Ask Guild Wars: Aggressive Negotiations

[Dusty Desperado]

Dusty eased back in his chair aboard the Grimlock, with him was his faithful droid R4-V3 and the Ranger Darmus, the only living Ranger to know that he wasn't actually Jaxon Clane. It was awkward at best, given the old man was friends with his cover. So he wheeled around his chair "So, how do you want to do this? Go in loud, or do the more tactful approach?"

As he spoke, Rave would begin to take over controls and guide the ship to hide amongst the asteroid field. Beyond them was a BAAS-class space station, something he had never stepped foot on. Saying he was nervous would be an understatement. They were virtually going in blind, so he would defer to the experience Darmus had to offer. This could go really good or get really messy.

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

Aggressive Negotiations​

"Aboard the neutral Baas-class space station that acts as a neutral free port for everyone, including the deployed Sector Rangers, rumors have begun circulating. An arms dealer has been smuggling increasingly dangerous weapons through the cargo bays and ship hangars of the station. Investigate and stop the weapons seller before they can sell off another cache of tools of war."

Darmus still hadn't come to terms with the death of the real Jaxon Clane. Well, he knew it was a matter of time for rangers. They didn't usually get as old as Jaxon, not on the Outer Rim anyway.. and not as a gunslinger. What Darmus had trouble with was the vigilante that had taken his identity after the ranger's death. It couldn't hurt, right? The new Jaxon Clane still did ranger work, still put his life on the line in the pursuit of justice and it wasn't like the ranger service was very strict in its hiring practices or provided good training. A vigilante with a dead ranger's badge was as much of a ranger than anyone could be. Still, this fella rubbed him the wrong way.

"First we probably should get on the station," the older ranger motioned towards the station in the distance. He didn't know why Jaxon had guided his ship to hide among an asteroid field, but it didn't seem very useful to just sit out there being all suspicious by hiding in an asteroid field. "If they're trading weapons through this station then there will be records of it and it won't be hard to prove," he paused and tapped his badge, the one that was registered to his name.. a real badge. "but they won't respect this thing. If we're too obvious they'll fake an airlock malfunction to get rid of us." He took the badge from his tunic and stuffed it into his pocket, "You're good at pretending people you're not," the disapproval was heavy on his voice, "so let's pretend to be arms buyers."


@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

As Darmus spoke, Rave would guide the Grimlock towards the station, navigating through the asteroid field. Dusty expected the comments and for a matter of fact, he couldn't blame this man. He just couldn't. Dusty was impersonating one of his oldest friends, to fight crime. He was hoping he would be able to have a real talk with the veteran Ranger, clear the air, get it out of the system.

So, he scratched his jaw carefully. "Look, sir.. I get it, I'm not a real Ranger. I didn't swear oaths, I didn't go to some fancy Ranger school. I didn't even know the Sector Rangers were a thing until I met Jaxon. I was a slave. Then I got freed and found purpose for a bit, but that didn't last long. Then one day, when I was deep in it, this guy comes in like a total badass and kills like twenty guys. Sure, he announces he's a Ranger and their under arrest, but he went to work. I tried to help, and if he couldn't make it out of there, I wanted his legacy to survive. I believe in what that badge stands for."

The man would then rise to his feet before he headed to his storage locker. "Arms dealers. You want me as the armored muscle, or just a fellow dealer?"

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

Darmus didn't much care for the monologue and didn't appear to be listening to it either, "I didn't ask for you life story," he merely shrugged. Everyone in the galaxy had some kind of sob story and yet most of them didn't resort to crime and began impersonating the dead like this kid. "You just play an arms dealer as well as you play Jaxon Clane." there wasn't much in terms of niceties to add to their conversation. Darmus wasn't known for being very nice and this time he even had a valid reason so he didn't make an effort to make it seem different either.

