Ask The Brothers Dolan

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

THE BROTHERS DOLAN

Dismas had been rescued from Imperial Czerka roughly two decades ago now, but for whatever reason he had never fully managed to escape the Imperial Security Bureau's Blackout Fleet. He had barely been a teen when a pirate from Hutt space had approached him in Mos Espa and handed him a holographic still of himself as a baby with Imperial Czerka's CEO. 'Remember the good guys' the pirate had grinned, flashing a half a dozen golden teeth and disappeared. Dismas remembered looking at the holographic still for hours until suddenly the communicator hidden inside started beeping. For the last decade he had told the ISB -he wasn't an idiot, he knew who was on the other line- tidbits of information on cartel activities and whenever 'anonymous' contractors were sought out for jobs against the Czerka corporation.

For some reason his usual contact had notified him that someone else would meet him at the space station on the edge of Hutt space this time. The datashard with information on where the cartel-aligned pirate ships would strike on which hyperlanes was burning a hole in his pocket, or at least that's how it felt, while Dismas sat back in a lounge chair at the third best pirate cantina on this particular spacestation. The guests were a combination of crews, but most of them were weequays from the 'Royal Haskeen' which idolated the late 'Rav Haskeen' who was the infamous pirate captain to kidnap the ISC president.

He didn't know what his new ISB contact would look like, but he knew they would be able to recognize him just fine. Probably had a file on him, too.

@Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

Jacen slid out of his TIE Hunter, removing his helmet and grabbing his jacket. He slid into the soft black leather and pulled a vape from the inner pocket. He took a drag and ran a hand through his hair. His baby blue eyes glowered at the station around him with an air of indignance it didn’t deserve, but he didn’t care. He was pissed. He’d accepted the invitation to join Blackout Fleet under the pretense he’d be flying the most dangerous missions the Empire had, instead, he’d spent the last three months being a glorified errand boy.

Dolan was instructed to be inconspicuous, so he wasn’t wearing his flight suit, instead he was dressed like any other spacer that graced this wretched Hutt affiliated shit hole. His twin blasters were hidden under his jacket in a shoulder holster. He had two vibro knives hidden on him, one sheathed on his lower back and the other strapped to his leg hidden in his boot. He carried a datapad with his contact’s information in his hand. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for Jacen to find the guy.

The longer he looked at the picture the more he felt like he knew him, but that was fucking crazy, so he pushed the idea from his mind.

Dismas. Weird fucking name, he thought as he took another drag off his pen. The guy’s surname was a bigger point of interest. Zaa Fenn. He could feel the stimulant sharpening his focus and stowed it. He wanted to be sharp, not paranoid. He rounded the corner and spotted the rendezvous location. He eyed the door man. He knew the location was friendly, but that didn’t mean he was interested in causing a scene.

Jacen relaxed. He let his uptight military persona recede and stepped into the street urchin who’d survived Juvie by cheating at cards and winning fist fights. As he started to enter the bar, the door man put an arm out, “Password.”

“Grinning Monkey Lizard.”
The doorman’s toothy grin split his lips, “Welcome,” he said, gesturing inside and stepping out of the way.

Jacen kept an eye on him as he entered. He was greeted by the spicy tang of tobacc and it made his mouth water. Fuck he missed hand rolled cigarras. He walked up to the bar skimming the crowd for his mark. The boisterous cackle of drunken weequays filled the room. They were grouped off, he’d bet they were different crews. On his way to the bar he spotted an anomaly.

Dismas. Jacen wasn’t sure why, but his lip curled as he reached the bar. “Whisky on a rock.”

Once he had his drink he headed toward his mark.

“This seat taken?” he asked, taking the aforementioned seat before the other guy could respond. Jacen took a sip of his whiskey and said, “So, Dismas, how do you wanna do this?”

To clarify he said, "You've got something I'm supposed to pick up."

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

It took about twenty minutes before someone simply showed up at his booth and sat down with the typical air of arrogance fitting Imperial officers. No doubt about that, then.. this guy was his new contact. "It is, actually-" Dismas replied and his lips curled, "-by someone that's supposed to be older. Better." He didn't work for the Imperial Security Bureau out of some deluded sense of loyalty to the Imperial principle, nor did he need the credits. His mind drifted to the holographic still of a younger Julia Hipori holding a body in her arms.

There was something about his new contact that seemed eerily familiar. The eyes were just like his father's and yet the way they looked at him reminded Dismas of how his mother looked whenever she was using her tried-through Fixer routine on smalltime local gangsters on Tatooine. There was no doubt in his mind that he was about to get swindled.

