me and Rider wound up running together."

"Curious about that myself," Zed says. Shorlu was probably one of the most easygoing people he had ever met. It was a nice change of pace -- not talking to one of his brothers. Talking to Adorhi was nice too, but she had been acting strangely ever since they had found the star. I guess I just never had friends outside the squad, Zed thinks. Except Haspin. (edited)

Shorlu ambles over to get the bottle of tequila, and sets everyone up with a shot. Pausing a moment, he pours an additional glass, then dumps it on the floor; a wordless tribute for the ship's former owner. "5 years ago, I was about at the end of my rope. I'd been out of a job as a private dick for a while—the war just wasn't good for business—and out of IntSec even longer. I was stuck in some cruddy old spaceport, and spent the rest of my creds on food, drink, and good company. Mostly food, though. I wound up taking loans from sentients I knew were a bad sort, but I didn't care at that point. They came to work me over in the cantina..." Shorlu's story wove a vivid tapestry of the events: there he is in the cantina, face down in a now empty bowl. A broken jukebox plays the same old jizz song on a loop, to which his ears twitch in time with the rhythm. A Nikto enters, flanked by a Gamorrean and an Abyssin, obviously enforcers. He spots Shorlu, crossing the floor and pulling his head out of the bowl, pointing an accusatory finger at his food-encrusted face and levying overt threats. The bartender and clientele mostly ignore them. Except for one individual with a handsome face, feet propped up in a corner booth. He heads over and greets the thugs. They recognize him, and hear him out. With a nod from the Nikto and a couple of shrugs from the others, they leave the cantina. Shorlu looks up at his benefactor, who smiles back at him, offering his hand. "So, I wound up working for the Hutts instead a' getting spaced by them, like I'd been expecting." He stretches out. "So yeah, I'm gonna do what I can to get Flynn out. Preferably without bloodshed. I'll come up with something, even if Prello's not much help. Anyway, that's enough rambling from me, feels like I've been talking for hours now." He cleans up, as promised, and settles in for the remainder of the journey.

As Shorlu is cleaning up, Gauss replys to his story "With the little personal contact we have had with Prello, she seems to someone who values her underlings greatly. She will do a lot, including sending her own people into another Hutt's territory, to find one that is missing and in need of help." Gauss pauses for a second, "She spoke highly of Flynn, I have a feeling she will gladly help us free him." After Shorlu leaves, Gauss pulls out his tools and starts working on his wristpad, preparing it for when he can get the supplies he needs to upgrade it. In the process he changes and adds some functionality to it as he comes up with ideas for new programs and gadgets to help him and his squad better combat The Sable Dawn. (edited)

Kite gives a tired nod and heads back to the bridge locking the door behind them. After they're inside he takes his helmet off, sighs and rubs his hands through his eyes. this next bit won't be easy Kite then looks up at Adorhi and says "Before we get to the situation. Uh I... I want to apologize. We don't usually work with outsiders and you have a different way of operating than I'm used too. I've spent my whole life working with my brothers, Mandalorians or other soldiers, its hard to see a different perspective. The squad has tried to force you into the way we operate, and while unity is important that wasn't the way to do it. And for that I am sorry" He then brings out the Uj cake and hands it to Adorhi and says " This is uj'alayi a dessert from Mandalore. I pick one up before every mission, but I want you to have this one." After a second he looks at her intently and adds "How are you feeling today?" (edited)

"We'll get him back, Shorlu," Zed says. "And Barin, we'll get Phellip to Dantooine." With that, Zed heads to his cabin to get some shut-eye. While asleep, he dreams. He remembers the tactical training on Kamino. Before he had been placed in command of Hammer Squad, he trained with the other commando units in his batch. He hadn't been deemed what his batch-mates called "command material", so he was in charge of demolitions in the training scenarios. "Alright, Zeros, keep up!" said, RC-0101. The fact that 0101 had the same amount of zeroes in his designation didn't stop the clone from berating him constantly. One day, during training scenario X-1138, 0101 went down. A stunner blast. They were supposed to immobilize for a few seconds, but 0101 wasn't moving. The kaminoan in charge of the scenario called across the field: "0089, you're in charge. Continue the mission." He took a deep breath, and analyzed the scenario. The left flank was covered. Troops circling to the right. The center was guarded by a high powered auto-turret. All he needed was a split second. He ordered the remainder of his troops to charge up the middle on his order. He dove over the cover, attracting the turret's attention. He took a blast to the armor as he was tossing a electro-stun grenade. The turret focused on the cover he had fallen behind while the grenade detonated at its base. "Now!" he shouted, and the troops stormed the middle, capturing the enemy bunker, and making quick work of the displaced droids. After the scenario ended, 0101 still didn't move. The autopsy said that he had a congenital heart defect. One in three million chance. So Zed took his place and embraced the nickname Zeroes. Eventually, it became Zed. And he was scooped up by special forces and placed in command of Hammer Squad. Maybe it's time to step up again.

Adorhi takes the clone's offering breaking it in two and giving one half back to Kite while taking a bite of the other. "Delicious, Kite, thank you. And I'm feeling better." The Togruta shifts her weight as she searches to find the words for her own apology. "About the past few days..." Adorhi continues telling Kite about how, despite Togruta's strong natural sense of togetherness, her own goals and desires pushed her away from her kind and family. She told him about Daesh' and how that loss all but cemented her swearing off getting close to someone else again. Her reaction and behavior to working with the group came out of those two significant losses. She wouldn't wish that pain even on her worst enemy. "So..." she hesitantly says, "I'm sorry. These past days events have, perhaps on the brighter side, made me reevaluate and if you'll have me, I'd like to finish our other work together after Tatooine." Adorhi takes the last bite of the Uj cake, pausing to appreciate it's taste. "But first, I assume you've already dealt with the work we have on this ship. I hope you can trust me that I am free of the Star's influence. I understand, as best as one could, that it had affected me. That control over me is gone but I think a connection still lingers and I felt Test being consumed by it." With a straight and serious look, she lastly says, "It won't be easy, but we must get that thing out of his hands."

Not sure of Kite's reaction or own thoughts on the situation, Adorhi begins to probe about what he knows while also filling the clone in on what she knew of the effects the Star had over her. "I'm guessing you've realized that physically coming in contact with the relic is bad news. I got careless in the moment when I went to take it back from Barin and that's when it got me. Separation seemed almost instant though. I remember in my dream, feeling so many dark emotions and then nothing. I assume that was when you were able to take the Star from me. As long as we can get it out of Test's range for a bit, I'm certain he'll come out of it just as I did." (edited)

Gauss spends a few more hours fiddling with his gear, before he runs out of ideas, and mainly useful materials, settling for what he managed to do, before going to bed. As he sleeps, he wonders how the crew of The Messanger is fairing with Adorhi being extra standoffish lately, perhaps because of the Star, perhaps she was just fed up with working with a team. "Maybe she really doesn't do well with others and she is slowly avoiding us in order to leave on her own, maybe the Star is forcing her to leave, because of some aspect of the Force, a dark one." He thinks to himself. "I can only trust that Kite and Test, and even Adorhi, can handle whatever happens on that ship and when we drop out of hyperspace that they will be ok."

Kite gratefully accepts half of the Uj cake, snacking on it as he intently listens to Adorhi's story. relieved to see that, it appears the effects of the Star have worn off, and a bit amazed at everything that Adorhi has been through. As she mentions working together Kite nods hold and holds out his hand saying " I would be honored to fight with you, and I can't speak for the Squad but I'm sure they would be too." After hearing her breakdown of the Star, Kite gives her a summary of the events last night including Test's use of the force. He then says "At least the effects aren't long lasting. The hard part will be putting some space between Test and the Star." Kite absentmindedly taps his left forearm and then adds "He is willing to fight for it, I'm sure Zed could talk him down but we can't afford to wait that long." Kite looks up at the Togruta and for a second she reminds of him Haspin and an idea strikes him. Kite continues "I'm not sure how much Test told you about Haspin, but despite what happened Test has a tremendous amount of respect for him. And I think that respect has bled over to you in a way. It's a bit underhanded but I think we can leverage that to get him out of his cabin and away from the Star. Due to the connection he may give your words more impact than he did mine." (edited)

Adorhi listens intently to Kite's retelling of last nights events and replies to the clone. "I think the only hostility from the host comes out of it's attempted separation from the Star. If we can keep him busy, it may reduce it's opportunity to take a further hold on him. I can try and talk to him, but it would be ideal if he's a bit worn out. I think that played a big part in your success in taking it off me last night." She then had an idea. "Meditation! I can try and get him to meditate with me again. That might give you just enough of a chance to grab the relic and lock it away from Test. " Now with a dead seriousness in her eyes, she continues, "You must, at all costs, do so without coming in physical contact of the relic. Do you understand?"

Kite nods and says "I think that will work." He looks at his armored hand and thinks It's too bad I don't have my tracker droid, this would have been the perfect mission for it. Kite adds "It's not beskar, but my armor should block the effects. I'm going to wrap my hands in cloth as well to provide some additional protection." He takes a deep breath and stretches and with a more confident tone says " Lets put it into action, get him out of the room without the Star, and I will sneak in and secure it. " He stands adding "Test is a dangerous opponent close range. If it gets dicey use your speed to keep some distance. Also keep your comm running, if I hear it start to go sideways I will come back you up."

"Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....Zzzzzzzzzzzz...."

Seeing that Test hasn't awaken yet, Adorhi hangs out in the cockpit with Kite until he does.

After a long and surprisingly dreamless sleep, Test opens his eyes. In the middle of his vision: a tool box. He wanted to go check on the Star and make sure it was still in there. Of course it was; how could it not be? But he really should double check. No. It's there. I don't need to see it. Small steps. After finishing the water in his canteen and refilling it from the sink, Test resigns himself to having to use the sink for all his liquid disposal this morning. Turning around, the toolbox remains. You're just some jewelry. Some fancy-pants force jewelry. Hell I don't even like jewelry. But it is really beautiful. And you know it's more than just jewelry. But I don't really know what it is. Maybe I can find out more. Test sits back on the bed, refusing to take it out of the toolbox, and starts to control his thoughts and reaches out with his feelings once more.

Kite hearing the ships plumbing creak as the water turns on in Test's cabin looks over to Adorhi and says "Game time, you get him out and I will get the relic." He then stands up and puts helmet back on

Adorhi heads to Test's cabin, and after a pause and deep breath, she knocks on the door.

Hearing the knock on the door, yet not letting it distract him from his mediation, Test continues to focus on the Star.

With no reponse, Adorhi tries to open the door but notices that it is sealed shut beyond it's normal lock. She then finds Kite and tells him about the situation, "While we still outnumber him, I'm not yet at 100%. There's no telling what else he could be capable of given his actions with you last night. Maybe we just wait till we land and stage an intervention by the entire crew. I'll be in my cabin for a bit though." Adorhi sits down on her bed and tries to collect her thoughts. (edited)

Recalling the invisible barrier that seemed to surround Adorhi in their joint-meditation, and the voice that seemed to give advice, to encourage knowledge and defense over attack, Test reached out with his hands to feel for the barrier he feared would be around him. Adorhi had attacked it--tried to escape using main force. He had tried to attack it with his saber, resulting in similarly little good. He needed to probe the barrier and search for weaknesses. He would never be able to defeat this enemy without more knowledge. But he had time. He hoped he had 4 days where he couldn't hurt his friends but could devote himself to conquering this faceless enemy. 4 days to unravel at least some of its secrets. 4 days to free himself of this burden. Suddenly, inspiration took him. Knowledge and defense. I'm not stuck inside this barrier with you, Star. Your stuck in here with me. He focused all his will on creating his own barrier within the Star's barrier and centered around it, attempting to close it off from him. Perhaps lessening it's effects on him and cutting of the exterior barrier from its source.

Kite gives a sad shake of his head. and says "You're right we can't risk it." He stand and adds "Stay alert, we don't know if the effects of the Star can escalate. We can't be caught flat footed if he gets crazier or stronger."

Once we get back, there'll be enough of them to take you from me. You know they want to do it. If I can convince them that I've beaten you, maybe they won't take you from me. Kite will still want to, but I can convince the others that it is too dangerous. That you are too beautiful and terrible and powerful. He won't be able to stand up to all his brothers, and I will be able to keep you. So how do I convince them that I've won? If I offer to allow Adorhi to jettison you, Kite will stop her. But they'll believe I've beaten you. When the ship's clock is reading well after nightfall and Test is convinced the others must be asleep, he attempts to cut the tiny weld holding the hatch shut and take the Star, in its tool box, to an escape pod. (edited)

Test places the box in the escape pod and shuts the hatch. Going back to bed for rest, he leaves the door to his cabin open.

Meanwhile, on The Mad Line, after a long needed sleep, Gauss wakes up well rested. "I wonder if Shorlu has made any breakfast?" he thinks to himself as he walks towards the galley, searching for some grub.

From down the corridor to the cockpit come echoes: "Phooo. Phoooo." The unmistakable sound of Ortolan snoring. "Phoo...ah Phu'ri, I couldn't eat another bite...knock it off...aw, c'mere you...phoo..." Apparently sleep talk, too.

Kite wakes after a night of restless sleep. Stretches and does a patrol of the ship.

Sitting in her cabin, continuously in thought, Adorhi picks up movement in her montrals. She opens the door and sees Kite seemingly making a round. "Oh, hi Kite," she had no intention of seeming disappointed at the sight of this clone over the other. If anything, it was more of a reaction of relief. She knew what the dark relic was capable of after only half a rotation. There was no telling how deep it had rooted itself into Test after this long. "Anything new today?"

Hearing Adorhi call out to him as he patrols, he stops and looks into her cabin. Kite shrugs and says " I'm not sure...." he pauses and takes a deep breath and admits " I came your way first. I'm not sure what I will find with Test after being cooped up with the Star the last few days, and I'm not sure if I could face the worst."

"Well, I can join you on the rest of your patrol. Maybe he'll be perceptive to guests today. He's got to eat sometime too. Speaking of, I'm starving. Does this giant boat have anything good in the galley?"

Kite chuckles and shrugs and says " I honestly haven't checked, I've spent most of my time on this ship holed up on the bridge eating rations. Lets check a good meal can make even the worst situation a bit better."

Adorhi joins Kite on his trip around the ship. On their way past Test's cabin, they see the door is open. Adorhi invites the clone inside to grab some food with them before continuing on towards the galley.

"Huh?" Test sleepily says, his eyes slowly focusing on Adorhi framed in his open doorway. "Food? Yeah, that sounds great. Thanks." He gets up and follows Adorhi to the galley, whispering "Help me," to her in Togruta.

Seeing Adorhi heading to Test's open door Kite gives her a short nod and heads towards the Galley. Keeping alert for signs of trouble but giving the two of them some space. He then heads into the Galley and starts to cook a simple breakfast , hoping that the prolonged exposure to the Star hasn't done permanent damage to his brother.

As he enters the galley, Test stops in the doorway and says, "Kite, I hope you don't think I was going to hurt you yesterday. I was only trying to take your knife because I thought you were going to hurt me....To take the Star. And I just want to say, thanks for giving me time to work at defeating it."

Kite removes his helmet, unconsciously glancing at his left forearm as he sets it on the counter. Well within his arms reach, he wouldn't be caught without again. He listens intently as Test speaks trying his best to see if what his brother was saying is true, or the excuses of an addict. He tries to put on a smile but it doesn't quite come, Kite says "I would never hurt you brother, and I know the same is true for you Test." adding in his thoughts you wouldn't but under the influence of the Star, anything is possible. The force truly corrupts all it touches Hearing Test say he defeated the Star asks "How did you defeat it, and where is it now?"

Walking over closer to Kite, Test replies "I put it in the port escape pod. I know you were just trying to help yesterday," he turns to look at Adorhi, "but I don't need your help." Turning back to Kite, Test continues "As you can see, I don't need it, so you can just jettison it if you want." (edited)

Kite is shocked he didn't think his brother would willing part with the Star, he actually starts to smile and says "I'm proud of you Vod, resisting the Star's force Podoo takes a strong will." He chuckles and adds "It must be the genes. Just hold tight a bit longer, and we will be done with this craziness." He attaches his helmet to his belt and says to Test " You mind finishing up breakfast for me?" As he walks out of the room

Zed is up early on the Mad Line. Instead of Shorlu cooking in the galley, Gauss finds Zed's kit disassembled and spread out across the table. He works with a contented efficiency, scrubbing armor plates clean and cleaning residual tibanna out of his rifle's reservoir. As Gauss enters, Zed looks up. "Morning," he says, his mouth full of something resembling tightly-packed granola from a ration pack. "Maintenance day. Noticed some of my plates were clicking during all the chaos. Also have to clean off some blaster scoring."