Soon the station came in over the comms, <<"Grimlock, this is the Baas-class Station Hangar Control. State your intention."[/i]>>

Sitting in the co-pilot's chair, Darmus was quick to grab the comms-button, "Hangar Control, this is the Grimlock. We're low on fuel and foodstuffs, requesting refuel and access to onstation markets." Whether or not the space station commander condoned the arms trade happening in his hangar bays, something made Darmus doubt it could be done as blatantly obvious as blurting it out over the ship-to-ship comms traffic. Once they go a pass to wander about the station's markets it was probably quite easy to spot the representative, right? Darmus hoped so, at least. He hadn't spend much time offplanet in the last couple of years and when he did he was only a passenger on long-distance starliners and transports.

<<"Grimlock, this is Hangar Control. You're cleared to land in Hangar Three. Station Administrator will contact you after landing.">>

Darmus clicked his comm unit twice to confirm he received it and pointed towards the right hangar, "Land there." Last time he had visited a space station he remembered hearing the starliner's first mate complain about the price of fuel and the fees that accompanied occupying the high-demand hangar space on stations like this. Whoever this "Station Administrator" was he was sure to try and shake them down big time and they couldn't use their badges, or rather, they couldn't use his badge, to get out of it. The administrator might be on the arms dealer's payroll and showing a badge to avoid paying the fees would tip them off.


@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

Dusty would be wearing Clane's armor by the time they landed, the Ranger sigil covered by a cloak and the helmet secured on. "Alright Darmus, let's see how good at acting you are." As the ramp lowered, Dusty would head down it "Get my fuel line hooked up, ya piece of kark!" he'd yell back to Darmus.

At the bottom of the ramp the Station Administrator would already be waiting, that greedy look in his eyes as he eyed the Grimlock. "So... We have our special daily prices, for a well off gentleman like yo-gahh!"

Dusty's gauntleted hand would grip tightly around the man's throat, his Lawbringer leveled at the single guard as he did so. "Those prices aren't going to work. Because I don't like being ripped off. Now we can go about this two ways: you give me the fuel at-cost, we'll consider that your dummy tax, or.. I start to paint the hangar red and just take the fuel. Tell your fool to holster his iron."

The man would begin to blubber, almost pleadingly. "Craig... put it aw-away.. I-I.. you don't have to do that.. really.. At cost? Su-sure." Craig would tuck his piece away, hands open and raised as he backed away.

"Good. Now if I see any of your people around my ship while I'm here, it will get -very- loud. Are we understood?" Dusty would say threateningly as he pulled the man's face closer.

He nodded as much as the hand would allow. "L-let me c-change the pricing terminal, y-yeah?"

"Yeah, now that we got your greed out of the way, I'm in the market for your.. off the ticket items. Buddy of mine came through here and bragged to me about all the stuff you guys had. I want access to that too." the grip would tighten.

The man nodded once more. "H-hangar b-bay six..."

"Good. Now run along and do what you need to do. And don't let me see you before I leave here." he released the man as he shoved him towards the fueling terminal.

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

Darmus was surprised that this was the act the fake Jaxon Clane wanted to put up. He might've started off his relationship with the real Sector Rangers in a more humble way that reflected at least the willingness to partner up. Instead he treated Darmus as a what? A servant-lackey? The older man shook his head and while Dusty straight up assaulted the Station Administrator he simply nodded to the man holding the fuel line and pointed him towards the tank.

Although it certainly didn't make them friends and Darmus would now be expecting an ambush during their stay on the station where Craig and his co-workers made sure to outnumber the number of blasters Dusty had on him, the theatrical fool did seem to get the information they wanted. "Bossman-" Darmus said in an overly submissive tone that should make it obvious that he didn't approve of the faux ranger's tactics, "-hangar bay six is that way." he pointed at the overhead sign at the end of the hangar that had a big sign saying '4-5-6 that way'. Couldn't miss, right?

As they made their way over Darmus realized they were alone once they reached the large connecting hallway. "Well done putting an gigantic target on your back, Jaxon" the disapproval was thick as was the clear dislike towards the man that pretended to be his old friend. The old ranger was about to berate Dusty for obviously not learning the trait of subtlety and using it to investigate sensitive operations, but before he did he turned his head and he forgot all about it. There, about twenty meters behind him stood Craig and he was clearly talking into a holo-communicator. "Kriff," his own blaster pistol suddenly felt really heavy attached to his hip-holster as he turned his head back just a few steps away from the door to Hangar Bay Six. "I hope you're as good with a blaster as Jaxon was," because they'd kriffing need it right now if his suspicions were correct.

