Burned Books and Pickaxes (Lords of the Fringe)

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

Had a gut feeling we would be fethed soon, was probably the reason why I didn’t protest all that much about the fifty-fifty arrangement. Point was. I might be an nerf herder, I might even be criminal scum, but the Underground was a thing of beauty. Never was a fan of the Sith and they were the only ones actually doing anything against the real threat.

So sponsoring ‘em with some hard-earned cash? ‘least I could do.

Khaleel pulled out a cigarette, lit it and puffed out some smoke finally.

‘Run or dive?’

Simple question, many branches of possibilities.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

"We run, they get us for sure. This bucket of bolts only looks like a good time. An Invictus may be old news, but we try punching out of the grav well, and even an old Star Destroyer will make slag out of us." She barked something Arcona-y to the Arcona and began flipping switches. Elsewhere in the Garden, others got to work, accelerating the powerdown. "We're one sleepy ship on one sleepy world, and in about two minutes we won't have much of a power signature to trace. They won't have finished scanning the system by then, not in a ship that old. Let's just take the speeders out and see what we can do."

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

‘Reasonable, let’s roll.’ strapped outta the chair and grabbed my gear, nothing too fancy note, bodo baas belt with a few blasters on ‘em, jacket and that was about it really. Look. I ain’t one of ‘em special forces guys, kay? Give me a blaster and I will do just fine, most of the time at least.

Two minutes passed, we took em speeders out and rushed outta the little hangar like it was nobody’s business. Had to move fast, the Fringe wasn’t exactly known for its proportional responses and it seemed they finally decided to annex the planet in full.

We headed for the mines.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

Halm had a lot of mines. Some of them were operational; others weren't. The Underground had a tip from a barkeep -- Alec did a lot of mining around here -- that a certain infamous blonde Fringer was in play, and that generally meant the Fringe wanted everything in sight. Starting with baked goods, or so it was said. Even in the Underground, she'd heard the tale of the Red Wedding of Eshan.

Now, the problem here was fairly fundamental. The mined-out mines had few if any crystals remaining. The operational minds, and the crystals they produced, belonged to people. The mission directive was vague enough that all relevant choices were basically up to her. Would she steal from the locals to keep their valuables out of Fringe hands? Tune in next week, on Space Tramp's Conscience.

Fortunately, that barkeep knew another thing worth knowing. See, there was a reason these mines didn't flood the galaxy with Adegan crystals, and as was so often the case in the gemstone and minerals market, that reason was price fixing. Company stockpiling.

Her speeder drew to a halt in front of Third Eye Bank and Trust, home of a certain large corporate safety deposit box.

"Shall we?"

 

[Sannika Brynn]

An Invictus-class vessel had been reported as entering orbit of Halm, a rather obvious sign that someone was investing a bit more than just eyeballs on the world. Something was impending, and the reactionary forces on the wandering Rebel fleet were alerted to take to their fighters--or bombers, as it were.

Stationed aboard RAV-001 Home One, Rogue Three was awakened by the klaxons and wasted little time prepping for action. It had been a while since the Rogues had some true fighter business to attend to. Pulling on her jumpsuit and snapping on the rather twi'lek-specific helmet over her tailed skull, Sannika grabbed some freeze-dry and took to the assigned EFA-1a Eraser attack fighter, somewhat disappointed that Kantankerous Kill would not be seeing action today.

Clambering up the ladder and hopping into the cockpit, the tukian gave a thumbs up and a playful wink to the flight personnel, confident that the Rogues were up to the task--at least, they would come home. Pretty sure on that. Likely. Maybe. Possibly.

"Yo! It's Rogue Three," she called in as the fighter exited the hangar bay. "Standing by, but not for long." Looping about the Rebel flagship, she initiated hyperspace targeting and let the computer work out all the details. After hanging around for the remainder of the squadron to appear, Sannika pulled and threw her ship into hyperspace.

Spoiler

[member="Juwiela Melec"], [member="Roth Tillian"], [member="Thane Drexel"], [member="Juliette Molière"], [member="Leea Pandac"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

Man. That barkeep sure knew a lot, gotta ask ‘em where he gets his sources. Would probably be a good one for Jimmy’s, have a couple of intelligence workers on my payroll and every time some random waltzed in for information I could get something interesting for ‘em.

Anyway, at this point I was just being dragged around from here to there. Never really saw myself as anyone’s leader, not really at least. Just a guy with a bar, a blaster and sometimes a lightsaber. So sometimes people came to me to fix something, or to ask my advice.

Ain’t like I am building some kind of crime imperium, that being said… having the right connections on Halm might just be the thing the Exchange needed. Gemstones and minerals were a valuable commodity, no?

‘We shall.’

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

"Oh, and here's the fun part."

