It's Getting Darker and Darker (OPEN)

[Slacious_Crumb]

Carudyc was in the garage annexing the speeder shop, where all the bikes went for repair. She was also very frustrated. Caru hung over the seat of a speeder, aiming for a very secific angle of acess as she tried to cram her fingers into a miniscule recess in the side panel of one of the bikes. "What in the name...of Olim?"She pushed herself off the bike, and it bounced slightly in its suspended state. As she turned to grab her hydrospanner she tripped over one of the shop droids, making a fair amount of din. Her expression was shocked and apologetic as she righted the small droid, emotions one would normally reserve for an equal. "Ahhh...sorry T6"

She wandered over to the toolbox, tying the sleeves of her jumpsuit around her waist so it wouldn't slide down and end up around her ankles. She started rummaging through the tools until she found what she needed. Somehow the hydrospanner always ended up at the bottom of the toolbox, likely a droid had a setting to put it there when it ran the cleanup program in the evening. She went back and looked at the panel, it looked like it had been assembled by something with very, very small apendages. And it was frustrating.

Resuming work, she started removing the panel slowly, the hydrospanner could barely make a connection and loose the bolts from the body of the bike. Again, frustrating. But it was a problem spanning all technologies, one huge design flaw. Having adequate access to repair something. She shrugged, that was life.

 

[jimmy_moon]

Kryte suddenly turned around, as a noise erupted from the side room. He had thought the place would be deserted except for maybe Garen and some muscle in the back room.

Tentatively tip-toeing throught the display models towards the source of the disturbance, Kryte put on his interface goggles and rebreather and drew his weapon.
If things get ugly, I'd best be prepared.
Crouching behind a display model of a speeder bike, Kryte peered around the corner into the room the sound came from.
Ha, its just a chick mechanic, I'll be fine.
Kryte put away his slugthrower and yelled to the very frustrated Arkanian girl.
"Hey, is Garen here? We're looking for some ordnance."

Kryte wondered if this mechanic lady even knew what Garen used the backroom for. Not that she didn't seem sly, or did seem like a goodie-goodie, but just because she seemed so... Oblivious. To all but the bike she was working on that is.

 

[Slacious_Crumb]

Carudyc was cutting the damaged portion of the repulsorlift out. The power pack was completely fried, the chemicals inside had melted and warped the flimsy metal. "Ughhh, come onnn." She begain slicing delicately into the metal, with one hand, sliding her goggles down over her eyes with the other, lest she hit another pocket of acidic fluid. She removed it carefully, setting it in a tray, and wiping the new hole in the speeder out thoroughly so there was no liquid left to eat away any more valuable parts.

She was wiping the excess acid on her pants when someone yelled at her. She started from her kneeling position into a standing one and spun around, her girrored goggles flashing as she yelled back, "No he's not!" Pushing her goggles up with the heel of her palm, she glared at him for a second, "He's out at the moment!" she yelled again and picked up the tray, which now had about an inch of the abrasive power fluid in the bottom, surrounding the damaged power pack like some lethal moat. She lowered her tone as she set the tray down on the workbench and turned to him, "I'm not deaf you know..Would you happen to have the time?" Her voice had just gone from severely pissed off to blank curiousity in a split-second.

After washing her hand she pushed past him to get through the doorway, giving him an odd look for his appearance, he looked like he was ready to join the military or something. Maybe the navy...Corellia had a nice navy...[color=33c99]"What did you want help with again, you wanted to see Garen yes?? For what? A bike? He's not here right now, should be back in..."[/color] Here she glanced at the chrono and frowned slightly in thought, "I think he said he'd be back in 15 minutes, or he should be. I'm on break and I gotta get back to work soon, I said I'd just watch it for the hour.."

She trailed off, deciding that he wasn't interested in her work schedule and perked up slightly as she fixed him with her light blue eyes. The perkiness was more that she had just noticed him really for the first time more than anything else. "So, anything Garen can help you with I can help you with, unless you specifically need him..or something. Then I can't..cause I'm not hi-What did you say you were looking for again??"

