Nar Shaddaa

[N'vy]

Julio's distraction worked, pulling the bar tender's attention away from her for the split second she needed to get out of this situation. She brought her fist around and slammed it into his round gut and as he leaned forward, gasping for breath, she grabbed his head and slammed it into her knee”¦splattering her pants with blood in the process.

 

Her upper lip curled in disgust as the foreign fluid began to seep through her pants instantly. She shoved the man towards another, who had decided to help out his friend in need. She moved forward, her feet gliding across the floor as if the wind had lifted her up and carried her. He swung for her, but she caught him by the wrist and brutally forced it backwards until she heard the audible snapping sound that signaled the bones breaking and fragmenting.

 

Of course, to any on looker to far away to hear the sound they would know it was broken due to the bones protruding out of his flesh. A child like giggle escaped her lips as the bar erupted into chaos. People that weren't involved began attacking others that weren't involved and in little more then seconds the entire place was in an uproar. The toxins flowing through her veins combined with the pumping adrenaline pushed Rose into frenzy.

 

Somewhere between kicking a man's knee and forcing it to bend backwards until it broke and slamming a thick glass stein into a patron's ear she felt something hot slide into her side. She gasped and turned; the item was ripped sideways as she brought her foot up and slammed it into the man's crotch. He fell to the ground clutching himself only to have his hands ripped away as she continued to kick him in the crotch. The warmth of what ever had slid into her side was now thick and moist as it rolled down her side. She drew her blaster and fired, roasting what she had been kicking and spitting on him before turning her attention to the next person to come for her.

 

Slowly she made her way towards the door, but she had quickly forgotten why she was going that way so instead of escaping she dived behind the counter and opened up the register, emptying the credits into her pockets as her vision began to blur slightly. The blur was gone with one blink of her eyes and she continued her task.

 

What am I doing? And what the hell is that itch at my side?

[Darth Furion]

Dodging out of a fight he wasn't really apart of anymore, Julio ducked into a corner of the cantina. He spotted Rose putting up a fight of her own.

 

Finally you prove your worth, little fox.

 

He was rather enjoying watching her....fight, until a man from behind managed to surprise her. Julio paused, seeing if the man's blade hit its mark. From this distance he couldn't really tell. She continued to kick ass as though everything was alright, so he just sat back and continued to watch her. Just as another one of her attackers fell, she started to stumble. That's when Julio saw the blood. At first he thought it was the blood of the bartender she broke, but as it continued to spill from her side, he saw that she was indeed injured. He sprinted, as well as one could amidst a brawl, toward her. Jumping over or around, and even one good body check, those in the middle of the fight focused more on those that looked at them funny earlier rather than him. She ran toward the entrance, not really noticing which way he went. She seemed to grab some credits and make a dash for the door. He changed direction, just before he fell face first into a punch, and headed for the door. He reached her before she fell. She had passed out.

 

It's deep. She may make it if she gets help fast.

 

He carried her out of the cantina and on to a transit to the nearest doctor. He kept pressure on the wound, keeping in mind the lessons his own scars taught him.

 

 

"I think i'm dying" The boy said weakly, holding onto his neck, blood spilling out regardless of his efforts. "That laigrek came out of no where, I swear."

 

"Listen boy, you will die when it is your time." The great beast inspected his wounds, pulling back the boys hands, letting even more blood flow from the fresh wound. He had been with them long enough to discern what they had meant with the growls. The old wookie looked down on him. "And that is not today. No, you have a few more battles left in you before you fall."

 

"But....the pain....it won't stop."

 

He arrived at the doctor's office withing a few minutes.

 

"What happened?" The doctor was rather perturbed, as it was about one four in the mourning when Julio practically burst in his office, demanding attention.

 

"Knife wound. Got caught in a fight in the cantina down the street. I don't have time. I need a field surgeon's kit, and I need it now."

 

"She is in no condition to be moved! I can't ju..."

 

"I realize that. That is why I need it now. Look, I don't want you getting in trouble, and the guys after us will torch the building just because we're inside it, so the sooner you get me that kit, the sooner you can go back to sleep."

 

It took the doctor a moment to realize what Julio had just said. When he came to his senses, he disappeared from the room for a split second, only to return with the kit. Julio grabbed it out of his hands and headed for the door.

