Injustice For All [BTS]

[Miss Blonde]

[font='Georgia] Injustice For All

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Spoiler

[media] https://youtu.be/rMxNYQ71LOk [/media]​

The sight was grim. Two Antecedent police officers standing next to the dead body of a young Twi'lek female whose head was planted in the steering wheel of a speeder. Her only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time and it was something that ignited fire in the people. The story was that officers had performed a routine traffic stop when things went south, they began to harass the victim and when they tried to speed away they opened fire killing the victim instantly. And the worst part was that it was all on tape for the galaxy to see, it was the perfect set up for a riot.

Within hours the streets of Antecedent were ablaze with rioters and fire that set buildings aflame. People clashed against riot officers and law enforcement personnel. Bricks flew into windows and the looting began, it was nature really. When the cause was right the idea of stealing was no longer a bad one, it was coming up against a corrupt system. But no matter what the selfish reason was this went deeper than a traffic stop gone wrong, everything came together too perfectly for it not to be.

At the Dragon Palace Casino there was a letter left for the council, and it was grave enough for Miss Blonde to return from her sabbatical. It was short and simple and it made its point come across quite clearly. It read a few very simple words. "release control of the underground, or this is just the beginning." -Dove

It made sense to the council. As of late the Black Tie Syndicate held the most influence in the galactic underworld, they had the most men, guns, and connections that would fight for them. So traditional hostile takeovers were out of the question against them. But taking a planet and putting it in a state of constant civil unrest, that might of been just enough for a rival gang to force gang operations off the planet. So now it came down to a few options for the Black Ties, they had to do what they could to put down the riots, and they had to find the people responsible for this and when they did they were going to lose a few valuable appendages.

Miss Blonde sitting atop the hood of a speeder cleaned one of her old Czerka pistols and began to speak on her comm unit to give orders about what was going to happen and how they were going to handle the situation.

"I only like to leave my island with sandy beaches and cool water for two things. Good news and money. So when I have to come back because people are rioting it upsets me. But for the sake of handling the situation I'm going to put that anger aside so we can survive and push forward. Now here's what's going to happen, we break into two teams, team one comes with me and we trace that letter back to its sender from the various traffic cams we have available. Team two is going to put down these riots, I don't care how you do it, I don't care who gets killed, we stop them. Today." Blonde said with a deadly tone to her last word.

Blonde normally never wanted civilian deaths. But these were grave times and she trusted her men to make the right choices and make her proud.

So in the garage of the Dragon Palace Casino rows of flashy blaster resistant speeders were lined up and ready to be driven off into the Antecedent skyline. Time to go to work.

Spoiler

[member="Alicia Drey"]
[member="Avalon Gray"]
[member="Azalyn Falconer"]
[member="Bloodknight"]
[member="Briar Thorn"]
@Cawrion Chyrox
[member="Cyrus Falcor"]
[member="Dyxra'a"]
[member="James Justice"]
[member="Jan Valdum"]
[member="Jarven Zexxel"]
[member="KeCholo"]
[member="Keira Ticon"]
[member="Naamah Aesham"]
[member="Raka the Hutt"]
[member="Romeo Sin"]
[member="Seanna Vel"]
[member="Shawn Winters"]
@Stardust
[member="The Black Hat"]
[member="Zenva Vrotoa"]

 

[NightSister]

Recent events had lowered Azalyn's activity within the Black Tie Syndicate significantly, which she hadn't loved but had tolerated without much bother. However, the fact remained that she was as loyal to them as someone in her position possibly could be, and she truly did enjoy the thrill of her job, so when the Syndicate alerted her to riots and anonymous threats, she'd abandoned her other tasks and set off for the Dragon Palace Casino without a second thought.

Miss Blonde had been very clear with the instructions - either trace the letter to its writer or put down the riots. Although brute combat was fun in its own way, Azalyn had grown up in the shadows and by now practically was one. Once she had armed and disguised herself appropriately, she took a flight so fast it was likely illegal to Antedecent.

The moment she saw the riots she knew she had been right to come - although an assassin herself, Azalyn killed quickly and cleanly and never committed a murder she hadn't been paid for. To see the uproar caused over seemingly nothing made her angry. Gritting her teeth she slipped into the Casino's garage to find Miss Blonde waiting behind a row of speeders.

