Beware Hitchhiking Bounty Hunters

[Eoto Vrisor]

Bonadan System
Outer Rim

​

Eoto stood in the dingy alleyway, looking up at the freighters, cruise liners and other star ships moving back and forth overhead. Bonadan was known for it's massive spaceports, and the reputation was well deserved. A corporate planet stripped to the bone of any natural resources and replaced with endless factories, refineries, docks and urban sprawl. But he didn't mind the deafening noise of the ships. He was counting on it in fact.

Looking back to the street outside his alley he laid eyes on his target. A very shifty looking human in a long, dark duster and his Trandoshan body guard. Some days ago He'd been hired to track down the young heir to one of the world's largest corporations, kidnapped by some idiotic pirate band thinking they could ransom him back. That might have worked on a wealthy family in the core. Not in the outer rim. Rich folks in the outer rim hire bounty hunters to end your existence and all of your friends for good measure. Eoto's sources told him the man in the duster had dropped off the ransom note. He was the only lead. The bounty hunter had been tailing him all day, waiting for him to isolate himself to a point where he felt comfortable ambushing him. He didn't want to risk catching civilians in the crossfire after all. Now was the time.

Hand on his holster Eoto exited the alley and slowly approached the pair. The Trandoshan spotted him and hissed. Dammit he thought. Did they see me following them? The Trandoshan said something to the human that Eoto couldn't hear. The man perked up, looked back at the bounty hunter, then his eyes went wide and he bolted. The Trandoshan drew a blaster and fired several shots at Eoto as he followed. The Bothan barely had time to duck behind some storage containers to avoid the shots. Yeah, they saw me Drawing his own blaster pistol he popped up over the container and prepared to fire, but his quarry was gone. Cursing to himself he leapt over the container and gave chase.

The targets weaved through alleyway and tight street, the Trandoshan firing blindly behind him to try and hit Eoto. The man in the duster even toppled over several barrels, and people, trying to create obstacles for the hunter. This didn't slow Eoto down much, the Bothan expertly maneuvering around whatever got in his way and dodging blaster bolts, but it slowed him down enough. Once they reached the edge of the main boulevard his targets climbed in a speeder and took off. Eoto stopped and watched, cursing himself as the bright red vehicle slipped further and further away. He paced momentarily, thinking, then seeing another speeder coming down the road jumped out in it's path and spread his arms wide.


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

What a strange planet this was. There seemed to be plenty of rich people and even more poor people, but not really that many sitting in the middle. Whatever mischievous activities a thief came up with on here would reflect the demography - the choice was to either 'go wide' and take from many, or to 'go tall' and simply take from those who had stacked their coins the highest. For Aurelie, the choice seemed rather obvious. While the rich might have had better security, the risk still seemed smaller than taking from the many. Besides, there was also some kind of moral aspect which appealed to her as she saw little sense in working to make the poor poorer.

Clad in a large and rather puffy grey jacket, Aurelie had managed to keep her blaster rather well covered as it sat attached to her belt. Looking like a rather typical worker, the young woman had been drifting around on the streets for a large part of the day, looking for just the right opportunity. When it finally presented itself, it turned out that her goal for the day would be to steal a rather fancy speeder. The owners were all dressed like royalties and had parked it outside a grand office tower, chattering about a long meeting as they walked over to the entrance.

The girl didn't have any difficulties opening the vehicle without triggering the alarm. At this point, she was quite experienced in the different security systems which could be found on the vehicles. Once inside, she took off the jacket, momentarily revealing the NEWDA attached to her arm. Soon, Aurelie had taken on a slightly too large blazer which was found in the passenger seat. Her posture change accordingly in order to seem like a rather natural fit in the vehicle. Carefully, the thief started working on hotwiring the vehicle.

Through all the noise from other speeders and far away industries, a faint sound of blaster fire could be heard from a nearby alley. Despite sparing a glance in the direction of the action, Aurelie didn't think too much of it. It was hardly something which would affect her - or at least so she thought. After a while, two shady looking character burst out from the alleyway and hopped onto a speeder. Not doing much more than registering the event, the young woman kept working. Just as she finally got the speeder going, a bothan burst out through the same alleyway. It didn't matter much to her though, the top priority right now would be to get away with the fancy black speeder.