"You're kidding!?" Dismas suddenly blurted out loud enough for the crew of weequays to overhear, "You really think any dumb fool could've kidnapped president Thorne!?" he leaned back, seeming in shock as he grabbed his own Corellian whiskey from the table. The only difference with his contact's drink was that Dismas' was neat, but there was another clear difference between the two of them: Dismas could see the weequays coming towards them and the Imperial could not.

"Who claimed something so ridiculous?" the burliest one barked as he walked passed Jacen and placed two fists on their table. Dismas, always impressed by pirates, merely pointed a weak finger towards his Imperial contact. The weequay's leathery face turned to Jacen, "So you think Captain Haskeen was a dumb fool, do you?"

@Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

Jacen wasn’t impressed by Dismas’ little 'Tough Guy' act. He shrugged, “Okay whatever, I don’t care man, I’m just the delivery guy,” he spread his hands palms up, “I just want the thing so I can go.”

All of a sudden the guy across from him got a wild look in his eye. Jacen's brow furrowed. He had a feeling his mark was about to do something stupid. He leveled his index finger at Dismas like it was a loaded heavy blaster and growled, “Hey, you better get your shit together and hand over the shard.”

That’s when Dismas did something stupid. What in the fuck was this guys problem? Why couldn’t Jacen shake the feeling he knew him, and what in the FUCK was he taking about?

“What are you do— Stop. Cut it out. Dude, I’m not fu—” Jacen was cut off by the gruff accented voice of a bulky Weequay. Jacen’s expression went slack as his mind went into overdrive. He started looking for his exit and running the numbers on how badly he’d need to hurt this fucking thief when he tracked him down.

Zaa Fenn be damned, He thought as he slammed the rest of his whiskey. Then he stretched his neck from one side then the other, two clicks and quick shake and he was ready to fucking go.

Jacen hadn’t acknowledged the weequay. He was too busy glaring at fuck face across from him. “I will find you. I will get what I came here for, and whatever is about to happen here, is on you.”

The Weequay slammed his fists on the table and started to scream in Jacen’s face. The fury in his face made his lip twitch.

“I asked you a— DOW!— ARRRRRRRGGGHHH!”

Jacen was on his feet; he pulled back with his free hand and decked the big bastard square on the chin, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. His wild eyes locked on to Dismas and he lunged for him, “Get over here you little bitch!”

As he jumped a symphony of blaster fire erupted across the bar. Overhead it looked like fireworks display over Raxus on the Emperor's birthday, while shards of plaster, molten durasteel, and glass rained down around them.

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

His new Imperial contact wasn't anything like how Dismas had thought he'd be. This guy was overconfident, impulsive and kriffing reckless. Dismas would be lying if he said he wasn't going to enjoy the beatdown the agent was about to receive. It doesn't matter how good of a fighter you are, facing down an entire crew of weequay pirates is not something you come out of as the victor.

As Jacen jumped over the table to lunge at him, Dismas slid down his seat and escaped by going underneath the very same table and then out from under it in the direction of the crew of the pirate vessel 'Royal Haskeen'. By now they were already rushing over on account of their buddy getting decked and since Dismas had been the one to show shock and displeasure over the belittling statement of Captain Haskeen, they passed him by without giving him much attention.

Instead of leaving the cantina he made a direct line over to the bar and simply sat down on the bar, ordering two neat Corellian whiskies.

In the meantime the weequays would attempt to use their numerical advantage of eight to one, to drag Jacen down to the ground. If they succeeded and starting kicking him in the sides and ribs, or if they were caught up in a standing brawl for too long, eventually Dismas would interfere by motioning to the bartender to come closer, "That kid about to die-" he gestured towards Jacen and the bartender nodded, "-he's under the protection of the Zaa Fenn."

Eyes bulged and suddenly the music stopped as the bartender reached down from underneath the bar and started swinging a handheld siren. "He's protected your kriffing idiots! cartel and Zaa Fenn." Everyone knew the Zaa Fenn worked directly under the Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel, so killing one of their protectees could mean bad business for a pirate crew looking to get work from the Hutts.

@Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

Dismas was a slippery bastard and just before Jacen’s hand could snag the guy’s shirt, he slid out of the seat. The Jacen scrambled across the floor swiping at Dismas’ heels, when a blaster bolt slammed into the ground next to his left hand sending him backward for cover. He huddled against the booth they’d occupied just a moment before.