 

He had found an apartment complex that looked rather abandoned. Since the last attack on the planet, this portion of the sector had gone to ruins, but there were still some places with power. He picked the lock and set her down on the bed.

 

He instinctively dug into the wound and stopped most of the bleeding. Now, just to clean up the wound. He looked down at her. The wound looked clean. In and out, no twist. Her clothes were drenched in blood. Mostly hers, but some of it was that bartenders.

 

She's gonna kill me....

 

He stripped her cloths and cleaned up the blood off of what wasn't the wounded are. He double checked the bandages and her pulse. The bandages needed changing, but she was fine. He sat down and lit a Black.

 

Intense. Well, my little fox, you certainly proved you weren't afraid to get your hands dirty, but why the hell didn't you just run for it? I might have gotten roughed up a bit, but I would have made it out of there all the same. What changed you? You certainly weren't this brazen on Roon. Why didn't you just leave my ass? Oh well, f*** it. Like I'm ever going to understand you.

 

He took another hit and leaned back in his chair, and saw the credits sitting on the table. He sighed and got up. He walked over to the table next to the bed where the credits were setting. He took a second and took in the whole scene.

 

Weird. This is just like that night on Coruscant, only this time, I saved a life instead of taking one. Hmm...

 

He wrote a note, discribing where he would be.

 

Rose,

Went to get some stuff. Be right back.

 

Julio

[N'vy]

Rose woke up in a cold sweat, shooting straight up and looking around franticly. Her dreams had turned to nightmares as she watched hundreds upon thousands of people die as if their lives meant nothing at all. She felt the pain of all of them, felt the emotional trauma of their last seconds alive-if they were even allowed that. Their faces were like shadows as they stretched out of the walls in her dreams leaving her with but one option: to wake up.

 

She felt a gentle caress; the wind upon her bare skin. She looked down only to see her body, naked, save for a single thin sheet on the bed she was sitting up on. Her heart jumped into her throat as her mind raced, trying to recall what had happened. She could only vaguely remember an incident at the cantina her and Julio had been in, something about not having enough credits to pay and the bartender confronting her about it after she had taken her pills.

 

What the I am Groot did I do!?

 

She pulled she sheets tight around her body and got up, searching for her clothes and her weapons”¦finding the bloodied pile of clothes she began to empty the pockets and set all her stuff on the table next to the bed. Any credits she had gotten a hold of were gone, leaving her with a single ring that she had since she was a little girl and a bag of roughly thirty of her pills.

 

She changed the sheet into a toga of shorts and began checking her blaster over; ensuring that when she went to blow off that bastards face that there would be no chance of malfunction and no chance of his survival. Her senses were alert, just waiting for any trace of him.

[Darth Furion]

Julio arrived back to the apartment. He set the bundle of clothes and food he had picked up on the table. He had gotten some odd looks trying to get her clothes.

 

"I'm looking for some clothes."

 

"Well sir, we have a wide variety here for you. Were you looking for something causal, or maybe some formal wear?"

 

"I'm actually looking for something for a girl. She's, um, sixteen? About this tall. Thin."

 

"Do you have a size?"

 

"No."

 

It had taken several minutes to go through all of the choices. On set of particularly tight pants had stuck out in his mind, but he dismissed them, as they would inhibit her movement. And she would totally punch him in the face. He had settled on a dark set of loose robes. They matched her old ones rather well, so she would have no real reason to be angry at his choice.

 

He looked around the apartment. Something didn't feel right. He walked through the apartment to the bedroom.

 

Damn, she's gone. Don't think someone would have taken her, the building was rather abandoned. Sheets are missing.

 

He set the clothes on the bed and turned around to see the business end of a blaster pointed at his face.

[N'vy]

Her body was like a Greek statue; crafted by the hands of an artist and made into perfection with but a mere toga of sorts covering her from being exposed to the world. Her eyes like were like Jade, sparkling in the light with a fiery intensity that had shaken many before Julio and would shake even more after him regardless of the effect they had on him.

 

The blaster, a slender model designed to be easily concealed rather then packing a real punch, had a short cylinder and was a dull industrial black in color. If Julio had the time he would have noted the alterations she had made; one of them being the removal of the stun setting in favor of increasing the over all power of the weapon.

 

”œYou”¦I”¦What the hell”¦”

[Darth Furion]

He had expected some form of retribution, but this was a bit much.