 

[jimmy_moon]

After Kryte yelled to her he Immediately regretted it.

"No he's not! He's out at the moment! I'm not deaf you know. Would you happen to have the time?"
"Umm, sorry I didn't mean to upset you so much, and I don't have the time. Sorry."

Kryte pushed his goggles above his eyes to his forehead and loosened the rebreather as the mechanic lady talked.
There may not be any danger here, but we're going to be in some soon enough, better keep it on.

"Blasters, I want to buy blasters. Two of them, rifles. Would that be okay? Or does Garen only sell weapons in person? We... I have credits."

Kryte... didn't know what to think of this girl. She was pretty, and a speeder bike mechanic. She seemed to know what she was doing incredibly well, yet at the same time was almost a ditz. But hey, if she's a good mechanic, she'll probably be decent when working with weapons too right? And who knows maybe this chick... as odd as she may be.. was the reason Garen had such a good reputation for good weapon mods.

 

[Slacious_Crumb]

"Oh, yeah. You sure you got enough credits for Garen's blasters??" She rummaged under the counter with her hand, scaning the store and pushing a button on the control panel under the counter's surface. It would 'ding' if someone else walked into the store. She grabbed a keycard and turned, beckoning him while walking into Garen's office approaching a door in there. She pushed the card up against the door's access panel and it slid up silently. Taking a slight step down into the yellowishly lit room "Watch your step. What's your name, by the way?" She walked behind the counter and pulled out a metal locker box from somewhere behind it. She heaved it up onto the counter, the motion a bodily effort.

She knelt down to access the keypad on the side of the metal container and punched in the unlock code. The only result was a series of feeble beeps and a buzzing noise. She frowned, and, cursing it under her breath as one would an obstinate lover, keyed in the code with more force. It popped open and she looked pleased, "See, once you know this place is here, it would just be easy enough to sneak in and jack a few state-of-the-art blasters, right? Nope! I installed a system on all the keypads in this room, after the correct code is entered the keys are given a burst of heat, removes all traces of organic matter..."

She grinned sloppily and opened the crate all the way to display the weapons he had asked for. "Alright, here's what you want. Any mods in specific that you had in mind? Or you looking to purchase within a price range, what?"

 

[jimmy_moon]

As the mechanic lady gave him the grand tour, Kryte couldn't help but be impressed. Kryte followed her around diligently, taking great care never to get too close, nor to stray too far. He could tell that she was proud of her innovations, and she certainly had a right to show them off.

She must be the brains behind Garen's technology. He runs the business, she does the research; seems like a solid partnership to me. Good to know.

When they got to the counter Kryte was too excited by the sight of the locker to respond to the simple question he was asked, and could tell that she wouldn't mind showing him the guns before geting his name. As she toyed with the keypad, he looked around. Everything was obviously, brutally cutting edge. The security was air tight:cameras, motion dectectors; sensors of all sorts. And, just like the bikes in the display room, the furnishings in the office were top of the line. Not the pinnicle of luxury, but the epitome of value. It was all high-tech and subtle, carefully crafted for optimum efficiancy. Kryte approved.
After the second attempt at the keypad, the sound of the locker popping open grabbed his attention. All eyes on the weapons now.

"I think we... I mean, I want one to have a scope. But other than that, I'm just looking for a couple of solid rifles at a reasonable price. And my name's Kryte, by the way. Yours?"

 

[Imperial]

Zur-Kor waited patiently in the shadows, leaning against his single-seater Speeder several stories up from his target. He gripped his cloak around him pulling it tighter over his Armour as it began to rain. He kept his focus on the lone man smoking out the front of the garage. Zur-Kor didn't want to strike now, he would wait until both targets were out in the open before moving. Currently the younger one had entered garage while the older one waited outside.

There was something about the older merc that spiked his interest though, he looked familiar. Maybe he worked with him before, 'Yes that must be it' he thought. 'Unless I've hunted him before...'resting his mind that thought the figure below slowly, and without trying to draw attention, moved his hand to the blaster in his holster. It was a small act, but to the trained eye of Zur-Kor it meant he expected trouble. 'Was it possible he sensed me?'

