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Post by Eth Erzin on Jul 6, 2012 16:40:18 GMT -8
The Illuminant Rush entered Nal Hutta's atmosphere once again as Lents prepared to leave Undraka Stog back with his master.
"So this Hydra Vaardo used to be a Mandalorian?"
Stog nodded.
"I will admit to not having much experience with the Mandalorians. Do you have anything you could tell me?" Lents hoped that in his being friendly to Stog, Stog would reciprocate the favor and speak good words to Hurri. It appeared to be working, ever so slightly.
"Well they're nominally allied with the Empire right now, but who knows how strong that bond actually is except for Tarino Vhett."
"Mandalore?"
Stog nodded again. "But seeing as you're trying to convince the Hutts to essentially declare war on the Empire, you might not have the easiest time dealing with the Mandalorians. You know as well as I do their reputation for loyalty."
Lents agreed. "But I won't have to travel to Mandalore itself to find more information on one exile."
"That is true. There have always been Mandalorians passing through Hutt space. You might want to try contacting Clan Xefern. They're large enough that you might get lucky and find someone who isn't staunchly Imperial enough to talk."
The ship landed, and Lents thanked Stog for the information as he left.
Lents sat back in the pilot's seat. How to get ahold of a Mandalorian. Well the answer seemed obvious--How anything ever got done in Huttspace: Lents wrote up a request on the bounty boards.
Now, the wait... but hopefully a short one.
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Post by Jax Xefern on Jul 6, 2012 17:45:39 GMT -8
Jax was busy twiddling his thumbs on Nal Hutta, of all places. He'd turned up to drop off some poor barve of a Corellian who'd made the epic mistake of taking a cargo run from a Hutt on credit. The new ones were constantly getting into that kind of trouble, usually through no fault of their own really, but they tended to be easy catches and thus cost effective to catch. Costs covered, gross profit sans 25% sent to the Clan's coffers, and ship refueled. Jax did a safety pat of his helmet where it sat on a console in the cockpit of his modified drop ship, waiting for the requested computer uplink to come through.
A lot of things on Nal Hutta were, to put it nicely, barely operable junk. Especially when it came to public access technology such as com terminals and rental speeders, nobody on that planet cared about anything that wasn't theirs especially the Hutts. However, there was always an exception to every rule, an exception that often made the rule all the more glaring for the contrast. In the realm of public services on Nal Hutta, the exception to the rule was the bounty boards. Nobody hacked it... well, usually... and nobody damaged it. It was one of the few sacred things on the planet, a tool that put money in pockets and provided what little justice existed in the culture.
Immediately upon completing the link a message was flagged by his shipboard computer, a direct request that called the Xefern Clan out by name. The big Mandalorian instantly ran all of the usual countermeasures for such a message just to make sure he wasn't about to be putting up with some lubing Imperial contract with eight middle men eating into the profit... if they paid out at all. It was just easier to tell them no and move on, flag the job as undesirable for the rest of the Clan.... Jax pulled the attached com frequency over to his ship's comlink and hailed it.
Before putting in his greeting he grabbed his helmet and put it into place, locking it down. Everybody deserved the show after all. "Jax Xefern of the Clan Xefern, responding as requested." His voice had the deep and metallic voice of his helmet's mic, and his massive frame would fill the holoprojection on the other end of the conversation by design. One of his cousins had personally set the resolution to be certain of it. His helmet, while not the usual bucket shaped design of many Mandalorians, still presented it's deathhead design vividly.
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Post by Eth Erzin on Jul 7, 2012 8:25:28 GMT -8
Lents nearly reeled in his seat when the hologram popped up on his dashboard. That was quicker than expected. He touched a button and activated his own hologram.
Lents paused, and corrected himself.
Suddenly remembering the first rule of any business, he quickly added
Lents did have the credits to spare. Hurri's bounty on Caroon had payed quite well.
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Post by Jax Xefern on Jul 7, 2012 12:11:29 GMT -8
Jax made no apparent reaction to the appearance of the person he was making contact with, his helmet not twitching in the slightest. It was the mystique of the beskar'gam, to give onlookers no hint as to the wearer's thoughts or feelings... or even to whether or not the wearer possessed such humanizing features to begin with. There was, however, a small burst of static as Jax snorted into his mic at the request for information on a fellow Mando'ade. It wasn't that Jax was adverse to the very idea of selling out another Mandalorian, but he wasn't going to do it just for the request.