 

Should have gotten sedatives too

 

He foot pressed on his neck further, not only cutting of his much needed air, but starting to cut off the passage of his life's blood to his head, which started to make him black out.

 

Gotta do something before i pass out and she field strips me before i'm dead.

 

He looked up at her and made eye contact. The fury in her eyes shot through him like a bullet. He could sense, almost feel, the anger rolling off of her, directed straight at him. He summoned up everything inside him and forced himself to move. His legs moved upward at lightning speed. He hardly knew what he was doing. The momentum rocked his body, making Rose loose balance for a moment. In that second, Julio put his ankles under her arms and threw them down, forcing her down with them, while lifting his torso up. The single, fluid action made it so that she was on the ground, and he was near upright. When he found his footing, he dropped on her and reached for the gun with his left hand, while going to restrain her left with is right. His waist managed to stratle her stomach, making it difficult for her to do what he had just done to her. He knocked the blaster away as her left arm escaped his and managed to hit him square in the jaw. He recoiled from the hit, but regrouped and grabbed her wrists, bending them forward and turning them ninety degrees, making it so the backs of her hands were on the floor. She struggled, while he just let herself cause pain to the already over taxed joint.

 

"That is the last time I save your ass." He tried to remain calm, but feeling the anger rolling off of her seemed to ignite some innner beast.

 

"All I did was keep you from dying!" She continued to stuggle, but doing so less and less as he talked,

 

"From the cantina, you passed out. I got a field kit, patched up the gaping hole in your torso, and kept you from bleeding do death." He was calming down, and so was she.

 

"Why the hell am I NAKED!" She nearly shouted the last words

 

"Your cloths were ruined. Not only did it have a nice slice down the side, but it was caked in blood, both yours and other peoples. I had to take them off to fix you, and to make sure you weren't injured anywhere else."

 

She didn't seem to be buying it. He let go of her wrists and rolled backward off of her.

 

She immediately scamble for the blaster, and readjusted the sheet. She picked it up and pointed it at him again, this time from a distance of about 10 feet.

 

"When you were stable, I took the credits you grabbed and went to get you new clothes, and some food."

 

He picked up the bundle of cloths and tossed it at her feet. He turned his back to her to let her get dressed.

 

He walked toward the bedroom and layed down, leaving her in one of the outer rooms to change. He let a grimace escape his face.

 

Damn that hurt

[N'vy]

Rose slammed the door behind her and began to change into the clothes with obvious disdain.

 

”œWho the hell wears crap like this?”

[Darth Furion]

He continued to lay on the bed as she came in, eyes closed, trying to out-focus the pain she had dealt him. She ignored is obvious "out-of-it" state and walked straight to the table, riffling through her possessions until coming upon a collection of pills she had collected. When she found the one that suited her, she downed it and let a smile grace her face.

 

Well atleast she isn't entirely full of gumdrops and rainbows

 

He chuckled at the thought, loosing focus and letting all the pain rush back to him at once. He grimaced at the pain, but kept silent. He couldn't reenter his focused state after that, as the pain continued to push through whatever barrier he tried to put up. He looked over at her, readying herself for whatever that magical little pill would bring her.

 

I wonder what she took? It has to be for pain. She isn't going to shrug off an injury like that. She looks fragile, really. I doubt she's had to experience pain on that level before. Whatever it is, she knows what it's going to do. She knew exactly which one to take.

 

He paused as the pain brought an end to his train of thought.

 

Damn, she knew where to hit. And hit she did. I should have picked up some pain killers at the Doc's office, but there wasn't really much time. I'd ask for one of her little happy pills, but she's probably still pissed at me.

 

He moved his train of though to her. He noticed the clothes she was wearing, the clothes he picked out.

 

She probably doesn't like them. We could get new ones, I guess, if she makes a big deal out of it. It is her credits after all. She is the one that swiped it in the first place.

 

He could feel his neck starting to swell from the elongated blood and oxygen loss, and the headache was coming into full swing.

 

Wonder what kinds she has?

[N'vy]

”œIf you weren't such an ass, I wouldn't have to beat your ass you know.”

[Darth Furion]

((Glad to have you back ))

 

He picked up the pill and looked it over. It wasn't a standard industrial pill, not some regulated pain control. No, this was the real deal.