"I should probably do the same, trekking through those tunnels certainly roughed up my armor." Gauss says as he grabs some of the leftovers from the night before. "Be right back." He says muffled, because of the nerf sandwich in his mouth. He then heads back to his bunk to get his gear to bring back to the galley. (edited)

Zed shoves some of his gear to the side to make room for Gauss. "Add a few more grumpy folks that look like us, and it's like we're back in the army," Zed jokes as Gauss re-enters the galley.

A small thud and a muffled "Ack!" issues from the cockpit. Moments later, Shorlu enters the galley, rubbing a shiny red lump on his head. "Fell outta my chair. Talk about a rude awakening. And this time, I can't even blame Rider!" Shorlu quiets a little, thinking Flynn likely has more than his fair share of lumps as well. But he won't let it get him down. "Well, as soon as they start making ships for folks my size on the cheap, you guys lemme know." He mixes up a polystarch cake and gets an ice pack for the lump. He looks over the assortment of guns and equipment on the table. "Expecting trouble on Tatooine? Y'know, besides the usual."

"We always expect trouble, it's part of our make up as clones, as well as our training as soldiers" Gauss says to Shorlu. "This is how we unwind."

"Yep," Zed agrees, loudly scraping some black scorch marks off of his pauldron. "Totally relaxed right now. Sorry about the chair, though. Not something you think about when you come from an army where the term 'one size fits all' is a bit of a misnomer." (edited)

"Huh, I see what you mean," Shorlu responds, to both of them. Maybe those holotunes would've been a bigger help than I thought. He finishes eating, and busies himself with the ship to pass the time, making sure nothing besides the shield was damaged after yesterday's scrape. As time passes, he chats with Gauss and Zed. "Come to think of it, how did a bunch of dedicated soldiers wind up working for Prello the Hutt, anyway? I told ya my story."

"Before we answer that," Zed says. "You said you used to work for IntSec. You got any loyalty to those people? At least those that might care about some rogue Imperial assets?" Zed didn't expect Shorlu to be the kind of person that would call Coruscant and get an Imperial recovery squad on their tail. But you never could be too careful. (edited)

Shorlu gives a quizzical look, as going back to IntSec was the furthest thing from his mind. Then his hand brushes against his jacket, hanging from his chair in the galley, with its somewhat unsettling eye symbol displayed. "Oh, right. I've cut my ties with them, they're a crooked bunch. Maker as my witness, I'm never going back, even if they offered me a fourteen thousand two hundred-sixty credit signing bonus. I just keep this 'cause, well, someone told me I looked pretty handsome in it, once." (edited)

"I guess you're right to be worried about that, though. Last I heard, they were ready to get in bed with "Emperor" Palpatine. No thanks." Shorlu flips his trunk.

Zed chuckles. "It's certainly a commanding look," he says. "So our story. We're Hammer Squad. We were Republic special forces. Infiltration, search and rescue, even the occasional 'tactical removal.' Not to polish our own beskar, but we were very good. Our leader was a Jedi named Haspin. We fought with him until...well, until the Empire. We worked in the Imperial army for a few months and then bailed. The whole atmosphere changed. Suddenly, we weren't soldiers. We were assassins, sent to root out whatever group of people command deemed the enemy. So we got out. Most of us stayed together, but Kite headed off to Mandalore. Said it felt more like home to him." Zed pauses, taking another bite of granola and chewing slowly. "Did you know the clone army's template was the Mandalore? Big-shot Mando by the name of Jango Fett. Special forces clones were trained by Mandos." Catching himself rambling, Zed gets back on topic. "Anyway, we eventually all met back up on Tatooine, working odd jobs and eventually, Prello took interest. Not my first choice, but of the Hutts out there to work for, she's far from the worst." (edited)

Shorlu nods as Zed goes on. The bit about the clones' genetic template was news to him, but made perfect sense, considering what he already knew about the troops' combat effectiveness. "Uh-huh. Well, I guess we're not so different there, times change, and you gotta leave the fold, when it turns out they're not what you signed up for. Good for you guys. Prello's attitude kept me aboard for this long too. She loves me! Used to call me her "little blue dumpling." Honestly, I don't wanna stretch her good graces thin, so I'm planning on making up the cash my own way, over asking her for a loan." He pats the small pouch with the sabacc deck in it on his side.

"I'm on board to help Ryder out," Zed says. "He's a good pilot, and at any rate, he doesn't deserve what he got. We'll get him back, one way or another. Search and rescue and 'tactical removal' are our specialties, remember?"

Despite her hunger, Adorhi still has to put some effort into enjoying the bland food their loner ship had to offer. She knew though that once she had something in her stomach she'd start feeling much closer to her normal self. Well, a new normal at least. "That's good to hear, Test," Adorhi replied to the clone. There was certainly conflicting expressions coming from Test. His call for help showed signs of him resisting but it also possibly meant one of two different things. Either he hadn't actually distanced himself from the Star, or it had a much tighter grip on the clone. She probed further to see how wide of a crack was there. "Given Barin's reaction, or lack thereof, after disconnecting with the Star, I get the feeling that people understand it's affects differently. What about you? What are you feeling now? Do you know how truly evil that object is? I think I can get her to understand, but we can't give it up to Prello. I can only imagine that her buyer is somewhat aware of it's power and any sort of knowledge of that is dangerous."

"I'm feeling fine. Well, since no one cares, I'll just go grab the Star to keep it safe from Kite. There's no way he won't try to give it to Prello since he promised and to hell with new information." (edited)

Test didn't seem himself in there, but he came through and put some distance between the star and himself. Hopefully after a day or two he will get back to normal like Adorhi did. Kite purposefully walks from the Galley down to the escape pod hoping to secure the Star and hopefully make it to Tatooine in one piece. (edited)

"You just said you didn't need the Star. Which is it? Why don't you sit back down and finish up some more food. It's been a rough couple days for everyone and it will help a lot." With mention of this food, Adorhi found her mind drifting to their squat Ortolan companion and the no doubt delicious meals he was likely preparing on the other ship. She couldn't blame it fully on the Star, she knew she was stubborn with new people, but the past days events had given her quite the perspective. Hopefully that little blue dumpling would be forgiving. At the least, she owed him a game of Sabaac. (edited)

"Yeah, I don't need it, but we need to keep it away from Prello, like you said. I'd rather not have to take it from Kite. Have us have to take it from him, I mean." Test turns to head out the door.

"Test! Stop, now!" Adorhi yells to the clone.

Hearing Adorhi yell Kite begins to sprint towards the escape pod. Adorhi and proven that she could hold her own and it is imperative that he reach the Star before his brother. Kite is pushing past his muscles past their limits to put some space between them

Test stops in his tracks and turns around slowly. "What's wrong Adorhi? You still want it for yourself, don't you?"

18:35

"That's why you don't want to give it to Prello."

18:36

Raising his voice to a yell, he continues. "Kite! She still wants it for herself!"

Kite's blood runs cold after hearing Test shout that Adorhi wants the Star for herself. During his time on Tatooine he had witnessed addicts lie countless times, to try to get a fix of their chosen vice. And he is near positive that is what's going on with Test. For whatever reason distance hasn't helped him as much as the others. Kite worries about the risk of trusting Adorhi but thinks she can still be useful. After sprinting through the halls he reaches the escape pod and grabs the Star. Wishing that the Galley wasn't next to the bridge he continues on to the engineering section of the ship. (edited)

Without a clue of what she was trying to attempt, Adorhi went back to her meditation with Test trying to find a connection. Calling out to him in Togruta now. "Test. Is this what Haspin would do? Give in so easily to an evil power? It is no coincidence, you and I being brought together, surely you understand that. You have mentioned wanting to follow in his ways, learn what he knew." She reaches out a hand towards the clone in a gesture to come back into the galley with her. "This may not be the last, but it surely is one of the many tests you will have to face if you truly want to follow that same path as your former...Master." As she spoke the words, her heart felt an ache. This clone's...this human being's whole life so far has been a test. Something about density seemed so obvious to her now. "Fight the hold it has on you. Fight it and become the person you are supposed to be just as Haspin would have wanted."

Test turns and runs, activating his saber.

Kite's heart drops as he hears the all to familiar snap hiss of a lightsaber activating. He runs options through his head and finds there isn't anywhere to hide on the ship, the saber can cut through any door like butter no matter how well Kite locked it. Seeing that he only has one play left he seals himself into the escape pod with the Star. He yells "Test you are being controlled, we are Mando'ad don't fall prey to kriffing jedi bauble. I've locked myself in here with the Star, if you try to cut through the door I will eject the pod. With us in hyperspace its unlikely that I or even the Star will survive. We can discuss as a group on Tatooine what we want to do next. But I would rather die than let you become a slave to the force"

Adorhi sits back down, hurting from not even a look back as she tried to reach the clone. She was emotionally drained and began to welcome the realization that Test was out of reach from them all.

Test knows that Kite is bluffing and can't let himself and the Star go. Kite promised Prello. His honor won't let him do anything else. His honor is more important to him then anything. Certainly more important than some genetic duplicate. And now that he had somehow been touched by the force...been able, somehow, to reach out with the force and grab Kite's knife...well, he knew Kite would likely kill him given half the chance, with his hatred of the Jedi. Test stabs the blade into the hatch and begins cutting.

Kite hears the saber start cut into the hatch and smells the metal beginning to melt. He had faced death before and he wasn't afraid to die. But this wasn't the way he expected to go, either getting destroyed by the hyperspace fields or floating endlessly through space. Especially being forced into this situation by his own brother. He truly thought that Test, his brother, who has had his back since coming into this galaxy wouldn't do this to him. Force bantha podoo or not, Test was supposed to be stronger than this. Kite meant what he said, he would rather die than see his brother become a slave to the force. He takes a deep breath and steadies himself for the inevitable. Kite has his hand on the eject button when he sees Test's blade poke through the pod. He moves to eject the pod when he has an idea flash through his mind. Before he can truly think about it he lifts up the box containing the star and pushes it upward along Test's blade. Hopefully severing the Star.

The toolbox hisses as the blue beam of plasma melts straight through the thin metal container. There's a high pitched crack and then a tinkling noise from within. A rush of voices abruptly fills Test's head, making him stagger and drop the saber. He falls to his knees, his hands on his head and then there is silence. (edited)

Meanwhile on Ths Mad Line. "So there we were, trapped in the back of a Geonossian cave, with no way out behind us. Surrounded by hundreds of battle droids and geonossian bugs, only the four of us and Haspin against an entire army." Gauss is in the middle of telling Shorlu and Barin one of the many stories of Hammer squad during the Clone Wars. (edited)

"How the hell did ya make it outta tha- oh, right. Jedi." Shorlu sips from a cup of water, flavored with a salakberry drink mix. "Lemme guess—Haspin just waved his hands and shut 'em off? Told the bugs 'These aren't the clones you're looking for?'" he joked. (edited)

"That was part of it," Zed says, laughing at the memory. It had been one of the most desperate situations of his military career, but it was pretty funny in hindsight. "Haspin's mind trick confused the bugs long enough that Kite had time to sight up and shoot one. Not sure what he was aiming for, but his bolt must have hit some nerve cluster. The geonosian fired his sonic blaster into the ceiling right above him, his buddies, and the droids. The whole damn thing collapsed on top of them. Haspin kept the rocks off us, and when the dust settled, there was just the smallest sliver of sunlight peeking through the cave-in." He paused to take a sip of blue milk, then continued. "What did Haspin say, Gauss? Something about a 'good start, rocky finish'?" (edited)

"Something like that, he always loved his puns" Gauss replies back with a hearty laugh.

As the voices empty his head and his mind clears as if coming out of a thick fog, Test opens his eyes with fear and dread over what he had done. Scrambling for the hatch controls, he quickly opens the escape pod to check on his brother, not quite sure what just happened. (edited)

07:25

"Kite?!"

Peering through the view port, Test sees that Kite appears to have been knocked onto his back by something.

Kite moves shakily up from the ground to a kneeling position, his head ringing. Still hearing the echoes of a voice speaking about a true war. He hears Test yell his name as he opens the door and flinches falling backwards, with his hand reaching towards his holdout blaster on his right ankle. saying in a voice that is at first faltering but gains resolve as he continues "Keep your distance, the Star is gone. You destroyed it. " Kite points at the singed box, opening it to reveal the damage . He stands, and moves to push past Test with his holdout in his hand. (edited)

The twisted remains of the ruined Fell Star lie scattered inside the old toolbox. The five pale blue stones have sprung free of their settings and the silver metal is blackened and deformed where it has been sliced in two by Haspin's lightsaber.

Ignoring the twisted remains of the Star, Test's face crumbles as his eyes burn and moisten. "Kite, I....I'm so sorry."

Kite leaves the box in the pod and moves towards the exit as Test speaks. Kite angrily looks up as Test apologizes and his hand reaches up as if to remove his helmet but stops part way leaving the helmet on. Kite then furiously says " You had to mess with it, you couldn't just leave it alone." He points to Haspin's lightsaber and says "You wave that karking thing around like you're a Jetii but you aren't. Even before you touched the Star, you were infatuated. You meditated with it, looking for a way to honor the ghost of a traitor. Look at the others who held the star, the thief just stole it, Adorhi got irrational & cranky, but you embraced the power, and were willing to kill for it. The force corrupts everything it touches, remember that brother." Kite then pushes past Test and begins walking down the hall

As Kite walks away, Test crumples to his knees, his eyes filling with tears. I'm so sorry, brother. As he falls over onto the cold metal deck of the ship, his eyes try to focus on the lightsaber lying in front of him, but it remains blurred, undulating as every teardrop falls. Why? How could you let this happen to us? Why! Test mentally demands of the Force. But the Force seems to remain silent. How could I let this happen to us?

Kite reaches the passengers cabin locks the door and falls into a chair. He sits trying processing everything that has happened the last two weeks. Giving up on making sense of it he finally takes his armor off. Disassembling it's pieces, confirming that everything is still in working order and then cleaning and buffing the gear. This is the first time he has been out of his armor in the last 3 days. Feeling lighter, but exhausted he drops to the bed and sleeps.

As if the clear display of disregard from Test wasn't enough, a few moments after a wave of anger and hate seemed to envelop Adorhi. Being all too familiar with the source of these emotions, she pushed against them as much as she could and fortunately they fell away. The dread of what, or who, caused this did not subside. "KITE! TEST!" Adorhi screamed as she ran out of the galley towards the rear of the ship. With no signs of either clone in the machine shop she continued to the cargo bay where she found a figure on the floor, huddled together weeping and distraught. Coming to rest at the clones side, Adorhi kneels down and in Togruta she softly speaks, "Test, it's Adorhi. Are you OK?"

"No," Test replies. "No I'm not. I tried to take it from him. I would have killed him to get it. I betrayed him. My own brother." You're worse than the others. They thought they were doing right. Following orders. You are just some deluded, washed up, selfish, shell of a man. "He...he'll never forgive me. Adorhi, I...I think...I think I can use the Force, and Kite...Kite hates the Force....I...Adorhi, I'm sorry. I should have listened to you. It was just too much for me. I thought I could...it was just too much." At this, Test finally takes his red eyes off the saber lying on the ground and turns to face Adorhi.

"He will. If he can give my stubborn lekku a second chance, I'm certain in time he will be able to give you another chance as well." As she had told Kite, Adorhi tells Test about the strong unity and togetherness of the Togruta and drew a parallel to the clones. She reminds him of how that has been true of their squad since day one. It may not be in the next rotation, or the next ten, but with time she reaffirmed, this shall pass. "Test....I," she swallows hard trying to find the words. "Even in the unlikely event that Kite doesn't come around, I still need you. I...I don't think it was the Star...well maybe it's what set things in motion...but I've felt something as well." The Togruta stands up and offers her hand to help up the clone. "Let's figure this out together."

