Ask A Favor for a Favor

[Minerva Wren]

City of Val Denn, Planet Tinnel IV, Core Worlds Region​

Looking out from the landing platform Minerva stood with her arms crossed over the chest. The capital before her was massive though it was still dwarfed by Coruscant in comparison. Not that I like giant cities that much anyway. Too crowded for my taste. She thought while hearing the collective echoes of thousands of airspeeders miles away in traffic.

Amongst the towers of corporate profit were clouds of thick grayish smoke pummeled into the air by various industrial plants. Unlike Coruscant this world did not hide its decadence. Minerva turned and walked away. I’m not here to judge how they run their world. The silent reminder caused her to squeeze both hands in restrained fury.

Two hours….senatorial office​

In full green armor and gear Minerva marched up the steps toward the entrance. Several bystanders were quick to notice her with curiosity or fear. She didn’t care about what they thought. Entering inside she beheld a reception area of smooth design. Immediately she noticed a few cameras watching her every moment and heavily armed security guards posted in key positions.

Both flattered and annoyed at being perceived as a threat Minerva briskly walked to the receptionist desk. The young purple Twi’lek in an white suit raised an eyebrow at the armored figure.

“Another frakking bucket head.” The clerk muttered trying to maintain a professional demeanor. Once Minerva was meters away the receptionist asked. “Can I help you?”

“Call your boss I’m here to see him.” Put off by the armored woman’s bluntness the clerk nevertheless replied. “He is occupied at the moment. Do you have an appointment?”

Quickly Minerva slammed her right fist onto the desk, shocking the Twi’lek.

“Tell that pen pushing forcer that Minerva Fhirdiad is here! He should know that name and remember what happened in Theed three years ago.”

Meters away the guards prepared for trouble while the receptionist sat there still startled by the outburst. Though one of them already proceeded to call the senator and his chief bodyguard...


@Nefieslab @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Carrick]

Ironically enough, Carrick was working on some paperwork when the Mando downstairs started making demands to see him. The message was passed along to him by both his receptionist and the security team who had been preparing to engage. A quick message for them to stand down was issued quickly and he stood from his desk.

He did so enjoy his large desk but still.

Sighing a little bit, he straightened up the tie of his business suit. As usual, his lightsaber hung proudly at his belt, shining brightly in the lights of the office. Making his way to the lift, he called Reiel to attend if she was able, to meet him in the atrium of the senate building. His apartments and office were on a higher floor than the atrium and reception but the lifts were faster than anyone really believed.

Stepping out of the lift into the atrium, Carrick smiled a little bit as one of the security officers moved to speak to him.

“Sir, the Mandalorian woman says that you know her?”

Good that they checked first.

“Yes officer, I have had the pleasure of working with her in the past, don’t worry.” He assured the security officer before stepping forward to present himself to Minerva, “Minerva. Gedet’ye gev haastal nar ta’na’oaragr. Malyasa’yr gar emuurir at jorhaa’ir o’r ner ucigapr?”

Inviting her to his office in Mando’a might, hopefully, defuse the situation a little.

@Forsythe Crowholde @Minuteman75

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

What the hell is this guy trying to prove? That he can win a staring match against a Mandalorian? I'm wearing a helmet. You can't even see if I'm actually looking at you. Please stop this stupidity.

To his credit, the freshly inducted security guard maintained eye contact with the heavily armored woman, gaze unflinching even as he began to fidget where he stood. Reiel had a strong feeling that the other security personnels have neglected to tell the new blood who she was and her status among the Senator's personal bodyguards. She hadn't been there when he started, after all, nor was she with the committee who accepted him in the security roster.

The others were surely messing up with him, the poor bastard.

The built-in comm of her helmet chimed, and Reiel answered the call without removing her gaze from the new guard. Helmeted head tilted to the side in curiosity – Carrick wanted to meet her in the atrium? Were going out for business?

She replied with a simple "I'll be there", moving away from her temporary post. The action caused the new blood to jump in surprise, blinking, and straightening his posture so he towered over her as she passed him by. Another guard, one of the regulars, approached her and giving Reiel his usual half-assed salute.

