Ask Tirin Up

[Aeron]

THE PROBLEM CHILD
J-21 || Imynusoph

“There it is,” said Aeron stopping the holorecording of Kazier Tirin. Kazier is the heir to Korir Tirin’s half of Ulmath’s fortune, and quite frankly, a spoiled little shit. In the paused scene, Kazier is dressed in a loincloth and surrounded by other scantily clad sycophants pining for his golden touch. In his right hand was a datapad with his family's crest stamped on the back.

“He keeps that pad with him everywhere he goes,” said The Hunter as he pressed play. The scene continued to unravel as Kazier selected a vivacious woman, and a thin young man to accompany him to his private villa on Imynusoph. The elation in their faces made Aeron sick. He never understood the concept of celebrity, but this little shit’s arrogance was his good luck.

“I have reason to believe Kazier isn’t as special as his ancestors.” It was simple math really. If Ulmath had the gift and continued to pass it down without partners to bolster it, then by the time it got to Kazier it would be nearly non-existent. Not to mention, it had come out that their precognitive abilities were connected to their planet, not innate within their species.

“If I’m right and the new heir was born with a weakened gift, then hitting him off his home planet should even the playing field,” Aeron turned his attention to his partner for the mission, NoVa.

“I figure this job can go two ways, you wanna go stealth or Rancor in the marketplace?”

Either option had its merits. Honestly, Aeron didn’t really care, he just wanted to get this done. He was in dire need of a win.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon sat in slight discomfort in the copilot seat of The Problem Child, their new comrade Aeron's starship. It definitely beat traveling by public shuttle, though it was a bit hampering to maintain the identity of NoVa aboard the cramped corners during the long journey all the way out to Imynusoph. They had tracked the mark way out to the world, where he apparently enjoyed blowing credits on expensive resorts at the edge of wild space.

Peering through their helmet, Yvon took in the words that Aeron spoke as they watched the recording. The datapad was clearly the key and Yvon absorbed every detail, particularly the family crest. The other details were fairly unimportant and quite frankly rather uncomfortable, everyone on the film as scantily clad as they were.

"That certainly makes our job easier." Yvon commented as they pulled a wire from the side of the bulky laptop slicing rig they had brought along for the job and plugged it into the recording device. Words and numbers scrolled across the screen as Yvon imported the video data, playing it back on screen and setting programs to analyze the data. "If I was a precognitive when I was at home, I would never leave." Yvon nodded as the program started to pull identity matches from the local database.

Yvon turned their seat to face Aeron, blank helmeted face staring at the bounty hunter for a moment as they thought. "Kazier is either really stupid, or really confident." Yvon warbled through the helmet speaker, cocking their head and looking up slightly as they thought about it. "Caution warrants we assume its confidence. We only get one chance at this." Yvon pointed at the datapad that Kazier always kept with him. "If the datapad will give us access to his fortune, then thats the real target. If it doesn't, then we give ourselves away by stealing it. I propose we replace it with a replica." Yvon finished, looking at Aeron expectantly for an answer.

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

Aeron scratched at the stubble on his jaw as he considered NoVa’s thoughts. The swap made the most sense to The Hunter as well. Unless there was a way to split the difference on both.

“From what I can see his arrogance is well funded,” Aeron pointed out a few high-dollar sentry droids standing statue still around the perimeter of the deck. Those droids would be a problem. His frown deepened as he considered what load-out would best suit this job.

As Kazier exited the pool, two of the beefy droids fell in behind and followed the trio out.

“I good with nice and quiet,” said Aeron as he remembered the shock boxing gloves he’d taken off a mark on Nar Shaddaa.

The Problem Child eased into Imynusoph’s atmosphere. No matter how many times he did this, Aeron always got goosebumps when his ship hit turbulence during entry. After a few short moments that felt like an eternity, the ship broke from cloud cover and the tropical world spread out before them.

With his anxiety receding, Aeron got back to business. “So, you're a slicer. You any good at fighting?”

Aeron was aware he’d not been particularly hospitable to the little slicer, but he wasn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type.

“I’ve been a Hunter for a long time. Combat’s my forte, but I can be subtle when I have to,” he added with a wolfish grin. Got to give a little to get a little in conversation right?

While they finalized their plan of attack The Problem Child would head toward their base of operations. A little single-family residence three clicks outside the opulent resort Kaiser was staying at.

“Huh, look at that,” he gestured toward the city’s center. There was a veritable rainbow of color streaming just above the cityscape as various colored lights and banners filled the view.

“Any idea what this is about?”

A festival would be an obvious draw to any wealthy spoiled brat, and knowing what the festival was could make their job a lot easier.

 

[Yvon]

Yvon continued to watch the video feed, their programs scanning for all relevant information. The presence of the sentry droids was problematic, though they could possibly be exploited if Yvon could get close enough to play with their programming.

"Nice and quiet." Yvon echoed, though their mind was elsewhere as they compiled a database of the people the target seemed to surround himself with. Lots of prostitutes. Yvon considered that as an angle for a moment before mildly shuddering in revulsion. They were actually glad that Aeron brought the conversation away from the mark and their mind off of that topic.