As Adorhi tells him about her people, he realizes he never really spoke to Haspin about his past and his heritage at all. But the background makes sense of why Haspin treated the clones so well, like a small family. In a lot of ways, Test had thought of him as one of his brothers, too. Perhaps an older brother back from the Academy that he hadn't really grown up with, but had always looked up to and admired. When Adorhi informs him that she, too, might feel the Force, his spirits--already mellowed by merely talking with her and remembering the good times with Haspin and the squad--begin to lift. Maybe there was a purpose to this all after all. Maybe the Star was a necessary evil that we had to face. A test, even. And we went through it, starting or strengthening a connection to the Force. His resolve firming, his thoughts continue to reevaluate the situation, bringing him out of a darker place than he had thought he was capable of. Families fight. They make mistakes. But they do forgive. And they heal. And they grow. When Adorhi offers her hand to Test, and offers to "figure this out together," he looks up at her, reevaluating her again, seeing her in a new light with all of this new knowledge and all of these new experiences they've shared together--good and bad, painful and exciting, exhausting and bonding. He takes her hand, letting her help him stand. With a genuine smile in his eyes and determination in his gut, he says, "that's what families do, sister."

As Test lies in his bunk that night, dreams take him. He is stood upon the surface of a dead planet. All plant life has withered and decayed to dust and the rivers run dry. Haspin stands atop a rocky tor and surveys the landscape sadly. Test approaches the Jedi master from behind. "Why do you think yourself a traitor?" The Togruta asks without turning around. (edited)

Test, holding both contradictory thoughts in his mind at once--that he is here with Haspin and that Haspin is dead--replies matter-of-factly. "Because I murdered you, sir. People deserve loyalty. Ideas deserve loyalty. The Government deserves...well I don't know what, but not loyalty. And I...I almost murdered Kite."

"Did you?" Haspin challenges, the question tinged with what could almost be surprise. "Why would you murder me, Test? Does that sound like something that you would do?" (edited)

"Because I was ordeed to. Because... because Zed ordered me to. And I just...I did it like a good soldier," Test says, heaping audible scorn onto that last part.

"Or maybe because you never had a choice in the matter," Haspin whispers in return. His form disintegrates into the same grey dust that the rest of the dead planet is strewn with, rapidly flying away on the wind. Test feels an itch in the back of his head. It drives him to scratch and scratch, but the itch never ends. He claws his nails into the back of his skull until they come away bloody, and when he looks down at his hands he sees the remains of a tiny computer chip crushed in his palm. "You were never the traitor, Test," Haspin's voice whispers on the wind, "the Force will show you the truth..." When Test wakes, he finds blood on his pillow, although his head appears uninjured, except for a lingering itch on the same spot. (edited)

Test goes to the hold to practice with his saber, avoiding Kite.

The atmosphere on the Messenger is tense and silent. The next two days in hyperspace feel like a fortnight, but finally the alarm in the cockpit does begin to beep, indicating that the freighter is approaching its destination. With a shudder and a jolt the swirling cerulean blue of hyperspace condenses into rays of light that shrink back into stars and the planet of Tatooine rushes into view... complete with an Imperial Star Destroyer looming overhead in orbit.

In the cockpit of the Mad Line, Zed's eyes go wide. What the stang is the Empire doing here? We could be farther from the Core, but not much... Zed's mind flips into tactical mode. "Are they scanning us?" he asks Gauss and Shorlu. (edited)

Kite yells "karking hell, of kriffing course the imperials would be here." He activates the ship comms, " we need someone on guns. Adorhi keep your comm line open incase we need to sweet talk our way out of this" Kite then eases the ship forward slowly and begins calculating a jump in case they need to bug out

In the copilots chair, Shorlu utters an emphatic groan upon spotting the Star Destroyer. "They sure know how to make an ugly planet look even worse." He looks over the comms readout, checking for any signals that might suggest the Star Destroyer was doing that, while waiting for them to open a hailing frequency. "Well, even if they are, it's not like we got anything to hide; not from the Empire, anyway... unless." He thinks for a moment, then looks to Barin. "Your friend didn't have anything of note in the cargo hold when he left Tatooine, right?"

Gauss gives a once over on the scanner. "They are not scanning us currently, if we can keep our distance, it should stay that way." He says before piloting The Mad Line towards the planet, making sure to keep distance with the formidable battleship. "Follow close behind Messenger, we don't want to get separated, especially now." he relays to the Messenger crew.

"Acknowledged" he then matches The Mad Lines trajectory and speed. He continues plotting another jump incase things go south

The cruiser appears to ignore the two freighters as they descend into the atmosphere towards Mos Eisley. It seems that the Star Destroyer is maintaining a geosynchronous orbit above the town.

Zed looks down at his very distinctive Katarn-class armor. "I think I'll stand out pretty well, wearing this kit," he says. "I'll be right back." Zed returns to the room that he's claimed and removes his armor and puts on his nice clothes, consisting of a t-shirt with MandalMotors branding and tan pants. He straps his holster to his thigh and slings his rifle over his back along with the duffle holding his armor. He then returns to the cockpit.

Gauss also leaves his helmet and pieces of his old Katarn armor on The Mad Line "I'm not going to feel right not wearing my old armor and helmet but it's better than being found out by Stormtroopers." He mentions to Shoulu and Barin before they land the freighter. (edited)

"Not worried about those muppets," Zed says. "But I am concerned about the forces they can call down from that destroyer."

Kite brings the Messenger down in the docking bay next to the Mad Line. Relieved that Star Destroyer didn't take issue with the Squad. Kite preferred ground combat but the Imperial Class Star Destroyers were a work of military art. He had always wanted to tour one but not under these circumstances. After the ship touches down he drops the landing ramp and says "We're clear, stay alert with a Imp class 1 destroyer in orbit, they probably have Stromtroopers on the ground." Hopefully it's the new civilian recruits the empire has been pushing lately or at least the Spaarti clones. Kite is happy he is no longer with the Empire, and doesn't agree with the Empire's direction. but not to the point of taking the life of a fellow Kamino clone. Even if they haven't met or are now on opposite sides they are still family. Kite grabs another box from the ship and very carefully picks up the two halves of the box containing the remnants of the star and pours them into the new box. He then heads to the landing ramp. He gives a friendly nod to Adorhi as he passes her and says "At least we can bring Barin back to Prello in one piece, that counts for something" (edited)

Test waits till Kite heads out of the ship before disembarking. He tucks the saber in his pants behind his chakram...with Imperials nearby, he couldn't be too careful. (edited)

As Gauss and the crew disembark the The Mad Line he spots Kite also leaving The Messenger, he heads over to give his brother a hearty hand shake. "How was your trip Kite, all good with that kriffing artifact onboard, I hope?"

Shorlu wasn't very surprised the Imperials didn't take much interest in two random freighters, but was nonetheless relieved. If they really felt like it, they could accuse them of breaching whatever new Imperial law and cart them all away to Kessel, or even blow them out of the sky, with no one knowing or caring. He'd heard of it happening to many smugglers over his past 5 years of flying, as the Empire established itself beyond the Core Worlds. So he remained uncharacteristically tight-lipped, beady eyes darting between The Messenger ahead of them, the Star Destroyer, and the comms station, until they made it in-atmo. He relaxed then, smoothly initiating landing procedure after getting clearance. "Nice getup," he quipped to Zed. "Good that you're both thinking ahead, though." As they set down in the port, he doesn't get up right away with the others. The Imperial's presence here didn't make a lot of sense. What did they want with Tatooine? The only important entities here were... the Hutts. Suddenly, he's connecting all the facts in his head. Prello supposedly had a buyer lined up. The Empire had arrived here recently, and not in force; a single Star Destroyer was no blockade or occupying force on its own. They were likely here for something or someone specific, in Mos Eisley—they were orbiting it purposely. And then there was the nature of the Fell Star itself; it could drive someone crazy as soon as they touched it. Definitely a potent Jedi artifact, and the Empire would surely have interest in what the Jedi left behind. Maybe he was getting paranoid from lugging around this pirate gold. But it all fit too well. He'd bounce this theory off of the others—after they caught up. He gathers his things, slips on his jacket, and joins the others outside. (edited)

A twitchy Rodian hustles into the docking bay as the clones and their companions disembark from both vessels. "Hello, hello," he greets them in Huttese. "Docking is 120 credits per ship, per day," he adds, waiting expectantly.

Kite gives a tired shake of his head at Gauss holding a box under one of his arms with this Rifle slung under the other and says "The situation went from KUBAR to horror holo. We need to update the Squad before meeting with Prello." As the Rodian walks up Kite is surprised that his initial thought is to shoot first and get rid of the twitchy Rodian. Kite sighs and realizes that he has been on edge for to long and needs some actual rest. Hopefully the Squad will have enough time to at least spend a night on Tatooine. Kite then tries to get a read on the Rodian, he knows there are a lot of scammers here and the Rodian may or may not be official. Even if he is legit the charge is most likely inflated to get the Rodian a cut for himself.

Zed exits the Mad Line, rifle hanging under his right arm, duffel bag with armor slung over his left shoulder. The suns beats down upon his bare head. Did not miss that, he thinks to himself. He moves up near Kite and the Rodian. In Mando'a, he says to Kite, "Need a sitrep when you're done there."

Kite almost flinches when he hears Zed speak. Kite had failed, he wasn't able to find a way to protect the Star. He was dreading telling the rest of the squad his inability to complete the mission. Especially to Zed, whether he acknowledged that he was the squad leader or not. Kite still viewed him as such, and was confident that Zed could have found a way to protect the Squad without having to destroy the Star. Telling the rest of the team his failure will be the low point of a hellish week. Kite says sadly back in Mandoa "Best we speak on the ship, there is a lot to tell" he then says in Basic, "Lets pay the fee and get this over with" (edited)

Shorlu steps off the loading ramp, giving Kite and Testy a brief wave as he approaches. But the sentient he really wanted to talk to wasn't there. "Good flying up there guys, but uh, where's Adorhi?" Given her state before, he was expecting her to either be catatonic from the constant headaches, or bound for her own safety (not to mention Kite and Test's). Speaking of Kite and Test, they seemed to be keeping their distance from each other. He could only guess at what had happened on The Messenger, but it didn't look good. He gives Gauss a concerned nod, wordlessly urging him to pay the Rodian so they could hurry and talk in private. (edited)

Gauss hands 240 credits to the Rodian. "Remind me to ask Prello about better docking accommodations" Gauss says. (edited)

The Rodian eagerly gathers up the credits and unlocks the docking bay doors before scampering off into the warren-like corridors of the spaceport.

Seeing the Rodian leave Kite says in basic to the group "We need to talk before meeting with Prello." he glances at the Messenger but can't bear to spend anymore time on that ship he then says "Lets head to the Mad Line" He then walks up the landing ramp (edited)

Zed follows Kite, noticing the distance between him and Test. He raises a greying eyebrow at this. Must have been a long ride, he thinks. He takes a seat in the lounge onboard the Mad Line and waits for the others to enter before asking questions.

As the Messenger lands, Adorhi can't help but feel a mix of emotions. After what seemed an eternity, she was back on Tatooine. Back to see Prello. They had been successful in their main task, finding Barin and bringing him back. But surely the Fell Star would come up and she wasn't sure what was the better route - truth or lies. That nervousness and anxiousness carried over to the reuniting with the other half of their motley crew. Would they forgive the Togruta for who, or what, she was under the influence of the Star? And would they trust that those dark effects were now gone? Opposite of all of that, Adorhi couldn't ignore the new feelings she was experiencing. Something bright and good. It almost made her self-conscious that she was maybe glowing from the unexplained change. As she finally made her way down the boarding ramp, she sees the others gathering on the Mad Line and moves to join them.

As Test heads down the ramp and sees the others heading for the Mad Line, he quietly walks off towards his room to pick up his kitteh from Veets. (edited)

Shorlu notices Adorhi joining them, not only unbound, but apparently in good health and spirits, and feels a bit more at ease. He then notices Test start to leave the hangar without a word. He's about to call out to him, but thinks better of it at the last second. He and Kite looked less friendly. Maybe if one of them's not in the same room, they'll be more open about things. It was another old trick in a detective's toolset: separate interrogations. He joins the others aboard the Mad Line instead, hoping Test only had some minor business in town. "You guys enjoyed your pleasure cruise, I take it?" Shorlu asks as he enters the lounge with them, and has a seat opposite the Messenger crew. "Everyone feeling alright?"

Kite walks into the mad line lounge and absentmindedly paces as he waits for the rest of the crew to join. After a few seconds he realizes what he is doing and then stands at attention in the middle of the lounge. After Shorlu walks in, he waits a few minutes for Test and starts to speak. But decided to take his helmet off first. they deserve to see my face for this. He sets the helmet on the table and begins speaking in an almost overly formal tone " I regret to inform you that the mission to retrieve the Star has failed. I take full responsibility, I failed to understand the power of the star and failed to find a way to safeguard the squad and the star. And I was forced to destroy the Star". He sets the box down and opens it. " we were able to retrieve the pieces but do not touch them. The effects appear to have worn off. But contact with the star generally began warping the holders view of reality. Maybe the pieces will be enough for Prello"

"Soldier," Zed says, listening to Kite's formal tone. "At ease." Maybe some military regs will get him to snap out of this, Zed thinks. "What else happened? Why did Test run off like that?"

As Test makes to leave the spaceport, he's immediately struck by the marked imperial presence in the main thoroughfare. Some new notices also appear to have been hung upon the walls.

Test goes over to read the notices.

WANTED
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For crimes against the Empire!
*Jedi Traitor*
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
25,000 credits dead
10,000 credits for information leading to an arrest
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aiding and abetting a jedi is treason against the Empire, punishable by execution!

(edited)

Kite tries to assume a more relaxed position and takes a deep breath He didn't want to go into this, especially without Test present to speak up for himself. Kite then tries his best to give an unbiased account of what happened. Touching on how Test confirmed Adorhi was under the influence of the Star through meditation. The clones plan to extract the Star while Adorhi was sleeping. Test coming into contact with the Star and then using the force to try and take Kites knife. Their conflict the next day where Test claimed to have beat the addiction but became hostile when Kite tried to retrieve the Star. To Kite in the escape pod using the tip of Haspin's blade to destroy the Star. " We failed to protect the Star, I was unable to find a way to safeguard it without loss of life."

Putting in, Adorhi says, "I admire your tie to honor, Kite," now turning to the whole group, "but I was able to understand how evil of an influence that evil relic had over me. We must ensure it is fully destroyed and never finds itself in the hands of another being. I'm not in love with lying to Prello, but maybe we just tell her we came up short on that part of the job."

"Our primary goal was finding Barin and bringing him back safety, we did that, the star was secondary. She was not expecting us to actually find it as well." Gauss pauses for a second. "Would she accept it being destroyed, if it meant us being alive and not killing each other? " he asks Adorhi and Shorlu, who had known her far longer than the rest of the crew. (edited)

Test absorbs the information from the notice and continues on to their hover, relatively close by to the loud and poluted space ports they landed in. He heads toward Veets's place.

Adorhi turns to the Balosar to see where he stood on everything. "Barin? Any input?"

Shorlu sits back after listening to Kite and Adorhi's account of the last few days. "Wow. I knew that thing was bad news but... wow." he closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his trunk. All the rational skepticism in the galaxy couldn't combat this. The "Force" was not only real, but it was incredibly dangerous too. Maybe that's why the Empire wanted Jedi eradicated... or more likely, why they wanted them, and any Force-y objects, under their control. "Now comes the part where I complain, say how if I talked to her, the money Prello would've given for the Fell Star could've gone towards springin' Flynn, yadda yadda. But who cares, I'm just glad you all're okay." his eyes shine with a smile.

Barin looks stunned by the revelation. He's sat rubbing his fingers on his temples as he tried to process all of what was happened. "The- the last couple of nights I've been having dreams. Dreams of how we escaped the mines. Dreams of how when Sable almost killed Adorhi all I cared about was taking the star for myself... and now, since dropping out of hyperspace, it's all coming back. Like the Fell Star has lost its hold on me." He glances furtively at the box containing the scorched metal parts. "It's been destroyed. Adorhi is free. Test is free. I'm free of its influence. My mind is clear for the first time in days. The Star is gone. Maybe Prello will still pay for whatever is left?" (edited)

At the spaceport's exit, Test notices a black uniformed Imperial officer with a cadre of stormtroopers. They're stopping people as they leave and asking them questions.

Test continues on, hoping that some reconnaissance will help the group avoid any unnecessary imperial entanglements.

"The better question is, will her client still pay for it?" Gauss responds with, to Barin. "Now that everyone is caught up, how about we find Testy and then go see Prello?"

As Test walks up to the exit, one of the stormtroopers steps out in front of him and holds up a hand. "Stop. Let me see some identification."