"Raven for team one," she said bluntly.

[member="Miss Blonde"]​

 

[Keira Priest]

Spoiler

[youtube]https://youtu.be/IYfJTzDo-MA[/youtube]

Being raised in a criminal empire, Keira was no stranger to attempted insurgency, having witnessed a small handful of failed coups when she still lived on Corellia. But everything had always been quelled in the matter of a few days, perhaps a week or two if things were particularly bad. But nothing had ever escalated beyond that, to her knowledge, and so even as a crime lord's daughter her childhood was relatively peaceful. Of course, an enterprise such as the Black Ties was bound to be different than what was for the most part a family business. There was more disconnect, and with their control ebbing and flowing of late an uprising was likely inevitable. Now all they could do was reconvene and deal with the consequences, something she was exceptionally good at. Violence came easy. This would be done and over with in no time.

She had been on the streets of Antecedent when the first riots broke out, and had been caught in the middle as things escalated. A scuffle or two later, and she had arrived at the Dragon Palace, cut up, bruised and bloody, but still okay. Without saying a word to anyone she made her way to her office in order to don her armor. It was more for intimidation purposes than anything explicitly lethal, though she wouldn't hesitate to utilize her weaponry if need be. Hopefully the sight of a phrik armored figure on the streets would be enough to tell people that none of this was a very good idea in the first place. There were other ways to get the point across, of course, but for once she wasn't entirely too keen on resorting to violence immediately. Not if it could be helped, this time around. And she would make sure the rest of them abided by the same.

"Blonde, I've got team two. Whoever decides to follow is going to listen to me on this one. We're not killing civvies without a fething good reason, and if you pull it because you can you'll be the next one with a bullet in your head. Anyone wants in, you're under my orders." Perhaps it wasn't right of her to take up authority so outright, but she knew she was suited for it. "You think they're going to listen to you?" "For their sake, I would hope so."

[member="Miss Blonde"]

 

[Daak Dakaara]

(OOC: I'm confused. [member="Miss Blonde"] did say Team One was going to trace the letter, and team 2 was for the riots. [member="Keira Ticon"] seem to be talking as if she's going after the rioters, but then says she's team one. Just trying to clarify)

Now here's what's going to happen, we break into two teams, team one comes with me and we trace that letter back to its sender from the various traffic cams we have available. Team two is going to put down these riots, I don't care how you do it, I don't care who gets killed, we stop them. Today."

 

[Daak Dakaara]

Daak had been out of the game for a while. Last time he was in he had a ship, a crew, and the backing of an influential Hutt lord. Now, he considered himself lucky to still have his old hold-out blaster strapped to his chest.

That being said, when [member="Miss Blonde"] sent out the notice, the pirate was a bit surprised to still be in the rotation. Most groups from his past thought he was dead. Perhaps the dead weren’t removed from the BTS contact list… or perhaps [member="Miss Blonde"] had more impressive resources than he was crediting her. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d impressed him.

Regardless, a riot sounded like fun. The hive-mind that took over people while in a riot was a rife playground for those talented at influencing others. Daak felt confident that the miscreants would fold like putty in his hands. And if worse came to worse, Daak was certain he'd have teammates to fall back on. This was something others were bound not to miss out on.

He clicked on his tele-communicator. “Top of the evening, lass. I’ll be headed your way. Don’t go skatin’ off without me. I'll be taking on team 2.”

 

[James Justice]

James hated riots. He hated needless civilian casualties. More than that, he hated people who caused it on purpose.

His rage had gone past the firey, burning inferno that most people were familiar with. No, it had elevated to the higher level of furry; an icy, cold, long burning flame that would settle for nothing more than pleas for mercy as torture was dished out in spoon fulls.

James listened as [member="Miss Blonde"] gave out the objectives.

"Count me in with ye," the spacer said. "We need to find this son of a bith and make im wish he was never born."

 

[NightSister]

OOC: I meant team one as n the team going after the letter. Sorry if I was unclear [member="Daak Dakaara"]

 

[Daak Dakaara]

OOC: [member="Azalyn Falconer"] , thanks for clarifying. I've edited my post in response.