"Fighting? Depends on the context. I prefer not to if given the choice, but I can more than hold my own hand to hand." NoVa's voice buzzed as Yvon pondered the words they had chosen. A bit of an understatement, they were an excellent martial artist. "I'm a terrible shot though." They laughed with a staticky hiss, another understatement. They had never shot a blaster in their life.

Yvon nodded to Aeron's comment about being subtle. Subtlety was Yvon's preference. The more hands off the better. If not...

A small case was produced from besides their chair, which Yvon opened to reveal two rows of deadly sharp throwing knives. "Don't need to be a good shot with these though." They said before closing the case again. Maybe a mishandling of words. Technically throwing a blade wasn't shooting.

Yvon glanced over the console as they descended, looking to see what Aeron was indicating. "One moment." NoVa buzzed as they began to type, pulling up information on the festival, eyes scanning the screen. "It appears to be some sort of festival of the arts. A rather large one. Music, dancing, opera. Seems to be a week long event. Huh." Yvon cocked their head at the new information, trying to piece together how this could fit into the plan. "I wonder if Kazier is a patron of the arts, or if this is just a coincidence?"

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

Aeron’s eyebrow cocked as if to ask, “Are you shitting me?” as he looked down at the blades NoVa had produced. The Hunter had knives hidden all over his person, but that didn’t mean he was going to favor one in a shoot-out.

The only response he managed to make was, “Huh.”

Then luckily for him, NoVa pulled up the info on the festival.

“You think it’s like Jabbapolooza?” Aeron asked. He’d had a terrible experience with inebriated crowds and wasn’t looking forward to having to deal with an entire city caught up in the revelry of the arts.

Aeron’s eyes shifted from the holovid to the colorful flying banners just outside the window of his ship and back again. There were similar banners hung in the holovid, granted the blue monochromatic hues of his shitty holoprojector made fine details like this harder to spot, but the banner was there nonetheless.

The Hunter stopped the video and zoomed in on the banner, “I’d say he’s a patron.”

The same crest emblazoned on the back of Kazier’s datapad was front and center on the banner. This made things interesting.

“This might make our lives easier—” he was cut off as his navigation system identified their base of ops for the mission. Aeron adjusted The Problem Child’s course and made for a series of rundown apartment buildings just south of the opulent resort. The area was known as The Scab, and it’s reputation was as unsettling as it’s name, but that didn’t matter much to Aeron. He was a Rancor in a bantha pin.

“Home sweet, home,” he announced with false vigor as he landed his ship behind their building. If there was any benefit to being a fringe hunter it was the seedy connections he’d made along the outer rim. A grizzled Ardinnian missing an arm and an eye sat with one leg draped over the other while sucking greedily on a cigar. The Hunter made his way down the boarding ramp, as the Ardinnian stood.

“Took you long enough, Mathis,” he spat stretching his remaining appendages.

“New guy slowed me down,” Aeron lied. They’d run into a little trouble coming off the Hydian Way, his transponder was expired and he’d put the five thousand fronted to him by Mira into general maintenance. It had all worked out, but they’d been forced to take the long way.

The Hunter flashed a teasing grin in NoVa’s direction, but it was impossible to read the little thing’s expression with its helmet on. “Where we headed Benny?” asked The Hunter.

Benny shuffled along just a head calling back over his shoulder, “Into the breech, Mathis… Into the breach.”

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon was oblivious to the awkwardness, instead zoning in on the logo that marked the festival. Identical. A quick search found them the answer.

"Looks like our guy is a sponsor of the festival. Big money contribution." Yvon buzzed. In some ways that created more questions than answers, but most of the questions were irrelevant to their purpose on Imynusoph. That being to rob the guy blind. The festival opened up a whole new window of opportunities.

Yvon started to pack up their slicing rig as Aeron brought them in to land. They followed the grizzled hunter down the boarding ramp, carrying several bags and cases of "stuff" awkwardly. They frowned underneath the helmet as the hunter threw them under the bus to... whoever the little Ardinnian was.

"Who's this guy?" Yvon asked in response to the hunter's grin. They weren't quite certain what the grin was for. Was Yvon supposed to be happy about being called slow? Was it meant as some sort of joke? Yvon tensed up slightly at the whole exchange, their anxiety invisible except to a keen eye, their body further shrouded from perception by the multiple layers they wore.

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

"Who's this guy?" buzzed NoVa. Aeron could’ve sworn there was a tinge of annoyance in the slicer’s tone, before he could keep poking at them, Benny answered their question.

“I’m a professional middleman,” he said limping over and offering to take a bag for NoVa, “Need a hand?”

Aeron felt generous and decided to elaborate, “Benny runs a chain of safe houses across the outer rim. He provides discrete support for freelancers, like us. Don’t panic, I’ve already paid him.”

Without looking back Aeron shouldered his pack and made for the entrance. When he was out of earshot Benny turned to NoVa and said, “Listen, I’m only going to say this once, but be careful around that guy.”

Without waiting for a reply Benny limped toward the building taking with him whatever burden NoVa gave him.

The safe house was spacious and equipped with the basic necessities. Aeron took a room on the east corner leaving two others open for NoVa to choose from. The living room was empty aside from a single sofa, a large wall monitor, and a slicing station. Benny was just getting ready to leave when Aeron asked, “You know anything about this festival?”