"Let me put it this way," Shorlu responds to Gauss's question. "We're probably better off not letting her know what we did to it, if we're gonna finish it off here and now." He looks around to Adorhi and Kite. "If that's you guys wanna do. Based on what you guys said, it sounds like a good idea to me. I don't think anyone should have this, especially not the Imps. It's your decision, but we should decide before we leave the ship." He scratches an ear before adding, "The other problem is, I don't know who her client is, or how they'll react to this thing in pieces. I'm gonna assume very poorly." (edited)

"I agree with Shorlu," Zed says. "We shouldn't even let her know we found it. That's only asking for trouble." He looks at Kite. "I know that goes against your honor, but it's for the best. We should leave the pieces here for now, on the Mad Line. We can return and dispose of them later. For now, we should hurry and catch up to Testy. Any objections?" Zed stands and slings his duffle over his shoulder. (edited)

Test laughs in a good-natured way at the officer's request. "You get a lot of people with identification around these parts? The name's Test. What can I do for ya?"

Kite is tired dealing with this whole endeavor has truly exhausted him. Part of him wants to push the point and at least try to come through on what they said they will do but he knows they will fight him and right now he doesn't have the resolve to argue the point. Also a part of him realizes that they are right. The Star nearly killed everyone on board the Messenger. And with its ability to give those who hold it a connection to the force it is too dangerous to fall into the wrong hands. So Kite decides to fall in with the Squad. He curtly says "Acknowledged" and backs away from the box.

"If we can't take care of this now, then we should lock it away in the hidden storage on the ship until we can," Adorhi puts in.

Zed puts his hand on the box, gingerly, as if he's afraid it will bite him. "Good plan, Adorhi," he says, nodding to her. He was glad to see that she wasn't out of sorts anymore. What a twisted thing this star was, he thinks. I hope that Test is okay. He takes the box to the secret smuggling compartment in the cargo bay of the Mad Line and seals it away. "Good riddance," he says, and returns to the group. "Let's go catch up to Test," he says.

Shorlu scrutinizes Barin. "You on board with this, pal?" Once the box is sequestered away, Shorlu stands to join them. "Yeah, let's go find him. If he had stuck around, we could've just used that plasma jackknife of his to put an end to the Star quick. Speaking of which, when it comes to all this splitting up.... I'm not gonna name any names or anything, but we can agree to at least tell each other where we're going first, right?" He jerks a pad-tipped thumb at the Messenger, still parked nearby. "I still don't even know where that came from."

As Adorhi moves for the exit, she passes by Shorlu giving him a friendly slap on his shoulder. "You're the master detective, right? I bet you'll figure that out," Adorhi says playfully with a smile.

Shorlu watches her go for a second, raising a finger as though he were about to retort, then drops it with a chuckle. He follows the group out of the hangar. (edited)

Zed chuckles at Adorhi's joke as he moves to follow her to the exit. As the group heads for the spaceport exit, he sees the Imperial notices plastered on the walls. After reading them, he turns back to the group, his mind racing. Did someone see Test use his lightsaber? He thinks back through their encounters prior to leaving Tatooine and remembers the kid that was managing the storage facility. Stang, Zed thinks. The little rotter must have squealed. Now we're in trouble. "We need to find Test," Zed says quietly, tipping his head ever-so-slightly at the notice. "Quickly." (edited)

The stormtrooper hesitates for second, looks over at his commanding officer and then back at Test. "Alright smartass, hands against the wall!" He orders, raising his blaster rifle.

Test raises his hands non-threateningly but looks over to the commanding officer and says "Sir, please take a careful look at my face. I'm Eye-See Eighty-nine and I'm on a hot trail. You wouldn't want to be responsible for delaying me."

The stormtrooper scoffs. "Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before. Up against the wall. I won't ask again."*

"So, where would Test even go anyway? Might be hard to spot him in the cro-" Shorlu cuts himself off as he rounds the corner, seeing a dispute up ahead, with Test at the center of it. From here, his floppy ears can hear the stormtrooper ordering him to the wall. "Speak of the Sith." Getting an idea, he digs through his pack and pulls out a pair of binders. He goes running over, hooting in Huttese. "Oi, oi! Get back here, slave! Don't let him get away!"

The stormtrooper looks up at Shorlu then back at Test. "Keep your pet on a leash or I'll put him down. You'd better have a permit for this."

Shorlu stops once he's close enough to the Imperials and to Test. He continues in Basic. "Ah jeez, so sorry about this, officer. Come on, come on Tiv! I'm putting these on you. The Mistress might forgive this, but these guys'll shoot you dead like a womprat in the street!"

The stormtrooper lowers his blaster, allowing Shorlu to approach and cuff Test. "Identification," he snaps, clearly growing tired of this. (edited)

Kite sees the altercation up ahead and watches Shorlu run off. He knows this could get ugly so he looks for a hiding spot with a good vantage point. He finds a box that gives him a good view of the situation and ducks behind it bringing his rifle out in case things go south. (edited)

"Ah, I haven't got any documentation, apologies. I'm here to return him to his owner. There weren't any ID checks required when I was last here. I can ask for something more official from my employer, if it's a requirement now." Shorlu adopts a deferent tone, looking down out of shame and swinging his trunk slightly, side to side.

The stormtrooper shakes his head in irritation and the officer walks over to see what the hold up is. "Is there a problem here?" He asks. "This alien and its slave have no identification, sir," the stormtrooper replies. "What's your business here?" The officer demands of Shorlu.

"Meeting with my employer, to deliver this slave. She never gave her name... I'm sorry, I didn't know about identification being needed, nobody told me nothing!" Shorlu continues his pleading, drawing from stereotyped Ortolan characters he remembers from old holoserials. "If I can go to our meeting place, I can get whatever docs you guys need, and it won't be a problem, swear to the Maker!"

The stormtrooper glances to the officer, who, from the look on his face, is very much ready for this shift to be over. "Carry on," he tells Shorlu with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Ah, thank you sir! C'mon Tiv, let's go!" Shorlu gives Test a little push on the back of the leg, and leads him through the checkpoint. Once they're well out of earshot and line of sight, Shorlu beckons Test into an empty alley and produces the key to the binders, uncuffing him. "So uh, what the kark was that? 'Cause it looked like you were about to get into it with an Imperial officer and his squad in broad daylight? I don't have to tell you that's a bad idea on the best of days, right?" He keeps his voice just barely above a harsh whisper.

"He's a thug and enjoys exerting power over others. That's all. Thanks for deescalating that. I'm heading to our place. Wanna check out our clone crib?"

"Alright, alright, just think ahead next time." Shorlu wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. Demeaning himself was part of his con, most of the time, since the galaxy never thought much of his species to begin with, where music wasn't concerned. It was what made him such a great detective—one look at the bumbling, cheap tabac-smoking, meat pod-munching Lt. Podobo who waltzed into the interrogation room would leave suspects and witnesses underestimating him, without fail, which led to them unintentionally spilling their guts, or getting caught in a lie. It was all part of the plan to get them at a disadvantage from square one. With his track record, it was no surprise IntSec kept him on as long as they did. Still though, the ruse could get tiring, especially when it was improvised, and unnecessary when a more thorough plan could be formed. I need a tabac. And another round of sabaac. "Well, let's see this bachelor pad of yours, then. I hope you wired a cleaning droid ahead of schedule. There'll be a lady present, y'know." He wrinkled his brow in a bawdy kind of way. (edited)

When they arrive at their hovel, Test immediately goes over to knock on Veets's door, explaining to Shorlu that his neighbor is keeping his pet while he was gone. (edited)

The door rattles unnaturally, like something is wrong with the opening mechanism, but there is no answer.

Zed looks at Adorhi, Gauss, and Barin. "Follow my lead," he says. Ignoring the troopers, he walks straight towards the officer. Spying the three blue studs lined up on the black uniform, he says in a covert whisper, "Lieutenant. Imperial authorization isk peth three seven." Without waiting for the man to respond, he flashes his rank insignia at the officer. "I am IC-0089, on a deep cover operation. These are my team," he says, motioning at the others with him. "Just a warning, if you run my number or auth code, he is going to show up here, asking questions. And I don't think you want that, do you?" (edited)

Adorhi walks up next to Zed, batting her eyes at the Lieutenant, doing her best to put him off his mark. She felt herself almost subconsciously trying to aid the Clone with his bluff beyond her usual physical manner. Figure this out together, Test's words echoed in her head. Whatever this was, she knew was powerful and would take a good bit of time to understand let alone control.

The lieutenant looks like he's about to take an issue with the same story two minutes after the last, but when he sees Zed's rank insignia and hears the implication he blanches and waves the group through without further trouble.

Zed gives the lieutenant a knowing nod, and continues through without a glance back. After they make it a safe distance away from the stormtroopers, he looks at Adorhi. "My comm is in my helmet, and I'd rather not wear that right now. Comm Kite, and tell him to get a move on. We'll meet him at our apartment." How long is it before his curiosity outweighs his fear of Vader? Zed wonders. We had better be long gone before that happens.

"Acknowledged " Kite then reslings his riffle and begins tapping on his wristpad initiating his new temp boost program. He sets it to make white noise to cover the sound he makes as he moves. He then carefully maneuvers himself closer to the check point and when the troopers attention is focused elsewhere uses that brief second to get himself past the point. Kite was beyond happy that they didn't have to get in a firefight with the troopers, he saw the stance Test was in, if Shorlu didn't intervene Test would have fought his way out. With an ISD topside there are too many troopers they could rain down on the Squad. Or hell depending on who is in charge up there they could just let a few turbolaser blasts loose. Either way it would have been the end of us. (edited)

"Veets needs to fix his door. Must be out. Anyway, Shorlu, our place is this one." Test goes over and tries to open their door.

"Alrighty then, maybe I'll see that pet of yours later." Shorlu looks up and down the halls as they cross to the clones' unit, looking and listening for anyone else about.

Test pushes some debris off of his bed and tells Shorlu to take a load off, turning an open crate upside down to sit on for himself. "So I never got that answer from you in the caverns...how'd you end up working with Flynn anway? And can I get you a water or maybe a...water?" (edited)

Shorlu takes in the sights and smells (recoiling at the smell, in particular) of the room as he steps inside. "That's true," he says, "I didn't." With a chuckle, he adds, "Maybe you chose the wrong ship, eh?" With a glass of water, he sits and passes the time telling Test essentially the same story he did to Gauss and Zed, of Flynn's help in his most trying time. But he decides to share a bit more about his regrets this time. Maybe because he's feeling a little worse about it, maybe because he was getting bored with telling the exact same tale, or maybe he felt obligated to tell Test a little more, since he was the first to ask. "Y'know, way before all that, I was engaged to the love of my life. Cutest little Chadra-fan you ever did see. Not many people can actually tell male from female with them, but I can. It's in the nose. Well, that, and she had kinda a cute way of wiggling her behind when she walked." He waxes nostalgically, before sipping his water with his trunk, and changing expressions. "I lost her, right around the time I left IntSec. She walked out on me, when she learned the kinda stuff I was getting up to with them." He seems deflated.

"That's too bad, Shorlu. I never had someone in my life like that. We were all sort of wedded to the war, in a way. I know how devastated we have all been since it ended...since we were betrayed by the Empire. I know it's not the same thing, of course. But I'm sorry all the same." (edited)

Shorlu perks up a little. "Ah, thanks pal. And besides, gotta look on the bright side, y'know? This opens up a whole galaxy of opportunities for guys like us! Maybe somebody caught your eye at ol' Point Nadir, huh?" He hoots. "Not likely, I guess."

"There was one lady that made an impression...." he trails off as he hears others approaching.

Zed and the others enter the hovel. "Well, now that officer thinks there are secret imp commandos here," he says. "We had better hurry up with what we're doing." He glances at Testy. "Test, can I talk to you outside?"

Test bolts up without thinking, habitually replying, "Yes, sir," barely stopping himself from saluting.

They exit the hovel and stand in the hot Tatooine suns a few feet from the door. Zed stares at the street before starting in. "So," he says. "Can you tell me what happened on the trip? I just want to hear it to see if I have all the facts."

Test closes his eyes, rotating his head down left and then right, cracking the joints in his neck. "I think we all knew somethin' was up with Adorhi, so I got her to meditate with me...me and the Star. I was hopin' it would give me some insight into what was goin' on...maybe get her to trust me a bit so she'd give up the Star. Well, we sorta both had some vision...some shared experience...elsewhere. Well, she wasn't all there, Zed. She was sorta locked up...by the Star. So anyway, afterwards, Kite and I agreed we needed to take it from her. We did that, but it got to me then too. And I didn't want to let it go. Part of me thought I could tame it. Anyway, I tried to work through it, and I got some control over it for a time, but, well, not enough. And one thing led to another, and Kite had it in an escape pod, and the Star really got hold of me, and I tried to cut it open to get at it...at him. Well, he went and destroyed the thing using the blade that was comin' right for him. That broke it's hold on me. But...I almost killed him for it, Zed. I almost killed my brother."

Zed listens to Test's story, taking in every detail. At the end, he lets out a long, slow exhale, using the excuse to blow the cool air up across his face. After a moment, he says, "I'm sorry that happened. That's a helluva thing to go through." He pauses, searching for the right words. He sees his brother hurting, torn up inside for what he almost did. But this was never his strong point. He begins to speak, stammering at first, but gaining a bit of confidence as he finds the right words. "Listen, I know you. I know that's going to eat you up inside forever. You won't let it go, not for a long time. But here's something you need to remember: what happened on that ship was not your fault. I'm not saying shift the blame to the star or the Force or whatever else. But you have to know that it wasn't you. You're a better man than that." He looks back towards the hovel. "The star KUBAR'd everything. It wasn't you. I know that, Kite knows that, and so do you. We're vode. No relic is going to change that."

Test interrupts the end of Zed's statement by embracing his brother with a great big wampa hug. "Thanks, brother. That means a lot to me."

"Urk-" Zed gives a sharp gasp as Test squeezes the remaining air from his lungs. He returns the hug, laughing as his brother releases him. "I know things are strained right now," he says. "But I think things are changing for the better. Feels like we've been stagnant for a while, ever since deserting. It feels good to get back into operating again." Zed's curiosity shifts to something that Test had said during his recounting of the trip. "You said you were...meditating? Does that mean that the Force is talking to you?"

"I...I don't know. I thought it led me to those crystals in the cave...I mean, not at the time, but afterwards...it seems like a hell of a coincidence, you know? And then, when we were with the Star, I heard voices." Lowering his voice he says, "I heard, Haspin, Zed...but I don't know if it was really him, or just the Star. But it seemed like the voice was trying to help me. Anyway. I haven't heard anything since." (edited)

"Haspin?" Zed says, excitement and fear and shame and regret all welling up inside him at once. "Did he say anything? I mean, I don't want to intrude if it was something meant for you. I don't really know how that Force stuff works."

"Naw, it's ok. Nothing personal. He warned me against fear and arrogance. Good advice, for sure." Pausing, Test continues, "It's probably just nothing but...Zed, the night after this all happened, I had a weird dream." Test tells him all about the dream, and asks if he's ever had anything like it before or if he's ever felt anything weird about his head. (edited)

Zed's blood ran cold. "Did they...put something in our heads?" he says. Suddenly, the back of his head felt very itchy. It had never made sense before, why Hammer Squad had been so willing to fire on Haspin. He couldn't remember his thought process from that moment. Every time he thought to hard on it, he kept coming back to a phrase that had been drilled into he and his brothers on Kamino: Good soldiers follow orders. "Good soldiers follow orders," he repeats quietly, but aloud. "I haven't ever felt anything weird in my head before. Certainly never dreamed about it. I'm not even sure what to do about it. It's not like we know a doctor or medtech that we trust enough to go rooting around in our skulls."

"Maybe...do you think Shorlu might know something? Or maybe he could help us find out. I wouldn't even know where to start,"

"I think that he's the type of guy that if, on the off-chance he doesn't know something, he knows a guy that does," Zed says with a chuckle. He motions towards the hovel. "C'mon, let's go tell the others and plan our next move."

Test follows Zed back in.