Maybe the arms dealer wasn't into selling small arms. Maybe his clientele wasn't the kind that would talk about it with aggressive elites. It could be that the weapon cache was all torpedo's and missiles, advanced ship-to-ship weaponry and cloaking tech that wouldn't attract a young rich man and his older servant... kriff, there were so many reasons Darmus could think of on why they were about to walk into an ambush. If only he had taken lead. He could've had a drink at the bar, ask some questions and he'd at least be shot with the taste of Iridonian whiskey on his tastebuds instead of the space-rationing pack he had for breakfast.

The door opened, revealing two humans with rifles already lifted towards Dusty and Darmus. They were clearly former military judging from their stance, haircut and aura of professionalism while holding a rifle. Behind them, a bit further into the hangar, stood another six of the same caliber, plus a Zeltron who was no doubt the dealer. The Zeltron was about Darmus' age, dressed significantly better and was in the process of pocketing his holo-communicator as he turned towards them. "Hello there!" the man's grin already annoying the living kriff out of Darmus.

It was a slim chance, but maybe the ruse really did work and the Zeltron was gonna sell them trinket rifles fallen off a Core world speeder truck.


@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

Was it necessary to demote Darmus to servant boy for this showing? Not at all. But it did give Dusty some amount of enjoyment to see that irritated look in his eye or even just the way he said 'Bossman'. As they walked, he would take the 'Well done' as a full compliment, his gaze shifting to the right at his servant. "You ever watch arms dealers? They posture like the biggest cockatoos anywhere they go. You're welcome by the way, when the shooting starts, they'll target me, not my servant."

As the doors opened, two humans would already have their weapons drawn and focused on them. Dusty would glance at both weapons, smiling beneath the helm. "General Arms dealer." he'd respond, allowing a smile to enter his voice. "I see one of these men are carrying a DC-17x, a pity. I was told you would have more... exotic weapons. Rocket launchers, mortars, maybe even a disruptor rifle or two."

He walked casually up to both guards, specifically the one with the DC and grabbing it by the barrel would turn it away from him. "You really should clean this thing better."

His gaze would then shift over to the Zeltron. "I suspect you want to leave here wealthier, not... bloodied. I suggest you have the Olsen twins lower their weapons." as he spoke, he tapped the shoulder of the man whose rifle he moved away. "After all, I came here looking to fill my cargo bay."

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

There was some relief, but mostly disappointment when they found out it was just a general arms dealer. Something in the mission briefing had made Darmus hope they'd be stopping a ring that supplied pirates with anti-ship missiles and yet they were definitely looking at a hangar filled with crates too small for ship-to-ship missiles and other more dangerous ship-killers. Returning to his role as the servant, the older ranger pretended to be more intimidated by the men with rifles while he did his best to size up the Zeltron.

Speaking of which, the Zeltron smiled and gave his men the signal to lower their weapons. "So you're the owner of the Grimlock that Craig just warned me about?" he paused to take a long look at the buyer's physique, apparently praising Dusty's physical appearance and trying to determine whether it excused his abrasive behavior. Finally he seemed to shrug and his smiled widened as he motion for Dusty to seat on one of two chairs in the middle of the hangar bay. "I suppose you can't choose your clientele when you sell out of a space station." he stated as he sat down on one of the two chairs and crossed his legs while he retrieved a small pack of scented cigara's from his jacket pocket. "My name is Sin Sann," he lit of the cigara with a small green lighter, sucked at it for a second and then exhaled scented blue smoke from his nose. "My merchandise is all Coreworld quality."