Benny replied, “Everything I know has a price.”
Aeron rolled his eyes, “I think I’ve paid you enough.”
“Sorry, different businesses, same Ardinnian,” shrugged Benny.
The Hunter kissed his teeth indignantly, “Fine, invoice me.”
“The festival is a cover for a huge fuel smuggling auction. Some pompous ass named Kaizer Tirin has been running the thing for the last five years.”

Aeron’s brow was cocked as he considered the information. Fuel was a hot commodity in a galaxy at war and that explained how the Korir’s heir had maintained the family fortune. This information changed things. This was the kind of money people killed for. Aeron’s eyes shifted to NoVa. Suddenly, Aeron wasn’t sure how much he trusted the slicer…

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon considered the Ardinnian for a moment as they offered to lighten their load. They thought about it for a moment before handing over one of their cases, the one containing their clothes and therefore the least important. Far less important than the rest of their gear.

Aeron continued Benny's explanation, trying to set Yvon at ease. The fact that Aeron had already paid the man meant that the only thing keeping them safe was the Ardinnian's honor. Something that was in short supply, especially this far out in the rim. While Yvon was far from panicking, the new information didn't exactly set them at ease and their eyes only narrowed even more in suspicion as Benny whispered a bit of info to the slicer.

"I'll keep it in mind." Yvon nodded, their scrambler buzzing their voice and making them thankful for the disguise. The last thing they wanted right now was for the either of the men to know their true identity. Benny made his living off the trade of information. The fact that it was given freely in that moment did nothing to reassure Yvon.

They entered the safe house and Yvon was quick to take in the place. Sparse living room with a sofa, monitor, and to their surprise a slicing station. They checked the other two rooms while Aeron and Benny chatted, settling on the one furthest from the entrance, with a window that would allow quick escape if necessary.

They returned to the room and began to examine the slicing station, ducking behind it and following cords, checking out the various parts and cataloguing the machines specs in their head. More powerful than their mobile, but unknown, untrusted. They weren't about to commit to using an unknown machine without giving it a full work over and security overhaul. "This come with the room, or cost extra?" Yvon suddenly turned and asked the Ardinnian.

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

“This come with the room or cost extra?”

Benny looked over to NoVa trying to figure out what they were talking about. The Ardinnian shrugged realizing they were referring to the rig. “Comes with the room. Aeron sprung for a suite.”

“I was hoping the “additional support” mentioned in the room description was explosives, not a damn computer,” grumbled Aeron. He made his way back into the main room where NoVa was.

Benny limped up behind, “Well, that’s the grand tour. Aeron knows the checkout protocol. I’ll be on the planet for a day or so, but I’m getting out before the main event.”

Aeron piped up, “What’s that?”
“That's when they burn the bantha.”
“Come again?”
“They burn the bantha,” repeated Benny.
“Uh-huh. Like, alive?” asked Aeron.
“What?”
“WHAT!?”
“N-no dude, it’s a wood carving. They burn a wooden bantha.”
“Why?”
“Because the festival is called Burning Bantha!”
“Huh. That's stupid.”
“I hate you.”

Benny waved to NoVa, he'd answer any other question before leaving.

The whole time Benny was talking Aeron was deciding what he was going to do. He had his gun on his hip. He was about ten feet from NoVa, and he had the drop on him. It would be so easy to just drop them now and get on with the job his way, but in the back of his mind he knew he couldn't. Not yet at least.

"You hear what Benny said about Kazire?" asked Aeron. He'd fill NoVa in making sure they both had all the information. Better to keep your enemies close or whatever.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon nodded as Benny gave them the answer they needed. Wouldn't cost them any extra to use the computer suite... after they thoroughly purged the electronics of anything malicious that might be lying in wait. Yvon turned their attention back to the device, starting to power it up as Aeron and Benny bantered in the background. Something about burning a bantha.

Yvon waved off Benny, satisfied with what they knew and more than eager for the Ardinnian to leave. Yvon watched Aeron in the reflection of the monitor, weighing Benny's words as they watched the hunter.

"Hm. No, what did Benny say about Kazire?" Yvon asked. And what did Benny say about you, Aeron. The thought was left unsaid. They cocked their head for a moment before voicing an opinion. "Do you trust this Benny? I'm not sure I do."

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

Aeron sighed, he hated repeating shit, but it didn’t make sense to work with someone if they were at a disadvantage. He’d made the choice to give the Slicer a chance, but when the Slicer betrayed him, he’d be ready to show the creepy little thing why you didn’t bring a knife to a blaster fight.

Aeron sucked his teeth, then said, “Kazier is a bigwig at the festival here called Burning Bantha. Apparently, he’s been running it for the past few years and using it as a front for an illicit fuel auction. One that’s happening, soon.”

The implication of the amount of money was laid bare between them. Aeron couldn't tell how the information registered with NoVa because of the freaking helmet, but he could tell they weren't stupid.

“Do you trust Benny?” asked NoVa, and Aeron took a moment to consider the question.

No, Aeron didn’t really trust anyone. It wasn’t something he could do anymore. His life was one betrayal after the next and it had taught him that trusting someone was the first step to being on the wrong end of a long line of bullshit. In his mind, sentient beings were nothing but selfish trash. They hated, coveted, and lied to one another for superficial gain that always equated to pain and or ruin for their adversary. How could one find trust in a being capable of any of those things?

