[IC] The Hunter And the Hunted Part 2
Once realizing that Priv Drin had managed to escape Hoth and finding a holo-map leading to Taris. Since you lost some members while escaping the base you send out a signal to the DJB. Once they arrive you as a group set off to Taris in an attempt to find Priv and convince him to take the hit off the heads of some of the DJB. If you succeed, you then have to choose whether or not to imprison or kill him. You have little time to out run the bounty hunters after your heads.
As you arrive on Taris, you receive a message from Envoy Corps HQ with an updated list of personnel assigned to the mission, and a brief summary of the circumstances for those who weren’t present on Hoth. It also gives you coordinates for a meeting spot inside the Taris spaceport, so that you can make sure everyone’s on the same page.
“This planet is even more bleak than I heard,” said Tagrei Sula in as he descended the boarding ramp of the Lambda-class T-4a Shuttle marked with the Envoy Corps’ insignia. He spoke to no one in particular because he was focused more on taking in the enormity of the ecumenopolis that stretched beyond the limit of his gaze. Lacking both its architectural and spatial grandeur, it was no Coruscant, but Taris was nothing to scoff at. Garish skyscrapers bedecked with lustrous metals rose from a sea of haphazardly constructed homes and buildings carved from the corpses of derelict starships. There was a certain charm to the latter, an unspoken testament to the will of a people who had made something for themselves when little was given by the barons and plutocrats who sulked in their skyscrapers. Their will to defy their oppressors spoke deeply to his devaronian soul, for his people had stood strongly against the boot of the Empire, and their long spirit of revolution had fostered his desire to serve in the Rebel Alliance’s medic corps, serving alongside those courageous enough to stand against tyranny.
What a simpler time that had been. Now, Tagrei regularly brushed elbows with those with questionable, if not outright offensive motives and allegiances. Sacrifices sometimes had to be made for the greater good, and if Tagrei sometimes had to work with less savory company to ensure he had the means to continue his medical work, then so be it. Where this group of strangers fell on the ethical spectrum remained to be seen, but they needed a medic on the team, and he was a damn good one.
After doing a final series of check of his WALK (Warrior Aid and Litter Kit) bag and his weapons, the golden-skinned man ventured forth, setting his sights on the Taris spaceport where their initial meeting was set to take place.
As a Mandalorian who spent most of his life in the unknown regions Taris was a bit overwhelming. There might be more people on the planet than in the entirety of the sector of the galaxy Videk was from. He was new to Brotherhood space having recently discovered Arx through some old contacts. He had fully assimilated into the culture of their clans or government and he hoped taking on this bounty would facilitate some entryway into them.
He had arrived on Taris the day before the team was scheduled to meet. He liked to know what he was getting himself into and this was certainly going to be difficult. Finding a group of people on this planet felt impossible. The upper levels seemed to be for the affluant and rich members of the planet. Below was a maze of back alleyways and damp barely lit street.
The meeting room he was currently in was nothing more than a rectangular room with a large table and holoprojector in the center. Videk’s gear was laid out on the table as he cleaned and inspected it. He had seen to many failures in the field caused by improper care and since this was his first mission with the Brotherhood he didn’t want to be the one at fault.
“||Oh, for kark’s sake. Kam never told me there would be more than one of us, ||” Dag cursed in Huttese. The diminutive Dug barreled into the meeting room, a trail of muddy hand prints left in his wake. “||How can a city like this be so karking messy, ||” Dag continued, wiping his hands on the once clean synthetic leather seat cushion and then hoisting himself up into another seat with his feet.
“||Oh, sweet, did Kam actually spring for new equipment for us? That Sithspit of a cheap sake must be turning over a new leaf as the Justicar. He’d never pay for anything on the karking crapshoot adventures he’d send us on before, ||”, Dag’s excitement was clear even through the Huttese as he reached out to pick up on of the blasters sitting on the table.
||“Don’t touch my blaster with your muddy hands.”|| Videk responded as the Dug reached for his blaster on the table. ||“I just got done cleaning that.”||
It was more abrupt than Videk had intended but the last thing he wanted was a weapons malfunction because some Dug couldn’t keep his hands to himself.