Darmus' eyes made an involuntary twitch that luckily neither the Zeltron nor his men noticed. Coreworld quality wasn't something you'd brag about without being able to back it up and if he was able to boast said quality then he had a contact within the Republic's military or the megacorporations that supplied it. Kriff. Corruption really was everywhere. Darmus was eager to shut this operation down and find whoever supplied Sin Sann, but if his count was correct then the arms dealer and his retinue outnumbered the rangers four to one. Not to mention the station security that would use any excuse to rough up Dusty.

"What are you in the market for, mister?" the Zeltron asked, eager to know the name or alias his buyer would give. The numbers he usually sold in could outfit small PMC's, pirate ships, expeditionary forces or Outer Rim militias. If this was just some rich man trying to buy a single blaster to go hunting with...


@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

Dusty would follow after the dealer, sitting across from him. "Sin Sann?" he mused, an audible smile in his voice. A Zeltron named Sin? What were the chances. So many jokes could be made right now, but, he had to be somewhat serious. "Coreworld quality? Gonna have to see the catalogue. Last guy I ran into that offered it was selling Outer Rim knockoffs."

"Just call me Grievous, for that's the crew I represent. Toaractu, has big plans for the future and he needs big weapons to get it done. Just like my employer, I am a very serious man, and we have the credits to make such a deal disappear from ever happening. He's got a long wishlist, so let's see if you can.. appease his current desire in terms of weaponry. And if it's good, you may have just earned yourself a steady buyer."

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

The Zeltron cast a quick glance towards one of his goons and then smiled, "How is that old Kaleesh?" Darmus noticed that the goons tensed up a little as if they were preparing to turn Dusty to ash in a moment's notice, yet so far the Zeltron seemed relaxed and buying into the whole pirate-representative play. "Still pirating and losing weapons I see," he paused to kill the scented cigara against his stool and then returned it to its package. Apparently he was in the habit of only taking a few puffs at the time and Darmus couldn't help but remark that the Zeltron must be a patient man. "I have twenty SX-21 Scatterblasters and four of Preef Callo DG-34 Peacemaker Heavy Blaster Pistols. I'm sure Toaracta will find them to his liking."

Kriff. They're even using that bloody rodian as a sales pitch now? Darmus couldn't help but be somewhat impressed by Preef Callo's status of a legendary gunslinger. Ofcourse, the forty-plus ranger wasn't known for his skills with a blaster, although he could still pass the mandatory weapon course, not so much the fitness one, but it was unlikely they'd every use his name to sell a dataplague. Signature blasters were a hot business, apparently, but so far the neither the Zeltron nor his men had moved to show their buyers the actual merchandise...

"I'm assuming the Kaleesh can still afford it?" there was a snide in that remark, something Darmus had been subconsciously waiting as if the Zeltron know something about that pirate crew that neither Dusty nor Darmus had been aware of. The old ranger's eyes shifted between the Zeltron and his guards, but the latter still didn't make a movement for their blasters and thus Darmus didn't either.. didn't want to spook someone and ruin their cover. He sure hoped that Dusty had something of a plan, though.

@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

"Well, some might say that old Kaleesh is timeless. Seems he just hit a certain age and then shaved off a decade or two." he would say with a laugh. "Though, he hasn't lost any of his savagery." fingertips tapped along the plated thigh, his head nodding with the numbers and items presented by the Zeltron. "Twenty? That's enough for one boarding party and I'm sure one of the replicas would look nicely on his wall. As you know, the Kaleesh is very fond of his cycler."

He was sure this could go south at any minute and thankfully his days training with some of those pirates as well as being on his own provided him with a slightly less than healthy helping of paranoia. Always be prepared. "He could afford all this and more, that is if you have anything else. Two varieties of weapons almost seems... limited. Have anything in the way of.. modifications?" One arm was draped along the back of the chair he sat in with the other hand still tapping lightly away. In the event of an attack, he could easily pop off a wrist rocket or draw his blaster to return fire.