 

But what if it knocks me out entirely? Maybe she's just drugging me to kill me and be done with it. Heh, maybe she just wants to knock me out to have her way with me He chuckled at the thought. Doubtful. Ah, to hell with it, she's to screwed up at the moment to do anything.

 

He put it in his mouth and swallowed it, waiting for the "bite" to take effect.

 

"Yeah, bounty hunting. Or maybe do some hits if you don't feel to squeamish about it. We gotta come up with some income. Your "heist" won't last us very long. Or, we can hop back on the mech and head elsewhere for work. I don't really care. Either way, my only real skill is killing. And i guess diplomacy, should my killing be ineffective in the situation. Heh, wanna go into politics?"

 

At this point the drug was starting to go into effect. He felt the pain slipping away, along with his ability to really focus. His heart started to go a bit faster, and colors started to jump out at him. He looked at Rose.

 

My god those cloths are hideous, what was I thinking?

 

He didn't worry to much, and let him slip into wherever the drug was taking him. He got up and went to the window where Rose was looking out. Out the window he saw the ruined city, scarred from countless bombings and raids on the planet. It was starting to be rebuilt, but he felt it would always be a disgusting and repugnant place. [/i]

[N'vy]

”œWe aren't doing hits, you can feel free too”¦but No, I'm not. There aren't many other places with good work.”

[Darth Furion]

"Naboo?"

 

The planet had seemed to come from nowhere to him, but she hadn't just picked it out of nowhere.

 

"Nah, never been. Don't really know much about it."

 

He paused to reflect on the limited number of planets he had actually been on. She had accompanied him on at least a quarter of them.

 

"What's there to do on Naboo we can't do here? If you don't wanna harm anything, I could always gamble, or be a bodyguard. Several things to do when you think about it."

 

His started to loose his balance little by little. The pill was starting to take effect and numb his pain, as well as his perceptual senses. Sounds faded, and light dulled. His heart started to race, and the tips of his fingers started to tingle.

 

"I don't really care where we go, I'm just killing time until I get some information I'm waiting on."

 

Oh yes, don't forget why you left. To find the murderer. The one who slaughtered my family. The egotistical bastard that had felt so confident, so sure of himself in his quest for slaughter, that he decided to carve into the planet side the symbol which has since fueled me in my path for revenge. Oh, I have not forgotten. I will not rest until I find your blood at my feet.

 

Julio played with his ring, the ring his father had given him the week before the destruction. The family ring. He hadn't taken it off since, and was a constant reminder to him why life was worth living. For retribution.

 

He laid down on the bed and folded his arms behind his head, fully enjoying the direction this little pill was taking him. He closed his eyes to better focus what he was feeling. He couldn't really hear anything around him. He could barely feel the bed he was laying on. The numbness felt good to him. The void of constant feeling comforted him into a peace he had long since forgotten. He started to fall asleep when his neural implant sent an internal reminder.

 

==WARNING: Grace period for reapplication of appearance chems has ended. Please reapply or effect will fade.==

 

Shut up....God.

 

He thought for a second, with immense struggle, and reached his neural implant, where he deactivated the scheduled reminder command.

 

There, quiet.

[N'vy]

Without breaking the silence, Rose escaped the room and made her way out of the building. Hailing a taxi, she directed the driver towards the industrial side of town. If this place was anything like a real back water place where the scum of the Galaxy gathered, then she'd find what she wanted there. Julio obviously was out of it enough now to not even care that she was gone and that was the way she preferred it.

 

Along the way, she spotted a street side shop and told the driver to stop. After several moments of browsing, she found something suitable to her tastes and bought it. She changed in the Taxi, and finished up just as it arrived in the industrial district. Her eyes scanned the buildings for the tell tale signs she sought. After five minutes she saw the universal graffiti tag.

 

”œThis is it.”

[Darth Furion]

Julio had noticed her leave, but didn't really care. The pill had taken it's full effect and there was nothing in the galaxy that could bother him at the moment. He laid there, relaxing. Letting all his stress flow away. His ring seemed to pulse on his finger. He tilted his head to the side, not really able to fully lift it, to see what the ring was doing when it pulsed again, only this time, it emitted a sort of light that didn't seem to go anywhere but directly to his eyes. With the new light, memories of his childhood came back to his mind. He remembered parts of his past he didn't even remember remembering, but somehow it was there, as if it had been there all along. The pulses grew faster, and strong, starting merely with the finger, but continuing it's resonance to his mind. With each pulse, came a frame of memory, the faster they went, the more they seemed to be one string of memory, until it became constant.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The vision was of when he was growing up on Kashyyyk. It was after he had just saved the wookie from the small cage.