“Nah,” he said with a derisive chuckle. “He’s got a rep for being solid, but who knows? We’re criminals, right?”

Aeron stretched, he was beat. The fly in he’d barely slept. Didn’t like having another person on his ship, felt like a stranger invading his space, but the job demanded it.

"I'm gonna hit the streets tomorrow see what I can drum up. We don't have a ton of time, but I think we can use this festival tour advantage. What's your plan?"

Aeron wasn't sure what NoVa was going to do, but he hoped they would make good use of the console, shit had been expensive as hell.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon paused for a moment as Aeron explained about the festival, and how it was just a cover for a black market fuel auction. That information... Well it changed a lot of things. Yvon didn't blame Aeron for his obvious hesitation to divulge that info. Aeron didn't linger on it though, answering their question about the Ardinnian and throwing his plans for the next day on the table.

"I'm going to tinker with this thing tonight until I'm satisfied its good, then I'm going to dive into the local net and see what I can... What did you say? Drum up." Yvon chuckled with a hissing of static through their helmet before continuing. "I'll probably also give this place a good scrub. Its filthy." They weren't talking about cleaning. Yvon was pretty sure Aeron was smart enough to know that meant searching for bugs, cameras, listening devices, and anything else that might have been planted to spy on the two operators.

Yvon would turn their attention back to the slicer rig at that point for a moment, deep in thought about the new details of the job. The current job, split two ways was a pretty decent take. Split one way it would be better. The fuel auction... Even if they split it two ways they would both be rich. Of course there were plenty out there that would kill for the full sum. But in Yvon's math, murder didn't make sense when there was enough to go around.

"Aeron." Yvon started just as the hunter began to head to his room. They looked over their shoulder at the man, studying him for a moment before asking the question of the hour. "Wanna get rich with me?"

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

“Yeah, drum up,” Aeron confirmed. He cocked an eyebrow at the mention of cleaning adding, “Have fun with that,” as of he wasn’t about to close the door to his room and do the exact same thing in there. NoVa was proving to be thorough, and Aeron appreciated that.

The Hunter turned to go a second time when he heard that crackly mechanical voice again, “Huh?”

“Wanna get rich with me?”

Aeron’s face screwed up into one of his patented frowns. There was an innocence to the question he hadn’t expected. Up until this point it had been nearly impossible to read or guess what the Slicer was saying. He liked the idea of working together a lot more than doing this alone. This job had tripled in size and if he was totally honest he wouldn’t be able to pull it off alone.

“That’s the plan,” he responded. There was a hint of a smile coloring his expression as he turned and finally exited the main room.

▣▣▣​

Aeron pulled the speeder he’d stolen into a parking spot on the top level of a closed-down parking deck. The deck overlooked the VIP section of Burning Bantha. He lifted a pair of macrobinoculars to his eyes and scanned the closest boxes. He knew Kaizer wouldn’t be here. These boxes were for the chaff, not the real VIP’s. He kept scanning along the perimeter looking for a quiet way in, but he wasn’t coming up with anything. This was the third viewpoint he’d been too this morning and he was starting to get pissed. Hopefully, NoVa was having better luck.

Just as he was getting ready to leave a delivery speeder truck rounded the corner and chugged down the avenue. It wasn’t strange to see them in a city, but this street had been pretty much completely avoided by local traffic the whole time he’d been here. The side of the truck read: Sylco food products. It came to a stop in front of a guarded entrance. A moment later the truck was waved through. An idea started to take shape...

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

Yvon watched Aeron's reaction to their question carefully through the visor of their helmet. An initial look of confusion, followed what might almost be a smile as he spoke. Perhaps the bounty hunter actually could smile. Yvon left it at that as Aeron left the room, turning back to the slicing rig provided by Benny, splaying their fingers together to stretch the digits out and crack their knuckles. Yvon had work to do.

-----​

The smell of caf permeated the room, a second pot brewing in the kitchen. The last of the first pot was in a mug on the desk growing stale next to NoVa's helmet. Yvon lay under the slicing rig, digging around with a pair of plyers inside the casing. They had finished sweeping the room for bugs earlier. An assortment of crushed electronics littered the bottom of the kitchen trash compacter, a live one kept isolated in a soundproof box. Yvon grunted for a moment before prying something free from under the computer. They looked at the sparking electronic held in the pliers as they navigated out from under the table.

A slave circuit with a holonet connection by the looks of it. A myriad of uses for such a device, all of which were beyond suspicious to the slicer as they finally sat down at the rig, holding the circuit close between pliers as they spied for any markings that might betray the owner or maker of the device.

"What do you do?" Yvon mused to themselves as they set it down and fired up the slicing rig for a second time. It didn't take long for the screen to display an error as the machine pretended the slave circuit was a vital component. "Bullshit" Yvon muttered to the machine as they bypassed the error. Quickly rewriting the section of database that the circuit had been rooted into. The machine was clean... Now. Yvon was satisfied. They took a sip of cold caf before frowning. It was time for a new cup

-----​

The slave circuit lay to the side, stripped down to its bare components. The dissected machine had bore some fruit, but nothing majorly important as Yvon focused on the Job. The original score was decent, after their employers cut was removed and the remainder split two ways. Decent enough to still pursue. Their bonus pay was up to them however and a hefty pile had shown its way to the table through happenstance. They would still need Kazier's datapad to get to the pile, making the initial job still a priority.