 

[Miss Blonde]

Blonde nodded her head at [member="Keira Ticon"] and @Dak Dakaara and trusted that they would go get the job done of putting down riots in the senate district. To keep the planet from further ripping itself apart people were going to die, the only question was how many were before it went back to normal.

But that wasn't her problem at the moment, it was team two's. Her problem was finding the son of a queen who was threatening her and her organization, and if there was one thing blonde did best it was crush people who made threats. With the young assassin and her trusted friend James with her it was time to load up and go. She had a lead and that was the person who was sent to deliver the message to the palace. The great thing about secretly being in control of an entire planet was access to the cameras in which to follow messengers or the like.

"Let's go." Blonde said as she and her team loaded into a single speeder.

In order to get this objective done it was best not to go in force with a convoy of speeders. And with the riots going on they needed the added mobility. Getting into the SUV like speeder Blonde took the wheel and let everyone else take their places of where they wanted to sit.

"So how are the kids, Runner?" Blonde asked casually as she reached into the glove compartment to pull out a data pad.

"Raven, I got a ping on the messengers location. You're navigating so get me there." Blonde said as she tossed the data pad on the center console of the speeder.

[member="Azalyn Falconer"] [member="James Justice"] [member="Keira Ticon"] [member="Daak Dakaara"]

 

[James Justice]

James followed [member="Miss Blonde"] to their ride, jingling with each step. The tools of his trade were scattered across his person; barwire, chains, blasters, blades, and an assortment of bottled chemicals. He had been watching Thraxis and taking notes on what helped his psychotic torturer the best at what he did.

When he saw their ride it was hard for James to conceal his disappointment. It was definately lacking in what he liked most in a speeder; clearly marked guns, a screaming stereo system, and most of all--him in the drivers seat.

The Runner climbed into the passengers seat next to Blonde, slamming the door behind him. Did he buckle up? Of course not this is James freaking Justice we are talking about not a boy scout.

"The kids are good," James replied, adjusting his studded fingerless leather gloves. "Just opened a private school for Brook, right on the good side of Imahalyan. The girl's got brains. She ain't gonna be a common criminal like her da. I real proud of 'er. Jess," he chuckled shooting Blonde a wry look. "Shes a lot like me when I were her age. Stubborn, hard-headed, bent on getting inta' more trouble than the galaxy holds. But I keep 'en eye on 'er. Most of her problems I let the lass sort out 'er self, good for 'er. Makes her stronger, like me. But sometimes I jump in. The funny think be she thinks she can run where I cain't see her," James looked out the window for a moment, slightly amused.

Part of him wondered if he was doing the right thing, sending Brook away where his darkness chouldnt taint her, and letting Jess walk in his footsteps so far from him. But he didn't know how to father children. Dad had been gone for so long, missing for so much he never really had a chance to find out how to learn from him. His lips sank in a slight frown, wrinkles from his years began to show on James' face for a moment. He wanted so badly to have a normal family and for a brief moment the crime lord could not hide behind booze or deny it with a stack of cash. It hurt; all the time lost, all the chances gone. He missed his girl's first steps, they would never have a chance to show him a dance recital or for him to hear their first words.

The spacer clenched his teeth, burrying the pain deep down inside. He let it fuel him, drive him forward. The Runner was making the galaxy a better place for them. For his grand children. Sure he would never have a normal family but they deserved a chance to.

"What about ye, Miss? How are the little blondes?" James asked, pulling a cigarette from his pocket.

[member="Azalyn Falconer"]

 

[NightSister]

Azalyn caught the datapad and nodded as [member="Miss Blonde"] told her to take them there, quickly readjusting her mask. She wasn't as capable with speeders as she was with ships but to be fair, she was pretty good with ships. Tapping at the holomap on the datapad a few times, she drew out a route in her head and then started up the speeder and zoomed out of the Casino at full speed.

Listening to Blonde's conversation with [member="James Justice"] and trying to pick apart any useful details, Azalyn navigated through the streets quickly and easily. At every corner there were more riots, which made her clench her fists and accelerate, hurtling through the air in an attempt to reach the blackmailer. A few times she thought she saw Black Ties intervening, but each was a blur and then gone.