"Looks like we got another Mando down the atrium, Chief," said Nirem with a wink, snickering at the startled expression on the newly-hired guard's face. "Expecting a visitor?"

Reiel's eyes widened behind the cover of her helmet. Another Mandalorian? She wondered what business they might have here. Perhaps they'd heard of her presence here, and came seeking for her aid in whatever Mando Duties they needed doing.

She simply shrugged in response before stepping into the lift she'd been escorted into. Before the doors closed, however, she lightly poked Nirem on the chest and gestured at the new blood who was still gaping at the two of them like a fish out of water.

"Give the new guy a proper briefing this time, alright? He thinks he can win a staring competition against someone whose eyes he clearly can't see."

Nirem's laughter was cut off as the doors finally shut, but Reiel was confident that he would do as he was told. Left alone in the lift as it descended, the small Mandalorian stared at her reflection consciously patting at her weapons to check if they were in place.

"I wonder if they're someone I know," she mumbled under her breath as the lift finally stopped, the doors opening and Reiel stepped out and into the senate building's atrium. Her gaze immediately honed in on Carrick, then to the Mandalorian Nirem was talking about.

She quickly recognized who the Mando visitor was at first sight. Reiel approached the two just in time to hear Carrick greet Minerva in Mando'a. She smiled widely beneath her helmet. They knew each other? Great!

The implication behind it could wait, she told herself.

"Su cuy'gar, Minerva!" she greeted her fellow Mando, toning down the brightness and excitement in her voice. She had to keep up appearances as the senator's chief of security, after all. And even if she wanted to immediately ask what business the other Mandalorian had here, Reiel kept the question to herself. It seemed Minerva would answer that soon enough, once the three of them were in the privacy of Carrick's office.

@Nefieslab @Minuteman75

 

[Minerva Wren]

Stepping back a few inches Minerva crossed both arms over her chest. Despite wearing a full set of armor anyone with common sense can see in Minerva’s body language that she was deadly serious. The security detail at the reception, having been commanded by Reiel, knew that they would be in a tough fight if this other Mandalorian decides to lash out. For a few moments there was a tense stand off until Carrick called to his staff.

Sighing with relief the Twi’lek repceptist back glanced at Minerva. “He’s coming but I suggest you be more respectful when he comes in.” Underneath her helmet the widow sneered at the demand and said nothing in return. She can care less for some uptight clerk’s advice.

There was a very awkward silence in the room as they waited. A few minutes later the Carrick came in, briefly talking with one of the guards. I see that he changed his kriffing hair. Keeping that thought to herself Minerva blinked in surprise when he spoke Mando’a, asking her to stop scaring his staff.

Who the kriff taught him that?! It certainly wasn’t me.

Snorting at the politician’s request she nevertheless nodded with gratitude when asked if she wanted to speak further in his office.

“Elek mhi hwa.” Minerva answered back in the old tongue. Before they could, she suddenly recognized Reiel coming toward them. The green armored Mando chuckled while subsequently replying in a slightly more friendly tone.

“Tase at gar Reiel. Bic b a kih sitilhaa sulye saryr an.”

Following the pair to the lift, she stood with them on the left hand side. During the ascension she spared a glance at both Carrick then Reiel. She knew the former from one job where they fought off some assassins through half of Theed. Minerva had known the latter as an honorable comrade in two skirmishes and they recently crossed paths again at the Black Keep meeting.

A small galaxy indeed.

Once the lift stopped and door she stepped inside the office. Where many would take a few moments to admire the interior Minerva did not. Turning around she then said in basic to Carrick without waiting for him to get to his desk.

“I’ll cut to the chase Carrick and save us all some time. I need information on a smuggler named Harken Sao. Been hunting him for several rotations before before the trail got cold.”

Pausing, the widowed warrior pulled out a holoprojector with her right hand. Upon a click a holographic form appeared. Both Reiel and Carrick would see a middle aged human with a violent expression wearing a spacer flight jacket. It was Harken.