Jacen let his confusion over his current predicament fade away as he settled in the present. He glanced around the ceiling looking for the mirror-covered security cams common in these seedy establishments. Before he could find it the blaster fire slowed, then… stopped.

“Wot?” yelled a scrawny weequay on the other side of the bar. The barkeep cupped his mouth and screamed, “HE’S PROTECTED! CARTEL AND ZAA FENN!” The scrawny guy flinched, “Oh. He cleared his voice and called out to the rest of the pirates, “Pack it in, fellas. We had a misunderstanding. Can’t hear shit in these places, am I roight?”

A chorus of gruff voices replied, “Roight!” and everything promptly returned to normal. What in the fuck was happening? Jacen peeked from cover and verified that no one was paying him any mind. Even the guy he’d clobbered was staggering up. He looked over the table at Jacen and said, “Hell of a hand. Keep Haskeen’s name out of your mouth.”

“It was never in my mouth,” Dolan growled back, but the pirate didn’t care as he turned and stumbled away.

Jacen’s eyes flicked to the bar. Dick Head was over there just watching the show. The fury that rose up in Jacen Dolan was one he’d never experienced before. It wasn’t burning hot. It wasn’t explosive. It was cool, calculating. He didn’t know when or how, but he’d get Dismas Zaa Fenn back.

That was for damn sure.

“Cute trick,” said Jacen as he stepped up to the bar. The Bartender immediately started bubbling his apologies, but Jacen waved him off, “No worries, my host seems to have an interesting understanding of the word inconspicuous— The Bartender moved to pour him a whiskey, Dolan held up his hand— Apologies are not made with house whisky,” he said, eyes flicking to the selection behind the guy. He nodded, “The Dantooine single malt, please,” he then turned his attention to his mark.

“What the fuck is your problem?” he spat.

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

"You are," Dismas replied as he grabbed his own glass of Dantooine single malt and took a sip, "your predecessor let credits flow," he explained with a nod towards the pirate crews. "made them associate his face with a bribe and he became invisible to every scumbag in the Outer Rim." which wasn't just a lesson that Dismas just taught his peer, for he guessed they were both about the same age, but a way of doing things he had learned from his mother, Kara. As a Fixer it was important to pay the drinks for a guy that you might want to not remember you later in the evening, or perhaps you needed a ride from him in a quick escape. It was always better they remember you as the nice person that bought their drinks, laughed with them and shared cocked up stories about whatever infamous pirate you remembered or made up on the spot.

"You decided hitting a guy twice you size on the mouth was the best option?" Dismas raised his eyebrows and let out a snort of laughter before hiding his face behind his glass again as he downed the rest of his single malt. Kriff, the most amusing part about all this was that it reminded him of his dad's bravado in the face of danger and that was twice in as many minutes that the Imperial reminded him of the 'Devil of Denon'. "You sure you're here for a pick-up and not to join one of these crews?" He definitely had pirate-blood running through his veins.

He motioned for the bartender to refill his glass and then nodded towards the crew of the 'Royal Haskeen'; "Their drinks are on me." The bartender nodded and relayed the information when the big guy approached him wanting a bag of ice to put on his jaw. He seemed grateful and gestured a thanks towards Jacen before returning to his mates to tell them the good news.

Dismas then extended his hand, "Let's start again," he grinned, feeling like he had turned the tables and made himself the bigshot instead of the Imperial, "Name's Dismas," he paused to shake the Imperial's hand if the latter agreed to it, "of the Zaa Fenn." as always it felt important to mention the Zaa Fenn when looking him straight in the eyes. He was born with the name, but the most famous member of his family was in fact a rodian. Preef Callo had been adopted in the Zaa Fenn Crime Family and was so fast with his blaster he had become a galactic legend.

@Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

Jacen was roiling. Why did this guy get under his skin so much? He’d dealt with plenty of thugs like him before. This guy wasn’t special, he just had a hefty name attached to him. Dolan listened as he lectured on how to do his job. He didn’t point out that Dismas’ skittish nature had been the cause of the actual altercation. He just listened. He took the drink, thanked the bartender and left a substantial tip.

When Zaa Fenn turned the blame on him for the Weequy’s jaw, Jacen scoffed and leaned against the bar, taking a sip of his single malt. He wasn’t sure what this guy’s issue was. So far everything that had happened was just some show. A flex. A warning?