Unfortunately, the Bothan seemed to have other plans as he hopped into her path, almost as soon as she tried to take off. Knowing that she was dressed for the part, Aurelie assumed a bratty voice "You're lucky my dad isn't driving!" she hollered with a lowered window.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

Eoto grit his teeth and cringed beneath his helmet as he heard the girl shout. Great he thought. Just had to be one of the corporate brats... He'd met with enough of their type working on Bonadan for the past few months to know they were completely insufferable sorts that looked down on everyone that wasn't wealthy enough to buy their own moon. But he didn't exactly have much choice, or time. His quarry was getting further and further away by the second.

I'm gonna regret this, I know it... He thought as he approached the speeder with his blaster at his side. Hell, he might just have a bounty put on his own head for this, the corporate class had done so for much less out here. Moving quickly and before the girl could protest he opened the passenger door and slid inside, sticking his blaster pistol in her face. "Yes I'm threatening you," He said gruffly, "No I don't care who your father is or what he's going to do to me. Follow the red speeder and we won't have any trouble. I'll even make it worth your while." He didn't like threatening civilians. It felt dishonorable, and while clearly a spoiled brat he doubted the young woman deserved to have a blaster pointed at her nose. But a kid's life was on the line and...

Eoto noticed the edge of a NEWDA peeking out from under her ill-fitting blazer. He slowly lowered his weapon. "Wait..." He started confusedly. "Who are you?" Something was telling him this wasn't a corporate brat.


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

The alien was quick, that much was for sure as he had managed to make it inside 'her' speeder before she could even react and drive away. While combat and threats weren't as uncommon for the girl as she would have hoped, it was never pleasant to have a gun pointed in one's face. Slowly, her arms started raising with a slight tremble. For someone usually preferring to avoid violence and especially lethal violence, she did consider making use of the NEWDA to summon her vibroknife. The cramped space in the car would give her a good chance of coming out of the ordeal successfully. But then, the bothan mentioned payment and for her, credits were always needed.

Her hands returned to the steering wheel and without delay, the black speeder took off. It accelerated wonderfully smoothly - it was certainly a powerful vehicle. It was a relief to see that the man lowered his weapon but then, he spoke again. Her heart sank as he questioned who she were. It was not the 'What's your name' kind of question, but rather a 'Who are you, really'-question. Aurelie sat in silence for a while, steadily steering the pricey vehicle through traffic with a keen eye on the red speeder. What it was that had tipped him off was unknown to her, was it the grey jacket at the back? Had her acting been a bit off? Nevertheless, she maintained her facade "Ines Coudre" she said, as if expecting the man to know exactly the weight her family name carried. "And who are you then?"

Going along with the act of being a spoiled brat, she continued with a smirk "But hey, I'm always looking for some fun. What are we up to?" They had steadily been catching up with the red vehicle, maybe thanks to the fact that the occupants didn't know they were being followed. Aurelie slowed down a bit which caused the distance between them to grow once again - she wanted to know his true intentions and this seemed like a fine way to go about it.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

As the speeder took off Eoto sat back in the comfortable seat and kept his eyes trained on the bizarre character before him. He had lowered his blaster, but it was still pointed towards her abdomen, not quite as immediately threatening, but still enough to say "don't try anything." Had he misread her? He honestly couldn't tell. If she was a fraud she was doing an amazingly good job. And it was his job to pick people out of a crowd. He supposed a corporate brat might have a NEWDA, though it seemed completely out of place on a girl like her. Well, the girl he imagined she was anyway. He was grateful his helmet hid his eyes from her. It allowed him to keep an eye on the mostly concealed device, just in case she decided to try and use it. He didn't recognize the name Coudre, but there were enough powerful corporate families in the system that they could be among the minor ones, and she certainly spoke like the name meant something.