 

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE JUST RAN OFF?!?" Julio's uncle was correct in his anger, as the cages were reinforced and extremely difficult to escape from unless you knew how they were designed and had some practice with them.

 

"I don't know uncle. I wasn't watching." He was trying to look away, remaining as quite as possible while still answering his inquisitor's questions.

 

"The Proximity Dome didn't go off, so no other beasts came to save it, so something must've happened, and I think that YOU let it go."

 

Julio didn't respond. He just stood there, ashamed.

 

His Uncle's men were rather upset since catching wookies, particularly young ones because they rarely left the village, was incredibly difficult.

 

"Well fine, if you want to let them free, you can take it's place!"

 

Without warning, Julio was grabbed by both arms and thrown into the cage. Julio pleaded, and apologized, but to no avail. None of the men seemed to show any pity for him. He was forsaken, stricken to the life of a caged beast. And for the first week, that is how he was treated. He was told he couldn't speak, only make grunts and growls like the beasts they hunt. He was barely feed, and when the hunt was slow the men would enjoy taking stun sticks and jabbing them into his flesh. All the while he held on to his father's ring for dear life, praying he would come and liberate him from this hell hole. But he never came. For weeks he had been condemned to that small cage until one night. The forest was unusually quiet, and the wind blew very little. Up in the trees, where their base was located, it seemed like a normal night. Everyone went to sleep except for a few night watchmen. In one stroke, the security dome silently went down and bowcaster bolts flew from below, killing all the guards. The wookie squad moved in, systematically sweeping the buildings and killing the occupants. One came to the cage Julio was in and paused. He made a series of growls at Julio who remained frozen in place. The wookie opened the cage and threw Julio over his shoulder. The atrophy in his limbs caused Julio to instantly black out from the sudden burst of movement.

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Reality seemed to come screaming back as his mental self blacked out, seeming to regain the consciousness of his physical self. The vision seemed to have consumed what was left of his potent narcotic, as his pain was revisited, only this time, much less intense. Now it was more of a dull, annoying pain. Julio glanced at his ring, what seemed to be his portal into the inner parts of his mind. Now it was just a ring again. He shrugged it off. He remembered that Rose had left, and he decided that he needed to do something. He checked his wounds. His blaster wounds seemed to be closed and healing quickly, and his bruises seemed to be fading faster than as expected.

 

Yeah, I can totally go somewhere.

 

He headed down stairs to the street and began walking, not sure of where he was going really. He spotted a man at the transit stop, waiting for his transportation to arrive. He felt cruel. His memory reminded him of so many hurtful things that the first person he saw had brought all of those feelings back up. He drew his blaster and walked toward the man. The man sensed him coming, but did as most people would and attempted to avoid eye contact with any stranger. The blaster had meet the man's neck with a fluid motion, and the trigger squeezed in the same. The man didn't shout, or grunt in pain, but rather fell down. Julio kneeled down beside him, tilted his head so that their eyes would meet. Their, in that dying man's eyes, did he see what death was. It wasn't an end of life, nor the perpetuation of some cycle. Julio focused and looked passed the eyes, and saw death for what it truly was.

 

Power.

[Rihn]

Hoving over Nar Shaddaa, the Venator-class Star Destroyer, Martyr's Wrath waited patiently for assignment. A powerful and fully loaded vessel, it was the new pride of the fleet. The construction only recently being finished, the vessel was still being broken in by its crew.

 

Nonetheless, she was a beauty. A marvel of engineering, she was the muscle that the Hutts had been waiting for. She was a flag ship true to the Hutt Cartel banner and mission. She was Martyr's Wrath.

 

Sitting in space orbitting Nar Shaddaa, the vessel continually conducted long range scans in case of another Imperial invasion. However, that now seemed highly unlikely given the current circumstances. Nevertheless, the vessel was still awaiting word from the rest of the fleet on their Cardia mission. If need be, the VSD could enter the system. That was, though, only if they didn't receive word back. Otherwise, they would continue to patrol the system and keep the Hutt citizens free and safe from Imperial scum.