Zed busies himself with picking up the discarded take-out containers that never quite seemed to make it to the trash. He shoots a surreptitious glance at Kite, trying to get a read on how his brother was feeling. But, as always, the T-visor was a unfeeling visage of intimidation. After finishing up cleaning, he sits on one of the free stools and looks at the group. "So, we got Barin back," Zed says, motioning to the balosar. "We've completed our mission for Prello. We don't even mention the star when we get to her. Obviously, she'll be disappointed, but happy that you're alive, Barin. After that, we need to talk about Ryder and the job Adorhi got us at Point Nadir." He pauses, waiting to see if anyone had anything to add before he got to the thing about the chips. That was going to be a big deal, and he wanted to get everything else out of the way first.

Shorlu puts his thumb and forefinger suction pads together, making a small plip! sound, with his other fingers outstretched—the galactic hand signal for "O.K.," as Zed puts forward the plan. "I can take the lead with the Ryder stuff, it's only appropriate." Thinking momentarily, he asks, "How much does Prello know about Sable Dawn, anyway? I guess you told her they attacked you before, right?"

"When we left, not much, she knew they were one of the main factions on Nadir and went about their business mysteriously, but that was about it." Gauss says, while leaning against an open space on a wall. "She might know more now, we will see when we get there." (edited)

"Right. Actually, there was one other thing I was thinking about, regarding Prello." Shorlu lowers his voice a little, getting serious. "It's just a theory of mine, but there's a possibility Prello's client for the Star is someone of standing in the Empire."

Kite nods and says "I've wondered the same thing, it seems excessive for the Empire to send an ISD over a rumor. From what I've heard they go in much quieter when hunting jedi. That may make life more difficult for us in the long run since the Empire doesn't take failure well" (edited)

Shorlu nodded. "My thoughts exactly, Kite. If—and again, theory— but if it's the Empire we're talking about here, they might wanna put questions toward Barin here, and us too, if they learn that we were the ones on this job."

"That's not going to work for us," Zed says. "Our cover story won't stand up to close scrutiny. But I think that Prello knows who we are. And I assume that she wouldn't do that to us, considering she's said that she considers us valuable operators."

Kite shrugs and says "She does seem fairly honorable for a Hutt, especially considering the fact that she was willing to pay us to find Barin. I don't think she would sell us out as her first resort, but who knows what she will do when the pressure is on. We took the job though and can't hold Barin hostage so we will have to cross that bridge when it comes"

"Yeah, I figure as much. Just wanted to bring it up, get your guys's input, all that. That's all I got to say about that. Whenever you kids are ready to go, so am I. Wouldn't want to keep the lady in question waitin'!" Shorlu sits up in his seat.

"Sounds good to me, let's get going." Gauss says to the group "Hopefully we can stop by the market so I can pick up some materials as well" he thinks to himself as he walks out of the complex. (edited)

"Before we go," Zed says, extending a hand in a hold-up gesture. "Hammer Squad, Test told me something and the rest of you need to know." He takes a deep breath, and looks at Testy. "Test?"

Test tells them of his dream.

Kite is unsettled while hearing Test describe his dream and how the control chips were the reason they followed through on order 66. Test is not handling the stress well, between order 66 and the Star taking control of him. He is grasping at straws to find ways to deflect the guilt Kite removes his helmet and says in a sympathetic tone "Vod, the vision was probably the Star's influence. You & Adorhi know better most how much that kriffing thing can impact your life. Hell after it was destroyed, I heard a voice in my head say some bantha podoo about a true war. It's just the Star using it's last legs to stir up conflict. We all made a choice to do what we did. Like it or not."

"Kite," Zed says. "I know you don't trust the Force. You have good reason to. But think about it: we trusted Haspin. He was our friend. And we killed him without a second thought. Why would we do that?"

Kite almost flinches and looks rattled. He didn't think Zed would buy into this craziness. "We followed orders as we had been trained our whole lives to do. They had orders for every contingency, hell order 65 was to remove the Chancellor. Which if I had been in position to carry out the order I would have done so, because it was my duty and my choice. If the jedi were smart they would have issued that order vs going for a halfcocked assassination. We didn't get many choices in our lives, we were bred for war and forced to become soldiers, but we aren't droids. Every choice after joining the GAR was ours to make." He looks around the room and makes eye contact with each of the clones and says in more apologetic tone "I know I'm the odd clone out on this, I've tried and failed at being respectful of this. But we did what we did because believed it to be a lawful order." Kite sighs and adds "It won't hurt to check, we can use some of our funds to have a medcenter scan our brain, and finally put this to rest once and for all" (edited)

Zed knew this would be difficult. Kite was a good soldier. A good man, but he believed in what he could see. "I've regretted doing it ever since that day, and I can't put my finger on why I relayed the order. I've regretted it ever since. It...it keeps me up at night to this day." He pauses, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "I know you don't want to believe it," he says. "Neither do I. The thought of them controlling us...it's revolting. I'm not a droid. I think when I get orders. I consider them. But I don't remember stopping to consider it when 66 came in. I just followed the order. That....it just doesn't feel right, and if Test's vision is true, then...well...thanks for being willing to check."

Kite don's his helmet again, placing the unreadable Mandalorian helm between him and the Squad. Internally he was distraught, near praying that Test was wrong. If they could be controlled they were no better than the droids they fought for so many years. He stands slinging his rifle over his shoulder and says "Lets solve the mess in front of us first, and get Barin to Prello. But we will check into this, and if this wild bantha chase somehow proves true. You have my word, we will make both the Kaminoeans and the Empire pay. We are not kriffing Clankas, to be programmed."

"If it is true," Zed says, rising to head for Prello's, "They'll never know what hit them."

Test was so much more comfortable with Kite now again wearing his helmet. He couldn't bring himself to look Kite in the eye, which only deepened his shame. As they headed out for Prello's he took up his normal point position, leading the way, if not the squad. They were all on heightened alert because of the increased imperial presence, and, just in case they were expected, he led them around to approach Prello's from an unexpected direction. As they approached, Test pulled up short, a ways back in a low trafficked area and motioned for Kite to sneak up and get at least a little height to check for signs of ambush.

Kite moves forward glad to have a work to keep him distracted. Seeing Test waive him up Kite moves quickly yet stealthily and looks for a vantage point that he can view Prello's estate

The streets of Mos Eisley are unusually quiet. Perhaps it's just the heat today... or more likely the unwanted Imperial presence in the city. For those used to the usual hubbub of the desert city, the quiet is almost oppressive. The sight that awaits the group at Prello's townhouse is equally unpleasant - Imperial stormtrooper stand guard on either side of the front door.

Kite quietly moves back to the group and waives them backwards to get some distance from the town house. He then says "The Empire has control of Prello's townhouse. There are two Storm troopers stationed outside and an unknown amount inside."

Shorlu peeks around the corner, getting eyes on them. "Some days, I hate bein' right." He looks back to the group. "Well, there's two ways to go about this, that I can see. Walk right up to them and politely ask to be let in, or slip in another way."

"Fierfek," Zed curses. "One shabla thing after another." "We should find another way to slip in," he says, agreeing with Shorlu. "They're not going to let us walk in. And the trick I used at the spaceport only works so many times."

Lurking in the shade beneath a porch across the street, a dust-covered 3PO droid steps out into the sun. The sunlight betrays its once shining plating. "Master Test," he says quietly. It is C-4RL's voice!

"Carl? Shh," Test shusshes the droid, waving him over.

The droid waddles across the street closer to the group before continuing to whisper conspiratorially. "Madame Prello sends her regards, but regretfully her abode has been seized by the Inquisitor. She is in hiding. You are to be warned - they are looking for a man with a lightsaber.

Shorlu puts his hands on his hips. "Okay, so I wasn't right. This is worse than if they were here to do business. Test... did someone see you using your lightsaber, last time you were here?"

"The kid from the storage units. And it was all on vid. So the owner knew too."

"Maker-dammit. When we landed, did you leave the saber on the ship? Or...?"

Kite scowls under his helm, he knew that saber would bring them nothing but trouble. He had told Test multiple times to either ditch it or stow it, but what's done is done. If they had been on better terms Kite would point this out, but with their relationship being strained already adding more stress wouldn't help. Kite looks at the droid and says "Do you know where Prello is, we want to complete the job and get off this rock as quickly as we can"

"It's in my waistband."

"Oookay. Not great on all accounts." He pinches his trunk again in thought, and looks to the droid for an answer before he tries to come up with a new plan.

An inquisitor. Zed had met inquisitors before. Near the end of their term as imperial commandos, Hammer had the misfortune of being on mission when an inquisitor had arrived. They hadn't spoken, merely shown their identification and sent Hammer's mission screeching to a halt. And they report directly to Vader, he remembers. We are ani'a osik'la. Completely. Screwed. (edited)

"You should see Cel N'era at the Woodoo Dunes cantinea," C-4RL replies cheerfully. "Good day!" With that the droid waddles away to secrete himself in the shadows once more.

"More good news for ya." Shorlu says, eyes on the sky. "Off-world traffic is being limited. Even if we finish our business here, leaving is gonna be a whole 'nother beast." He hangs his head. "And I don't have the luxury of time, here. Kark."

"I know Cel N'era," Barin mutters as C-4RL leaves. "He's a Twi'lek spice dealer. He introduced me to Phellip." (edited)

"Let's go meet him then," Zed says. He looks at Gauss. "Comm Kite. Get him down here and let's get moving to the Woodoo Dunes." When Kite rejoins the group, they head through the nearly-deserted streets to the spice-infested cantina. The suns and the silence are both oppressive as they trudge through the sandy speeder lanes. (edited)

One of many seedy cantinas sprinkled liberally throughout Mos Eisley, the Woodoo Dunes is a run-down venue in the east of the city. Its clientele includes lower-class day labourers from the docking bays, as well as street hooligans and small-time spice dealers. The cantina features little in the way of security and its missing front window has been replaced by a sheet of sand-worn alloy plating. The furniture has been cobbled together from several different sources and even the bar looks to be made from thin sheets of scrap metal that have been painted with industrial-quality starship paint. The occupants consist of a few workers scattered around the bar, four gang members huddled around a table and a single Twi'lek sitting in one of the three booths. "That's him," Barin confirms. The Twi'lek's face is a bit too ashen and a bit too thin to seem wholly healthy. His yellow eyes are dilated slightly and he licks his lips nervously. He's dressed in fine robes that haven't seen a washing in some time and he drums his overly long fingernails on the booth tabletop habitually.

Kite scopes out the room and looks at Barin "Barin are you willing to introduce us? Also It may be best if we approach him with a smaller group, we don't want to spook him. Maybe have Adorhi & Shorlu go, since they are both known to be associates of Prello" (edited)

"Good plan," Zed nods. "Hammer, stay close, but disperse. Watch for stormtroopers."

Barin nods. "You remember Cel, right Tails? Want to take the lead on this?"

"There are eyes on the cantina entrance," Zed says before the group disperses. "Not sure if they're imperial. We'll keep watch."

"Got it." Shorlu nods to Zed, and looks to Barin and Adorhi.

Gauss leans himself against a wall across the street from the cantina, poking at his wristpad as to look busy, but keeping an eye on the surrounding area.

Kite grabs a seat in the bar where he can watch the entrance and keep an eye on the Twi'lek. He throws the bartender 5 credits and says "Know of any paying jobs, with the imperials in orbit. I may be here longer than I thought" Making sure to stay alert to any changes in the bar (edited)

The bartender glances from Kite to the credits and back. "I know a Hutt who needs some cargo moving," he mentions quietly. (edited)

"What type of cargo does this hutt deal in" Kite has no problems moving spice or weapons but would never deal in slaves. Especially with Test's control chip vision, eating at the back of his mind.

"Passengers," the bartender continues, his body language neutral but his voice low, "to the third quadrant."

"What type of passengers, we don't deal in slaves"

The barman shakes his head. "No slaves. VIPs."

Kite nods evaluating the man through his t shaped visor "VIPs? Any idea on who it may be? Also who should I talk to if I'm interested in taking this job?"

The barman glances across the cantina at Cel. "Talk to the Twi'lek. Tell him you're looking to buy some art."

Kite nods and throws the bartender another 5 credits "Thanks for the info. Before I go can you shed any light on who the Hutt he works for is? Even the Kajidic he belongs to would be helpful" (edited)

"Talk to Cel," the barman repeats, with a nod in the Twi'lek's direction.

Kite nods and seeing that his companions are heading that way decides to wait at the bar until they finish their business before approaching

Adorhi was still processing the sight of Prello's residence swarmed by Troopers. They both generally kept to themselves and turned a blind eye towards each others efforts. But this was different, very different. Her heart ached at the thought of Prello being in trouble. Talking to C-4RL might have help ease her concern but things had moved so fast and before she could he was gone and her and her new companions were on the move as well. The distraction holding strong, it took the second time of hearing Barin's segue into talking with Cel for her to snap out of it. "Oh...yes, sorry...," the Togruta said with a slight shake of her head. "Cel, always a pleasure," Adorhi said dryly turning to the Twi'lek, quickly getting back to the sarcastic front she so often leaned into. She definitely had a thing for Twi'leks, the other variety at least, but Cel was enough on his own to do damage for his whole species. Sure she was essentially a thief herself, but a lot of what Cel dealt in was much more vile. The toll that spice had on a person was something she would never wish on anyone. Adorhi did her best to swallow her pride though and tried to continue in a more pleasant manner. Whatever it took to make sure Prello was safe she was willing to do.

"Adorhi," Cel replies slowly. "I thought you two were off-world," he adds, glancing at Barin.

"We were, yes. But now we're back." Adorhi replies fighting back impatience. "Where's Prello?"

Cel glances about at the cantina's other occupants, before nodding conspiratorially to Adorhi. "Follow me," he tells the two thieves, leading them out a back door besides the bar. On the other side is a short set of steps down into small sandy yard, walled in on all sides by the surrounding buildings. Aside from a table, chairs and a skip for waste, it seems pretty empty. Cel glances about again, before heading to a blank portion of wall to the left of the door that they just came out of. The Twi'lek crouches and flicks a hidden switch, opening a hidden door to a new flight of stairs that leads down underground. He gestures to Adorhi to go ahead.

Feeling out with her montrals, Adorhi cautiously steps forward at the direction of the Twi'lek.

Right behind Barin, Shorlu steps inside as well.

Underground the air is unusually cool and as Adorhi, Barin and Shorlu go deeper they can hear the distant sound of flowing water and classical violin. At the top of the stairs, the door closes behind them with a gentle hiss and a thump. The downward passage ahead is dark, but the bottom is illuminated by a small pool of light that opens up into a more spacious lobby when the stairs end. The lobby is decorated with potted tropical plants and a small wooden coffee table flanked by sofas in the middle of the room. A pair of Gamorreans stand guard by one of the doors on the far side of the room, but they wave the trio through. On the far side, Prello the Hutt lounges in an audience chamber atop a pile of silk cushions. She reaches out towards her guests when she sees them. "Adorhi! Barin! You have returned to me!" She declares.

Shorlu gives a little wave to Prello as he reveals himself from behind the two taller sentients. "Not like I had anythin' to do with it. Good to see ya, Your Worshipfulness." He bows extravagantly, holding his trunk like a sash.

Prello cracks a wide slimy smile like only a Hutt can. "Of course, thank you too, Shorlu, for returning them to me. Where are your military-minded companions?" She hesitates a moment more as she peers around the trio. "Where is Rider?"

Shorlu huffs, drawing near to her makeshift dais of pillows. "The others are keeping watch outside. As for Rider—that, ma'am, is a bit of a story. And not a terribly happy one. Adorhi & I'll tell you all about it, but I was hoping you could have your happy reunion first, before we got to that." He eyes the delectable candies on the table hungrily. "You weren't gonna eat those all by your little self, were ya?" Before anyone knows it, he's plopped down in front of the table, sucking candies one by one through his fingers, savoring the taste. This leaves his trunk open for polite conversation. "So I take it when the Imps came knocking, your plan was to grab some guards, go to the Woodoo Dunes, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all this to blow over? Good plan. It's what I'd do." (edited)

"...yes," Prello begins slowly, slightly perturbed by the chatty Ortolan. "The Inquisitor is searching for your friend with the lightsaber. Is he in Mos Eisley?"

"Well, yeah," Shorlu began, coming down from his sugar rush. It'd been so long since he'd had candy, especially some this good. He weighed his options, choosing his words with care. He doesn't want to sell Test out, but he doesn't want to lie to the Hutt he desperately needs help from. "He came back with us, but he's laying low. Hid the lightsaber. He hasn't been recognized yet, but we're taking precautions. Why uh... do you ask?" (edited)

"I prefer my operatives remain unmolested, of course," Prello answers reproachfully. "He should not take the threat of the Inquisitor lightly... but let us speak of happier things. Barin, darling, come here. Are you unharmed?" Barin moves closer to Prello and she fusses over him for a few moments, clearly happy to have the Balosar returned to her.