After a little while, Azalyn screeched to a halt outside the building the datapad had led her to and swung both legs over the side of the speeder, exiting gracefully and preparing to draw her weapons.

 

[Miss Blonde]

Blonde listened to James and could feel the pain behind his words, she didn't like to see him this conflicted but now wasn't the time for counseling. Now was the time to get whoever was karking with them. So with a quick hand reaching up Miss Blonde gave James a soft squeeze on his shoulder that it was going to be ok before answering his question.

"Kids are good, the oldest is going to higher ed now so that's good. As for the little ones they are good, trying to teach Jr to not throw his cup across the room but hey everything's a work in progress when it comes to kids." It was almost funny really how the two were having a casual conversation about their kids while sitting next to a trained assassin who was driving them through a riot zone to potentially go kill or torture information out of someone.

But speaking of killing or torturing the three pulled up to a large apartment complex and it was here the traffic cams marked the subject entering. Facial recognition systems marked the man and identified him as Marcus Solomon some low time carrier who ran messages to dangerous for digital sending. And they could find him in apartment five hundred B. Forwarding this information to the others the woman grabbed her pistol and holstered it carefully.

"Runner, we'll go first. Raven stay behind us and provide overwatch. I don't want anyone sneaking up on us." Miss Blonde stepped out of the vehicle and entered the building casually.

Standing by the turbolift she pressed the button to wait for it to come and simply stood there and tapped her foot to the lobby music.

[member="Azalyn Falconer"] [member="James Justice"]

 

[Keira Priest]

So Keira would be working with the new guy, one [member="Daak Dakaara"], a man she had never heard of, not that semantics exactly mattered in this business. Just as long as he could follow orders and get the job done, they would get along just fine. "Meet me in the garage, you'll see me in one of the speeders. We'll be heading to the riots in the Senate District and work our way through things from there." She didn't exactly have a plan for shutting things down, but rarely did she ever walk into things with any kind of strategy in mind. Improvisation had always been the name of the game, and this would be no different. It had gotten her this far, after all.

"Would you like to be kept updated on local news reports?" As always, her conversations with the AI were kept private to the outside world, "If you're able. Only everything directly related to what we're up to. Keep tabs on Blonde and her lot too. Nobody needs to get hurt because of one guy with a bad idea." "Understood." The two might have had their back-and-forth, but when it came down to it they functioned seamlessly together. Now all there was left to do was wait for the new guy to arrive.

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

Riots...chaos...fires...and the unlucky person who thought he could get lucky off of stardust as she kicked him and mad was hella good entrance before pushing him out"sorry I'm late miss blonde traffic was terrible "she said with a chuckle as she was in full battle master armor and electrostaff on hand

She followed [member="Keira Ticon"] and [member="Daak Dakaara"] as she looked at the speeders and listened with a whistle" alright then I'm ready to do this"she said as she rgot into the speeder and held her electrostaff..if need be she could jump out first to keep rioters away with killing them

 

[Daak Dakaara]

Pistons hissed as the hydraulic lift dropped into the garage bay. Daak dropped his heavy boot out onto the pristine, buffed floor and strode into the moderate hangar. Speeders lined the stations, and one at the end sat in gear, headlights shining. The bothan rested his hands in his pockets and casually sauntered over to the passenger door. As he reached on hand out of his pocket for the handle the door popped ajar. Daak shook his head, "Real control freak, this one," he muttered under his breath before opening the door the full way and sliding into the open seat.

In the drivers seat sat whom Daak could only assume was [member="Keira Ticon"], considering she was clad head to toe in a robust suit of armor with what was pretty apparently a lightsaber on her hip. Daak took a moment to look down at his own body. Sporting a thicker-than-some jacket, some basic trousers, a pair of well-worn boots and a holdout blaster that did a pretty decent job at picking off greepers.

The pirate felt a giggle start to roll through his stomach. He turned back to the warrior sitting in the drivers seat. "Well, missus, looks like we know who wears the phrick-lined pants in this relationship." Daak threw a wink her way, pretty certain he was playing with thermite, but a victim of his own hubris. "What do yah say we find a private place to polish it up a bit before we get the ruffians in order? Eh?"