“I’m willing to do a job for ya in exchange for any leads on this Laosr. If information is not possible I will accept payment in credits instead.”

Even if Carrick won’t be able to turn up any information credits can at the very least be used to support her hunt.

@Nefieslab @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Carrick]

Minverva was not, exactly, keeping a low profile in coming directly to his offices. But, thankfully, his dealings with the woman hadn't actually been anything he had ever needed to keep secret. Their time together was a matter of public record and had, in fact, made the local news on Naboo. It wasn't a strange thing for her to come and visit him but she was making a spectacle of herself.

His opponents would likely suspect he had her come here so he could use her to harm them. If she was interested in such a venture they might be right but he hadn't in this case. Which was curious - why would a Mando bounty hunter come and make a house call of a Senator?

She was keen to move it into private quarters which he was grateful for - his Mando'a had come along in leaps and bounds but it was still one of his weaker languages. He was having trouble with different accents of the Mandalorian accent and it was difficult to find tutors for such a thing.

Once they were back into his office, Carrick himself didn't make for his desk. Instead he made a bee-line for the bar he kept stocked to one side of the office. Reiel would probably have words for her fellow Mando and he had the sudden impression that he was going to need a drink.

"I assume he's a lovely fellow who's managed to get a bounty on his head." he commented as he poured three glasses of Corellian Whiskey that he had in his office, reaching into the drawer of the bar for something else, "Or is this more of a... what's the word..."

He clicked his fingers.

"Pu'ur. A matter of Pu'ur?" he asked as he walked back over, holding a glass of whiskey in each that he presented to both Mandalorians with an... "Emergency induction ports."

Straws.

Metal straws so that they could drink without needing to remove their helmets. He had already tested it with Reiel herself on one occassion... and she tended to like it better when he didn't call them straws. Looking at the man on the holo, he hummed once.

"I like the deal - Reiel, has this man come across your desk at all?" he asked her before glancing at Minerva with a small smirk, "You may have been my first Mando, Minerva, but Reiel is the one I kept as my head of security. She's done good work for me."

@Forsythe Crowholde @Minuteman75

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

Reiel's smile widened under the cover of her helmet, feeling quite nostalgic at the presence of one of the Mando'ade she had fought beside with and could trust with her own life. And it was a small galaxy indeed, she agreed, as she followed after Minerva Fhirdiad – now Wren – and Carrick to the lift and up to the latter's office.

Once in the privacy of the Senator's office Minerva decided to cut straight to the point of her visit. So, her vod was hunting a smuggler, huh? The name of the bounty – if the man was indeed a bounty (old habits died hard) – sounded familiar, and the small Mandalorian wracked her brain for any information to go along with the name and face.

Accepting the drink from her sorcerer and immediately forgetting about it afterwards, Reiel was grateful for the helmet that hid her face when Carrick mentioned about Minerva being his first Mandalorian. Her brows furrowed with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Was that why they knew each other? And what did Carrick mean by Minerva being his first Mando? Did they meet because of a job? Or was the reason something along the lines of romance–?

Reiel was more curious than – alright, she would have to admit it even to herself – a little bit jealous. She needed to remind herself not to assume things and feel emotions from unwarranted assumptions. And besides, was there even a reason for her to get jealous in the first place? She wasn't even a jealous woman in the first place! Seriously!

The following praise was... unexpected. For the second time Reiel thanked the cover her helmet provided her as her face turned red. Her lax body language belied the barely contained pride and humbled smile on her face.

Ah, she was getting sidetracked, damn it!

"Fate smiles upon you, sister," she told Minerva after a beat, finally having remembered what information she had on the latter's target. "But I'm afraid I only have little information about your target, though I hope the trail he left won't turn cold this time."

Reiel approached Carrick's desk, putting down her untouched drink and turning to face the other two.