"A man with a blaster." He answered her question after a long silence. Whether she was a corporate brat or some kind of crazy assassin the less she knew of him the better. He glanced forward to see them closing the distance with the red speeder, only for "Ines" To pull back a bit. He looked back at her. "Keep on them." He insisted with some edge to his voice. It wasn't a suggestion. "They're worse people than me, so no need to feel bad when I start breaking bones. You just do what I tell you and I'll give you some creds to get that new designer purse daddy won't buy for you Ines Coudre." He said in a way to let her know, rich folk wouldn't care about being offered credits. He didn't know exactly who she was yet but he had to find out and fast, he didn't want to be caught between two threats at once.


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

This guy certainly didn't seem very friendly. She shot an annoyed look at him but quickly tamed upon seeing that he still had his gun pointed at her. Her eyes traveled to the weapon, looking at it fearfully for both one and two moments before doing her best to shift her focus back to the driving. The relatively small alien demanded that she kept the speed up and was met with little resistance as she increased the speed. The man proceeded with making a rather menacing remark on what he'd do upon catching up with the escapees. She threw him a concerned look, concluding that this had to be a bad guy. "Okay, okay" she said, almost as if being nagged on.

The confident brat facade she was putting up was about to break under the pressure from having the weapon pointed at her. Instead of allowing it to bring her down, Aurelie tried to incorporate it into Ines "Can you please stop pointing your blaster at me" she asked pleadingly while letting fear slip into her voice. Regardless of whether he did as she asked or not, the thief would keep pursuing the red speeder, inching closer and closer to it with the powerful black vessel she had acquired.

"I think they're figuring out that we're following them" she said whilst seeing how the kidnappers were starting to break the speed limits and driving more ruthlessly. Although the fancy speeder was faster, it took some skill for her to avoid crashing with other vehicles as they maintained the pursuit. When they were finally next to each other, the false brat signaled for the two to stop their speeder, hoping to avoid damaging the stolen one she was driving herself.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

Eoto frowned as he heard the fear slip into Ines' voice. He was starting to believe maybe she was just a rich kid. And he had leaned on her just a little too hard. Slowly he lowered his weapon at her pleading, letting out a despondent sigh.

"Look I..." He started to explain when she cut him off to say the quarry was catching on. "What?" He exclaimed, taking his eyes off her and looking out the passenger window to see they were now alongside the red speeder. The black tinted window lowered to reveal the Trandoshan behind the wheel, snarling as he raised his blaster and pointed it at their own vehicle. "Look out!" Eoto shouted and turned his back towards the window as he grabbed the wheel and tried to veer their speeder away. The Trandoshan fired several shots, two hitting the side of the black speeder and one shattering the passenger window and glancing off Eoto's armor, drawing a pained grunt from the Bothan. The Trandoshan stepped on the accelerator and shot forward, leaving them behind as he wove dangerously through traffic.

"They're pirates!" He growled through grit teeth, not having much time to explain but needing to impress upon her the importance of following them. The pain in his back was throbbing terribly "They've got a kid hostage!"


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

"Not another gun waved in my face" the girl thought as the Trandoshan revealed himself. It seemed like Eoto and Aurelie had the same idea as they both yanked the steering wheel to the side, causing the speeder to take a sharp turn to the side as the blaster bolts tore through the side of the fancy black speeder. A frightened scream escaped her as both of their lives were clearly in peril. As the kidnappers took off, the black speeder stood still as Aurelie panted heavily, recovering from the recent scare.

It didn't take long for her to register what the Bothan had said. She threw him a nervous look. The vehicle was already damaged and had probably dropped a lot in value. But maybe she could recover he losses by helping her unwanted passenger. Besides, it seemed like the right thing to do. With that, the young woman recommenced the chase, but this time being more personally motivated to succeed.

Although the pirates had a good head start, the stolen vehicle would have no trouble catching up to them in time. Despite a few close calls, the two were steadily catching up to the red vehicle, again. The pursuit soon lead them through a series of tunnels through a particularly large building block. It was a stupid move by the pirates as they had much less room to maneuver and eventually even bumped into another speeder, damaging both. "I guess this is where law enforcement will start to get involved" she commented as they kept trailing the damaged speeder.