Without taking his eyes off the man he slid his hand across the speeder at his side and opened a compartment. Confident no one could see him or pay him any heed, he pulled out a brand new Heavy Repeating Blaster and rested it on his hip. Even should his target chance a look up the Blaster would not be visible from ground level. Zur-Kor flicked the safety button off on the weapon and waited for them to make the next move.

 

[D.C.]

The feeling kept on nagging Bishop. He felt like someone was watching him... or... aiming at him. From all the experience he had from his pre-mercenary time and his mercenary time itself, he could recognise such feelings. He tried to spot any snipers above him but he could not see any.

"How strange..." he mumbled.

He looked over to the entrance which Kryte had used to enter the building. If Kryte would come out, it was possible both he and the young zeltron would get sniped and killed. He looked up again but saw no blasters or anything suspicious.

Where is he? he thought.

He then looked over to the entrance again and dropped his cigarette. He stepped on it with his boot and then entered the building. He figured it wasn't save outside and he had to warn Kryte.

"Kryte!?" he shouted as he stood inside the building. "Trouble!"

 

[Slacious_Crumb]

Caru lifted one out carefully, visibly babying it, and set it down on the counter in front of him. ”Nice to meet you, I’m Caru. Alright, so, this was my latest project…” She cradled it, the stock of the firearm cradled comfortably against her shoulder. She grinned and then handed it to him, ”Here, take a look at this one, it’s got two triggers. The first one is normal, just fires off your average blaster bolts. But the second one, which only works when the safety is off and the second power cell has been activated. When you pull that second trigger, the bolt just disintegrates whatever it hits, like half a round of bolts in one go. That’s why the barrel is so large, and the xciter. Also the stabilizing stock in the front holds the second power pack. Extra juice, extra gas, bigger chamber, boom!” She said excitedly, the internal process of the weapon clearly interested her far more than the actual act of killing. This was evidenced when she added absently, ”Would probably fell a Wookiee just like that…”

She took it back from him and set it back in it’s insulated niche in the case. ”You don’t look like you could handle this weapon though, both in price and power. Besides, it’s still in the prelim stages. I’ll just give you a relatively simple point and shoot, easy to operate. She pulled out a slimmer, lengthened rifle, “I’m thinking something like this for your partner, his aim’s probably better than yours. And for you….” She knelt down again and the monotonous beeping of another keypad being accessed was heard.

She stood up a moment later with a shorter rifle and passed it to him, ”I think that’ll suit you, it’s by Blastech, they’re relatively new but they aren’t too shabby. This one’s prone to overheating but if you just give it a break and switch between the power pack that’ll give you more time. Also, that’s what the ridges are for, dissipating the heat.” She turned around and grabbed a handful of power cells off the shelf.

“For gases I’ve got you running Sig with a liiiittle bit of Trauger in here. That’s mighty powerful, though, so be careful, and they‘re actually made out of dallorian, so they do the job pretty well. But watch the Trauger, you might wanna switch to just Sig after you run out of these cartridges. Something in it that just causes the worst nerve damage, and if your not careful you can hurt yourself as well as your target. So be careful not to let it overheat. And it’s got the scope on there that you wanted, both of them do…So, is that it?”

She glanced up at him as a ‘ding’ came from her back pocket and pulled out a data pad, scanning it’s screen intently. She waved at him absently, still viewing the screen, ”All in all that totals up to 650, and that’s with a discount. Wouldn’t want you fainting on the floor or anything by asking full price…”

She looked up at him, then behind him, then around him, and smiled at the Togruta who had just appeared in the doorway and nodded. ”I’m giving him a third off on the new Blastech, the Golan x-tech, and four power cells.” She nodded at Kryte then, “So, I’m assuming that’ll be hard credits then? Oh, and your friends here by the way, he looks a little distressed too..” She tossed the data pad onto the countertop and pointed to the vid screen it was displaying of Bishop standing in the store. ”Might wanna go check on him, Garen just got back too, so he’ll ring you up in the front and I’ll pack these up.”

