Private Flippin a Pack

[Zax Danner]

Zax adjusted the rearview mirror to examine the mottled hues of purple and yellow still clinging around his orbital. Dried blood made a slit at the corner of his lip which he licked at, testing to see if it still hurt, he winced, it did. There were a lot of things he hated about his life, the beatings he took on an average day were up there. He slipped a pack of cigarra’s out of his jacket pocket and lit up. The tabac gave his lips a pleasant numbness that helped him forget about the cut.

Danner was carrying today. He had weight in the trunk and was currently on hold until he was given the signal to pull up and make the transfer. He hated running spice. He’d watched the crap eat away at his mother his entire life, and now here he was peddling a slow death to whoever wanted it. He blew out a plume of smoke from his lips and saw a flash of head lights from the back of the alley he was supposed to drop at. He stretched his neck from one side to the other in a feeble attempt to loosen it up, before checking his blaster’s battery pack.

Zax pulled around the building straight ahead and then cut a hard right into the alley. He was on one end and the buyer was on the other. Zax cut his lights. Only way out was to go back the way he came. Great. The alley pressed in all around him feeling more like a tunnel than a passageway. The walls bled with condensation that reflected the neon lights of the surrounding city like a grimy aurora borealis. It’d be pretty if the base of the walls were littered with detritus.

Danner licked his lips and took another drag off his cigarra, he reached in the back and grabbed the bag with the spice and adjusted the blaster tucked into his trouser’s waistband, before sliding out of his speeder. He left his door open and stepped around it. A rakish smile spread across his busted lips, “Credits, then spice, huh?”

Five minutes later…

Zax pulled into a nearby fuel station and sent a holo to his boss confirming the transaction. As he waited for his speeder’s fuel to replenish, he spotted something weird going on inside. It looked like the clerk and some degenerate were going at it. An amused little smirk settled on Zax’s lips, it was nice to see someone else get yelled at for once. Then the degenerate’s blaster came out and all hell broke loose.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Undercover
Weapons: Blasters

From the corners of her eyes, Valery watched the broad figure walk towards the counter. His aura in the Force spelled danger, but to his credit, his demeanor barely showed it beyond his abundance of confidence. Much like the guy and anybody else in this place, Valery had stopped in this forsaken stretch of land only for a quick refuel and to get herself some supplies. Mostly food and a few items to replenish the medical kits on her ship.Recent adventures had resulted in others getting injured, and she had patched them up.

Once she had what she needed, Valery turned away from the store racks and watched from afar as the clerk and stranger shifted into a heated argument. She couldn't exactly tell what they were yelling at each other, but the reasonable assumption was that the man had tried to steal something. It was a common tactic to avoid suspicion — pay for a few cheap items and steal something more expensive.

Especially common around these parts, though some didn't even try to hide it.

With her hand lingering near the blaster strapped to her hip, Valery approached the front of the store. She was on edge and even before the degenerate drew his blaster, Valery felt that familiar pulse of trouble in the Force.

One shot was fired by the man — a miss.

A second shot followed, and that same man was down on the floor, out cold. Valery twirled her pistol in her hand and smoothly slid it back into its holster. "Are you alright?" she asked the clerk. "I just stunned him, so I suggest you call law enforcement." If such a thing really existed out here, anyway.

Looking down, Valery spent a moment taking a closer look at the man. He was nothing interesting. Just some brute who lied, stole, cheated and-

Valery paused once her eyes shifted over a tattoo on his upper arm. She didn't recognize this particular one, but the same symbol was imprinted on his jacket as well. Perhaps he was part of a gang?

Zax Danner ​

 

[Zax Danner]

Zax sighed, pulling out his pack of cigarra’s and lighting up as he made for the front door. Any gang related activity in this area of town fell under his boss’s jurisdiction, if this wasn’t sanctioned and he let it happen, it’d be his body floating down by the docks, not the degenerate who’d pulled the gun.

The automated doors hissed open and a chime alerted the clerk and… and the woman? The clerk still sported the eyed eyes of shock while the woman casually operated like it was any other Twinsday. Zax was quick. He’d survived as long as he had by being able to read situations, his intuition was nearly infallible and right now he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that this nice lady was a whole different kind of trouble.

He approached her as she started examining the body, Zax spotted the rise and fall of the man’s back while thin tendrils of smoke wafted up from the guy’s singed jacket, “He’s a Demon, not a particularly inventive gang name, but the truth is often disappointing.”