Even though it's a Hutt he's talking too, Shorlu can't help but feel a little ashamed at her response, especially after seeing her fawn over Barin the way she does. "Yeah, of course. Sorry for uh... well, sorry." Showing incredible restraint for an Ortolan, he fully backs off of the sweets after eating only half of the ones on display. Once the time is right, he begins explaining what happened with Adorhi, leaving the bits about finding the Star out.

She should have been overwhelmed with joy to see Prello but it just wasn't there. There was something very different about Adorhi since coming back from Port Nadir. Hearing the Hutt's words about her operatives sent a shiver down the Togruta's spine. She didn't carry the physical weapon in question like Test's but she was pretty sure the new presence that seemed to consume her would also be a target of these Inquisitors. Stepping towards the Hutt, Adorhi reaches up to hug her good friend. As tears of relief and confusion well up in her eyes, she says to Prello, muffled within the Hutts embrace "I'm so glad to be back with you." After a deep sigh and in an even quieter and more muffled voice, she says, "I'm so sorry."

Prello looks at Adorhi with concern as she holds her in her arms. "Why, whatever for, little one? You have both returned to me. You did as you promised." (edited)

"For the danger I will put you in if I am around. They will be after me next before long."

Prello's brow furrows as she processes this. "Adorhi, what happened on Point Nadir?"

"I'm not sure, not really sure at all." Pulling back from Prello, Adorhi's expression tightens up a bit with a bit more of a serious tone, "What are you doing in hiding? Are you leaving Tatooine?"

A cunning smirk spreads across the Hutt's face when Adorhi asks this question. "Yes. The Empire has endangered my operation here. I will travel across land to the far side of the planet and leave from the opposite side to the Cumulus to escape notice. Tell me, Adorhi, what's Zietta's standing currently like on Point Nadir?"

Adorhi relays what she knows and looks to Shorlu for any details she may have been forgetting.

Shorlu nods and explains what they learned about the power structure on Point Nadir. "So, this is where what happened with Rider comes in. I went looking for him, and found him—in a fight club. Some gangster by the name of McCarthy—real piece of work—claimed he owed him 14 grand, and he was gonna keep him in the ring till he got it." "Now Flynn never told me about this personally, and I haven't met this McCarthy till today. But with his usual carefree attitude, I don't find it hard to believe." Shorlu, quite sober and sincere, bows his head to Prello. "Ma'am, I don't presume to ask you for money you can't spare, 'specially in what's become a trying time. But I gotta ask if there's any kind of help you can send our way. When last I saw him, Flynn was getting the tar beat outta him. He won't last long. Blastin' our way in and bustin' him out is an option, but as you can understand, Point Nadir is a hot zone for us now. Sable Dawn is out to get us, and they own a third of it. We gotta pick our battles carefully. And McCarthy, though I hate to say it, could even be useful to us, if we can sweep this mess under the rug. He's entrenched on that rock. We could get him to do us a favor or two." He lowers his head a little more, looking at the floor now. "And I wouldn't want druk to go downwards and for Flynn to wind up dead anyway, 'cause we mounted a premature rescue plan."

01:35

Finally, he lifts his head and awaits her response, his keen, beady eyes trained on her.

Meanwhile, outside the cantina. Gauss is casually playing holovid games on his wristpad to pass the time, while watching for the others too come out of the tavern or for someone suspicious to enter.

Prello appears genuinely distressed by Shorlu's tale of what has become of Rider and shakes her head, her expression hardening. "We will handle McCarthy. I will not have Rider rot in some cell on Point Nadir. Where are Hammer squad? Did they at least return with you?"

"Yes'm," Shorlu nods. He produces his commlink. He opens a channel to Test, who still has his headcomm on him, to his knowledge. "Grab the others and come in here. I'll meet ya." He closes the device, and looks to Prello. "I'll go and get 'em, should only be a minute," he says before doing just that.

Test gets everyone's attention and signs for "move in".

Kite leaves his spot at the bar and follows the squad into Prello's hidden room. Seeing the Hutt is a bit of a surprise for Kite but putting the pieces between his conversation with the bartender and seeing Prello. Kite says "You must be the VIP in need of escort, the bartender mentioned. You heading off planet?"

"Eventually," Prello tells Kite with a nod, "but Mos Eisley is no longer a safe harbour. I intend to escape notice by travelling across land by sandcrawler, until sufficiently far from the Cumulus's position to take off safely. It will not be an easy trip. I could use a capable squad of recon commandos."

"We might be able to help with that," Zed says. "Any idea what they're requiring for off-world travel from the spaceport? Seems like security is pretty tight."

"The Cumulus has assumed control of outgoing air traffic," Prello explains. "Only one heading is permitted and all launches must be preapproved. They have customs officers checking for licenses and contraband and anything that falls out of line is impounded and fined." (edited)

Kite nods and stares at the Hutt through his visored helm. And says in his typical monotone voice "how much does the job pay? Imperials add extra complications."

"What is the price of Hammer squad's loyalty?" Prello plays back to Kite. "I have big plans for all of us. Plans that go far beyond one little dust ball on the Outer Rim. How much does it cost to topple a regime?"

Kite is bewildered Prello can't be serious, there is no way the Hutt can believe she can topple the imperials. Even if all the Hutt Kajidics banded together they would still barely be a blip on the Emperor's radar. He says a bit of incredulity bleeding into his voice. "What regime are you toppling, we don't have the resources to target the Empire"

Kite's astonished tone provokes a trill laugh from Prello. "Still so focussed on your origins I see, Kite. No, my dears, the Empire matters not to me. We are taking Point Nadir from my cousin." (edited)

Kite nods Between the ISD in orbit and Test's story about the control chips, I've been fixated on the empire to the point of distraction. Of course she would be talking about point Nadir. Prello isn't foolish enough to go up against the Empire. As soon as we have time, we need to confirm that Tests vision was a bunch of bantha Poddoo. I have to put this behind me He then clears his throat and says "Of course, apologies the ISD in orbit has imperials on my mind" He then realizes Prello has them in a bit of bind, she has proven herself to be a loyal to her operatives. But Kite isn't sure if she considers the squad part of her so called family. She knows that we are deserters and that Test is the one the imperials are looking for. She could easily sell us out to make life easier for herself. He then realizes she is toying with him, but he isn't sure to what end. He stands up a bit straighter and breaks the situation down "Hammer is loyal but we aren't foolish. I respect that you are willing to put your resources to bear to protect your people, that is a level of honor that is not typically present in the Hutt Kajidics. But your cousin has a stronger position in your clan and more resources to bring to bear. You need us because we are highly capable soldiers, that won't sell you out to your family for a payday. Finding soldiers for hire of our caliber that you can trust is no easy feat. This would be a mutually beneficial partnership, and I would hate for you think less of us for accepting a low ball offer. So what is controlling Point Nadir worth to you?" (edited)

Prello laughs lightly at Kite's negotiating gumption. "That's why I want you boys on retainer. This isn't a simple lump sum. Your equipment is clearly in need of upgrades, which I will provide a budget for. Room and board is covered by my organisation. As for yourselves... shall we say two thousand credits each, monthly? Speaking of which, I believe payment is due for the return of my beloved Barin..." The Hutt presses a hidden button and a secret compartment opens in the top of the coffee table where Shorlu is sat with the Turkish delight. Inside is a terminal for loading credit chips. (edited)

Kite nods it seems like a fair deal to him, but it wasn't his call. He looks over to Zed, to see what he makes of it.

Zed sees Kite's nod and says, "We've got a few other jobs in the hopper, and we're paying rent on a ship from another party on Point Nadir. How long would this retainer last?" He looks to Adorhi. "Did your contact give you any time frame on that Lucrehulk job?"

As she goes to reply to Zed, Adorhi stops and then turns towards Prello. "Prello, do you know a Mr. Alastair on Point Nadir?"

Prello eyes Adorhi cautiously. "How did you get involved with Alastair?"

Shorlu lifts an ear, as this is news to him as well. At the same time, he produces an empty credit chip, sticking it into one of the slots on the terminal.

The terminal lights up, allowing Shorlu to withdraw 1500 credits.

Test follows Shorlu's lead.

Kite steps in line behind Tests, his mind is already going through the gear he wants to pick up. Going up against Sable's force users and potentially the inquisitors seems like it may be more of a common occurrence going forward. He needed some new tricks to help over come the force ability gap, especially if they start using lightsabers

"I was searching for information. Anything to get us closer to finding Barin, and as fast as possible. We did a small escort job for him on the rock and then he offered a bit more lucrative second, which is apparently a key motivator to the rest of the group." Adorhi motions to the others collecting their pay. Adorhi had come around to the clones and ortolan quite a bit but a few days wasn't going to erase years of past experience or feelings. She was extremely annoyed at Kite's jump to reimbursement. Everything is just a payout to them, she thought to herself. If not for the strong arm twisting, there's a good chance he would have still turned the Fell Star over to Prello simply to earn an extra tip. Could she be certain that if it came down to completing the job or saving her that they'd pick correctly? Correctly for her, that is? Catching herself in a daze, Adorhi gives a slight shake of her head to try and clear her thoughts. Trust won't happen overnight, she reminded herself. Turning to Shorlu, she says, "He gave us two weeks for the Lucrehulk job." (edited)

"Two weeks. Must be their favorite measurement of time on that rock," Shorlu muses, recalling the imposed time limit for Rider. "Well, we'll definitely have to handle that on the way back, then. If we're getting gear while we're here, we can take that into account. Prello, what'd you have in mind for our pilot friend?"

Zed was the last to collect his payment. He nodded as Adorhi answered his question and mentally tallied up the things they needed to do. Rescue Rider, hit the Sable HQ on Point Nadir, salvage the Lucrehulk, and now possibly get Prello off Tatooine and oust her cousin from power on Point Nadir. We're busy people. (edited)

Prello nods sagely to Adorhi in understanding. "Complete the job. Do not cross him. The day may yet come when we count Alastair Fische amongst our enemies, but I would rather it be on my own terms."

Kite scans chip and says "It sounds like we are in, what's our next move Prello?"

Prello sighs sadly. "My journey across the sands will take weeks. If you are to keep your promise to Alastair, we may be forced to part ways here once more."

Kite nods and thinks on the situation "We can serve as you Vanguard on Port Nadir. Stir up some trouble for your cousin, to make your coup easier. Are there any targets or vulnerabilities in his operation?"

"Alastair made it quite clear that he can find someone else to do the job if we weren't up for it," Adorhi puts in. "If a choice had to be made, of course I'm with you and getting you off Tatooine." The togruta pauses for a moment as she hangs on her next words. "I think we may have a bit of a bargaining piece with Alastair actually. You're aware of Salovan Fische?"

Prello nods. "Most who are familiar with Point Nadir know his legend. Why do you ask?"

"It's true. All of it," Adorhi replies.

Shorlu pulls out his gold bar, stamped with an Old Republic seal, to lend credence to her words.

Prello's eyes go wide when she sees the gold. "Where did you discover this? Did you find the Fell Star?!" (edited)

Test fidgets awkwardly.

"Yes, we did," Adorhi replies somewhat disheartened. "But that will be something to explain in a more discreet time and place. If ever you were to trust me on something Prello, this needs to be it." Now waving a hand towards the gold bar in Shorlu's hand, she continues. "We found the gold deep in the mines on Point Nadir. The clones did a good job of tracing their steps as there is much more to be found. I would gather that possession of such a treasure would bode quite well in your attempt at removing Zietta from her position of power." (edited)

Prello nods carefully in understanding. "I trust you, little one, always. Salovan Fische's legacy is more valuable than you know. It signifies a right to rulership over Point Nadir. Whoever holds that gold controls the shadowport... although I fear that what remains will have been scavenged by the time we arrive."

"Then there might be a civil war going on by the time we get back..."

Kite gives Adorhi a nod of respect. He wasn't happy that they didn't complete the job as promised but feels much better that they were at least upfront with Prello. Hearing the piece about the gold and the owner controlling the Port. He says "Have you heard any news of out Port Nadir? If no one has found the gold it may make sense to return to the Port ASAP. With Alastair being a potential rival, we have more to gain by returning his ship and turning down the Hulk job. It could allows to obtain the gold before the other players, and strengthen your standing on the Port.

"...why is that, Test?" Prello asks, pointedly. "No, I haven't been in contact with Point Nadir of late."

"Because we needed to pay for transport off that rock once Shorlu's ship got blown up. All we had was the gold. And wires got crossed and we ended up with two ships and not much gold. Epsis has a bunch and Alastair has a couple bars."

01:34

"And, like you said, the rest of the cache may have gotten cleaned out. And we may have dropped some in a fight. Not sure."

Prello's eyes go wide at this explanation. "Are you saying that Fische's legacy is split between factions on the streets of Point Nadir?! That's... terrible..." a slow smile spreads across the Hutt's face. "I must get there as quickly as I can."

"Well, maybe we should put off the Lucrehulk mission and get you there," Zed says. "The problem then becomes that we have two abandoned ships here and we've missed our timeframe on the job." (edited)

"We could do both jobs at once. We have two ships."

"True, but one is unlicensed and doesn't belong to us," Zed says. "I bet the imps are checking for that sort of thing. Going to be pretty hard to get the Mad Line off world."

"And the last time we split up, half of us almost died in the vaccum of space.". Gauss replys to Testy. (edited)

"But none of us did. Prello, can you legitimize that ship for us? Get us the documents we need?" (edited)

Kite nods at Gauss's comment "We don't know what if any resistance we are going to face on the hulk, or what challenges there will be on the dunes. I don't think we should make the same mistake we made with the Star. That mistake nearly ended with one of us dead. We work better as a unit, I would rather lose out on some credits. Than put us in a situation we can't handle"

"Papers that will pass a standard inspection I can come up with relatively quickly," Prello tells Test. "Anything more sophisticated requires skilled work which costs both time and credits... but I can get it." (edited)

Zed looks around at his brothers. "I imagine if they see us in any form of prolonged situation, they're going to check beyond a standard inspection."

Kite chuckles and adds "I've always said you should switch to beskar'gam" he looks at his gear and says "Or knock off beskar'gam. No one looks twice at a Mandalorian who won't remove his helmet. Maybe we can find you a disguise that people won't question"

Shorlu holds his head at this turn in the conversation. What happened on the Messenger had already sounded rough. He hoped someone wouldn't have to die for that to be incentive. "Kite's right," he pipes up. "About the Lucrehulk, at least. We don't know what we're gonna find in either spot. I think we oughta work together in either case." "By the by, if we're talking about leaving either of those ships here, we gotta move them. That Rodian gave me the willies, and whoever he works for charges too damn much. Plus, I expect they'll let the Imps right in to go through our stuff. Prello, do you know anywhere we could keep a freighter—or two?" (edited)

"There are other safe harbours on Tatooine," Prello confirms to Shorlu, "but to take off from the spaceport you will need Imperial clearance." (edited)

"Nevertheless, it is vital that you complete the job and return to Point Nadir in time for next week... my first task for Hammer Squad as dedicated operatives of my household is the recovery of Flynn Rider. Of course, every commando team needs a dedicated pilot for insertion," Prello adds with a smile in Shorlu's direction.

Kite stands a bit straighter and says "How do you want us to handle McCarthy? It sounds like he could be trouble down the line this could be a good opportunity to eliminate him"

"Yes ma'am," Zed says, enjoying sinking back into a command structure for just a moment. He didn't trust Prello like he had trusted other superior officers, but he could still respect the chain of command. "Would you be able to take care of Phelip's ship? If we take our rental, we won't need any papers forged, assuming Shorlu has his license up to date." At Kite's words, Zed nods. "He doesn't seem entirely stable, at least from what Shorlu says."

The familiar cruel smile of a Hutt plotting returns to Prello's face. "McCarthy runs the Cruellest Cut, yes? I will need a base of operations when I arrive. Wipe them out. All of them."

The cruel finality of Prello's statement sets Zed stomach on edge. McCarthy imprisoned Rider and made him fight for his life, Zed reminded himself. He was a bad person. Point Nadir would be better for it if they put him down. "Copy that," Zed says. "I believe we need to do some shopping, right?" He looks at Gauss and Testy. (edited)

Test nods. "Prello, you know anyone better to go to than Ziza?"