It was only a matter of time until they'd have to stop - racing through the streets with such a damaged vehicle was not very viable. And sure enough, the criminals soon turned to park in an alley "You're the boss, 'man with a blaster', what now?" she asked, ready to comply whether he wanted her to enter the alley with the black speeder too or if he wanted to hop off and enter on foot.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

Eoto watched Aurelie with growing impressment, she was quite the driver, easily able to catch up to the pirates despite having come to a full stop and despite the heavy traffic on the speedway. She was displaying great courage too with the determined expression on her face. He had no clue who the hell she was, but he was quickly ceasing to care.

As they drove on he pressed a button on his neck, folding his helmet back and revealing his scowling face as he rubbed his aching shoulder. "Not before I- er, we get our money." He said in response to her question about law enforcement, giving her the smallest hint of a smirk. "And, uh, sorry about the whole 'holding you at gunpoint' thing. Bygones be bygones?"

He watched the red speeder pull into the alley and put his helmet back on, drawing his blaster pistol in one hand and his vibroblade dagger in the other. "It looks like they're penned in..." He said as he observed the alley. The targets would likely be using the speeder for cover. From what he had seen the man in the duster was unarmed. Which was fine because Eoto needed him alive anyway to find out what he knew. That Trandoshan though... They were always vicious fighters, especially when cornered. He looked at her. "I can take it from here if you like, I know I've already gotten you in way over your head." He glanced at her sleeve again, and the NEWDA. "Unless of course you're not quite as helpless as you appear to be... Interested in beating down some pirate scum? It pays surprisingly well. Oh, and it's Eoto by the way."


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Seeing the greying hair on the Bothan's face was a surprise, for someone so active such as him, she would have expected someone younger. The young woman did appreciate that he showed his face and smiled briefly as acknowledgement of the gesture. The man was surprisingly casual about asking for the whole thing about holding her at gunpoint. Still, if he wanted better relations and defer from threatening her again, that was quite alright by her. Nodding eagerly, she responded positively "Bygones be bygones" There was no denying that she still feared the man in some sense - but so for now, she suspected that he was actually one of the good guys. Well, to a certain degree at least.

Once they were about to enter the alley, Aurelie observed how the bounty hunter armed himself, seemingly prepared for both a ranged battle, and one in melee. Seeing his small stature and knowing how menacingly large and brutal Trandoshans could be, she couldn't help but to feel a little concerned for him.

Finally, the thief realised what had made him suspect her in the first place. The NEWDA could be seen when her hand was pointed directly at someone because the blazer was too large. Aurelie was honest to herself - she is a thief, not a fighter. If possible, she'd avoid it and her connection to the aging Bothan was not yet strong enough for her to feel like risking her life to help him get the bounty, although the offer of credits was enticing. As it was clear enough that he had seen it, she simply shrugged whilst stopping the speeder, just by the corner into the alley "I've got pepper spray too. Dad is big on safety" she said, maintaining the mask of a rich brat. "I'll keep the speeder running in case you need to be on your way, okay?"

With that, she watched as Eoto made his way to the alley. Once he was inside, she would exit the speeder and sneak up to the corner with the right hand hovering near her hidden blaster. It was always set to stun mode by default as she preferred not to kill, but if it turned out that the bounty hunter was in more danger than expected, she would be ready to plop out and shoot at his assailants.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

Although he would never admit it Eoto had been hoping the girl would offer direct assistance. He was injured and not keen on fighting a Trandoshan at the best of times. But he couldn't blame her. They had just met after all and mere minutes ago he had been sticking a blaster in her face. At any rate it was his contract, his responsibility. He walked into the alley, watching Aurelie follow out of the corner of his eye. He smiled inwardly. Not entirely alone at least.

He peered around the corner into the alley to see the parked speeder, and immediately pulled back as a blaster bolt barely missed his head, accompanied by some menacing shouting in Dosh. I am gonna feel like hell tomorrow... The old Bothan thought, then took a few deep breaths, bouncing on his feet as he psyched himself up. Finally, he made his move.