So, when Dismas asked to start again Jacen decided to leave their relationship right where it was, “Sounds good,” he said with an easy smile. “You can call me Sev, nice to meet you Dismas,” he said, taking the other man’s hand and meeting his stare.

“So, how would you like to proceed?”

Jacen kept his eye on the weequay he’d clocked, while he sipped his whisky. He was ready to be out of here and back to Blackout Fleet. He’d be sure to see who set this up. He suddenly found himself with a few question he needed to ask.

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

What kind of name was 'Sev'? He didn't even bother to create a proper cover identity. No doubt he thought that because it was cartel space he wouldn't need to busy himself with stuff like that and just flash a bribe whenever he was close to getting in trouble. Or, which was more likely seeing what had happened a minute ago, he'd just shoot himself out of trouble.

"I've got a message to relay," Dismas replied as he put his glass back on the bar and let his right hand disappear into his pocket, "I'm done. Tomorrow I'm leaving on an expedition into uncharted space," he pulled his hand back out of his pocket and this time he was holding a datashard which he handed to 'Sev' without any subterfuge resembling a clandestine transfer of information, "which makes this my final shard."

That explains why he didn't really care to stay unnoticed. For one this was a cartel spaceport that was mainly used as a staging area for high space piracy and it wasn't uncommon for someone to come pick up a bribe here, spend some time with the naked women in the upper echelons of the station where the lights were always red and then return to their civilian jobs and boring families. Second was that Dismas clearly expected any suspicion would've faded away by the time he'd return from his expedition, if he returned at all.

He smiled a cocky smile that wasn't that dissimilar to Sev's and grabbed his glass again, "Starting tomorrow I'm Astronavigator Dismas Dolan," he said in a self-satisfying way before taking a sip from his whiskey.

@Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

Jacen nearly spit out his whisky when Dismas said he wanted out. Dolan looked over at him, “You can’t be serious.” That wasn’t how things worked and Dismas should know that. “So, was this whole thing just a big dick swinging contest for you?”

Jacen threw back his shot and ordered another, this was gonna be a fucking night.

“C’mon Dismas, don’t ruin our fresh start with more bullshit.” said Jacen. “I mean for fucksake you couldn’t just not tell me this and then I could have played the fool.”

Now he was imple— What did he just say?

“Dolan?” he asked, disbelief flickering across his expression until he convinced himself it was just a coincidence. Right? They did kinda look a like… Dismas had darker coloring, but… No. NO! That would be absolutely insane. There was no way in the galaxy that he was standing in front of some long lost cousin or some shit. He was an orphan. His parents were dead. He was an Imperial Soldier.

“Thought your last name was Zaa Fenn?” he asked. If he was gonna lose this guy, he’d at least mine him for what information he could.

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

Dismas grinned, "Everything in the Outer Rim is a dick swinging contest," and most of that statement was perfectly true. It didn't matter who you are if you knew which buttons to press and and cheat the other guy out of something he really wanted. In a way, Dismas just obediently handing over the intel he wasn't forced to acquire, nor paid to deliver, was very uncharacteristic for his sort of people.

"My father's name is Dolan," Dismas replied in earnest as he registered the disbelief across the Imperial's face. Guess they had a file on Crix Dolan, too, which made sense considering his exploits. "Zaa Fenn is a Crymorah name," he couldn't believe he was explaining this right now, but something about the Imperial made him feel like he had to. "My mom wasn't born Zaa Fenn either, she was adopted," in fact, Dismas was the first that was born with the Zaa Fenn name since Jon Callo, and he hadn't known about it until he was about Dismas' age and a goody two-shoes Sector Ranger.

"Hard acts to follow," Dismas sighed after taking another sip, "They're the ones that found the Onderon Crown Jewels that were lost for millennia." only by making a discovery of his own, something like a legendary pirate treasure in uncharted space of the unknown regions, would he be able to climb out of their shadows somewhat.

@Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

Jacen listened intently as Dismas explained his name. The Imperial couldn’t figure out why he cared, but for some reason he just did. Crix Dolan… The name rattled around in his mind. An image flashing, but it was fuzzy and distorted by his imagination. He let it go. His parents were dead. He was an orphan. He was only worth what he could bring to the table and right now it looked like he was going to have to go back to his superiors with bad news… which never went over well.

Dismas’ anecdote about the missing royal jewels was interesting, but Jacen obviously couldn’t relate.