[Mr. Mortati]

A cargo hauler arrived above Nar Shadda. A comm. notified the Hutts that their order had arrived and would be given to them once a location on where to take it once planet side was given, as well as payment rendered.

[N'vy]

Rose had been in the club for well over an hour and had been on the dance floor ninety percent of that time. Several guys had tried to pick up on her, but each was sent away nursing some sort of wound. In many clubs, they might have started something but if the bouncer caught onto what they were doing it would be likely that they would be taken out and shot; so all of them decided against overt aggression to retaliate against her.

 

She felt a pain in her left shoulder, traversing down her left arm”¦it caused her to clutch her shoulder and stumble a bit. Not wanting to fall and get trampled, she began making her way towards the back exit. The door burst open and she fell out, tripping across the alley and ending up leaning against the wall. She half grunted, half cried out as another jolt of pain surged through her left side.

 

Unrivaled power

 

Her eyes fluttered several times before she could force them open; the result was her wide eyed, pained expression as several men passed by the alley and took note of the young girl in it.

 

Unlimited destruction

 

She vaguely heard their footsteps as they cautiously approached.

 

Untold pain

 

Her mind registered their powerful grip on her slightly muscular arms seconds after the act occurred. She could feel the cold sweat rolling down her entire body as her mind was filled with entire scenes in fractions of a second; scenes she had never before been privy told from a life that she had never known.

 

Forgive me.

 

A shadow of a presence, supernatural in origin, slithered into her subconscious mind and like thick ooze it began to saturate her thoughts in a subtle manner. Her memories, her ideals, her very soul were all painted a shade of deep scarlet. Fractions of thought processes long forgotten over come her, ideas wholly foreign consumed her, rage unparalleled over came her.

 

They tried groping at her.

 

The blaster concealed at her side had never moved as quickly as it was into her hand and being shoved down the man's throat in all of a second. The barrel went as deep as it could; she forced it deeper and watched the sides of his mouth split and a crimson blossom erupt before pulling the trigger and roasting his insides.

 

She released him and in a twirl of motion, her small dagger had been drawn and slide through the second man's gut as a lightsaber would slide through butter. She twisted it and ripped upwards; slicing him open from navel to chops before removing her weapon and wiping it clean on the first man.

 

A flicker of light caught her eyes and for a second they glowed a shade of emerald that the Galaxy had nearly forgotten. She had her father's eyes.

[Darth Furion]

The eyes seemed to glare at him, blackened with the loss of life. In the depths of of that void, Julio was reminded of why he had fit in with those beasts so well. Everything they did was for the tribe. No selfish acts, just one collective goal. Humans were just the opposite. Every act that they did was centrally focus. They had so much potential if they'd just unite to complete a common goal, but instead focus on their own petty goals, continuing the cycle of perpetual stagnation. What angered Julio the most was that he was just as much to blame as anyone else. He was just as....human. For some this thought disturbed him.

 

I'm....human. Ugh. I'm just as fallible as everyone else. Greedy. Self-indulgent.

 

His mind was contemplating all of the new thoughts rushing into his skull. How people were self-serving. How they worked so hard to do whatever was necessary to complete their own goals.

 

Maybe people aren't as useless after all. They would more than gladly do what you want if you could somehow help them in return. The key is to find the one thing they want more than anything else, and exploit it. Twist it and break it until they forget what they where even doing. People can be useful. They can be shaped an molded into whatever you want, as long as you had the right tools.

 

He smiled as these thoughts came creeping into his mind, developing into greatness. As he continued to stare into those black, lifeless eyes, he felt himself grow steadier, more steadfast in his path.

 

"Thank you, kind sir, for this."

 

He took the credits of his newly created corpse and started walking to the nearest bar. He had just had a rather complex night and decided that a drink was in order.

 

I wonder if she's coming back.

[N'vy]

Rose moved through the alleys like a predator after her prey. Her mind was cloudy and trying to draw forth even her own thoughts was like looking into a house through a frosted over window. She had done something horrible and apparently of her own accord, now she felt she needed to see a familiar face and her nose was leading her to just such a person.