Eevie walked into the meeting room, Clan in her audacious colored Beskar. She heard the commotion from outside and looked to the dug and fellow Mandalorian who arrived ahead of her. She walked passed the boys and took her seat to the side.
||“So who’s a lady gotta party down with to get a drink around here?”||
Huttese words were spoken with ease, her talented tongue one of her many fine skills. Sitting back, she kicked up her feet, intent on enjoying herself on the upcoming mission.
“||That would be me pretty lady, ||” Dag said in Huttese, producing a flask.
Eevie looked to the nearby Dug and chuckled under her helmet. She hadn’t been serious, but hey…she wasn’t one to turn down a drink. Perhaps this group could be some fun.
||“Well aren’t you just the charmer. I daresay this mission might actually be some fun with y'all watchen my backside.”||
She accepted the offered flask and tilted her helmet back as she drank some of the quite strong contents. With a gesture of appreciation she handed it back to the dug.
A miniature nightsister darkened–or very slightly dimmed–the doorway of the conference room. She silently padded across to an empty seat and hopped up onto it. She lowered her hood letting the blue lekku tumble out and leaned back waiting for the briefing to start,
An officer, after noticing so many people heading to or already in the conference room. Approached with two others, she enters alone while the others stand guard. “Tell me why so many have entered this conference room? I was told to expect two or three not five or six?” She asked with authority in her voice. Left hand on her hip while the other was ready to grab her blaster pistol at any moment should this exoculate into a fight.
She was hoping it would not go that far. She also so desperately wanted to close the door with local bounty hunters looking for a group of people. But at the same time wanted her men within shouting distance as bringing them into the room was not an option with this room being so small. “The only reason I’m even here is to determine you are not a threat to this spaceport.” she again spoke with authority in her voice but at the same time there was a hint of fear cause she could see the bounty hunters getting closer to the conference room out of the corner of her eyes.
One of her soldiers poked his head into the room for a brief moment and in that moment she sent one hand signal tell them to prepare for a fight. he sent a similar signal to his partner guarding the door with. “You need to tell me now, before we have a fire fight on our hands.” The fear in her voice was almost dripping with each word she spoke, but it was only detectable by those in the room looking for it. “Are you the reason for the bounty hunters? If so I must ask you to leave at once.”
Sinya’ni lazily put her feet up on the table in front of her as she responded to the officer. Her voice was hypnotic and dripped into the officer and her guards head like warm honey. “We are not the enemy. Close the door and convince the bounty hunters we are not here. They are scum that should not be allowed to dirty your fine spaceport with their dishonorable dealings.” The Twi’lek then closed her eyes as if to take a nap, totally unconcerned by the nervous port authority.
The officer exited the room and closed the door. After about 5 minutes shouting could be heard and then blaster fire, And then it quieted down. Eventually shouting could be heard again. “What happened to my spaceport?” Banging could be heard on the door. “Open up, by order of General Sha!” was the voice on the other side of the door. “if you don’t do so I will enter by force!”
Tagrei had been quietly observing the unfolding scene while leaning against the wall a bit away from the rest of the group, making note of any relevant details that may be of use later. He regarded the other Huttese speakers with mild curiosity, wondering when the language had seemingly become so common, but that moment of idle musing was cut short when the Tarisian officer entered the room. Her voiced dripped with unease. Suspicion. She had every reason to be, of course; how often did a gang of heavily armored individuals stroll into her spaceport like they owned the place, evidently with bounty hunters in tow? Before he could offer up an explanation on the group’s behalf, the twi'lek spoke up. And the officer left.
The clamor of violence erupted just outside the conference room, the shouts of opposing parties and distressed civilians scrambling for cover punctuated by the all-too familiar sound of blaster fire. Then, just as quickly as the chaos had erupted, everything fell silent. Tension born from the uncertainty hung in the air, beckoning him to see what had transpired. That was answered for him when another voice cut the silence, the voice of a “General Sha.”