Zax took her in as he took drag off his cigarra. She was dressed like a spacer, the blaster on her hip for sure had a stun feature, and the speed of which this was handled this nicompoop spoke of experience, but it was her demeanor that bothered him the most, she was… nice? Who was nice on Oba Diah?

He couldn’t put his finger on what she was exactly, so he went with his first guess, “Hunter? You cut me in on the deal a little and I’ll help you find ‘em.”

Tag: Valery Noble
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[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Undercover
Weapons: Blasters

A Demon?

Valery looked over her shoulder as another figure appeared. At first glance, he looked similarly rough around the edges but he lacked that dangerous aura that preceded what happened here a moment ago. Valery turned to face him then and brazenly looked him over before she offered a simple, but polite smile. A peculiar thing to see out here, she realized, but when she didn't feel alarmed by someone's presence, she'd always show kindness.

"Something like that," Valery replied when he guessed who she was. Out here, she couldn't trust many people with the truth, especially not a stranger.

A Hunter would do just fine.

"You know where they are?" Her intel on the local gangs was limited. She had a database with lists of gangs and some of the more obvious hideouts, but more up-to-date information from a local would help her on her way. There was only one problem, though — he wanted in on the 'deal' when there was none. She wasn't getting paid for her work here, so there were no profits to share.

Valery pursed her lips forward in thought, then smiled just a little brighter, "Alright, but what makes you interested in going after a gang? It's risky work."

Zax Danner ​

 

[Zax Danner]

The woman turned as he spoke and gave him a once over, which he returned in kind.

A red flag went off with her response to his guess. Okay, not a hunter. What in the galaxy was like a hunter, but not? he wondered. His face wouldn’t register his skepticism, instead he’d scoff like he’d just won a bet.

“Knew it, no way another banger could stun a punk that quick, who you after?” he asked, he’d met plenty of hunters here in Oba Diah City, none of them were cheerful, so this lady was either a complete psychopath or really in love with her job, which if he was being totally honest, was just as unsettling.

“Of course,” he responded with a shrug while taking a hit of his cigarra. He made a point not to elaborate, free information was useless for the giver and Zax knew how valuable it could be. She didn’t seem particularly phased by him asking for a cut, which told him the hit was either worth a shab ton or she’d take him down once she got what she wanted just like she had with the degenerate.

“ODC is a risky place, if you wanna get off this rock, you gotta do risky stuff,” he said with a noncommittal shrug. “Way I see it, if I help you, it’ll help me,” he said, taking a drag on his cigarra, and conveniently leaving out he just so happened to work for a competitor.

Tag: Valery Noble
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[Valery Noble]

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Outfit: Undercover
Weapons: Blasters

"Who do you think I'm after?" She glanced down at the man's tattoo and the symbol on his jacket to make it clear. She hadn't expected to run into someone from the gang here of all places, but it only added to the reasons why she wished to look into them. Perhaps even take them down a notch.

All in due time.

Naturally, Zax saw an opportunity to gain from it as well. She wasn't sure who he was or what this meant to him, but he seemed like the type who cared a great deal about the credits that filled his pockets. That wasn't a reason for her to deny working with him, though. She had entertained mercenaries in the past, and when they were trustworthy enough, she found their skills to be quite useful.

"Alright, then. If you can show me where their hideouts are, I'll pay you." She wasn't going to mention a cut or percentages because there wasn't a price on this mission.

If he named his price, she could perhaps cover it.

"First, your name?" Valery asked, and as he spoke, she listened not just with her ears, but with the Force as well. A simple test to see if she could trust his word.

Zax Danner ​

 

[Zax Danner]

Zax retuned her question with an unamused cock of his eyebrow, “Well, that’s the second time you’ve looked at the guys tat and jacket, if you’re not interested in The Demon’s,” he shrugged, “Then beats me.”

There was something about this woman that put him on edge. He wasn’t used to seeing smiles thrown about, but she seemed to have one for just about everything, but behind the smile he could feel something, something… well he didn’t know what, but he knew it was something important.

When she agreed to pay him, he smiled, “Finally, someone who can see the value in hiring local,” he turned to look at the clerk, “You hear that? She’s gonna pay me,” the clerk’s sour face told Zax he didn’t give to shabs out a bantha’s rear, and that was fine considering the guy's day so far.

“You can call me, Z,” he said putting his cigarra between his lips and offering her a hand to shake, “What do I have the pleasure of callin’ you?”

Tag: Valery Noble
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