 

Its shape appeared slightly different in structure, an ability gained from her father most likely. Her footsteps left no sound, but tiny droplets of blood were dripping off her clothes as she made her way towards the familiar scent that had been sitting, up until ten minutes ago, dormant in her nostrils. Her eyes held a faint luminescent quality to them as she stopped at the edge of the street and watched the figure that was Julio moving towards a bar.

 

She tossed off the cloak she had picked up along the way, revealing her dancing attire as well as the speckles of blood that had landed on her face and neck. She moved towards him silently, coming up beside him then stepping in front of him in one swift motion. Her eyes started at his feet and glided upwards as she looked him over and flared her nostrils slightly”¦with them returning back to their original state afterwards.

 

”œYou've been busy tonight, or so it...appears. Couldn't stay at the apartment?”

[Darth Furion]

She seemed to come out of no where, though Julio didn't mind. His earlier epiphany put him at ease. He noticed that she had some drops of blood on her, though it wasn't hers. He had sealed her wounds very well, so it had to come from someone else.

 

She wasn't wearing the cloths he had bought either. He had felt somewhat angry at this. It was rather trivial, but at his current euphoric state, everything seemed to come a bit faster, even the rise in anger. He knew it was no big deal, but he felt like she didn't really appreciate everything he had done for her. He didn't even get so much as a kind word for keeping her alive. All he got was some yelling and a swift kick to the jewels.

 

"You're one to talk. You were hurt more than me. I fall asleep for a few moments and you bail on me? What if your wound reopened, or you got jumped. You didn't even leave a note. And by the way, who's blood is that?"

 

He stood, awaiting the immediate rebuttal to come. He knew her tongue lashing would be intense, but he felt a little frisky.

[N'vy]

She further eyed him and chuckled a bit at his comments. It was obvious that he was less then pleased about her exploits; but he wasn't her keeper and he wasn't her boyfriend. Merely a traveling companion, so he was getting much more upset then he should have been.

 

In all honesty, she felt he wasn't entitled to any sort of foul mood as far as something like that was concerned. At first she had needed him, and then she had found her own ride. Nothing but circumstance had kept them together for this long and now he felt the need to get uppity? She was about to have to smack'abitch.

 

”œI was hurt more then you and its obvious I can take more damage then you and keep going. I didn't bail on you, I went out to replace the distasteful clothes you bought me and have a bit of fun. You know what that is, don't you?”

[Darth Furion]

She took the bait.

 

"No, I don't know what FUN is! If we're going to go prancing around the galaxy together, we need to work together, damn it! That means no disappearing in the middle of the f**king night! How am I sup...."

 

He froze. Somewhere in the distance, was screaming. It wasn't a normal scream, but one more known to him. His attention perked up an he looked around, trying to find where it came from. It got louder. His mind flashed with distant images.

 

A man fighting a wookie, a wookie he knew. It was one of the younger of the tribe he had grown up with. He gave a sly smile seeing the human get cut, and bashed, until he was almost spent. He felt proud for his tribe.

 

Then, the ever present scream got unbearable. Julio dropped to his knees, covering his ears reflexively.

 

The man stood, using what seemed to be an absurd amount of strength. Soon the wookie was down, bleeding and dying. To further insult the wookie, he continued to shoot and even blow up what was left. Then the man ran, bleeding heavily, but running none the less.

 

The scream stopped suddenly, and Julio knew it was the scream of his kinsman. Anger rushed in him like a hot wave, filling every ounce of his being. He could do nothing else but feel anger, it consumed him. All he could think of was retribution, killing the man that killed one from his tribe.

 

"We have to go. Now."

 

He didn't give her a chance to ask questions or refute his decision. He walked to the nearest gun shop. His pace was double time, not even caring if she was coming with him. When he reached the gun shop, there was a single person running the place. A Rodian that seemed to be rather bored. Julio knew he didn't have the credits to get what he needed. His right hand gave a twitch and the blaster extended. He loaded five shots into the Rodian's chest, dropping him to the floor. Luckily for Julio it was a low end shop. No other clerks or sentry droids to load into him. The shop seemed to have mostly junk, relics that weren't even in circulation anymore. Mostly slug throwers.

 

Slug throwers will work. Much more brute damage.