Daak had no illusions of [member="Keira Ticon"] feeling any sort of amusement about his jokes, but perpetually serious people brought out the snarkiest in him.

 

[Dyxra'a]

Dyxra'a Khoez stood at the large floor to ceiling window that lines one wall of the apartment that she was currently residing in on Antecedent. Standing as still as a statue would, the scale covered woman simply stared at the view bellow her, her gaze affixed and unmoving from the reveling crowds at the base of the tower. Down there, chaos was reigning as fights would break about between any individuals that happened to bump into one another, bricks were picked up before being thrown away in the next moment and fires were breaking out at completely random locations. As much as she recognised the fact that such ruling chaos was not benefiting for the operations of the Black Ties, she could not remove her eyes from the sight of the crowds.

"Remind you of anything, Dyx?" The cultured voice broke the silence that Dyxra'a had been surrounding herself with and was accompanied by the rustling of cloth as the blue skinned, black haired and red eyed figure of Dyxra'a's closest companion Kana'sosu'ligue, or, as Dyxra'a knew her, Asosul, stretched out across the settee behind the Falleen, a bottle of clear alcohol, Vodka by Dyxrra'a's guess, grasp in her hands. "Specifically, the day we met? Although, I do doubt that that is why you might remember."

Huffing at her loyal companion's words, Dyxra'a twisted slightly, tearing her gaze from the rioting bellow while leaning even more heavily on the cane that she held in both hands. "You are correct on both accounts. Surely by now you must now that my memory is near perfection and that I do not put stock in such useless emotional connections." Despite the fact that to most Dyxra'a's voice remained as stoic and monotone as her face was, to Asosul there was a feint hint of a teasing lift that she was only able to recognise through years of interactions with the emotionally distant female. In response to her friends hidden tease, Asosul simply took a large gulp from the bottle she held.

"But," Dyxra'a continued, "that day really is memorable. Indeed, it was the first time that I got to witness and experiment with the mindset a mob will fall into. Truly, it is surprising, really, how when one falls into a crowd of beings riled up and seeking chaos it becomes even more easy for them to relinquish responsability of their actions, handing across the reigns to their minds in the process, to any voice that speaks with an sympathetic authority. In fact..."

"Yeah, yeah." This time Dyxra'a did react at the Chiss's words, her face contorting into an expression that fell somewhere between an angered glare and annoyed frustration. Shrugging of the lizard woman's look, Asosul simply yawned in response before she froze in place, honeycombed eyes still concealed behind eyelids as strong smelling alcohol dripped down onto her chest, staining her clothes, while the scent of a fired gun filled the air, filling in the gaps left behind by a rapidly fading echo. Slowly opening her eyes to gaze at Dyxra'a, Asosul just managed to catch the Falleen holstering her slugthrower revolver Nemesis. Huffing, relaxing as she did so at the disappearance of the weapon, the Chiss swung to her feet, padding over to the datapad that had just alerted to a new message.

"Touchy, touchy." Choosing not to give her companion the satisfaction of a response to her teasing words, Dyxra'a simply returned to staring at the rioting crowds before the reemerged silence was once more broken by Asosul. "It would seem that our esteemed leader is calling upon us all to quell these riots. One team is to try and quiet the crowds while the other is to work with her to trace a letter, I assume one relating to the cause of the riots from the rather strict language she used, back to the sender."

Grunting in acknowledgment, Dyxra'a turned to the room where she had stored all of her weapons, limping heavily as she did so. However, before she could travel more than a few steps, Asosul's voice cut across the room, lacking any of its normally teasing tone. "And where to you think you're going, you daft lizard. You're in no state to fight. Your scales on your stomach are no where near repaired and that's not even mentioning you leg. Really, it's in a bad enough state that you should be walking with a cybernetic replacement, you stubborn reptile. Now, you're going to forget any thought of going out into those riots. Understood?"