Yvon had spent their time researching the festival, digging for records of the illegal auctions that underlay the event. The first stretch of the night had been spent gaining access to databases, flight records, freight manifests, transponder pings. Smuggled activities would likely be hidden, but evidence would always remain. Evidence that algorithms charted out as they cross referenced database information, compiling matches, flagging discrepancies.

That was where Yvon started first as they narrowed down fuel container ships whose manifests had been, altered, deleted or never recorded, whose make and model didn't match the weight profile they had on landing. Whatever ghost cargo they carried was far heavier than whatever various bullshit they had come up with, or just flat out nothing. Shell companies traced, names dredged up. By morning Yvon had a solid list of names to investigate.

-----​

Yvon's alarm buzzed for the tenth time and they finally opened their eyes. The unfamiliar room gave them a start and they bolted upright before remembering. The job, the all nighter. Finally taking their sleep as the sunlight had started to creep through the cracks of the window. They glanced at the door to the room, still locked and shut. They relaxed a bit, yawning before gaining their feet.

They left their room once they were certain Aeron was gone. The maintenance of a secret identity was a pain in the ass and they were glad to just be able to shuffle around in just a robe, bare faced. Stale caf was dumped down the drain and a fresh pot started before they sat down once more at the computer. A few keystrokes got them Aeron's comlink and a call started, audio only. The comlink would buzz in Aeron's pocket, the contact listed as NV when he looked at the screen.

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

NoVa wasn’t the only one who could look up stuff on a console. Aeron was sitting at a local library Spoogling Sylco foods. Their website was generic. Tag lines about quality with cheesy smiling faces plastered all over. It was weird as hell. However, putting a little more brain power behind his search he decided to check and see if Sylco had been in any local drama.

Aeron clucked his tongue as he scrolled through various bad reviews and unreasonable customer complaints, but he wasn’t seeing anything worth reading until— “There we go”— “Shhh!”

The Bounty Hunter’s glower met the stern gaze of a librarian with the tightest bun he’d ever seen. Aeron decided to let her win this fight. He bobbed his head in apologetic acknowledgment and then returned to his search. From what he could tell, Sylco was just an average food provider. He sat back in the chair crossed his arms and cupped his chin in his natural hand. He was starting to think this was a dead end when he saw a headline that caught his eye.

SYLCO FOOD PRODUCTS NEW CEO KAIZER TIRIN​

Now that was interesting. The headline had come from a local news source and was published a year ago. Aeron wrote down the name of the reporter and the address of the News building. He printed the article and grabbed a taxi abandoning the stolen speeder in the library parking deck. The article, written by Atticus Byers, challenged Kaizer to be better than a slew of new off-planet business owners. Imynusoph wasn’t as crowded as the beautiful water world should have been, but recently with the threat of war always on the horizon and the growing popularity of Burning Batha it had seen a dramatic uptick in off-planet entrepreneurial pursuits.

Apparently, Sylco was founded on Imynusoph and Kaizer bought out the original owner for a pittance. The article eludes to foul play but never gets up its nerve to actually make the accusation. Aeron sighed, this job was already proving to be a pain in the ass. He hoped it wasn’t going to come with an elaborate plan full of near-impossible intricacies that would inevitably put him in harm's way a majority of the time. The taxi began to descend. Aeron stepped out.

The highrise was big, but nothing out of the ordinary. It felt middle class like the News firm was all about telling the truth to the little guy. If only… Media had become the easiest way to exploit a populace. It was everywhere. Across every system. In every sector. On every planet. He hoped the Imynusoph Post wasn’t a part of the problem, but he wasn’t getting his hopes up.

Just as he started to walk into the building his com buzzed. He looked down and frowned at the contact name: NV. Recognition came a moment later as he realized it was NoVa. He made a mental note to change the contact name to CLT then accepted the call.

“Yo, you good?” Aeron asked. The worst was always where his mind went.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

The line rang a few times, in that time Yvon was setting up an encryption sequence. When Aeron answered, his question one of concern, Yvon hummed for a moment before answering.

"All good here. Give me a moment..." Aeron might hear the clacking of keys in the background while Yvon spoke. "Aaand... there, this line is encrypted." They said, satisfied that they could speak freely. Yvon stopped, realizing that they weren't wearing their helmet and their voice was unfiltered over the line. A voice wasn't a face though. Still their face twisted for a moment at their mistake.

"Calling for a status update. I spent the night digging." They cut the chatter and got down to business. "I have a list of names, the likely participants in the fuel auction. Kazier of course is right at the top. I'm sending them to you now." Yvon had compiled a list of names, businesses, landing bays, starships, freight manifests, etcetera. all neatly organized. A keystroke started the file transfer to Aeron's comlink.

"Sylco Foods in particular has been getting regular shipments the last month that are way overweight for food supplies. I suspect that Kazier is the main supplier of fuel for the auction, which means he stands to make a lot of money..." Yvon trailed off for a moment as they thought about it. "Which means we stand to make a lot of money." A grin spread on their face that could almost certainly be heard over the line.