 

He picked up a shoulder holster and put two slug throwers in it. The holsters went under his robe for more concealment. The gun was heavier than the blaster he was used to. He took off his riggings. The left one still had a broken blade. He took it off and looked for a replacement. He didn't want another slug thrower, it would just slow him down. He looked threw blasters and grenades until he saw it. A miniature flechette rifle. The idea of a wall of shrapnel pleased Julio to no end. He attached it to the left rigging so instead of extending out to his palm, it would only extend a couple of inches to get past his fist, then fire. He grabbed a couple boxes of rounds and started to walk out when he saw Rose in the doorway.

 

"If you need something, get it quick, we're in a hurry.

[N'vy]

Rose shook her head, still wondering what the hell was wrong with Julio now. She followed him through the streets, dashing around corners and shoving people out of the way as the approached the ship docks. They made their way to the one that held the Mech, but much to their surprise it was gone upon arrival.

 

Rose stood stock still, staring in utter disbelief for a few seconds before cursing under her breath.

 

”œJulio, whatever you have to do”¦go do it. Here, take this.”

[Darth Furion]

The gift of the credits was unexpected, to say the least. Especially with so many digits. She was gone before he could thank her, or even say good bye. He considered following her, but he had to go. He didn't have much of a choice.

 

I don't know why she couldn't come with me. With this much creds we could have almost bought a ship. What's the big deal about the mech anyway? She didn't seem to mind abandoning my ship.

 

None of this mattered anymore. He wiped her from his mind and focused only on his target. He couldn't abandon his tribe. They needed him. Julio walked toward the nearest dock officer for a flight schedule. The next ship for Kashyyyk departed within the hour. If he hurried he could find one of the crew for a ride. They shouldn't be too reluctant, he could pay any reasonable price they wanted.

[BLACK1]

The Trushot snapped out of hyperspace and made a standard three point landing in one of the random hangers on Nar Shaddaa. Nar Shaddaa, every bounty hunter's nightmare. Most would prefer their prey running to the outer rim to this cesspit of a planet. Though much more aesthetically pleasing than the planet it revolved around, Nar Shaddaa was primarily filled with the trash of the galaxy.

 

Black waisted no time lowering the loading ramp and flying his speeder out of the ship. He was nearly at the end of this little quest. He already began thinking of what he'd do after this little trip. Ronin still hadn't commed him with any missions yet. Perhaps a vacation. He gave a harsh cough as he flew. First case of smoker's lungs with his new lungs. He hadn't been out of the tube a month. It took longer last time.

 

He came to the apartment in an hour of flying. He parked it in a secure place and set the security to overload the metal handlebars should anyone try to steal it. He lit up a new cigarette and walked to the door. Before his call was answered he made a mental note to buy more cigarettes when he got back to Coruscant. He didn't trust the knock offs sold here on the smuggler's moon.

[Bounty]

*The door is cracked open a notch. A sluttily-dressed human woman sporting a black eye peers through indifferently. The glaze in her eyes tells a long tale of spice abuse.*

 

'Yeah?'

[BLACK1]

"Hello, miss. I have a delivery of whiskey I'm trying to deliver but I'm not sure I'm at the right place. New route for me. Does Garret Sikuus reside here?"

 

Black looked at the woman as if he were worn down, and his tone matched.

 

"Of coarse I'll need some form of confirmation, ma'am. I can't exactly give you such an expensive item without proof."

 

He pulled out a datapad and began scanning it as if looking through some standard delivery form.

[Bounty]

*The young woman, spiced out of her head as she is, completely forgets the security routines that Sikuus has battered into her head figuratively and literally.*

 

'Yeah, he lives here. Can I take that for him?'

[BLACK1]

The woman looked blazed out of her mind.

 

"No, ma'am. I'm sorry. Perhaps I can just...." He squeezed past her and made his way into the apartment. "...give it to him myself."

[Bounty]

*Two things happen at once; the woman, her addled mind screaming muffled warnings at her, opens her mouth to protest the man's entrance. The second is that Sikuus, drunk and spiced at the same time and looking like he'd done thirteen rounds with a gundark, staggers from the bedroom, Whyren's reserve bottle in one hand and blaster pistol in the other.

 

Sikuus looks up, spots the strange man standing in his apartment and the look on the whore's face. Bounty hunter. CorSec have found him.

 

Sikuus' addled mind takes a moment to relay the impulse to raise his blaster and fire, but it gets there in the end. Sikuus brings his blaster up unsteadily and attempts to level it at the man.*