For a moment, Dyxra'a's hard eyes softened as she stared at the Chiss, her keen gaze easily picking up the body language that betrayed the fear and worry for Dyxra'a's safety hidden beneath, and fueling, the anger that filled the blue skinned woman's voice. It was true that Dyxra'a was no where near full health, her injury from the job on Tython still affecting her. Her leg, which had suffered the brunt of the damage she had taken had not been treated as quickly as it should have, the stomach wound that threatened her life taken her's and Asosul's attention, and now the injury could not be fully healed. Whereas the scales on her stomach would regrow, she was not as lucky when it came to her upper right thigh and forever more, as long as she lived, a large patch of skin there would be open and exposed to the world. Beyond that though, beneath the surface of skin, nerves in the leg had been damaged cursing Dyxra'a with a limp, limited mobility and a weakened leg, a situation where replacing her leg was probably the best action to take. Still, Dyxra'a was an extremely possessive being, beyond the limits of rationality and logic, and anything she called hers, whether that be living things, items or even body parts as in the current case, she would not relinquish them.

However, just as fast as Dyxra'a had softened to the Chiss's words, that empathy was washed away by her stubbornness and she turned aggressive and confrontational against Asosul. "I am not weak." Each word was carefully enunciated in Dyxra'a's exotic accent. "If I want to fight, I shall. Understood?" The final word held a hostile mocking tone to it as Dyxra'a parroted what the Chiss had only moments said to her.

A few minuets later, Asosul was contacting [member="Miss Blonde"] through Dyxra'a's communication channel. "Miss Blonde? This is Kana'sosu'ligue," for Asosul refused to allow any but Dyxra'a address her as Asosul as a sign of loyalty, "an associate of Serpent. She is currently unable to, er, talk with you." Bellow Asosul's seated form, Dyxra'a squirmed against the floor, hissing through a makeshift gag, as she tried to free herself from the weight of the much taller female. "She, we, wish to assist you in tracing the letter. Is there a specific location that you wish for us to meet you at? As I do doubt that you decided to wait around for any lagging behind to join you in your search."

 

[Keira Priest]

A handful of seconds was spent simply watching [member="Daak Dakaara"], though eventually Keira laughed quietly and shook her head. "If you can fight half as well as you can talk, then maybe you won't be entirely useless." His worth now would be proven in combat, the rest of it coming later, when she was able to speak to him properly in some attempt at civil conversation. When [member="Stardust Raxis"] she turned to speak to the woman, "Been awhile since I've seen you about. Got back in time for the fun, at least." 'Fun' here was subjective, but she knew enough about the other to know that she didn't entirely mind the idea of a good fight, as it was. And when it came to the Black Ties, that was enough.

Once everyone was settled within the speeder she took off, having largely memorized the streets of Antecedent when she used to call the planet home years earlier. It took but a few minutes to navigate to the specified locale, and she threw it into park, doors unlocking automatically. Already they were being targeting by those rampaging on the streets, and they hadn't been there but a few seconds at best. "I would give some kind of speech, but it looks like we've already made some new friends. Care to give them a welcoming party?" Without waiting for a response she opened her door forcefully, knocking one of the rioters backwards and off their feet.

"Let's see if you can back your talk up, greenhorn."

[member="Miss Blonde"] (if you wanted to NPC or something)

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

Stardust gave a grin to [member="Keira Ticon"]"yea lots been going on toppled a dictator became a queen the usual day ya know?"she said and laugh looking over to [member="Daak Dakaara"] "so your the new guy eh? Heh this should be fun I'm stardust I'd give all the titles that go to that name but we'd be awhile"she said feeling the vehicle move as she checked her bolter loaded with all stun grenades as she nodded

As she felt the speeder stop she took a sigh hearing the crowd outside"awww look at that...seems they gave us a welcome party no?"she said a shee stood"take this out of my pay"she said and force pushed the doors off and jumped out of the vehicle seeing at least three subdued and plenty coming at her as she threw her helmet on and activated her stunstaff"alright let's seeing what you got"she said spinning it

 

[James Justice]

James let the sweetly relaxing smoke fill his lungs with each breath. The cigarette between his lips blazed in a dull orange glow, bringing him back to the present.

"Glad to hear ye family is doing well, always good to have 'em doing the best they can," he commented as they walked across the lobby.

As the pair waited for the elevator he looked at the clerk sitting behind the desk. She was looking at them--while trying to not look.