She waved him out the back room and got a plastoid case out, arranging the rifles and power cells in the case so they wouldn’t be jostled or damaged and snapped it shut. She walked out, the case in one hand, and picked up her data pad with the other. She walked out of the room and locked it, before entering the front of the store. She set down the case next to Kryte and looked at Garen, ”I’ve gotta get back to work, but alaya, eh?” She returned the Togruta’s glare with a sweet smile as he finished up Kryte’s transaction, waiting around for him to finish, she wanted to explain some more things to the Zeltron about the weapons he had just purchased. Garen had been a slave, with a Huttese master, and so he hated it when she used Huttese when talking to him. Of course, it was all in good fun. Life was all in good fun.

 

[jimmy_moon]

As the mechanic lady--Caru, it would seem--showed him the weapons, Kryte couldn’t help but be impressed. The sheer number of indecipherable words was staggering. He didn‘t understand why she was so excited, but impressive nonetheless.
Don’t let it overheat, or I get nerve damage, load in power packs, point, shoot. Got it

Kryte looked at the data pad that Caru was showing him, noticing the state Bishop was in. He didn’t seem so much panicked as ready, expecting, coiled and ready to spring. “Bishop, I’ve got the rifles, they’re 650 altogether.” Kryte handed the rifle case containing the longer, sleeker rifle to Bishop and pushed the credits into Garen’s hand. He took his rifle and power cells out of the case and proceeded to quickly load them, pocketing the rest of the power cells. He then removed the strap, strapped the rifle across his back and said “Keep the case Garen, as a thank you.” After Garen’s reply, (“Don’t mention it”) as he handed it to Garen. He turned back towards Bishop.

“Do you think we’ll see action before we get to the hangar? I’m ready to go, you can pay me back after we get our credits.”

 

[Imperial]

Zur-Kor realized he had been compromised. Even if the man with the cigarette didn't know where he was, he knew Zur-Kor was there. That itself was enough to make things more complicated.

As the man stepped back into the building Zur-Kor set off, driving the speeder to the roof of the building he strapped the Repeater Blaster to his side and drew his twin Vibroswords slotting them into place on his back. Checking everything was in order he took a lasertorch and began cutting through the rusted roof panels of the building.

He knew the layout of these stock standard building quite well. They were built quickly, as the Republic didn't have the time or money to make sure the buildings were built properly. As such they were in a constant state of disrepair making it easy for anyone with the right know how to cut through from above and ambush those inside.

Finally cutting through the outer panel Zur-Kor lifted what remained of it and grunting with the effort revealed several power lines presumably leading to a local generator in one direction and the central power hub of Coruscant in the other. Counting under his breath Zur-Kor waited until he was sure the older merc was well inside the building, then with a percision befit for a professional engineer he cut all power to the garage, plunging the entire building in darkness (OOC: Is it nighttime?). Then as quickly as he dared he cut further into the building until he was looking down through a small opening into the garage below.
His night vision sensors activated, he could clearly see a couple of people below him confused by the sudden power cut.

Wasting no time so as to keep the element of surprise he dropped two primed thermal detonators down the small opening from a pouch on his utility belt.

"Enjoy"

 

[Slacious_Crumb]

o0(OOC: I believe it's mid afternoon...but you said small opening so I think we're all still in relative darkness)0o

Caru had just picked up her bag from where it hung off her speeder bike and slung it over her shoulder when she heard an eerie clanking noise. She froze, her head cocked to the side as she drew a pistol from her pack, switching the powerpack on just as the lights went out.

She spun in a slow circle, the three men in the room flaring into her heat-sensitive vision. She hushed them as she completed the slow spin, then looked up. There it was, a faint red glow. She raised her pistol to the pinpoint of red that was surrounded by a glow of orange. He had cut a hole in the roof??

"Heesa tonka. On the roof!!" She whispered urgently to them, not sure if they could see in the dark yet. She knew Garen couldn't, but the Zeltron had some goggles that might have nightvision. She saw two orange orbs fall from that scarlet speck in the ceiling and drew her breath in sharply as two successive clanking noises were heard.