At her directive, Shorlu looks up to the Hutt with a bit of surprise, but moreso gratitude. "Well alright then. One scum-free fight club cantina coming right up." He was quick to run with this, after all, Plan B would be the more cathartic option. "Yeah, my papers are in order, last I checked. Let's just register 'em with the rental." At Test's addition, Shorlu slyly turns. "And would that person, by any chance, know their way around some explosives?"

Test smiles. "I like you more and more each day."

"Acknowledged." Hearing Zed mention shopping he says New gear should increase our efficiency, you mentioned an equipment budget as part of our retainer. Is there anything we need to do to access that?" "Also do you have any intel on McCarthy's operation and is he independent or connected to any of the major players on the comet?"

"Oh, and besides finding a better outfit than Ziza's, do you have any idea where I could find tools to work on a lightsaber?"

Prello chuckles are the mention of Ziza. "I know a Verpine by the name of 'Kricket' who does deals for me on rare technology. He'll be your supplier. He might even be able to get you your lightsaber tools. I'll send the coordinates of his workshop to your datapads. Give me a list of what you need and I'll provide you with a purchase order that he can bill to me. As for McCarthy, he has friends, yes, but he isn't so well protected as to be invulnerable. We'll cross any further bridges when we come to them." (edited)

Kite taps on his wrist pad and sends over a list of gear that he is interested in. He then says "Thanks Prello, I appreciate your generosity." he then makes ready to head to Kricket's establishment (edited)

As the others begin to make their way towards the exit, Adorhi goes to Prello's side. "Prello, may we speak privately?"

"Of course, my dear," Prello replies, placing an arm over Adorhi's shoulder and slithering away in the opposite direction to the departing clones. "What's on your mind?"

Before leaving, Adorhi turns to the others, "Get a head start if you'd like. I'll catch up shortly." Adorhi then tells Prello about the past days events on Point Nadir and The Messenger. "Something about me is different, Prello. I think the Star woke it up." She had yet used the term the Force. She was well aware of what it was, but it seemed such a farfetched idea that she would ever have such power herself, regardless of how small. "I'm worried that I have now become a liability. To you, to the others. I'm lost, Prello. I don't want to lose those that I love again but sticking around might do more harm." Adorhi trails off amidst a flurry of sobs as she continues to internally struggle with where her next path will take her.

Prello sighs and sits with Adorhi in her nest of silk cushions and drapes as the tale is told. "Little one..." she murmurs, reaching out to caress a montral. Her big eyes are full of empathy. "Do not fear. If what you say is true, then you have been given a gift. This is not something to cast aside. Think of all the ways that this could empower you to help your new friends. Be careful, yes, but this is something to explored and treasured, not locked away inside. Beware only the Empire. Act in secret and do not draw their eye. Forge your path together with us."

Test takes point as the troopers head out, keeping an eye out for imperial entanglements and the men watching the joint when they first arrived.

Thanking Prello for the pep-talk, Adorhi collects herself and heads out to catch up with the others.

Kite takes the rear of the group after Adorhi comes out. Staying alert to anyone following them or any Imperial patrols. After they are a decent bit away from the bar he says "Prello is an interesting Hutt, before now I've always thought her concern for hirelings was an act. But she seems to be the real thing. I think lining up behind her was our best option" (edited)

"Never let your guard down," Zed says, but nods in agreement. "But she seems to be a step above most people in similar circles."

"Heh, yeah. She's alright with me." Shorlu sticks close as they make their way up and out of the bar. "Let's see this Kricket guy, then see about getting a license, and getting off the Imps' leash."

The coordinates to Kricket's workshop lead to a sandwich shop built out of the same abode material as much of the rest of the town. A bent corrugated iron sign declares it to be The Knuckle Sandwich. There are a few patrons inside enjoying what look like very loaded and juicy sandwiches served by verpine staff.

Do Verpine even have knuckles? Zed wonders as they approach the stand. The smell of the meats and accoutrements of the sandwiches remind him just how hungry he actually is. But the stormtroopers they had spied patrolling the streets on the way to this sandwich shop and the looming presence of a Star Destroyer in orbit reminded him that this was decidedly not the time for a snack. Approaching one of the Verpine staff, he gestures to the sandwiches and says, "I've been told the sandwiches aren't the only thing that's fully loaded. Can I talk to Kricket, please?"

One of the Verpine looks at another and they exchange a series of clicks in their insectoid language, then the first nods and leads Zed and his friends downstairs to a black metal door. There's a knock, followed by more clicking from the other side and then the door opens to reveal an older looking Verpine wearing a welding mask and working on an armoured exoskeleton that hangs from a frame. The entire room is a maze of rickety metal shelves laden with tech and equipment. "Ah, yes, Prello's associates. I am Kricket. Come in, come in. I've been expecting you." Kricket waves towards a shelf behind him loaded with items that the group have requested from their benefactor. "You also have some special requests, yes?"

"Yeah, I was hopin' you might have tools we could use that might be hard to find these days. We got a job that might run us across some old Jedi weaponry, and it'd be great if we could get some tools to strip those down nicely."

Upon walking in, Shorlu stops in his tracks, sniffing the air, and staring at one customer's particularly juicy sandwich as if it were a Zeltron in her birthday suit. He has to be physically pulled away by the nearest party member before following them downstairs. As they meet with Kricket, Shorlu observes the equipment on display with his arms folded behind his back. After Test, he pipes up. "Anything ya got for riot control would be nice. Oh, and any comms jammers?"

Kite walks into the shop smelling the food as he passed. His stomach growls and he hopes that he would have time to drop in on the Gal Natir (ale place in basic). The best thing about there being numerous Hutts on Tattooine is that they often hired Mandalorians, at least enough to keep the bar in business. The place had a strict no buy'ce (helmet) policy, and is one of the few places Kite feels comfortable in without wearing his full kit . He wanted to grab a good meal, a drink, and a few slices of uj cake before they depart the world. Kite nods at the Verpine as he speaks and taps on his wristpad bringing up his list reading it over he says "I need a DRK tracker droid, power belt, 10 darts, and 2 plasma missiles" He then reviews the next section of the lists and says "Also do you have any materials I can use to either enhance the quality of my sniper rifle or add additional functionality?"

"Do you have materials for a Biotic Amplifier, as well as either a AccuTronics Supreme, mark two, or a blueprint and the materials to craft it myself. I am also in need of a couple of medpacs and electrostun grenades if you have them." Gauss asks the Verpine. "Also, my brother here," he points his open hand at Testy "has some medical supplies and a few personal barriers we procured a few days ago. Some of the adrenals didn't look quite right to me, but I am sure a man in your line of work can find a use for them or someone that does." (edited)

Kricket clicks to himself and rubs his chin. "I have a set of tools that you can use, but they're the only ones I have and I won't sell them. I might have a lead on where you could find some for yourself though." The Verpine looks over at Shorlu, Kite and Gauss and the fluorescent light glistens off of his compound eyes. "The rest I should have around here somewhere... but that's not covered by Prello's tab. I assume you lot can show me some credits?" He adds with an insectoid grin.

Kite nods and brings a cred chip out but keeps it firmly clutched in his hand and says "We have the credits. Prello speaks highly of your skills. I'm very interested in seeing the quality of your gear"

Kricket gladly produces a premium quality aratech sniper rifle for Kite to examine. (edited)

Kite examines the rifle thoroughly checking the quality, while looking it over he asks "How much"" (edited)

The rifle looks like it has the capacity that Kite is looking for. "One thousand five hundred credits," Kricket chirps back confidently. (edited)

Kite nods and unslings his rifle setting it gingerly on the table and hesitantly says "If I trade in my rifle, what type of discount can you provide? The rifle is in peak condition, and has been well maintained. " Kite shifts uncomfortably in his armor. He misses the days of the GAR when they had a quartermaster and didn't need to barter. The new gear would boost his efficiency especially if they kept going up against force users

"So you said you might know where might we find some of these tools?"

"Yes, a contact of mine has been excavating some ruins on Dantooine. He seems to think that there's a wealth of old Jedi technology there."

Shorlu walks up with a small heap of equipment to trade for, and stumbles over an oddly-shaped, disc-like object, with what appears to be a scope embedded in it. "Dammit. What a piece of jun—er, fine equipment. Hey, I recognize this..." He brings it a little closer into the light. "Kricket, isn't this a pit droid? How much for one a' these guys? We got stuff that needs fixin'."

Kricket glances over at the deactivated droid and clicks a few times to himself. "Six hundred and fifty credits. What needs fixing?"

Kite looks at the droid and says "Having our own Clanka would be a nice change of pace" (edited)

Shorlu holds a padded finger to the tip of his trunk. "Trade secret. If I told you, I'd have to kill ya." He chuckles slightly. "Let's just say it's droid related, though. Kite, let's split the cost of it two ways, yeah?"

Kite nods and says "Deal" placing his credit chip on the counter

Kricket shrugs and, once all of the group have selected their gear, he rings up the total. Between the equipment that Prello has paid for and their own purchases, the Verpine has clearly turned several thousand credits today. "Pleasure," he tells them on their way out with an insectoid grin. "You know where to find me."

Kite grabs his new gear excitedly quickly stowing it in his pack. His mind focused on the new possibilities the gear will bring. He looks back to the squad and says "Anything, else we need to do before we dust off? I'm planning on grabbing a drink and some Uj cake at the Gal Natir. But after that I'm ready to get a jump on our mission"

"Hey, Adorhi, think we should all buy a hover cart and maybe some astrotech tools for that job coming up?"

Adorhi shrugs in reply to the clone's question. "Probably wouldn't hurt. Not the type of tools I'm versed in however so I'm not sure how much weight my input carries there."

"We need to find Test's pet," Zed says. "But other than that, we just have to get back through Imperial security at the port."

"Yeah, I miss little Mishy. Hope Veets is just running errands."

"Welp, I just need to get my pilot's license updated, so no one has to demean themselves to a bunch of plastic boys again." Shorlu looks around to the others. "You guys might want some idents yourselves, fake or no." (edited)

"We really should have taken Prello up on that," Zed says, mentally kicking himself for not doing so.

When asked about the purchase of a hover cart, Kricket recommends a small dealership on the edge of town run by a Jawa named Houdini.

While Kricket is making the upgrades to one of her new blades, Adorhi puts on her fiber armor and gives a flourish or two with her other techblade. After receiving the enhanced counterpart from Kricket, she goes for a flourish with it as well and immediately feels the difference in weight and balance. With practice, these aspects will prove quite useful. "I'd like some time with my new blades as soon as we have a chance," Adorhi says to the others as she continues to sway the two techblades about. Finally turning to Kricket, "Thank you for your business and time, Kricket."

Kricket clicks cheerfully back at Adorhi, pleased to see her happy with his work.

When the group arrive at Veets's apartment the door still seems to be jammed somehow.

Zed steps up to the door and gives it a few taps. "Veets? You in there?"

Test unconsciously fingers his great saber, ignoring the giant vibroclaymore on his back. Sweat drips down his brow, stinging his right eye. Veets...where are you? You better be taking care of my Mishy.

The silence from the far side of the door is tense and deafening and abruptly broken by an inquisitive "meow?"

Adorhi steps forward, keeping to the side of the door, and feels out through her montrals for any movement other than the source of the feline hello.

Adorhi senses only Mishy pacing about the apartment, but the tiny vibrations also reveal that some of the furniture seems to have been turned over.

In hushed Togruti, Adorhi says to Test, "From what I can tell, it's just the cat. But someone else was definitely here and might have done some redecorating."

Zed moves next door, through the clones' apartment, and heads out the back door to the shared courtyard. He heads to Veets' back door and tries it. The door remains shut. "Backdoor is locked," Zed says over comms, hoping their new comm scramblers worked well enough to evade the Empire. "We going in?" (edited)

Kite nods and says "We should go in quietly if possible, lets pick the lock in the back

"Good plan," Zed says. "Let's do it."

Shorlu shuffles along quietly. "This Veets guy, he hasn't got any enemies, right?"

Not that I know of," Zed says. "But we didn't exactly have a close relationship. Pretty grumpy guy though, so I wouldn't be surprised."

Kite breaks out his new security kit and takes his time to adjust to the tools and pops the lock on the unit open.

Test thinks better of his weapon choice and pulls his new sword off his back, moving inside quickly, on point as usual.

Shorlu draws his blaster pistol and primes his new shield, just in case, as he follows suit. (edited)

As the others enter the building, Gauss unholsters his carbine, keeping an eye on the outside perimeter, in search for anything out of place. "Call if you need backup." he whispers to Shorlu before he enters.

Shorlu curls his trunk up for a thumbs up.

Aside from Mishy, the apartment is unoccupied. However, it has clearly been searched. Drawers are pulled out and cupboards open with their contents strewn across the floor. The sofa has been overturned and the coffee table is broken.

14:12

When Test enters, Mishy pointedly ignores him. Instead, she demonstratively saunters over to Adorhi, purring and rubbing against the Togruta's leg.

Of course.

Kite follows in with his blaster pistol drawn checking the room and seeing that except for Test's pet the room is deserted. The room looks like it's been ransacked, the way everything is strewn about it was clearly searched. Most likely Imperials, probably looking for Test. Kite shakes his head and silently curses the kriffing saber again. At least Mish is safe, Test has gone through to much in the last week to lose his pet too. He then does a search for listening and recording devices. The Empire loved to set traps in places like this to ambush their targets if they came back. After taking a moment to investigate he finds that the place is clean. "All clear, it doesn't look like the Imps have left any of their toys behind" (edited)

Zed sets Veets' commlink down after listening to the messages. So that's how he pays his rent, he muses. Most of the messages had been about surveys and other similar things. The datapad was locked. That might have some information on it. "Anyone feel like cracking a datapad?"

"They have him... don't they? They took him because of us. Because of me." Test's knuckles go white as his hands grind around the hilt of his sword. "We gotta do something."

"We don't know that," Zed says, but he fears that Test is right. "Someone crack this datapad. We should go talk with our other neighbors, see if they..." He trails off. If the Empire had gotten to their other neighbors, then they might already be in trouble. Zed moves to the door facing the front and peeks outside. (edited)

The streets are quiet. Far too quiet. "Kriff," he sighs. "We're going to have company soon, I think. Streets are quiet."

Kite tries in vain to slice into the datapad, Veets had a surprisingly strong firewall and it blocked any attempt that Kite made to get in. He says "I can't crack it, Gauss should be able to break it but we should bang out before the Imps get here" (edited)

"Might be too late on that count," Zed says. "I say we try to exit out the back, and maybe hit the rooftops. Any other bright ideas?"

A sharp metallic tapping noise announces the arrival of a small human boy knocking on the back door.

"That might be our best bet," muses Shorlu. Having given the apartment a once over with Kite, he pulls up his britches, but stops as hears a tap at the door. He looks to the others and jerks his head, signaling he'll check it out. He cracks the door at first, then opens it a little wider when he sees it's only a boy. "Hey, kid. Veets is out. Whaddya need?"

"Who're you?" The kid asks Shorlu with a frown. "Are you with the clones?"

"Name's Shorlu Podobo. But that's Mr. Podobo to you. And yeah, I'm with them." He opens the door up wide so the kid can see Zed and company. "You guys know this kid?" (edited)

Zed leans against the doorframe. "Hey, Brook," he says. "Any idea where Veets is?"

"Where've you been?" Brook asks, glancing about to see if anyone else is watching. "Imps came looking for you - dragged Veets off, because he wouldn't tell them what they wanted to know. Do you really have a lightsaber?!"

Shorlu groans, and ushers the kid inside, shutting the door behind him. (edited)

17:40

"Really a local celebrity now, eh Test? Hoo, boy."

Zed swallows. This was bad. Veets wasn't the type to suffer fools, but who knew if he could stand up to "enhanced interrogation" techniques that quickly became commonplace after the Empire took over. Not that Zed was only worried about himself and his brothers. He was worried for Veets. He didn't know anything about where they went, where they had come from, or much of anything about their daily life. He wouldn't be useful to them. And those that didn't end up being useful to Imperial interrogators often ended up dead. He looks at Shorlu, then turns back to Brook. "Alright, a couple things. We're clearing out. If the Imps come looking for us -- if they talk to you, you tell them the truth. Tell them exactly what you know. Don't try to hide anything. Tell your parents the same thing. We're leaving." "Do you have any idea where they took Veets?" Zed asks. Please don't say the Star Destroyer, please don't say the Star Destroyer.