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

The Zeltron raised an eyebrow, "Replicas?" Suddenly he rose from his chair and walked over to a nearby create, unsealed it with a pass code and opened it up to reveal the four expensive peacemakers before he took one in his right hand and swung around, stretched his arm and aimed the pistol's barrel straight at Darmus. "The peacemaker can shoot a whole straight through your servant's chest." His entourage laughed, but not long enough for Darmus to be sure the Zeltron was bluffing and the older ranger slowly raised his arms in surrender, "I-I-I ain't-" he started stammering while trying to pull off his best puppy face, but then the Zeltron closed one eye, relaxed his posture and BLAST.

Darmus felt the hot shriek of plasma narrowly missing his face before it dissipated against the wall roughly twenty feet behind him. The Zeltron was either a very good shot.. or, and Darmus didn't like this option, very cold-blooded with less than perfect aim.

"I'm sure its all a pirate needs," the Zeltron shrugged and turned the blaster in his hand before approaching Dusty again, "You're welcome to try it out and convince yourself I don't sell replicas."

@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

The tapping on Dusty's thigh paused momentarily as the blaster was taken from the crate and aimed at Darmus. The laughing from the entourage would be enough to subdue a sudden reaction from the younger Ranger and he would even join in on the laugh at his servants stammering. "My thanks for not doing him in. Would have been a pain to load all this cargo myself." he'd say his tone amused.

The visor would drift to where the plasma finally hit and nodded. "Consider those bought." he would rise to his feet and cross over to the crate, hand slinging the DC-17x around to the back. "But who am I to turn down a free trial." He would pick out one of the blasters from the crate. He would flourish it with a few spins before taking aim, the blaster leveled and making a full semi circle as his movement stopped on Darmus. "Wonder if I can get a little closer." he'd say, though he watched for Darmus' reaction. If the elder ranger even gave a look suggesting it was time to act, it would be showtime for the young gunslinger. "How often can you get these bad boys in?"

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

Darmus didn't like any of this, but he did notice that most of the Zeltron's guards seemed to relax and one even put his rifle down to lit up a cigarette. This probably was the best chance they were gonna get without also having to deal with station's security at the same time. "Ouch!" the older ranger grabbed his upper left arm and slumped down to his knees, heavily panting as he tried to stammer some inaudible words to his 'master'. None of the guards seemed to be alerted to danger, but their attention was firmly on the older, not so healthy-looking, man that was having an apparent heart-attack.

The Zeltron arms dealer cocked his head in indifference, "Weird time for the ticker to give out, old man." which prompted some laughed from his equally uncaring guards as they looked at Dusty, no doubt thinking the pirate had made a bad deal buying this particular slave. What they didn't expect was that Darmus drew his hand blaster from behind his jacket and aimed it straight at the Zeltron, "If you shoot-" he pulled the trigger, sending a bolt right into the pink man's forehead, "-shoot to kill."

Now all hell broke loose. The Zeltron had eight guards, all former military and highly capable with that rifle of theirs, but despite it all they had been caught off guard and the man they were paid to protect was dead. If Dusty could capitalize with good aim this whole thing might be over in a jiffy, but Darmus didn't bank on that and quickly got up to dash to nearby cover while firing pot shots at the two near the door.


@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

Picking up on the cue, Dusty would turn, aiming the Preef replica at the closest guard and would squeeze the trigger, blasting him in the throat. "It's a date!" Two more shots would fly out, one pinging the helmet of the second guard, stunning him, before the second bolt hit the man lighting the cig right between the eyes.

Crossing the distance to the one with the helm, he would follow up the initial shock with a pistol whip to the throat, further stunning the man. Tossing the peacemaker aside, he would curse as other guards opened fire, pulling the one he clubbed to him as a shield. The man would grunt as several bolts from his allies pierced him. Unslinging the dc-17x, Dusty would slide to cover beside Darmus. "Nice job!" Blood was all over his armor, some of it probably his.

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

The fake Jaxon Clane took down three professional soldiers in quick succession and Darmus couldn't help but be impressed at the man's skill. Perhaps the ranger service missed someone like that. Not many rangers were able to stand their own besides the incomparable Trys Aran, whatever she was doing these days. "Let's give compliments once we survive this mess," Darmus bit back to Dusty after the latter had slid into cover beside him. Not wanting to give their five enemies the opportunity to surround them, Darmus immediately darted from cover to find a new spot between two potshots. Dusty was a good fighter, but he sure could benefit from some tactical training..