"Thermal detonators.." she murmured, "You hear how they adhered to the speeder? Crap." She slid her goggles down, the quickly fading orange globes flashing into her vision as almost yellowish with the green filter. Her ran over to the speeder bike, staring at the flashing of the detonators. 10 seconds? 15? The lights flickered faster when they neared detonation.

She was calculating this as she quickly keyed the speeder on, pulling it out into the aisle and aiming it towards the doorway, a glowing greenish-white flare in her vision. "Hey, move!!!" she yelled at Bishop frantically.

She yanked the elastic that had been holding her hair back and wrapped it around the accelerator so that it was held on. She released the brake and let it fly at the doorway, whining from the pressure from the accelerator. It smashed half the frame on it's way out as it twisted, unused to the absence of a body in the seat. She cursed softly, spinning back around to look up at the hole in the ceiling, "Everyone alright?" she called softly, flinching as a huge boom was heard outside.

 

[D.C.]

"Don't worry about me." Bishop said. "Worry about our attacker instead. I think he's gonna receive some ugly damage from my blasters soon enough!"

His heart was beating faster but he was not very surprised or afraid. He had seen this coming.
"Kryte, I shouted 'Trouble!' upon entering. Why did you ignore my warning? Why did everyone ignore it. We could've been killed." He said very calm. He didn't sound angry at all.

He then looked up and sighed.

"Can we use a speeder?" he suddenly asked. "I mean, to get away. Don't think we'll get far by foot."

 

[jimmy_moon]

Just as the lights first went out, Kryte slipped his goggles over his eyes and powered them on. Fastening his rebreather and pulling out his Blaster Pistol, he ran and crouched behind a speeder bike.
After the thermal detonators had been dealt with by Caru, and the explosion outside, Kryte responded to Bishop's first question.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you, I was in the back room, I just saw you on Caru's datapad. And I agree. Garen, can we borrow a bike or two? We can bring them back, or pay you or give you some collateral or something. Kryte said, regaining his standing position, now eyeing the model in front of him. "I've driven a few before back on Zeltros, nothing as sophisticated as these though."

 

[Slacious_Crumb]

Caru looked at Garen as the two talked, and rose an eyebrow at the Togruta as he pulled on night vision goggles. They didn't exactly...communicate well...The light from outside, filtering in through the gaping hole in the front of the store where the speeder bike had crashed through gave her just enough light to see. "You can take one, sure, just be sure to bring it back here or to the spaceport, I'll pick it up when I'm off work. And you can give me a lift there right now. One sec."

She disappeared into Garen's office, and powered up the reserve generator. This section of the power grid was't too reliable anyways, so they always had backup in case. The lights flickered back on and she returned, pushing her goggles up and leaving a stray smear of grease on her cheek, which covered her tattoo.

"Here, this one was built for the more sturdy species. It'll handle all three of us fine. You know how to get to the spaceport or am I piloting?" She then spoke to the Zeltron specifically, "We'll discuss collateral when you drop me off, yes?"

 

[jimmy_moon]

"Sure. Kryte replied to Caru. "Let's get outta here. I'm ready when you all are."
Garen shook his head as he walked off towards his office. "You better bring that speeder back...," his voice trailed off. As Garen trudged away, Kryte holstered his pistols and hopped on the bike. Alright, since I have the coordinates from the agent, and I know how to drive this thing, well (I'm pretty sure I do at least) I'll drive."

When Kryte hopped on the bike, waves of memories came flooding back, mainly of his childhood at summertime when he'd watch the professional racers on the tracks, pulling daredevil stunts he would even dream of. Fond memories, to be sure, but not of something he'd be wanting to do now. The thermal detonators, the firefight that assuredly lay in store, that's enough action for him for the day, no crazy stunts, he'll just drive safely. Drive quickly, but safely nonetheless.

 

[Imperial]

The Zabrak was genuinely surprised by little stunt the girl pulled off. By all accounts the inside of the garage should be scrap metal. Zur-Kor didn't waste any more time reflecting on it.