His eyes shifted to Sinya ( <@361376035444490240> ), regarding her with a less-than-amused look before he stepped toward the door. Just in case this person was not who they claimed to be, Tagrei unhooked one half of Tal'ra, his phrik electrostaff from his belt, his bladed stance ensuring the weapon was properly hidden behind his back. Without further delay, he opened the door.
“Mind telling me what happened to my space port?” gesturing to the death behind him. As quickly as he asked a marine stepped up and whispered into his ear inaudible to anyone that wasn’t him. “Stay in this room I have a holo call to answer if you attempt to leave, I will take it as if you are a threat and use force. Understood?”
Tagrei nodded with a smile and closed the door behind him. “Haven’t even been on this planet for an hour and I’m already a person of interest. Wonderful,” he said to himself while stepping back to the center of the room, though not before stopping to address Sinya. “Maybe you should take a moment to consider the potential consequences of your actions before using the Force so rashly. That could have been resolved using our words.”
<@361376035444490240>
Eevie leaned back in her chair. She wasn’t a fan of waiting like this. She’d been called to meet here, and she came cause there was a job to do. She didn’t appreciate the accusations launched her way.
Pulling out a deck of cards, she began to absent mindedly shuffle them. She had to pass the time some way after all.
“I have no idea what you are talking about. I simply spoke the truth from my point of view. I did not cause anything.” Sinya’ni remained seated, unmoved by the Devorian’s chastisement. Truthfully, she was not happy that the port officer and her colleagues were killed, but she did not tell them to fight the bounty hunters. Whatever happened out there was out of her control and she did not feel in any way responsible for their demise. That responsibility rested with the bounty hunters, who apparently had already received the consequences of their own poor decisions.
Tagrei stared blankly. “Right. I’ve seen the Force used on unwilling minds enough to know what it looks like,” he replied. The blank stare, the sudden changes in the voice’s cadence. There was no mistaking it. “Now, this is going to be more difficult than it needed to be.”
He shook his head while clipping his weapon back to his belt.
Sinya’ni rolled her eyes. The Devonian was right about one thing. This was going to be a lot harder than it needed to be. It always was when one of your team members had an overactive conscience. “So what was your plan? Fight everyone yourself? Or did you think you could talk the bounty hunting scum into leaving without fulfilling their contract? Obviously the people in charge of this spaceport could not convince them. You think they were more likely to listen to you?” <@1056685516441006091>
Why did he waste his time? There was no point, after all, in arguing with someone who chose to deflect rather than taking responsibility for the undesirable consequences of their own actions. He was too old for the bickering. As such, he simply lifted his shoulders in a shrug before turning away.
Hopefully, the General would return calmer and more amenable to discussion, lest this become even more of an mess than it already was.
“What’s done is done.” Videk stated as he placed his weapons in their spot. He walked towards the door and positioned himself to the left of it. Allowing himself an angle in case the next time it opened the general was not in an amicable mood.
When the door opened a few minutes later, it wasn’t the General who stood there, but a Mirialan man in Jedi robes. The spaceport beyond was eerily quiet. “Greetings. You must be the ones the bounty hunters are targeting.” He stepped inside the meeting room and allowed the door to close behind him. “I’m Kor Adana. What brings you to Taris?”
A Jedi? He supposed it made sense that a Jedi would be operating in Taris given the impoverished conditions that many people lived in here. He stepped forward to address the man.
“We’ve been tasked with apprehending Priv Drin, a known slaver who has attacked members of our … confederation, you could say,” he explained. He still wasn’t entirely sure what exactly to call the Brotherhood, especially to those in the wider Galaxy, where most people didn’t even know of the Brotherhood’s existence.
“I see. Perhaps we can help each other, then.” Adana retrieved a datapad from inside his robes and showed it to you all. The image on the screen, seemingly pulled from security footage dated two days ago, is of Priv Din leaving the spaceport. “Is this the man you’re looking for?”
Tagrei nodded. “That’s him, yes.”