Ducking out from behind cover he ran forward, firing several shots at the parked speeder. The Trandoshan ducked behind the vehicle for cover while the man in the duster whimpered and ducked down low, his hands covering his head. Eoto jumped up, stepping off the hood of the speeder and leaping forward. The Trandoshan rose and tried to fire at him but Eoto kicked him in the head, causing him to stagger backwards. As he landed gracefully on the ground Eoto spun and this time kicked the lizard's hand, knocking his blaster away. He raised his own pistol to try and shoot him but the massive body guard, nearly seven feet tall, simply reached out and grabbed Eoto's hand. With a vicious snarl he bent his arm back, drawing a pained cry from the Bothan and forcing him to drop his weapon. He then picked up the smaller alien and threw him across the alley, Eoto slamming hard into the wall and falling to the ground.

Dazed momentarily Eoto sat among piles of garbage, shaking the stars from his eyes and looking up as the Trandoshan stalked towards him. Moving quickly he grabbed his dagger and leapt to his feet, rushing towards the giant lizard undaunted.


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Peering around the corner, it was obvious that the Bothan did an admirable job holding his own against the Trandoshan. For the longest of time, it looked like Eoto would have a rather convincing victory against the much larger lizard. Still, she refrained from relaxing, knowing that fights like these could turn ugly quickly as even she had the supposedly hidden NEWDA which the body guard could have too.

What she had hoped wouldn't happen eventually did. The smaller alien was caught by the large one. This could only go one way which quickly became apparent as the Trandoshan seemingly disarmed Eoto with ease, just through sheer strength alone. Deciding that it was time to act, the thief pulled out her blaster and jogged forth a few steps before carefully taking aim at the large target. Unlike when Eoto attacked, the Trandoshan was no longer in cover behind his speeder.

One carefully aimed shot followed another, and then a third and a fourth one arrived. While one of the shots missed and the other hit the roof of the speeder, two of the bolts connected. Hissing angrily, the Trandoshan turned to look at the new foe as the shots landed at which point he bent down. It was not possible to see if he had been fully stunned or just partially from her view, but if the Lizard wasn't taken out of the fight by her, she was sure that Eoto would.

With that, she rushed forth towards the speeder, holstered the blaster pistol and bent down by Eoto "Are you alright?" she asked with genuine concern whilst her blue eyes scanned the man for any visible injuries.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

As dazed as he was Eoto was ready to make another attack when the first stun shot went off, the Bothan blinking in confusion and looking towards Aurelie along with his Trandoshan counterpart. Another shot hit the speeder, and then the next hit it's mark, taking the body guard square in the chest. The Trandoshan hissed and started moving towards his new opponent, only to stumble and fall to his knees after being hit a second time. While he collapsed besides the speeder Eoto let out a shaky breath and uneasily sat down himself.

He pressed the button on his neck and folded back his helmet to allow himself to pant a little and regain his breath, but put a stop to this at once the moment Aurelie came to check on him. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He insisted as he slowly got up again. From as far as the thief could tell the Bothan had no external injuries. His armor was originally made to protect swoop bikers from crashes after all, it seemed to have done it's job fairly well. And he had no intention of letting himself look weak in front of her, standing up straight and ignoring the dull pain radiating through his body from the impact of being thrown against the wall. He looked past her, seeing the Trandoshan groaning and stirring slightly, still not fully stunned. "Pardon me," He said, pulling Aurelie's blaster from her holster once she was close enough and walking up to the Trandoshan. The lizard blinked as the bounty hunter pointed the weapon directly in his face. Without saying a word Eoto fired one last stun shot at point blank range, the Trandoshan's head smacking back against the speeder and his body finally slumping down, unconscious. Eoto turned around and handed the blaster back to Aurelie with a small grin. "Thanks." He said. "You're not a bad shot."

His work wasn't finished however, as he now had to find his target. Looking around the alley briefly he spotted the man hiding behind another pile of garbage, rather fitting actually. Approaching it Eoto unceremoniously grabbed the man by the collar of his duster and dragged him out of his hiding place, throwing him into a filthy puddle before the two of them.