Three of the soldiers moved to followed with slow movements, watching for movement alongside the barrel of their respective rifles. They never moved in front of each other, never stepped in their companion's line of fire and made sure to keep their distance from each other, spacing carefully to outmaneuver the old man that had surprised them before. "So you're not a slave, after all, old man?" one of them asked as they scanned their surroundings..

Darmus couldn't help but smile. Sure, trying to goat your target into revealing his position.. that's something he would've done in their situation, too. These guys were too smart to fall for some cheap misdirection trick, so... kriff, the smiled disappeared as he realized his option were actually quite limited. Well, here goes nothing: "Sector Rangers, drop your weapons!"

Silence. Definitely no sound of rifles suddenly falling to the ground. "Like we'd believe that. Local ranger doesn't have the guts to try a sting operation." ahh, so that's why they were able to operate on this station for so long. The local ranger was craven, like Darmus, and probably stuck out like a sore thumb to the outer layer of station security that the Zeltron had clearly bribed to keep an eye out. As response, Darmus took out his holo-badge, amplified the output and tossed it on the crate he was hiding behind. It shone brightly and the holo was clearly visible, "Sector Ranger Darmus Onn. In the flesh. Now drop your weapons," knowing he just revealed his location, Darmus quickly got on all fours and moved over to another crate before they managed to outmaneuver and flank him.

Still no sounds of them dropping their rifles. Hopefully the fake Jaxon Clane had more luck taking out the other two.

@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

"You got it." Dusty would break cover at the same time as Darmus, sliding beneath a burst of blaster fire to get behind cover. He'd peek around the metal crate, two on him, maybe three on Darmus. These guys were good, and they were playing their territory to their advantage. He had to get to high ground.

He primed a wrist rocket before activating his jump boots. Ascending, he'd aim for a metal crate near the trio on Darmus. Firing off the wrist rocket, metal shrapnel would eject from the crate, spraying some of the soliders with shards.

Landing, Dusty reached for the dc-17x and squeezed off a few rounds. Unfortunately for him, he was more of a pistolier, so with rifles he screamed 'spray n pray' energy. There was a grunt as a bolt piercing his shoulder, followed by another one bouncing off of his heavier cuirass. "Drop your weapons!" The next sweep of the rifle managed to clip a soldiers wing. Before he slid back behind cover.

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

The explosion surprised Darmus and he instinctively ducked lower. What had come over the fake Jaxon Clane to fire a wrist-rocket into crates that held various arms, Darmus might never find out, but if that first explosion hadn't killed those three men then the follow-up sure did.

Darmus' cover pushed the older human back as more crates started to explode, rifle power packs overheating in quick succession and a shockwave went through the hangar followed by a very loud 'boom'. Not even the other two soldiers were spared as the shockwave knocked them over. Immediately the hangar was bathed in bright red flashing lights and alarms blared as security doors closed to contain whatever fire hazard the security system had detected.

Before Darmus fully realized it, the hangar shielding was disengaged and air quickly started leaving the station as the automatic anti-fire procedures started to come into affect. "Jaxon! Re-breathers!" Darmus shouted amidst the chaos, unsure if his partner was still alive or if he was could even hear him, but the older ranger nevertheless took a deep breath and ran towards the ship.

'Please be unlocked, please be-' the door opened once he got close and he immediately headed for the airlock where he found four re-breathers and put one on his own face and then grabbed the remaining three before he headed back out. This was the moment that he finally allowed himself to look at the chaos that the wrist-rocket had caused. The floor and roughly a dozen crates were blackened by fire and while the sudden vacuum of air was quickly killing said fired, the carnage had threatened the survival of the entire station. "Jaxon! Anyone!?" Darmus shouted, "I have re-breathers!" he held up his left hand holding them, keeping his pistol in his right just in case the soldiers only wanted to survive over his own dead body.. but then he spotted them, climbing up from underneath some rubble, pale as a Dathomir witch and desperately waving for Darmus to come over. There wasn't any sign of their rifles.