Standing to the left of the door Videk slowly slide his trusty knife back into into it sheath. A Jedi was a surprise for sure. He had fully expected an armed squad to come back and wasn’t going down without a fight.
“I see.” Adana tucked the datapad back into his robes and began pacing in front of the door. “He was spotted leaving town shortly after that, headed into the swamps. The only thing we know about in that direction is an ancient shipwreck, believed to date from the Jedi Civil War.”
“Maybe we can help each other.” He rubbed his chin.
Tagrei quirked a brow. “A Jedi civil war?” he asked, sounding intrigued if not a little doubtful, “I didn’t know there was such a thing.”
It must have been a very long time ago. He was no scholar of Jedi history by any means, but he liked to think he was fairly well-informed about major galactic events of recent memory, and a war between Jedi seemed like something he would have heard of if it happened in the “modern” era.
“Not that I don’t appreciate the help of a Jedi, but what’s in it for you? You don’t know us, after all. Are you working with Tarisian law enforcement?”
“I’m working with the people of the city, including the ones who use the spaceport.” Adana folded his hands behind his back. “Whether you intended it or not, the bounty hunters who gunned down the security guard are here because of you. When you leave, they’ll follow you, and the innocent bystanders at the spaceport will be safe.”
“My offer is this: If you draw the bounty hunters away when you leave instead of trying to sneak past, I’ll program one of our speeders with the coordinates of the shipwreck where your target was likely headed. That should be much easier for you than trying to explore a swampy countryside in search of millennia-old debris.”
“||Seems to me like we’re taking all the risk and for very little reward,||” Dag said in Huttese. He had no love for Jedi. Nor really love for any of these space wizards; whether they wear tanned robes or black. Neither seemed to ever pay their bar tabs and would eventually drag him into some sort of horrid adventure.
“||Tell ya what, Jee-dai. We’ll let the Bounty Hunters know we’re leaving if you throw in…say…,||” Dag began counting on his feet. “||Five thousand credits…for EACH of us and one of those really nice Jee-dai protection cards that’ll get us out of any local problems. You know, since you’re such a nice gentlebeing,||” Dag added in his smug Huttese accent.
Adana smiled at Dag and spread his arms, hands out to his sides. “If such cards existed, I would be happy to give them to you. As for the credits, I can ask the General if he’s willing to provide them. You’re welcome to wait here in the meantime, but I doubt they’ll arrive before the bounty hunters do.”
“||I know the credits are there. Why don’t you get us half now or we can just sneak out of here and leave you with the problem at hand,||” Dag said in Huttese with a shit eating grin on his face.
Adana shook his head. “It’s not a matter of the money existing, it’s a matter of whether we can access it. The bounty hunters’ arrival has left the General preoccupied, and it’s his approval we’d require. If I were able to get you the money myself, I would do so.”
Dag scowled. “||Look, it’s not that I don’t trust Jee-dai…but I don’t trust any of you Force users regardless of whatever creed to adhere to. What collateral can you offer us that you’ll pay when we come back?||” Dag said in Huttese, eyeing the laser sword on the Jedi’s belt enviously. He had always wanted one of those things.
“Are you sure taking my lightsaber as collateral is a good idea? If the bounty hunters find me after you leave and I’m unable to defend myself, I can’t explain our deal to the General.”
“||Woah, who said anything about a lightsaber,||” Dag’s feet flailed as he tried to backtrack from what was clearly an intrusion of his mind by this Jedi. “||What I need is some proof we’re gonna get paid,||” Dag fumbled to recover.
“I don’t know if this Dug is crazy or brilliant, trying to barter with a Jedi.” Videk thought to himself. He had been around enough of their kind since coming to Brotherhood space that he knew they were as dangerous as the legends say.
Dag twirled his face tendril with his foot lazily as he waited for the Jedi to figure out what they were gonna do.
A sharp beep sounded from beneath the table, as a BB-8 droid with stylized dragon marking on the top of its dome head, and orange and black coloring on the rest of it, rolled forward. A small holo-projector eye popped up and half a figure of a male Togruta appeared to all of them.