"W-what do you want from me man?" The pirate stuttered helplessly. "I didn't do anything to you!"

"Where's the kid being held?" Eoto demanded.

"I-I don't know anything about a kid man," The target attempted, "You got the wrong-"

"We've got a recording of you dropping off the ransom note laserbrain," Eoto cut him off. "Don't lie to me." The man hesitated, mulling things over.

"Alright! Alright!" He finally relented. "They've got a base out in the wastes, near Lake Tortapo."

"How many there?" Eoto asked firmly.

"I don't know, like twenty? Thirty men?" The man estimated. "Leader's a woman named Reu Lai, real nasty piece of work you don't want to cross her..." He looked up to see the Bothan completely unimpressed. "Look you're not gonna kill me are you man? I was just doing what I was told I never even saw the kid..."

"No I'm not gonna kill you." Eoto replied.

"You're not?" The man asked hopefully, a smile crossing his face.

"Nope." Eoto said simply, before winding up and cracking the man clear on the jaw, knocking him out cold and sending a few teeth clacking across the pavement. "Sleemo…" He muttered under his breath as he turned and went to collect his weapons. "You coming along?" He asked Aurelie as he holstered his blaster and looked her in the eyes. "That base is likely locked up tight. I'd prefer to sneak in grab the target and get out without another disaster like this. You already helped me out of one sticky situation, I could use your help again. I'd offer a thirty percent cut of the bounty."


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Concerned eyes kept scanning the Bothan even after he insisted that he was fine. Being thrown into a wall after being forced to drop his weapon was bound to cause some injuries, right? But no, from the looks of it, he seemed fine - in fact, he was so fine that he took initiative to steal the thief's blaster. Figuring that they had established themselves as allies, Aurelie didn't do much to prevent it and simply stood up to watch as the Trandoshan body guard was completely taken out. "You're welcome" she said a little slowly, not seeing to much point in it since she had no real choice in lending him her blaster. Flashing him a smile, the young woman thanked him as he praised her aim. For a moment, she even considered if he could teach her a thing or two before stopping herself - this was hardly the time or place for that.

While remaining a passive part of the background during the interrogation, Aurelie did grow worried when the human started talking about being killed. It was fortunate that Eoto showed restraint.

His offer was interesting. The thief looked over at the stolen speeder and sadly observed the damages it had suffered. Vehicles with blaster holes dropped tremendously in value, so she could really use the credits to fix it up - if it survived the ordeal that is. With one thought leading to another, she considered if she should maintain the facade. Although it didn't seem to likely for a rich kid to carry both a NEWDA and a blaster, she let out a low "Dad is going to kill me"

Looking back to the bounty hunter, the thief nodded. Considering the massive amount of kidnappers, his plan was sound and matched her preferences rather well. The money was needed at from the looks of it, she'd be doing something good. "I'll tag along" she said before walking back to the speeder. It didn't take long to enter their destination into the GPS attached at the front, but it gave the Eoto some time to join her. "What are you anyways? Some sort of officer?" she asked as the took off.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

Eoto was glad to hear his unlikely ally would be sticking with him for the time being, although the moment she turned her back to him his face contorted into a scowl, the pain from his fight still nagging him. While she punched in the coordinates for Lake Tortapo he returned to the two unconscious pirates, grunting as he bent down to take their comlinks and destroy them. He didn't want them contacting this Reu Lai and tipping her off to their approach after all. Afterwards he got on his own commlink and contacted the droid on his ship. "L5, contact corporate police and inform them two members of the Black Ring have been identified. Send them to my current location." After receiving an affirmative beep he got up and returned to the black speeder with Aurelie and climbed in.

"Sorry about your speeder," He apologized as he sat down. "Your reward should be enough to fix it and then some." He winced as she asked if he was an officer. He knew bounty hunters were looked down upon for some of their less reputable clientele, especially to the upper class. "In a sense..." He answered her slowly. "I was hired by the Streng family to find their son Daven," He explained. If Ines was in fact from a corporate family, or if she had spent any meaningful amount of time on Bonadan at all, she would have heard the name Streng. They practically owned half the system. "I'm a sort of... Private Investigator."

