Ask The Taken

[Delila Castillon]

@Xin Boa | Location : Vandor

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Snow swirled around her form as she ducked inside one of the many carved out entrances on the side of the mountain city. A frontier planet, Delila had found the building system ingenious considering the climate on Vandor. Inside the blasted out corridor, it was warmer but not by much. She shivered despite having on a thick coat and multiple layers. Heat had always been her friend - never bothered her. Cold? The older she got the more it made her joints stiff, not that a career in planetary security had been easy on the body.

It had been a long month since Adric had been taken. Brak had found himself in the hospital trying to protect the boy. Herself, Brak and Xin held a discussion if it was viable to try to find the Kid. After the attack she had gotten the registration chain code for the ship but it would only go so far. The trio was going to have to dig deep into the slave and bounty hunter trades in order to make any headwinds.

Hence why they were currently freezing their backsides off on Vandor. Word had gotten back to them about an information broker on the planet who had a great deal of knowledge about the shadier sides of the 'verse. It made her more than a little nervous to put her trust and hard earned credits on a broker they knew nothing about - no matter how recommended this person may have been. Despite it being clear from the start they weren't the targets, Delila was very aware they were a nuisance to those who had kidnapped Adric. A threat to what she assumed as a profit margin.

Arm hooked Xin's, drawing closer to the Nautolan in the busy corridor. Shops lined the sides, they were heading to an antiquities dealer that apparently housed their information broker. Delila found it odd why a frontier planet would have such a store - just made it clear that it was a front for something else in her humble opinion.

"I don't like this."

 

[Xin Boa]

"Don't like it much either," he replied.

It had been a difficult month. They had been out of their depth when getting Aldric away from the The mercenaries on a distant outpost. They had both thought they might outrun the trouble, but now it was clear the kid was worth a lot to people with a lot of power

They could have cut and run. Brak was recuperating and no one had come after tham directly. They would never have done that, not without exhausting the possibilities.

"Hence..." he rapped his knuckles on his chest. He had armour beneath his shirt and jacket. It only covered his chest and back. Armour weave layers with durasteel plates over his heart. He had a suspicion someone might try and shoot him in the back before this was done.

"You think we can offer enough to get anything out of the info chant or are we going to have to ask super nice?"

 

[Delila Castillon]

@Xin Boa

Dells' eyes narrowed as Xin rapped his knuckles across his chest. Armor plate? When did he grab some armor? How did he conveniently leave her out of the loop? It's always the ones that you love the most who always tend to betray at the most unexpected times. On the plus side she didn't have to worry about Xin too much.

"No, these past few months have really drained our credits. I'm suspecting we'll have to offer something more tangible. A job offer, cargo transport, a bounty. Who knows with these types - I have a feeling favors are more valuable, especially for what we're asking for."

They turned into the small,cramped store. It was crammed with everything possible. Eyes squinted in the dim light, trying to adjust quickly.

"Little too much taxidermy in here for my liking."

 

[Xin Boa]

Xin cast his eyes around the store slowly. His eyes, made for the depths of glee Anselm's oceans, were quite adept at picking out detail in the shadows. Nothing seemed too dangerous, but there were more than a few sensors around the room. They could have been there to monitor petty thieves or they could have been linked up to hidden autoblasters.

"They've got some of everything," he remarked. His immediate suspicion was that such rare goods were not here for collectors, but we're instead involved in criminal money laundering. Harder to track the buyers involved than in a simple transaction of credits.

A door on the far side of the store opened slowly and a twi'lek stepped through. He was well past middle age, wrinkled headtails wrapped around his shoulders. Not quite what Xin had in mind.

"The auction is at three," he said plainly, without introductions.

Great, Xin thought to himself sarcastically, he had taken them for common criminal enforcers arriving to launder some money on behalf of their masters. They were both obviously armed, he supposed.

"Wasn't here for that," Xin replied. "A less...material purchase?"

"Ah." The twi'lek beckoned them with long, boney fingers towards a different door.

 

[Delila Castillon]

"We look like low-life criminals now. Not sure how to feel about that." Delila whispered to Xin, knowing the Twi'lek could probably hear her. She didn't care.

The door they were lead to was old and carved, fitting for a place such as this. Dells supposed it was to keep up appearances - antique charm and the illusion of trading rare goods. She suspected more credit laundering and a shell organization for organized crime. What else to expect when searching for information such as theirs?

Sitting behind a massive wood desk was a middle-aged Iktotchi female. One of her curved down horns were chipped and charred at the end, as if in recent battle. Most likely old but Dells knew better than to write off the woman so easily. The Iktotchi looked incredibly bored and took in the pair as if they were backwater country bumpkins. Beneath her time and energy.

"We're looking for some information."

"Aren't we all?" Bored tone, mild annoyance.

"Information on a boy named Adric. We don't have much to go on and need his location."

"Information like that doesn't come cheap. You two don't look like you're swimming in credits."

 

[Xin Boa]

"Why wouldn't that be cheap?" Xin asked.

"Just a first name to go off, hard work that. Very expensive."

"You're lying," Xin replied. To him, his headtails gave him a slight empathic ability. The reality was different. Pushed to his limits over and over, he was more readily tapping that innate and rare talent he had always possessed.

The Iktotchi was paying attention now. The information broker looked furious. He had one hand flat to the table, but the other was curled into a tight fist.

"Do not speak to me like that. I am not some street corner urchin peddling whispers."

"I'm sorry fa bein rude," Xin replied. "But you know something already so I wanna know why it's going to cost so much."

The twi'lek grinned. "Have something for free: you two are marked. Known to a criminal sort with powerful backers. Call it a safety fee for even talking to you." His cameras had identified Xin and Dells long before they had reached his outpost.

 

[Delila Castillon]

"Safety fee? Real rich coming from this....organization..."

Delila was offended to be considered a marked, lowlife criminal. While herself and Xin had spent the better part of half-a-decade trying to build themselves as reputable criminals the observation still stung. If they had been in a better position and mood she might have considered it a compliment - a turning point from her former militaristic background.

She looked to Xin, always in lockstep with decisions. His frustration was shared, they didn't have time for games.

"You will need to infiltrate several Sith strongholds. Temples. There are several valuable artifacts and crystals I have been after for many years. None have yet to succeed."