“I’ve met many Sith, who can fight weaponless quite effectively. I’m sure Jedi are no different. Unless of course, you’re saying that you’re too weak to defend yourself without weapons?” The Togruta raised an eyebrow, giving the Jedi a cocksure smirk. “Besides, how do we know you’re not going to go to the bounty hunters and offer to tell them where we’re going and give them the same coordinates?”
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I agree with my Dug friend here, there needs to be something in collateral, before taking such a deal that would most likely get us all killed, rather than accomplish our mission, and believe me, that would just make more of our people come here.” The holo appeared to look at something, a rifle butt coming into view for a moment, before he set it back down and returned to the convo at hand.
“I have a couple counter proposals, if you’ll hear me out. So I might be able to buy us time with the hunters, if we want to wait for at least half the creds, which you all will just have to trust me and Dunga on, and then we proceed with your proposal, taking the hunter, getting our guy and then once we are back at the port, the rest of the creds as we are leaving. Or…” Ro-Tahn looked straight at the Jedi, the cocky grin still on his face, “You can give us the coordinates now, and my compatriots access to the speeders, then once we’ve lead the bounty hunters away, my droid will shadow you till you meet with the General and get the credits.”
<@645466919415054357>
“I wouldn’t presume to place as much faith in my ability to fight without a weapon as those who make combat their reason for living.”
“As for the credits, waiting for your payment will make that payment less likely, not more. If the General deals with the bounty hunters on his own, he’ll have no incentive to pay you for solving his problem—and I must emphasise that he decides who receives the credits, not me.”
“I can understand not wanting to place trust in someone you’ve only just met. By the same token, if I give you the coordinates to the shipwreck now, I have no guarantee other than your word that you’ll lure the bounty hunters away.”
Dag hopped up onto Videk’s chair and put his foot to his mouth to whisper in his ear. “||We could agree to this, lure the bounty hunters out and then sell them the location of the General. What do you think?||”
Dag smirked as her looked at the Jedi. “||This is probably fair but where will the General be so we know he’s not skipping town on us?||” he asked in his usual Huttese.
“I would have to check with his personal assistant. I don’t keep close track of his schedule.”
Suddenly, an explosion rang out, loud enough to tell it was at an uncomfortably close distance. Adana looked over his shoulder towards the door, visibly concerned, then back to the group. “The longer you stay here, the more likely it is that the bounty hunters find you. If they do, you’ll have to suffer all the downsides of my offer with none of the benefits. Are the credits so important to you that you’re willing to risk that?”
“||Sithspit! No amount of credits are worth being dead,||” Dag said in Huttese as he leapt off the chair. “||What are we waiting for? We gotta get out of here.||”
Eevie stands up from her seat, and pulls out her blaster. She begins walking towards the door and looks to the rest.
“Let’s go have some fun. Those pesky hunters don’t really know who they’re dealing with here.”
She turns to the Jedi, and leans forward flirting lighty.
“I’ll be expecting those credits, beautiful. Don’t let me down now.”
“A few more bounty hunters isn’t that big of a problem. Let’s take the deal and finish our mission. I don’t have the connections some of you do.” Videk responded. He knew that should this mission go south he could likely be the scapegoat.
“Very well.” Adana shut his eyes and took a deep breath, then turned for the door and unclipped the lightsaber from his belt. “The bounty hunters are moving to isolate this portion of the spaceport from the speeder park. If we move quickly, you’ll have enough of a head start to limit your exposure to them.”
The open halls of the spaceport were strangely vacant, with bystanders probably having gone into lockdown when the security alarm started blaring. Blaster shots rang out in the distance.
“This way.” Adana set off across one of the halls. The route wasn’t leading directly towards the sound of blaster fire, at least, but it was still more “towards” it than “away from” it.
Eevie followed Adana closely, her blaster in her hand. She was no stranger to Bounty Hunters, and at the end of the day she didn’t want people who were innocent of a crime paying for it. Keeping her head on a swivel, she made sure to stay on the lookout for anytime less than friendly as they attempted this escape.