He looked at her blaster, eager to change the subject. "Always was fond of the DH-7," He said, and showed her he was carrying the same model. "Simple but reliable. And damn well effective too." He looked to her with a degree of friendliness he showed to few. "Your father teach you how to use a blaster?"

​

@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

A number of thoughts filled her mind as the Bothan talked about his identity and mission. Aurelie often had a good idea of the area she operated in, learning street names, short cuts and even gathering odd pieces of information like the status of the Streng family. Who Daven Streng was was unknown to her but it didn't seem all too compromising as the investigator had already given her enough information to keep her mask. "Oh" she let our a short and simple sound, seeming a bit surprised. It was good that the alien wasn't law enforcement - perhaps he wouldn't mind her being what she was. Still, it seemed like an unnecessary risk to let the man know her little secret.

With both eyes on the speederway, Aurelie listened as he inquired about where she learned to shoot. While her father hadn't been too good at the use of a blaster, they had traveled across the galaxy together, providing her with ample opportunities to learn it without him. In truth, the ones who taught her the basics and a few tricks were a band of thugs on Nar Shaddaa, the rest, she had picked up on her more recent adventures. "No" she said honestly. For a moment, Aurelie forgot that she was actually 'Ines Coudre'. "An ex taught me." she continued, and from a certain point of view, what she said was true. "He didn't get along very well with my dad though." It was the final touch, some flavour to further convince the Bothan that what she said was in fact true. "Hey, you seem pretty good with blasters and stuff, maybe you could teach me a few tricks later?"

Eventually, they reached the less trafficked areas. The GPS voice sounded "Take the next left and drive seven hundred meters to your destination. "We're about to reach our destination" she said with a hint of nervousness. These was definitely cause for Ines to be concerned, but in this instance, even Aurelie was nervous - it was not everyday that one would invade a pirate base.

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

Eoto nodded through Aurelie's explanation, accepting it at face value. He had dropped his suspicions. Even if the girl wasn't who she said she was it didn't much matter anymore. She was a dependable ally, that's all he really cared about. "I wouldn't say I'm an expert," He answered her question. "Close quarters is more my forte. But I may be able to show you a few tricks once we're finished if you like."

Their path took them out of the spaceport and into a heavily polluted industrial district, smog from the fuel refineries pumping up and blotting out the sky. Even the air along the road became thick and hard to see through. Lake Tartapo wasn't a body of water but rather a massive pit filled with toxic waste from one of the local factories. Because of the horrid living conditions the area had been mostly abandoned, with empty apartment buildings and old warehouses now occupied only by the planet's criminal elements. That was good. If things did go sideways Eoto could let loose without risk of harming any bystanders.

The Bothan quickly spotted the building that was their destination. An apartment complex with busted windows and graffiti covered walls flew the banner of the Black Ring outside it's doors, and had several swoop bikes parked out front. He counted six pirates as well, all standing around idly as they guarded the front entrance.

"Drive past the building," Eoto instructed calmly as he put on his helmet again, trying to inspire confidence in Ines by maintaining a level head. "Don't get too close, if they get a close look at a speeder like this it'll rouse suspicion. Park somewhere out of the way and we'll get to high ground and scope out the place."


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

While any situation where she was in close quarters had already gone way too far, the thief figured that it would only be good for her to learn how to better defend herself "That would be nice of you." she said whilst driving.

Doing as the investigator instructed, Aurelie drove past the pirate lair, happy that the blaster bolts had hit the side of the speeder which they couldn't see. Taking another turn, she parked the speeder behind an old building. It looked like an abandoned apartment complex as it stood much taller than the other industrial buildings nearby. An abandoned crane stood nearby with a broken cable and a lonely wrecking ball lying on the ground. "I guess they were going to tear this one down" she commented while turning off the speeder. Taking off the blazer, the NEWDA was clearly visible as it sat steadily on her arm and the blaster pistol holstered on her belt would also become visible. Reaching back, Aurelie grabbed the grey jacket which would look far more inconspicuous in these areas. Digging around in the pockets, the thief brought out a pair of gloves and took them on.