"I take my job as Senator Carrick's chief of security seriously," the small Mandalorian began, one gloved hand settling on the side of her helmet. "And it means applying what I've learned from my days as a bounty hunter to my current job. Long story short, I've got eyes and ears in every bar and cantina within the city, and I'm expanding them as far as I can reach – pretty ambitious to cover the whole planet but it's in the works. And I don't plan on stopping with those establishments, nah. To protect my employer, I need those eyes and ears everywhere." She smirked, eyes flashing dangerously.

"One of my eyes reported about a smuggler who fits the name and face you showed us a week ago. Said he caused a commotion in a cantina called Smoke and Haze. They caught wind of a transaction turned awry, and that Harken Sao left the place with a dead body behind," Reiel continued to answer both Minerva and Carrick's inquiry. "Local police were summoned a little too late, but my eyes – being a former bounty hunter themself – decided to follow after Sao to gather information about the man. They tailed Sao, found he was planning to switch ships before leaving the planet. Said Sao managed to procure an HWK-290 Light Freighter."

Crossing her arms over her chest, the small Mandalorian paused before going back to the most important bit of information that had been presented to her. "With regards to the person Sao killed, I was told that the victim was another smuggler from Trask. If Sao had a score to settle with the vic and his colleagues, then there's a chance that your target might be headed to Trask. It could be slim or not, but I hope it's still something that can be of use to you. A week ago I wondered why I had to be saddled with a report about some smuggler I shouldn't even be bothered with but I guess it's a blessing from Kad. The Destroyer guides his people so they can help each other, huh?"

Then, chuckling sheepishly, Reiel uncrossed her arms to rub one gloved hand behind her helmet. "Darn it, I should've just said that Harken Sao might be headed off for Trask but I just had to go and talk a lot!"

@Minuteman75 @Nefieslab

 

[Minerva Wren]

Minerva said nothing as Carrick headed for the bar. Heh, should’ve known he would one. I bet a lot of senators got their own stash. As amusing as the thought was, she had to focus on the matter at hand.

The clan warrior became silent once more as her host prepared the drinks while commenting on what she had said. The senator would suddenly sense the grief mixed with fury from Minerva when asked why she was hunting this smuggler. Reiel would note her Vod’s free hand shaking violently as they both heard her voice now cold as the planet Hoth.

“That calyarnr owes me a debt of blood and I intend to collect it.”

Taking the offered drink with the ‘emergency induction ports’ she rolled her eyes. Thinks of everything apparently. Well personally she wouldn’t have minded taking her helmet to drink. She wasn’t a child of the Watch anyway. Then again I don’t want anyone seeing my face right now at least.

Turning to Reiel she was puzzled at the way her sister in arms seemed to be flustered. What the kark is wrong with her? Still confused, Minerva sipped the drink while Reiel explained what she learned about where Harken went.

“You have my gratitude sister.”

It was a start at least. Hopefully better than that false lead Jakku turned out to be. Suddenly the image of Armand without his helmet and smiling back at her with his dark eyes. Fighting back tears despite wearing a helmet she lowered her head for a moment though the two expert observers could tell she is fighting back a storm of emotions. Putting the drink down Minerva then said to both.

“You have kept your word so I’ll do the same. What job do you require of me?”

@Nefieslab @Forsythe Crowholde

 

[Carrick]

Well at least Minerva chose to partake in the offered drinks - though if he was honest he wouldn't have thought Reiel would go for them anyway. She was on duty right now and she tended to take the whole job very seriously. Considering that a large part of her job was keeping him alive, he was inclined to think that was a virtue rather than a character flaw. He sipped at his own drink as he listened to Minerva's reasoning for going after the smuggler.

A debt of blood? Sounded vague and Mando-like enough for it to be true. If she had come up with a long-winded explanation he probably wouldn't have believed her at all. Reiel was flustered and he could tell, through the Force, exactly how flustered given their time together. He would be lying if he said he hadn't worded some phrases in certain, specific, ways to see how flustered he could get her but it seemed that giving a frank and honest opinion of her skills achieved the same result.

Intriguing.