As soon as he realized his surprise attack had failed he rushed over to the edge of the garage roof. He heard raised voices, followed by the sound of an engine starting up. Lowering himself down the side of the wall above the gaping hole left by the speeder Zur-Kor was perplexed by the way the people inside the garage seemingly relaxed as if the danger was over. Perhaps these mercs weren't as professional as he thought. Just seconds ago he had tried to vaporise them, he didn't get it.

The rain was falling heavily now, making his vertical climb down even harder. He activated a small remote on his wrist which sent a signal to his speeder to get into position should he need to give chase without warning.

It was time to put these people to the test. Zur-Kor swung his body from the building and landed with a thud in the middle of the gap created by the speeder. The mixture of darkness, torrential rain and the Zabraks own hulking armored figure draped in a dark swirling cloak, suddenly appearing at the only exit was intimidating to say the least. Looking up from the ground and the position he had landed in, Zur-Kor stared straight at the three figures huddled on a speeder. They had to drive straight at him if they wanted to escape but Zur-Kor didn't give them that chance.

Swinging the Heavy Repeater blaster from his waist to his hand he let forth a spray blaster bolts aimed in the direction of the speeder. After the burst he swung around to hide behind the cover of the outside wall should they fire back... He was not disappointed.

 

[D.C.]

Bishop heard something. Then saw flashes of light coming towards him. He pushed his companions off the speeder, and they fell on the ground, hard, but he saved their lives. He himself could only jump off just in time and the bolts crashed into the speeder.

"Damn!!" Bishop cursed. "Sorry, Garen. That was your speeder."

Bishop pulled out his guns and looked for cover. "Both of you!" he shouted to Kryte and the girl. "Find cover!"

He ducked behind a speeder (not a bike but one of those car things). "Kryte!" he shouted. "It's him! I already had the nagging feeling somebody was aiming on us when I was waiting outside for you. Now there he is!"

After realizing his grenade had not done it's job properly, the assassin probably decided to attack the group himself. He looked over the edge of the speeder he was hiding behind and searched the area. He had seen their attacker finding cover behind the wall and if anyone made a wrong move, he would kill them. It was a nasty situation and he was looking for a way to either strike the attacker down or fleeing. After all, the clock was ticking and Kryte and he had a job to get done. Then he looked at the speeder he was hiding behind and an idea came up in his mind.

"Kryte! Get over here! I've got an idea!"

He actually did not want the girl to come with them. He did not want her to get involved with the Hutt's business for two reasons: it could be dangerous and he did not want to share the reward.

 

[Slacious_Crumb]

She flailed as she was flung bodily from the speeder bike, tumbling to the ground. She managed to keep a grip on her blaster and her head shielded from shrapnel as she rolled into a crouch. She watched the smoke spew from the machine and then looked out the doorway. From the angle where she was, hidden behind rows of speeders bikes and almost flush to the floor, she could see the glow of the assassin? mercenary? bounty hunter?

She pulled her pistol up and felt its tug as it centered on the man outside. The rain gave the heat seeking targeting system a notable boost in accuracy. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and as she did she felt a bruise rising up on one cheek. She whistled to Kryte to catch his attention, then pointed at the speeder, which was whining almost alarmingly. Caru made a pushing movement, telling him to push it towards the door, the smoke would serve as some kind of distraction.

Keeping her eye on the man outside, and his movements-because she didn’t know if anyone else could see him-ready to alert the others if he went on the attack again.

 

[TheAccidentof1994]

OOC: Is it okay for me to RP as one of Phil's mercanaries thought to be arrested ?

Grazo kept his speed up to a safe running speed, his frequent glances over his shoulder told him the authorities had given up on catching him. With his stolen blaster in hand he ran back towards the warehouse, he had been hired to kill Murdok and get the merchandise a few cops weren't going to stop him, and with his "companions" gaoled he now had the chance to receive a much larger award. His memory served him well as he took turns and short cuts making his was back to the warehouse.

His run broke out into a sprint after he heard two large blasts close by. He decided from his combat experience that they were thermal detonators and he wasn't about to finish this mission in peices, that role had been reserved for Murdok.