The other possibility was that the man at the other end was either mistakenly under the impression that Jax was holding a data-package intended for him or was insanely suicidal. Bothering Mandalorians was a reliable way to get dead, certainly, if a bit esoteric for a method of intentional self-destruction. Especially on Nal Hutta where anybody would gladly do it for the loose credits in ones pockets. All of that ran through Jax's head during the first pause before it was mostly dispelled by a better phrasing of the request.
Jax considered it for a long moment. Ex-Mandalorians were a rare commodity in the galaxy. In general either one was cut out for it or they weren't, either becoming a Mandalorian or never claiming the distinction in the first place regardless of attempt. To earn it in life almost always meant to be buried as a Mandalorian when ones time ended. "Ex-Mandalorian? Mirialan..." Species didn't really matter among the Mandalorians except for armor build considerations and other physical realities of physiology. Mirialans were fast. Dangerous in up close confrontations because of it too. The tattooing tradition was even translatable into Mandalorian culture if they spent any time on Concord Dawn.
"... What exactly do you call generous?" He asked the question even as he typed up a request to his Clan's corvette to see if anybody had any good information on the subject of topic. Current information.
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Post by Eth Erzin on Jul 7, 2012 21:45:00 GMT -8
Lents quickly pulled up his account and looked at his funds from the Caroon heist.
He did realize he was vastly overpaying for this sort of job, but he didn't have a desperate need for personal funds--and this job was important enough to him in cementing the Hutts' trust that it was worth it. And it's not like he still wouldn't have credits to spare.
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Post by Jax Xefern on Jul 8, 2012 7:40:25 GMT -8
He remained silent and still as he considered the credits offered. All by itself it said some interesting things. First, this guy was over allowing for what would likely be simple information, that price was untenable unless one of two things were in play. Either this wasn't a simple bird-nek mission he was on or there was something more important than credits riding on it for him. That's when the computer beeped with the return on his inquiry. Jax redirected to his HUD and blinked instantly at what he saw. The information floating before his eyes was what passed for a public service announcement among Mandalorians, direct from the bar stool of the Mandalore.
"Alright, I'll help you get the information you want. First, you need to know she isn't ex-Mandalorian. She's exiled. There's a difference." Jax was reading the file as he spoke, using it to make it look like he knew the information personally. "As for her whereabouts... I have no doubt her habits have had to change but I know who to ask for the updates. Where are you located?" Jax knew the answer to that question already, but it was polite to pretend like he hadn't traced back to the signal source.
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Post by Eth Erzin on Jul 8, 2012 14:38:33 GMT -8
Lents wondered why the Mandalorian wanted his physical location--did he think he was going to join him? It was the kind of information that could easily be transmitted remotely. Lents shrugged to himself and relayed his coordinates over the text link.
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Post by Jax Xefern on Jul 9, 2012 7:33:28 GMT -8
"Wisdom." It was the closest thing to a compliment he tended to give out while fully armored, and this time it was bestowed on somebody at least pretending to know that an exiled Mando'ade was a wholely different animal to hunt than an ex-Mandalorian. Different rules, different reactions. Of course, most people wouldn't know the difference from just looking but this guy had a chance so long as he approached the problem with an open mind as such.
The coordinates came in and matched what his trace had brought back. Either smart or honest, either would work for now. "Definitely a process. In order to get the information you want we are going to go to the person in the best position to know the answer, the only one with a vested interest in enforcing the exile. The person who exiled Vaardo in the first place, the Mandalore. Being as this isn't a topic she is likely to discuss over an open channel, or even a secured one, that means going to her."
Jax started calculating a rendevous point in space around the planet, where their ships could meet up for the jump to their next destination. "That means going to Mandalore, the planet. If you want to land, let alone get a actual face to face with the Mandalore herself, you're gonna need me along for the ride a piece. I can ask her for the information and hope to get it and when she asks me why I want to know it will solve a lot of problems if I can hook a thumb at the guy sitting next to me... that would be you, in theory." He sent the rendevous coordinates to the other guy.