"You seen my partner?" Darmus asked as he handed each of them a rebreather.

@Rhogar

 

[Dusty Desperado]

Could there have been a better idea? Most definitely. Did he think that the chain blast would be that massive? Not at all. But he was living it up for all of four seconds. Fire and smoke would quickly consume him and the guys he was fighting. One of the men didn't survive the blast, his friend however, did.

The blast itself was enough to throw Dusty and leave him a tad disoriented. Screams caught his attention and his visor would drift around searching for the source until he found the survivor. Currently, he was trapped by something burning, which wasn't good. And though Darmus said 'Shoot to kill', ending this mans life didn't seem right. Priming the repulsor, he would fire a charge at the debris, sending it flying off of the soldier and the burst from the repulsor was enough to fan out the immediate flames. "Come on, I gotcha." he'd say to the soldier as he hoisted him up to his feet.

In the distance he heard something about 'rebreathers'. He cursed as he detached his from his helm to give to the soldier, trying to keep him alive. Luckily his helm was sealed and would buy him some time through the smoke. The visor scanned for the door and once located, that's the direction he headed in. Perp dangling on him, Dusty went step by step to the door, forcing his way through the now diminishing flames. Luckily, they would have some evidence saved for the arrest. And as he made out the silhouettes of four men, he let out a sigh of relief. Darmus had survived and by the looks of it, the other soldiers had lost the will to fight.

"Sumrad!" Dusty would yell out. He didn't want to use the mans real name, just incase. "Sumrad! I got one with me!" He wasn't exactly excited. He knew he was going to get a thorough verbal lashing from Darmus, the one man in the Rangers he really wanted to impress. He would steele himself for the discussion to come.

@Eccles

 

[Darmus Onn]

Before the former soldiers could respond, Darmus heard the fake Jaxon yell out for 'Sumrad', which was just his real name backwards and while he had announced himself earlier, no one but his fellow ranger probably remembered it. Relieved, the older ranger visibly relaxed a bit as he directed his two captives to the hangar exit with the point of his blaster pistol. "Let's get out of this place," he told them and even though they outnumbered him they readily replied. They had probably twenty seconds before the vacuum of space claimed the entire hangar and then the rebreather couldn't save them either.

They all reached the airlock in the hallway towards the hangar and after the door closed behind them it was pumped up with hot oxygen-rich air and Darmus thankfully removed his rebreather right when Craig and three others from the station's security team stormed in with blasters drawn. "Drop your weapons! Now!" Craig shouted, visibly distressed about the burning hangar. Behind him by some twenty meters a thirty-something, somewhat chubby human ran over in a somewhat disoriented state as if he had a few drinks too many. Darmus recognized him as the Sector Ranger that held office on this station.. the one they didn't trust to inform of their mission...

"Sector Ranger!" the chubby ranger sighed as he reached them, hands on his knees as he slowly began to recognize Darmus as a fellow ranger and.. just like the old Jaxon Clane had been, a drinking buddy. "Darmus?"

Craig, now visibly confused, turned around. "You know that man's slave?"

"Slave?" the chubby ranger replied as he straightened his back and frowned in Darmus' direction. "That's Sector Ranger Darmus Onn, that is." His eyes found the fake Jaxon, but he didn't recognize him.

"Hey Shon," Darmus smiled and motioned for the former soldiers, "These guys were hired to protect an arms dealer operating from this here hangar." Shon's ears reddened, "H-here? An arms dealer?"

Sector Ranger Shon Mathers was never known for his investigative prowess. A skilled administrator and great at logistics, always able to find the credits to outfit a posse travelling through the sector.. guess now we know how he did it. Darmus couldn't quite blame him.. and heck, not like his partner for this mission was an example of the values and codes of integrity the rangers are supposed to aspire to. Shon was lucky Lieutenant Velt wasn't here. "Not much left now. Let's get these guys to the brig and take their statements."

/end thread

@Rhogar