"Be back in a moment," James said over his shoulder before he swaggered to the desk.

"Oh, um, can I help you?" the brunette asked, slightly flustered.

James flashed her a winsome smile, letting his pheramones begin their work. "I suppose that's up to ye, miss. Me mate Ron and his girl Annie are going to the pubs tonight. If ye are free tonight," his voice trailed off slightly before he winked, "I could make it worth ye while."

"I-oh-I," she Stammered.

James pulled her close suddenly, giving the woman a fierce, intense kiss. His mind gave hers a gentle tap, maximizing the amplification by their touch. His mind gave her's a soft rub, removing [member="Miss Blonde"] from her memory.

"I'll take that as a yes," James said with a wink.

He swaggered into the elevator right before the doors closed. Yes, he still had it.

 

[Daak Dakaara]

The speeder fell into park and the doors unlocked. Daak wasn't about to be trapped in a sitting position. As he swung his door open the screeching of metal being torn apart and the speeder twisting to the side made him leap from his seat to come up sprawled in the street. Looking behind himself he realized that the Twi'lek, [member="Stardust Raxis"], had ripped her door straight off. She was now standing outside the speeder, sending her stunstaff in practice swings around her body. The bothan found his feet and yelled to her, "Was that completely necessary?! What, they not teach you about handles where you grew up?"

The pirate turned away from her before receiving a response. A host of the mob had redirected towards them and were approaching with less than amiable intent written upon their faces. There was a pipe here, a crowbar there, but only one person seemed genuinely outfitted for combat.

The human that led the group of what looked like 15 people of varying species was as unsuspecting as any other rioter, at least to those who didn't know what to look for. He wore civilian clothes, but his chest had the thickness which accompanied the presence of armor beneath his clothing. In his right hand was a vibro-sword of pretty impressive make. Without holding it in his hands, Daak could only assume that it was cortosis weave. And what was more, the man walked with the stilted gait of someone with a blaster tucked into the back of their waistband.

As he drew nearer, the man had a look of recognition come over him as he saw, first [member="Keira Ticon"], then [member="Stardust Raxis"]. He started to slow his approach, allowing his followers to match his pace, then they were in front of him.

"Get them! They're part of it! Murderers!" He shouted, matched by outraged jeers by his companions who charged towards the group.

Daak turned to face Keira. "Their leader!" He barked, pointing to the man with the vibrosword. She had a much better chance of getting to him than he did. "We need him al..." a shoulder connected with Daak's mid-rift and he was sent flying backwards. He managed to control his breathing as he came crashing to the pavement with his attacker on top of him.

The rioter tried to rise in order to strike Daak again, but the pirate grabbed him about the neck and held his shaved head to his chest. Fists struck weakly about Daak's arms, side, and head, but the bothan weathered the blows, waiting for his opening. Another rioter came sprinting up with a pipe in her hand. She rose it above her head and leaned her body in for the strike. Daak pulled the man's head closer, forcing him to tense further against the bothan's pull, and as the pipe started to descend, Daak released the man. In a beautiful moment, as if it was synchronized by everyone involved, the bald rioter on top of Daak lurched upward with his fist raised right into the path of the descending pipe. The sound of impact had both the ringing chime of struck metal, and the brutal crunch of bone breaking.

The bald rioter dropped to one side, and the pipe-wielder stood stunned at her error. Daak didn't wait for her to recover. Before she could move he had come to his feet and closed in on her body. She was taller, and heavier, but Daak had learned long ago to fight according to his strengths. He squatted squarely on his haunches before her and wrapped an arm behind her front-most leg while wrapping another hand around the pipe held loosely in her hand. In one motion he pushed up with his legs, pulled with his arm, and sent the woman in a backwards tumble through the air. In her attempt to right herself she let go of the pipe which was left in the grasp of the pirate. She landed with her stomach and face pressed against the pavement, and didn't have time enough to groan in pain before Daak brought the pipe down to the back of her head.

Daak started to turn for the next attacker when he saw his reflection in a nearby speeder window. A crazed smile stretched across his scarred muzzle, and blood had at some point matted down the fur on one side of his face. Was that his or someone else's?

There was no time to consider it more, as a scream burst from behind him. Daak's smile widened.