"Fortunately for you, I was already heading in that general direction so I won't have to charge you for fuel costs. I imagine you already were figuring on a bit of planet hopping yourself, yes?" He waited for confirmation, his ship had been refueled and stocked within an hour of arriving on Nal Hutta to drop off his last bounty so he was good to go already.
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Post by Eth Erzin on Jul 9, 2012 15:22:11 GMT -8
Lents nodded in appreciation at the dedication Jax was already showing to the job. He knew full well about the Mandalorian reputation for industriousness (and, of course, the credits were good), but also knew they were allied to the Empire--so he had to watch his step.
Mandalore? Lents had been hoping that he wouldn't have had to travel into the heart of Mandalorian territory, but it looked as if there were little-to-no other options left for him. It was just his luck that he had picked up a job tracking a rogue with Mandalorian training.
He closed his eyes for a moment and calmed his nerves using the Force. He was an experienced Jedi Knight and veteran commander of many battles, but that didn't mean he had completely forgotten the scared, frail child he used to be. And if things went poorly for him that deep in enemy territory, well--there weren't many Jedi in all of history that could escape a scrape like that. But he couldn't appear nervous. As Eth Erzin, he had no reason at all to fear the infamous and enigmatic Mandalore Tarino Vhett. 'At least until the Hutts declare allegiance to the anti-Imperial cause,' Lents thought.
He opened his eyes, projecting as much bravado as he could muster through the Force.
He switched off the comm channel and started the engines.
A short warmup, and he was blasting out of the hangar next to Hurri's palace, headed for the rendezvous point Jax had sent him.
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Post by Jax Xefern on Jul 9, 2012 16:16:33 GMT -8
Jax let his hands go to work on the controls. He wasn't the greatest pilot in the galaxy by any stretch of the imagination but he could dance his heavily modified drop ship through anything from massed fire to the ridiculously uncontrolled traffic of Nal Hutta. He'd never bothered to name the vessel, and so his serial number was halfheartedly called through the comm by what passed for ATC on the Hutt owned planet to remind him he hadn't asked for clearance. "Exactly." The one word response was all they got before he silenced their channel. He made it to space with the speed of a military extraction, shooting as straight for the icy depths of the galaxy as he could given the unique atmospheric requirements of Nal Hutta. He hauled her around and made for the rendezvous point. He set his navicomp to calculating the hyperspace jump, preparing to pass the coordinates over to whatever showed up to join him and opened a hailing channel. "When we hit the system be prepared for some posturing from the Imperials. They won't board, they learned that lesson already, but they will ask you your business and the like. You're answer is business meeting at MandalMotors."((OoC: Just for reference))  |
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Post by Eth Erzin on Jul 10, 2012 19:24:58 GMT -8
Lents' VT-49 closed in on the point, seeing another ship--what looked like some kind of modified drop ship-- hanging around those exact coordinates.
His navicomp beeped with updated coordinates, and Lents programmed them into the autopilot. Getting his message from Jax, he went briefly cold at the thought of contacting Imperials, then shook it off. He had spent the formative years of his childhood hiding right under the Empire's nose.
He activated the hyperdrive, and the Illuminant Rush sailed off into hyperspace.
A fraction of a second before he entered the stream and lost contact with the galaxy at large, his commlink beeped with a message from Skeang.
As stars melted into lines around the cockpit, Lents rubbed his chin. Rayn, now that was an interesting character he hadn't heard from in a long time. He didn't know where Rayn was at this moment, but he was going to a person who had access to a whole lot of knowledge, possibly including his whereabouts.
He tapped out a message in response, coded to send out as soon as he exited the hyperstream.
Now who would Rayn associate with? That's right, he rejected both the Light side and the Dark side of the Force. Lents had heard about Grey Paladins in history, but had never thought they were still extant. But he supposed the same had been thought about Jedi as well. Would Rayn be with an organized order of Grey Paladins? Lents couldn't imagine why not, so that's where he would start when he spoke with Vhett.
ooc: Feel free to start a new thread on Mandalore (or whichever planet) to continue
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