"I don't have any numbers yet for the pull we're looking at... Oh. What have you found?" Yvon finally got around to asking Aeron what he found on his end. They figured the hunter hadn't just been out sightseeing all morning.

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

Aeron stifled a small sigh of relief as NoVa confirmed they were good. “[Uh, alright,” he said stepping off to the side of the street. The Slicer encrypted their comm line and The Hunter was glad they weren’t on video as a surprised eyebrow arched toward the sky.

“In real time?” he asked.

Aeron got it together and fell back into his professional facade. “Right now, it looks like there’s a food company at the center of this,” he started as NoVa corroborated his findings. They sent over the list and while they spoke, once it was downloaded, Aeron scanned it for names he might have seen while digging on his end.

“Yeah, I’m looking into Sylco right now myself. Found an article published the day Kaizer became CEO of the company.” Aeron forwarded the article to NoVa. “I’m about to have a meeting with the reporter, see if I can glean anything from them. I’ll touch base if I find anything.”

Aeron would wait for NoVa’s response and answer in kind before closing the line. The Hunter slipped his com back into his pocket and climbed the stairs into the main entrance of The Post. He walked up to the main desk and said, “Hi, I was hoping to speak with Atticus Byers?”

The secretary cocked her head to the side and her face scrunched up like forming a thought was painful. Aeron frowned, honestly a little weirded out by this person. “Do you have an appointment?”

Aeron kissed his teeth. Of course, she wouldn’t just let him through, what in the hell had he been thinking? It was too late to back out now, he had to think fast or she was going to call security. The Hunter panicked, He wretched into his jacket pocket and flipped out his old Bounty Hunter’s Guild ID. He flashed it just long enough to know what it was, but quick enough to hide that it was expired.

“I’d like to speak with Atticus Byers, please.”

Fear literally rippled across her expression and that's when he realized she was a Clawdite. Great now he felt bad for being creeped out by her earlier… he was such a dick sometimes… oh well. Her tongue and lips couldn’t spit the information fast enough and he had to ask her a few times.

Finally, she blurted, “Floor 107, second office to the right!”

Aeron stepped into the elevator and punched the floor. He stood in the center of the lift hands crossed in front of him while chill lo-fi soothed his frayed nerves. Then, as soon as he stepped off the elevator, all hell broke loose.

Blaster fire erupted from his right sending him lunging for cover while the other sentients in the office space went nuts. A cacophony of screaming, crying, and panic engulfed him as the workers on this level started to stampede. Aeron looked around for Atticus’ office. The Hunter dropped his shoulder into the oncoming panic and pushed his way through.

Just before he reached Atticus’ office someone slipped out the door, “Hey, you! Stop!” barked Aeron as loudly as he could over the noise. They didn’t stop though. He redoubled his efforts getting a little more physical with people until finally, they started to make way for him.

“Stop!” he yelled, but his target just kept heading toward the back of the office. What in the hell? Then he saw it. The emergency exit. The panic had sent everyone into muscle memory. They wanted to leave the way they came. Aeron knew he was onto something. He broke into a run. The being he was chasing glanced back saw him and took off.

They burst through the emergency stairs and slammed the door in Aeron’s face he drove his shoulder into it once, twice, three times and it gave in. He slid to a halt in the stairway trying to determine where his target went. Footfalls echoed off the walls making it hard to tell up or down, he leaned over the railing and looked down, a blaster bolt flew past his ear from behind and he whipped around just in time to see a slender female human slip back over the railing two floors up. He charged up the stairs, pulling his blaster and setting it to stun.

“I know you can hear me! Stop running!” he barked!
“No thanks asshole!” she replied firing off two shots. Aeron flinched as sparks splashed against the side of his face.
“How am I the asshole!?” he yelled back taking the stairs two at a time. Just before he rounded the corner he saw a shadow and slid to a stop. Blaster fire shot past his face leaving the smell of burnt ozone in it’s wake.
"Stop shooting at me!”
“Why to make it easier to catch, then kill me?!”
“I’m not trying to FUCKING kill you!”
“That’s exactly what a killer WOULD SAY!”

Shit. She had a point.

“Okay, tell you what. I’ll slide my gun around the corner. How’s that?”
Silence. Aeron was just about to start talking when she said, “O-Okay, slide it around.”

Aeron did as he said he would. Granted, he had more than one gun, but that wasn’t the point right now.

“Alright, I’m unarmed,” he lied as he pulled his stun gun from it’s holster on his back.
“Come around the corner with your hands up!” she yelled. He didn’t move, instead, Aeron called back, “Nah, I’m not trying to get shot.”
“I guess we’re at a bit of an impasse then, huh?”
“Mmmm,” he grumbled. “Are you Atticus?”
“No, that's my dad and he’s missing.”
Aeron saw an opening, “I’ve been hired to find him.”
“R-really?”
The Hunter pulled his old Hunter’s guild badge out again, “I’m gonna show you my badge, don’t shoot me.”
“O-okay.”
He eased his hand around the corner. Conveniently covering the expiration date.
“A Bounty Hunter?”
“That’s right, I’m guessing your dad was about to break another story, huh?”
“Yeah, about some food company affiliated with Burning Bantha.”