"Hmm I don't believe that we have, truly." he admitted as he took another drink, "And the favor I will ask of you is large enough that I would not see if asked for naught but a scrap of information."

He sat on the edge of his desk.

"We shall come with you to Trask to confirm that this smuggler is there. Should you allow it, we shall assist in his capture - and say nothing of what you do when you have him."

Carrick was not naive enough to believe that she merely had some questions for him. She planned to do the man great harm and Carrick couldn't find it in himself to care all too much. Reaching over, he took out a holo-display controller and activated it, allowing a hologram of a large hauler ship to appear. The markings along its hull were clear - Zann Consortium.

"A large freighter apparently belonging to the Zann Consortium exited hyperspace in the sector recently. It responds to no hails and the only thing it does it float there in space." he grimaced, "Remote slicing attempts have confirmed only one thing; it's cargo is a large number of stolen battledroids that were originally destined for the ISC. I need that ship and it's contents secured - and you are going to help Reiel and I do that."

@Forsythe Crowholde @Minuteman75

 

[Reiel Mal Crowholde]

A debt of blood. Someone was... taken from Minerva, and she intended to make the culprit pay with exactly what they had taken from her. Pain cut through the small Mandalorian and she had to use nearly every ounce of self-control she had to stop herself from walking up to her vod and wrapping her arms around Minerva to comfort her. Reiel knew it probably wouldn't do much to alleviate the pain Minerva was surely going through, but it didn't mean that she would not show that she cared for the Wren warrior.

They'd fought together, side by side, on Mandalore – that was probably one of the best ways to know a person and while it was obvious that Minerva had changed a lot, Reiel could still see the same Mandalorian who was willing to fight for the good of her people. Minerva had shown that in the Black Keep, and Reiel knew that it was a trait that was never going to change.

Reiel admired Minerva. She really did.

She approached her fellow Mandalorian, one hand settling on the latter's pauldron in a show of quiet support. Reiel would've waved her gratitude off but she offered Minerva a smile behind her helmet instead.

"I'll take that if the scum you're looking for is indeed in Trask," she told Minerva, nodding over at Carrick. Reiel was surprised but pleased with her sorcerer's proposal – she was ready to ask for his permission to go with Minerva but he'd beaten her to it, even including himself in the picture. "I'll do everything in my power to help you find and capture that smuggler."

The small Mandalorian would have mouthed a sincere "thank you" at him if she wasn't wearing her helmet.

Giving Minerva one last reassuring pat on the shoulder Reiel took a step back, T-visot shifting over to Carrick.

"Can't have those falling in the wrong hands, what with the current state of the galaxy and all that jazz," she muttered absent-mindedly, eyes locked on the hologram. "And we'll need all the help we can get with securing the ship. Not just any kind of help, though. We need someone like you."

Placing her hands behind her and clasping them together, Reiel inclined her head at Minerva rather meaningfully. "Seeing as you and the Senator already know each other, then I'm confident that we can work this one out seamlessly."

@Minuteman75 @Nefieslab

 

[Minerva Wren]

Shock caused Minerva to pause for a moment at Carrick’s counter-offer. Subsequently titling her helmet at Carrick in examination before thinking. By Manda he is actually serious. Then again this is the same man she fought alongside during that mad chase in Theed years ago. In addition he saved his wounded date at personal risk during it all so that does entitled him a level of respect from Minerva.

Feeling Reiel’s hand on her pauldron Minerva said nothing but silently nodded her head. It was all she could do to avoid screaming out in grief at that moment. The smaller Mandalorian was a true Vod as far as Minerva was concerned. They had not seen each other for a long time and she was grateful for the day they defended Mandalore. Forcing herself to focus, the widow observed the hologram Carrick displayed for them all.

The Consortium, of course. This would be their kind of mess.

Soon enough the senator explained the situation with the freighter and its contents before Reiel added her input. Minerva took it in all with great attention before finally saying while squeezing both hands again.

“I’ll do whatever it takes. Let’s get started as soon as you’re both ready.”

OOC: The End