Kite audibly groans, and adds "How long ago was Veets taken" Leaving unsaid that most beings lives don't last long when in imperial interrogation especially when an Inquisitor was present

Brook nods emphatically in response to Zed's instructions. "Yesterday. They took him to some old townhouse over on the west side."

Shorlu pats his holster. "Alrighty then. Sounds like we're paying them a visit." He looks around. "What? If I didn't help you guys out with your pal, that'd make me a big blue hypocrite, right?"

"Kid didn't need to know that," Zed says, sighing. He looks back at Brook. "Alright. Don't mention that last part unless they pry. Shouldn't matter in the long run anyway. We've got a saying: 'good soldiers follow orders.' Can you follow that order, soldier?"

Brook's nodding intensifies and he meets Zed's gaze as he repeats the mantra. "Good soldiers follow orders."

Zed gives Brook a half-salute and opens the door. "Head on home then. Through the alley only. Don't let anyone see you coming out of here." He peeks out the door to make sure the coast is clear.

Seeing the kid go Kite says "We should find a spot to bunker down while we get prepared, staying here is to risky. I think the ship could be a good spot to get our gear ready and plan out the mission."

Zed spots a patrol of stormtroopers passing down the street out the front of the apartment.

Once Brook is gone, Shorlu nods, in thought. "Yeah. I'm gonna look for a place I can get my license loaded onto my datapad, so the Imps might not get on our case as much. But..." He furrows his brow, and ambles over to the shutter to look about. "Things are quiet, like you said, Zed. I'd bet credits they're setting up a curfew." (edited)

"We've got Imps," he says. "We closed the door to our place, right?"

Kite shrugs and says "Not sure, but if there is anything you want out of the old place. Now is probably the time to get it.

Test bends down to pick up Mishy, luring her over with some dried meat from a ration pack. He always saved the little packets of dried mynock for her when he found those in a ration pack. They were in numbers 7 and 18. Although his own favorite packs were 2, 5, and 16, he always got a smile on his face when he opened a 7 or an 18, knowing Mishy would be getting a treat. "Time to go, Mishy. We're going to get you off this horrid world soon. And you are going to get a huge ship to roam around. Going to be much nicer than this little hovel." (edited)

"Let's rest here and let Gauss get his tech up to specs," Zed says, moving back to his position at the door. "I'll keep watch."

"Sounds good to me." Gauss says before backing into the building, shutting and locking the door behind him. He then heads off to his apartment to check on Silver, his MSE-6 mouse droid. He finds it still bumping into random pieces of furniture and some tools here and there scattered on the floor. "Seems you have gotten yourself into a little bit of trouble Silver." he laughs at the droid, it giving a quiet beep of regret. "We bought a new droid who should be able to fix you up sometime, so you can stop running into stuff." he adds with a chuckle, before picking up his tools and sitting down at the workbench. "Now... lets get this thing upgraded." he says before taking out the wristpad upgrade materials and detaching his own wristpad from his arm. He begins to integrate amplifiers to improve explosive and ionic potency of the various devices and energy the wristpad projects. This takes him a full two hours to complete the modifications. "This should pack quite a punch now!" he exclaims to himself.

Test bops their new droid on the nose as he strokes Mishy's back. Pointing at the sword propped in the corner and the plastic baggie full of parts resting on the floor next to it he asks, "can you do something with that?" (edited)

Kite sits at Veets table and and brings out his new tracker droid. He connects a cable to the droid and his wrist pad. And begins to see a series of diagnostics pop up on his helmet's HUD. He then begins to use his new TDI program to sync the droid with his armor's operating system. After an hour the droid floats up and Kite can see the droids optics through his helm. He dubs the probe M.K and has it hover over him as he uses the last hour to install the new silencer to his Sniper Rifle. He finishes and slings the rifle over his shoulder and installs his new wrist launcher into his armor loading a plasma missile into it. And says to the squad "I'm 100% and combat ready" He looks at the power belt he got from Gauss and says "Thanks brother I think I will be able to put this to good use"

As Kite is working on his droid, waiting for it to reboot after a memory flash, Test nervously clears his throat. "Hey. I uh...I just wanted to say again how sorry I am about what I did. I wasn't in my right mind, but I got that way cause I was being reckless. I'm sorry."

Hearing Test Kite takes off his helmet and sets aside his tools. Looking Test in the eye, he gives a small smile and says "Test we are Vodes, I know you have my back, you never have to apologize to me brother. Let's put all that force poddoo behind us." He extends his hand to Test

Test grips Kite's hand and smiles, relief broiling off him like fog in the dune sea.

Zed changes into Gauss' old armor as he keeps watch. Less bulky than his Katarn armor, still in his duffle, it was also far less recognizable. He resumes his post, singing softly to himself -- not nearly loud enough for anyone outside to hear, but probably loud enough that his brothers could. Kandosii sa ka'rta, Vode an. Coruscanta a'den mhi, Vode an. Bal kote, darasuum kote, Jorso'ran kando a tome. He sees Kite and Test shake hands. He didn't think for a second that the problems between them were over -- not with Test's new closeness to the Force. He hoped that Kite would accept it if Zed was right, and Test could use the Force in the same way Haspin could, but he was also too aware of his brothers' feelings on the matter to hold out too much hope. But Zed did hope with all his being that the Force was talking to Testy. He continued to sing to himself. (edited)

Finding a quiet area to herself, Adorhi works with her new techblades. Connecting to them as if they were a physical extension of her own hands. Learning their weight and balance. She had made her way around the hilt of a weapon like this before. Daesha was quite the blade dancer and they often sparred together. Adorhi thought back to those lessons, willing to give almost anything to have her back to show her in person. Adorhi shook away her thoughts before they turned further down a sad path and continued concentrating on the blades. As she did, something else seemed to come forward, some other...guidance. Feeling much more confident about her new additions, she turns to the others to see if they're ready to finish their errands. "So, instead of a cart that one of you bucketheads is going to have to lug around, what about one that can walk?" (edited)

"You want another clanker? We're going to be out numbered soon."

Kite puts his helmet back on checking the status of his new droid M.K, and hearing Test he laughs and says "Clankas aren't bad with the right programming, it would be nice to have our own droid sherpa. And if we find one with combat protocols, it could give us an edge incase we have to fight any more of Sable's force rejects, or if we get kriffed and have to fight the inquisitor to free Veets. Having something be immune to their little mind tricks would pay for itself" He looks at the Togruta and chuckles and in a good natured tone says "Isn't that right Adorhi?" (edited)

"Maybe they'll attract any stray lightning bolts," Test says, grinning at Adorhi. (edited)

Shorlu lifts a floppy ear, a picture of total relaxation—despite the patrolling stormtroopers outside—as he lies on a couple of dingy cushions while they prepare. "Droid, huh? Not a bad idea, so long as we can afford it. Maybe that Jawa Kricket mentioned has a hefty model lying around?"

"I don't know. I might get jealous not being the big man around here anymore." Test doesn't even realize how relaxed he has become over the last few minutes. Joking around with Kite and Shorlu has worked like magic, making him forget the nightmare of the ship ride. "Actually that's a great idea. Way better than getting a hover cart. Good thinking guys. And given our next job, maybe we can scavenge some sweet upgrades for it soon." (edited)

The next two hours pass without incident, but a sense of unquiet hangs in the air. The patrols of stormtroopers that can periodically be made out sweeping the streets of Mos Eisley, some closer, some further away, do little to put anyone at ease. Nevertheless, nobody seems to come looking for Test or anyone else. (edited)

Gauss comes back out of his apartment, satisfied with his modifications. "I'm ready whenever you guys are. I heard talk about obtaining another droid?" he asks the group inquisitively.

Kite nods and says "Lets move out, and hopefully we can find a jammer along the way"

"Kricket's or Ziza's?" Zed asks, slinging his new cannon onto his back. "Or go find that Jawa Kricket mentioned?" (edited)

Kite Grunts and says "Krickets, one Ziza rant is enough for a lifetime."

"Well, if he's as bad as all that, I'm probably better off not engaging." Shorlu picks himself up and straightens his jacket. "What about that Houdini, the Jawa Kricket told us about? I bet I could chat him up a little. Us shorter folk, we got an understanding."

Kite chuckles and says "Lets hit the Jawa first, and see if Shorlu's network of little people can get us a deal" He then heads to the back door opening it slightly and sends MK outside to surveil the area for signs of imperials (edited)

19:57

Kite switches his helm's feed to the tracker droid and looks around the immediate area, and doesn't see any hostiles. He says "The area appears to be clear, though it may be wise that we head out in smaller groups putting some distance between us"

"Okay. Test, Gauss. Wanna come with me? He motions to them as he begins to leave.

"Sounds good to me. Might be a good idea for Testy to leave Haspin's saber here, however. Or we need to find a more concealed location to hide it while we travel." Gauss says, eyeing Test's almost bare outfit. "The empire is looking for that weapon specifically, they won't care if we aren't Jedi."

"We can put it in my bag," Zed says, shoving off the wall to follow.

Test hands it to Zed and follows Shorlu out.

Kite nods and waits for the 1st group to get about 100ft and then heads out, following the group to the Jawas' shop. Tasking MK with watching his back and staying alert to anyone who appears overly interested in either groups passing.

"Either of you ever seen one of these things without their hood? Things of nightmares so I've heard. And those glowing eyes? Is it their actual eyes or perhaps their goggles have some special property?" Adorhi rambles on in an attempt to start some casual banter as they make their way to their destination. "Good for a bargain here and there though at least."

Zed, Test's lightsaber stowed in his bag, lets out a soft chuckle. "I've never thought about it," he says. "Never had the pleasure of dealing with them personally. I've heard they drive a hard bargain, though." He kicks a small chunk of rock out of his path and continues. "The eyes creep me out, though. Too similar to droids. Always thought that was weird."

Stormtroopers patrol the streets of Mos Eisley sporadically, occasionally stopping civilians for apparently random checks. With the eye of an experienced investigator, Shorlu is quick to pick out the pattern. Those selected out are all tanned and dark-haired - not dissimilar to his clone companions. (edited)

Most of the clones can move subtly enough amongst their allies to evade notice, but Test seems to very closely match the description that the Imperial ground forces have been given and before long draws the eye of one of the stormtrooper squad patrols...

Shorlu slips along with the group, with himself, and most of the group keeping under the radar. But it looks like Test isn't quite able to keep as quiet as they are, and some stormtroopers seem intent upon stopping him, no doubt noting his appearance. Thinking on his feet, Shorlu edges over towards a couple of aliens loitering in an alcove, pretending to be stopping for a smoke himself. Picking up a pebble, he aims carefully, and flicks it at one of the stormtroopers approaching Test. The pebble arcs through the air, and ricochets off of the trooper's helmet with a satisfying donk!. Quickly, he darts around the corner, leaving the stormtroopers to believe the stone was thrown by one of the vagrants.

"You'll pay for that!" One of the stormtroopers announces angrily. "Stop in the name of the Emperor!" The squad moves in to arrest the vagrants and many of them scatter only to be grabbed by white-armoured hands. Some fight back, but are immediately beaten down with the stocks the stormtroopers' weapons. (edited)

Test's heart starts beating as the troopers seem to take a notice of him, but as he looks away nonchalantly, he sees them all of a sudden move off across the street towards a group of vagrants. Initially relieved, Test turns to smile at Shorlu to find him missing. Looking around and not seeing Shorlu, Test now sees the troopers manhandling the vagrants and beating them with rifle butts. They are brutal and seemingly without any provocation. With the squad focusing on the vagrants now, and their backs to Test, he takes a step towards them, his hand going to his back where his new sword rests. (edited)

Gauss reaches out to Test, grabbing his shoulder. He shakes his head at his brother, "We can't stop for every injustice the Empire seeks to enact. If that group did something to provoke them, that is on them," he says to Test, trying to persuade him not to engage. "What's important now is freeing Veets and getting off this planet."

Shorlu reappears from around the corner, with a bit of tired huffing and puffing. "Let's get going. Not much further to Houdini's, and we don't need to get into anymore scrapes if we can avoid 'em."

Test's hand lets go of the hilt over his right shoulder and his muscles relax. He looks over at Gauss, exactly eye to eye, and exhales as he nods once. (edited)

Kite sees the stormtroopers start to hassle the vagrants and shakes his head. This is senseless, brutality not in service of a great mission but for it's own sake. He hopes these are not Kamino born troopers, he would hate to see his former brothers fall so far. He continues walking but notices Test tense and reach for his blade. Thinking He can't be serious, these vagrants are not our mission. engaging now will cost not only our lives but Veets as well. Kite's hands move to his rifle's sling. Even if it is foolish, I won't let him fight alone. He breathes a sigh of relief, after seeing Gauss talk Test from the ledge. Kite drops his hand and proceeds as quickly as he can to the Jawas.

As they manage to convince Test to move on, Shorlu breathes a sigh of relief. As they turn to go, though, he risks one last glance at the violent scene. "Jeez..." is all he can say, but his thoughts are more articulate. That was worth it not to get caught... hell, that was the most logical move to come out on top. So why can't I stop thinking about it? He almost felt like someone should be there just to be disappointed in him, and be his moral compass. Just not Adorhi or the clones. He missed Phu'ri, plain and simple. (edited)

Zed's hand rests on the grip of his pistol as they pass by the troopers. Such big, tough guys when they've got the bigger stick, he thinks. Soon, I'll have a bigger stick. And we'll see how tough you are then.

In the ensuing commotion, the clones have little trouble slipping past the patrol unnoticed. A short time later they arrive on the edge of town, where Kricket told them them they would find Houdini. Houdini's junkyard is a corrugated iron corral on the outskirts of Mos Eisley full of scrap, broken tech and slowly oxidising vehicles. A lone Jawa sits in an improvised metal lean-to with a shotgun across its lap. (edited)

"How ya doin?" Shorlu approaches jovially. He gestures to the shotgun. "Hope that's for Imps, only. Me and my friends here were in the market for a nice, tough droid—one that could, say, crack open a plastic boy's helmet—y'know, hypothetically speakin'."

"M’um m’aloo," Adorhi says in greeting, hoping she had the pronunciation correct. That was all she knew of these weird hooded creature's language but being cordial never hurt regardless of the other party.

The Jawa hops down from its perch and saunters up to Shorlu, looking him steadily in the eye, shotgun in hand. "M'aloo, Cuawa Ikee Hliwip Juwi?"

Despite Shorlu initiating in Basic, Adorhi still hoped that the Jawa didn't think that she knew how to speak their language. Kriff, should've prepped my translator before heading out here, she thought to herself. She then turned to the Ortolan with a shrug.

Looking to Adorhi, but seeing that was the extent of her Jawaese, Shorlu turns back to Houdini. "Uh, got a translator or a protocol unit lying around? We're a little rusty."

"Kikikikiki," the Jawa chitters, tossing its shotgun to one side where it clatters against a pile of scrap and snaps in two, apparently made of only cheap plastic. Deftly producing a voxbox from within its dark brown cloak, tiny hands tweak several buttons. "Come to buy or to sell?" An electronic voice croaks.

"We're here to buy," Zed says. "We're looking for a loader droid, or something of the sort."

"Mambay," the Jawa replies cheerfully. "Houdini cuawa da huat." Houdini guides his customers amongst piles of scrap until they come upon a battered old hauling unit. The designation ZX-11 is printed on the brass plating in faded white lettering. The Jawa extends his arms towards the droid as though to say there! (edited)

The jawa pulls a step ladder from a nearby pile of junk, clamoring up to stand eye to eye with the droids large, single ocular unit, he mumbles and coos in Jawaese to himself as he sweeps handfuls of dust and flaking paint off of the droids plating, revealing countless multicolored pieces of the droids plating that have been replaced over the years, the droid appears to be an old model of pincer hauling droid, common in the republic during the clone wars and easily recognizable. However the chaotic paint job of red, brown and blue armored plates seems distinctly different from what you know of pincer droids, and the plates of armor seem eerily familiar to the clones. The droids printed designation is written in white scratched paint over a large blue armored plate on his shoulder, Z_X-11, clearly missing some letters that have worn away over time. With the dust coating lifted by the jawa's hands, something else becomes visible, the insignia of the CIS has been painted over with this series of letters and numbers, with the blue armored plate giving the clones flashing images of droid gunships, and the rounded, armored plates of his body reminiscent of AAT armoring, as if the droid was constructed of scavenged parts from a battlefield of the clone wars. (edited)