That checked out. Aeron needed to know what Atticus knew. He had a feeling the journalist would have information that made this job a lot easier. Carefully, he stepped around the corner, holstering his stun gun.
“You had another gun!?”
“Uh yeah, what you think I’m gonna trust a stranger with my life?”
“Are,” she started, emotion threatening to overtake her mask of courage, “Are you gonna find my dad?”

Aeron realized she couldn’t be more than sixteen. “I’m gonna do my best, but I’ll need your help.”
She seemed to consider that. Still not totally sure she trusted him. Good. She was smarter than most.
“Okay, my name’s Riley.”
“I’m Aeron, Riley, can you tell me what happened back at your dad’s office?”
“You didn’t see them?”
“See who?”
“The guy who tried to kill me.”
“What?”
“Yeah, he came out of nowhere took two shots at me then bolted. I followed grabbing my dad’s hidden blaster from under his desk.”
“Did the attacker come this way?”
“Yeah, I lost them when you started chasing me though.”

Crud. Aeron scratched at the scruff of his beard as he thought. “Alright, come with me. You’re a target now. We need to see what your dad was working on.”

"My dad's console was fried..." her face screwed up as if in deep thought. "Oh! He keeps backups at his apartment!"

Riley agreed to take Aeron to her dad's place. Outside of the apartment building, he pulled out his com.

“I’m gonna make a quick call, be right up.”

Riley didn't move.

"Alright, you wait here and I'll just step over this way..."

Aeron punched in NoVa’s frequency once the slicer answered, he’d say, “Encrypt this quick you’re not gonna believe this shit.”

The Hunter would give NoVa a full brief on what happened at The Post and let them know what he planned on doing. Right now, Atticus was Aeron’s priority. The journalist was deeply connected to all of this and if he had to make an educated guess he assumed Atticus had stumbled upon Kazier’s real reason for buying out Sylco. If that was the case, then finding Atticus meant finding the fuel.

@Arcangel

Spoiler: .

Sorry. lol

 

[Yvon]

Yvon spent the rest of the afternoon looking into the other shell companies that they had identified until their com rang again. A quick confirmation showed that it was their partner. They let it ring three times before answering, just to keep things interesting.

"We've been encrypted since last time." Yvon suppressed an eyeroll as Aeron started into their story. The information he had put together in the short time since they had last spoke was very interesting. Of course it wasn't too much of a surprise that locals were getting caught in the metaphorical crossfire of Kazier's operation on Imynusoph, moving that much materials and money was sure to catch someones attention.

"Good find. I'll look into the journalist's disappearance. Maybe I can find a location." They said after thinking for a moment. The Journalist was deeply connected to it all, and the city wasn't exactly a big place. It was highly likely that the abducted man and the fuel were being kept nearby. Not that they needed the fuel, just the money that came from it.

Yvon let Aeron go and set to work, digging into the journalist and his various articles as well as his disappearance. There was relatively little to find on the latter, almost as if he had dropped off the map. Not much of a surprise, with deep enough pockets it was a fairly simple thing to make someone just "vanish".

Pivoting of that, Yvon started to analyze the Sylco shipments, paying particular attention to buildings and warehouses owned by the company and its various subsidiaries. Large warehouses near the spaceport acquired shortly after the buyout seemed the likely place for the fuel, but again, the credits that would come from the sale was the target. After a bit of digging, Yvon managed to find a small "office building" located near the resort where Kazier spent most of his time on world. The building prints they pulled from engineering archives however made the building look more like a secure bunker and holding facility.

"I think I've found something." Yvon would tell Aeron after the bounty hunter answered his comlink. "A possible secure facility near the resort. Worth checking out. I'm sending you the coordinates, I'll meet you there." Yvon finished before getting up to dress in their operations armor. Identity safely secure, razor sharp blades stowed in sheathes all over, and slicing gear packed away in the various pockets they belonged in, Yvon set out for the walk to the facility.

@Zay

 

[Aeron]

“Oh, word? So, we’re encrypted forever? Huh,” he said dumbly. Slicing was way out of his scope. Aeron was more of a hands-on kinda guy. He could feel Riley glaring at the back of his head while she waited. The weight of her anxiety was actually starting to rub off on Aeron. He was getting soft…

“Sounds good. I’m walking up to Atticus’ apartment now. I’ll wait there until you call,” Aeron had a feeling things were going to get more complicated the deeper they involved themselves in this mess. He glanced back over to Riley. He hoped she wouldn’t be a casualty in all of this, but based on his track record her luck didn’t look great.

Aeron hung up the comlink and stowed it. Riley groaned with relief waving him toward the door. He trotted off after her as she ran for the building. Outta the frying pan and into the fryer, right?

The building was nice, but not luxurious. The girl knew the security guard and he waved her through. Aeron nodded, and the guard eyed him with the appropriate amount of suspicion, The Hunter knew how he looked, but for just a moment he thought he saw the man’s visage shimmer or ripple, but he shook it off. They made it to the elevator and Reily punched the button for the one-hundredth level. The lift began to rise and ancient jizz softly played through the speakers. Aeron cleared his throat. Riley popped a piece of gum into her mouth, blew a bubble then popped it.