“This should definitely be fun. The six of us on the run. They think we’re outgunned. What more.could we ask for? Dontcha think, you guys?”
“||Fun? Ask for? I don’t know, a laser sword and $10,000 credits would have been better. Do any of us know the Jeedai is taking us in the right direction? I don’t want to die following a space hermit,||” Dag complained in Huttese as he pumped his hands to keep pace with the larger bipeds.
Adana continues to lead you through the spaceport. The signs posted on the walls do indeed confirm that you’re moving towards the speeder park. Eventually, you reach what seems to be the main “entrance hall” of the facility, lined with information kiosks. Civilians are huddled behind some of them, probably recent arrivals with nowhere to flee to. A large archway shows the muddy Tarisian sky beyond, and you can just make out a collection of speeders about a hundred metres down the road.
As you reach the end of the corridor you’ve been running down, the blaster fire you’d been hearing gets noticeably louder. The Jedi waves you all to a stop while you’re still behind cover. “If you want to plan how to approach this battle, now is the time. Remember, our agreement is for you to draw the bounty hunters away from the spaceport to prevent unnecessary harm to bystanders, not to defeat them here.”
Eevie took out her datapad and attempted to hack into the cities cameras. She figured if she could find the Bounty Hunters they could better plan out their next move.
Tagrei removed his Inquisitorius scanner from his belt and started tapping on the screen. With any luck, he’d be able to use a bit of deduction to determine which of the heat signatures present in the vicinity were civilians, and which ones likely belonged to the bounty hunters who had been sent to kill them.
With some narrowing down, Tagrei’s able to tell that on a right angle from the hallway the group is in, there’s a cluster of people who are probably in the middle of a firefight.
Meanwhile, Eevie tries to hack into the spaceport cameras, only to get a big ol’ ACCESS DENIED on her datapad’s screen. On the bright side, the alarms were already going off, so it’s not like that would make things any worse.
Tagrei considered the information for a moment. The rapid movement from different points of cover coupled with the sounds of blaster fire coming from that same direction all but confirmed that they’re pursuers were likely in that direction. So, he turned to the rest of the group.
“Scanner picked up multiple heat signatures headed that way,” he paused to point in the direction he was speaking of, “Sounds like a firefight is happening there, too. So, we should probably head in the opposite direction.”
<@679032520699805708> <@206692046424113152> <@583854106599489557> <@361376035444490240> <@375384499770359819>
“||Then why are we standing here talking about it. Can’t spend credits we don’t have yet if we’re dead,||” Dag retorted immediately in Huttese, his toes flexing on the hilt of his small blaster.
“||Hey, Jeedai. How about you pick up the pace or we can start blasting from here cause I’m not going get shot in the back while trying to protect people who probably tip a cred chip on a ten cred drink.||”
“We need to make sure they see us.” Videk responded. He had remained mostly silent. Planning wasn’t his strong suit. instead he preferred a direct approach. But the deal had been struck and he would honor it.
Eevie heard what Videk said about being seen, however she had ideas of her own. She pressed a few buttons on her Vambrace, and her armor and clothes began to shimmer in the light until she was nothing more than a faint outline nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Camouflaged, she moved into a position near the center of the upcoming t-bend, and drew out her bowcaster. She could see the fire fight ahead of them and she reading herself to make some shots. Her team would be protected by her hidden presence.
Sinya’ni was not a fan of this plan. She was not about to be bait for this narcissistic Jeedai; nor did she feel obligated to help draw these huttslime bounty hunters away from the spaceport. She’s not the one who hired them. Focusing on her surroundings, sickening green ichor oozed from her pores as light bent around her in a reflective shroud of camouflage.
Upon realizing that himself and the rest of the group would have no choice but to fight, Tagrei unhooked the two ends of his electrostaff from his belt and reconnected them via the magnetic coupler in its center. Holding the weapon tightly in both hands, he dipped behind the wall closest to where the bounty hunters were situated.