With that, she left the speeder and looked up at the high building. "Do you think that the inhabitants have been evicted yet?" she asked jokingly whilst throwing a glance at the wrecking ball. Once at the entrance, she slowly pushed the door open with eyes scanning the facilities inside. The thief had done these kinds of things many times in the past and steadily advanced further into the building with quiet steps. Ceiling panels hung loose with a few broken cables hanging low, creating sparks occasionally. It didn't take long before she had found the way to the stairs and turbolifts. Keeping her voice low, just in case anyone was still lingering, Aurelie whispered "I don't know about you, but I think we should take the stairs up"

@Reyn

 

[Eoto Vrisor]

Watching as "Ines" changed into more discrete clothing Eoto couldn't help but smirk under his helmet. Yeah, far too competent for a corporate brat. He thought to himself. He didn't say anything though. Once outside the speeder he took his A-10 blaster rifle from his back and held it aloft, staying on high alert and scanning the landscape around them as though he had stepped into a warzone. He grunted amusedly at Aurelie's remark. He walked beside her as they entered the apartment complex, some tiny pests scampering away into the darkness as they appeared.

"Good idea," He agreed in an equally quiet voice and took the lead, training his rifle ahead of them as he slowly made his way up the staircase. "I'd be surprised if the lifts were still working anyway." Aside from some scavengers the building seemed abandoned and it wasn't hard to tell why. Moving to the upper levels they could look down the hallways and see floors collapsed in and fallen support beams. The whole building seemed to groan with discomfort every few minutes. It was clearly structurally unsound and if the city didn't knock it down it would likely do it itself in a few years.

Once they made it to the building's highest level Eoto went straight to the window and knelt down. Luckily the building offered an excellent view of the pirate base. Raising his rifle and putting his eye to the scope Eoto carefully examined the building across the way. There were the six guards out front, and he could only spot two walking around the perimeter. It was likely the pirates felt safe in this area, after all, who in their right mind would come out here? He could see more pirates through the windows but couldn't account for all of those estimated, and saw no one that looked like the leader or Daven.

"The boy is likely somewhere in the center of the building, in an easily defensible location." He commented aloud. He spotted a back entrance to the apartment complex. The only guard was a dozing Weequay. "I think that's our point of entry." He said, and offered the rifle to Aurelie to take a look.


@Pyrenees

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

She was glad that Eoto was willing to take the lead. While her reflexes were good and her draw quick, the girl definitely preferred not being the one anyone shot at. Floor by floor, they made their way up, and floor by floor, she became more unsure if they should really continue. On two separate occasions, some debris could be both seen and heard as it tumbled down the building through the middle of the staircase, only to be crushed once it reached the floor below. A breeze could be felt as they got higher, it was never a good sign in a house where the windows were closed. Regardless, the Bothan was pushing on and Aurelie followed.

While the investigator took out his rifle to have a better look, Aurelie dug around in her pockets and eventually brought up some high tech googles which, among other things, had a zoom function, allowing her to magnify the view 4 times. While he was observing it all through his scope, the thief looked through her googles, following along as he talked about their best option. He was correct, the back entrance did indeed look like the best option "Yeah, you're right" she said. The fact that he offered his rifle for her to look through did not go unnoticed, but as he looked towards her, it was likely that he would notice that she had a good view of it all already.

The fence surrounding the building didn't seem to high and would not be too hard for someone like her to climb over, although she did worry about how her shorter companion would manage. Thinking that it was a bridge which they'd have to cross once they got there, Aurelie pushed up her googles to sit on her head "If they're just nine outside, the inside might be a little crowded" she said.

After the two had taken a final look at the lair, they started their decent. Despite the fact that the building seemed ready to crumble at a moments notice, it felt a bit safer than the way up. This time, she would walk first, serving some sense of justice she had. Suddenly, halfway down, the thief stopped. With a hand held high, Aurelie signaled to Eoto to be quiet. Someone was nearby. Two voices could be heard chattering and their footsteps were coming closer to the stairwell.

@Reyn