The lift slowed and opened on the 100th floor. Riley stepped off the elevator, anxiety freshly renewed as she hurridly lead the way to her father’s door. Aeron’s professional paranoia screamed as they moved down the hall. When they got there Riley froze. Aeron peered over her shoulder and spotted what had stopped her.

Atticus Byer’s door was unlocked.

“My dad never leaves the door unlocked,” said Riley in a small voice. Aeron put a hand on her shoulder as he stepped in front of her with his weapon at the ready and entered the apartment. The door hissed back, like a magician pulled the cloth off a table. Aeron moved in low, sticking to the left wall and sweeping clockwise. The entryway into the apartment was a straight shot. If someone had been on the other side of that door he’d be dead already. He kept his back to the wall as he moved through the space, checking each room.

The place was ransacked. Furniture, clothing, foodstuff, and papers were scatted all over. Whoever broke in was obviously looking for something in a hurry. He paused as he came to the final room. The door had a keypad on it, but it too was unlocked. This was an old-school door. Still had fucking hinges. He carefully pulled down the latch and pushed the door inward taking cover around the corner. Nothing.

Aeron eased around the corner and found more of the same. That is except for a desk and console. The console of course was already fried. Aeron hoped whatever they needed wasn’t on that stupid thing. That’s when he realized he was standing in Atticus’ office.

“Alright Riley, you can come in. It’s clear.”
The young girl made her way into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind her. “Is—is my dad—”
“He’s not here,” a small glimmer of hope flashed across her face, “Can you tell me where your father’s backups are? The sooner we find them, the sooner I’ll be able to find your dad.”

Riley hesitated, “Okay.”

She stepped up to her father’s desk. Upon closer inspection, Aeron was surprised by the quality of the piece. It was primarily black, but it’s seams and legs were etched with gold. Depictions of Wookie warriors battling Anakkoa’s adorned the empty space of the desk. Riley pressed two buttons Aeron hadn’t even seen before she pressed them. The table top of the dest split in two and opened to reveal an interior. From there, Riley pressed in a Wookie’s shield and pulled an Anakkoa’s rattle, opening another compartment. From there she pulled a flash drive.

“This is it,” she said tentatively handing it to Aeron. He held his hand out and let her place it when she was ready. He knew she was scared, but she was a tough kid. “Thanks, kid. You got anywhere safe I can drop you until this all blows over? Preferably someone on your mother’s side?

“My mom’s brother lives across town,” she said.

Before Aeron could answer his comlink buzzed.

“Yo,” he said to NoVa. “Copy, I’ll meet you there.”

Aeron killed the call and stowed his comlink.

Forty-five minutes later he was at the coordinates. Aeron couldn't shake the thought of Riley still being in trouble, but he couldn’t let his desire to protect the girl interfere with the mission. He scanned the area discreetly, keeping his eye out for NoVa. Once the slicer got there Aeron would hand over the flash drive with Atticus’ backup. Made more sense for NoVa to sift through it than for him. At least that’s what he’d told himself.

@Arcangel

 

[Yvon]

The secure facility by all intents and purposes appeared to be a generic office building, situated on the edge of the cities industrial sector. Appearances could be deceiving however, and truths could be gleaned if one knew how to look. The empty parking lot, the high fences and automatic gates. A busy weekday with not a soul in sight. There was clearly no business being conducted in the building.

Yvon had arrived earlier than Aeron and spent their time scoping out the facility, first from a distance through their magnifying HUD, second by doing a distant walk around the perimeter. Security cams identified, blind zones located. The main gates were heavily monitored, but there was small man gate to the rear of the building. Monitored too but a nearby light pole might allow for some opportunities to get over the fence in a small blindspot in the camera array, if one were acrobatic enough. Yvon was beginning to suspect that for all his wealth the mark was rather stingy when it came to his contractors.

Yvon observed Aeron as he handed over the datapad he had acquired. They weren't certain, but the bounty hunter seemed shaken. The slicer hoped that whatever the man was going through that it wouldn't dull his edge.

"All good?" They inquired in a buzzing, neutral tone as they skimmed the acquired data, eyes flicking line by line across the screen. The journalist had certainly done a lot of groundwork, had quite the piece coming together when he had been nabbed by Kazier's men. If they were indeed men. Kazier seemed the type that trusted droids more than sentients. Wealth and anxiety seemed to go hand in hand.

"Good find." Yvon noted as they raised the datapad. "It seems the local government is in on the take, our mark's credits and conniving have certainly bought him plenty of influence here." The evidence would have been damning to the local government. Paper trails for plenty of bribery and evidence that pointed towards heavy handed blackmail. Kazier had the local government firmly in his pocket. Yvon wasn't certain that springing the journalist was the right call however.

"I don't think we need the journalist to finish what we came for." Yvon mused aloud, raising their head up from the screen to look at Aeron and gauge his reaction. "It's a big risk to spring him, with a chance of putting the mark on alert." They warned. The fuel auction was likely too close to fruition for the mark to call it off, with buyers and product already in place. But a forewarning would heavily increase the further risk of the job.

"We might be able to use him, but we can do it without him." If it was entirely up to Yvon, they'd probably just leave the local to rot. It wasn't though, partnership and all. "Your call." They finished, staring Aeron down and waiting for his decision.

@Zay