“That’s cool,” he said, with a shrug. Far as he could tell this mission was going to sink him. He wasn’t gonna kill this dude, not here at least. It was clear he had home field advantage, but he knew he couldn’t just let him walk out. So what in the fuck was he supposed to do? Not to mention he kept getting a sense of deja vu every time the guy spoke. It was little things, the curl of his lip, a furrow of his brow, the squint of an eye. It was like looking into a fucking mirror.

Was his drink spiked? He smelled the whisky, then looked for bubbles, smelled like whisky and didn’t have a single trace of being tampered with. Jacen rubbed his eyes with his thumb and middle finger and pulled his vape out with his free hand.

“Alright, well this was fun,” he said, pocketing the datashard. “So, what do you expect me to say when I get back, because as soon as I report you’re AWOL they’ll send someone. The Empire ain't gonna let good info go, Dismas.”

Jacen blew a plume of smoke, he couldn't fuck this job up. If it did it could derailed everything he'd worked for.

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

Dismas watched the Imperial rub his eyes and understood exactly why; he was tired. It was a long flight from Raxus to cartel space. For some reason he felt exactly what he felt, or thought he did anyway, and mellowed somewhat further still. "Sure, let them send someone over to Mos Eisley," Dismas grinned, "Ask for Preef." There was a reason Dismas only ever agreed to meet in cartel-controlled space and it was threats like these. Still, he didn't feel like he was running any sort of risks here on this station and right now. The Empire knew better than to challenge the Supreme Mogul of the Hutt Cartel after what happened last time. What was that again? Oh yeah, capture, humiliated and an entire fleet blown to pieces. Dismas was sure they weren't going to try that again soon for the third-rate intel he was sourcing.

"Or better yet, send one of those Pugio-class ships into uncharted space after me." He was bluffing now and he knew that the Imperial would know it, too. There was no way he was worth a diplomatic incident of the scale, heir to the Zaa Fenn Crime Family or not. "Or," Dismas watched how the Imperial blew out a plume of smoke, "you simply don't relay my message."

A consensus, then. Eventually he knew his course would head back towards cartel space. Maybe it was a year from now, but could as well take a decade. Once his mother retired he was sure to take up the role of Zaa Fenn Boss and the Empire would come knocking again. There weren't many certainties in life, Dismas had found, but the Imperial Security Bureau sure seemed one of them.

@Zay

 

[Cipher 7]

“Unbelievable,” muttered Jacen under his breath. At this point Dismas was just being a dick. For the third time Jacen counted the pirates littering the space and internally swore when the number came back too high for him to guarantee getting out. He was stuck. Zaa Fenn kept prattling on about what the Empire could do, and then he turned it back onto Jacen.

“Don’t say anything?” He considered that a moment. His objective had been to make contact and retrieve the shard. He’d done that. Technically, he was done. He didn’t have to care about this asshole anymore. What did care if this looney toon hopped on some ship and set off into wild space. That wasn’t his objective.

Not my circus, not my monkey, he mused.

“Deal.” he said, holding out his hand to shake, “Have fun.”

Jacen was done with this massive waste of time. He tossed some credits onto the bar, thanked the bartender and then made for the exit. Far as Jacen was concerned the next time he saw Dismas Dolan would be too soon. Unless he was stopped, Jacen would leave the bar and make for his ship. He was ready to be back with his wingmates in Blackout.

@Eccles

 

[Dismas Zaa Fenn]

Dismas grinned as he shook the Imperial's hand. He had told him this would be his last shard and baited him into a cantina brawl with some pirates without the man ever stooping to trying to kill him. If anything, Dismas could respect the Imperial's ability to restrain himself. Commendable, really. He might weirdly remind him of his father, but the Imperial proved he had none of the violent impulses that his father showed whenever he fell back into his 'Crow' persona.

"May the Imperial Principle fly defiantly for eternity," Dismas raised his glass as the Imperial walked away, making sure he was out of the cantina altogether when he added, "and never find a port."

Whatever Dismas felt for the woman that had held him as a baby instead of his mother. Whatever loyalty he felt towards Julia Hipori. It certainly did not extent to the Empire as a whole. The datashard contained information on which hyperlanes were to be raided where and by which pirates, but it wasn't a coincidence that those hyperlanes were used by Imperial Czerka's bulk cargoships. It was them, and by extension Julia, that he was protecting by giving the Empire this information.

Dismas would have another drink alone as he waited for his pick-up by the 'Kowakian' crewed by Tall Tulo's crew. It was time her returned to Tatooine.

@Zay
/end thread