The stocking cap was itchy, but not too bad. A massive Czerka HeadBanger riot gun completed the ensemble.

"Guess who they're going to think we are."

Kick down the door, boom.

"EVERYONE ON THE FLOOR IN THE NAME OF THE LORDS OF THE FRINGE!"

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

Got one of ‘em riot guns, 500’ series made by BlasTech. I will be honest with ya. Starting to love BlasTech more and more these days. Anyway, this beauty had a history, used to be produced for the military of the Corporate Sector, Espo or whatever the hell they wanted to call themselves.

Got a stun-function, but could dish out some damage too if necessary. Wasn’t the aim here, of course. We just wanted their stuff, but every once and again people get edgy, when that happens and stuns ain’t good enough? We’d be ready.

Probably.

‘Any of you fecking pricks move, and I'll execute every motherfecking last one of ya!’

...what? That sounds exactly how a Lord of the Fringe would handle this affaire, just look at that cannibal chick or those other guys. Freaking. Nuts.

Besides, I have always wanted to quote Pulp Reality.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

Boom went the riot gun, and the bravest of the guards (along with four of his closest friends -- the HeadBanger had a nice wide beam) was out for the next three days.

"Keys to the vault! Now!"

It transpired that one of the recently de-consciousnessed held the key. Alec procured it as quickly as possible. This might be a sleepy little dustbowl of a town, but every sleepy little dustbowl had a sheriff.

The door got kicked in again just as she was opening the vault. And in came a Gran in a duster and a cowboy hat, his third eye protruding from a hole cut in the brim, a revolver in each pawlike hand.

Feth.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

Remember when I told ya about my '500? Remember when I was expecting some hero to barge in? Well, contrary to populair belief I ain't a big fan of being right, least not when my own ass was on the line. Sheriff Gran ain't no hero though, guy storms in and immediately starts shooting. Tells me he doesn't give a fig about the people in this joint, bad for us, bad for em, good for this nerf herder. At least, that's what he thinks, sadly I am a fething cheater when it came to this game.

See, I can't mind control people, burst out in heavenly light to smite the wicked or make shed explode with my mind. But what I -can- do, what the Ysanna taught me to do? A doozy, I tell ya. Ducked away to avoid getting shot, guy's spraying bullets all over and the only two things on my mind were the hope that Alec was using the time I am giving her wisely and what an idiot I am for doing what I did next.

I jumped outta the corner, punched three bullets in my roll and ended up behind the table. Bullets kept going though, time slowed as I meticulously guided them towards the head and chest of the nerf herder.

Held my breath until I heard the satisfying wet think of impact, two... feth I missed the third, still could hear a body land, so at least my civic duty was done.

'Woman, get your ass moving.' I shouted over my shoulder, waiting a moment before looking at the entrance to see what was happening.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

"Shut your face, boy," Alec snapped, and twisted the electronic key in the lock. She got her boot against the base of the vault and yanked the handle. The circular door, half a foot thick, slid open on its hinges.

Stealing from average folks didn't work for her, and she didn't have the time to go through the other safety deposit boxes anyway. A doubletap from her Brotherguard blaster pistol melted the lock out of the second big corporate box from the left.

She busied herself with stuffing pontite crystals into her pockets, her bag having taken the brunt of the Gran sheriff's fire and been duly canonized.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

Heh. Couldn't stop grinning, as the adrenaline kept pumping. Doorstep was empty for now, but the gunfire would definitely bring in more crowd. Deputies, maybe a few adventurous citizens, concerned husband ya know how it is. Couldn't go and help speed up the progress though, exactly because of the possibility of more peeps running in guns blazin'

At least we didn't have to worry about the civilians trying to do something stupid. Think the sight of their protector running and and starting to shoot up the place, before being fed a bullet took the fight right outta them. That being said, this was a perfect business opportunity, could try and come back in a few weeks. If all was more relaxed, I could probably get em to pay some protection money in... heh exchange for some honest people taking care of em.

Worth looking into, I suppose.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

"And we'll be back for the rest!" Alec roared as she stepped out of the vault, waving a pontite crystal the size of her fist. "This is Fringe territory now!"
Feth, was she ever grateful for that stocking cap. Even her ship, which would get tracked eventually, was just a modded old Huttese patrol frigate with a seriously disreputable background. She'd stolen it from some rich sot's trophy yard after some decidedly improbable events. She took a moment to call in over her earpiece as she stuffed the crystal in her vest pocket and made for the door. All was quiet at the Garden of Unending Delights.

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

Didn't have anything to add to that particular message shouted, honestly I was just wondering if -they- weren't wondering why we didn't throw some lightning around, or made shet explode with our mind. Seeing as most Fingers were Force Gods these days. Didn't stop to ask though, instead I followed Rekali outta there. Only taking a moment to grab the cowboy hat from the sheriff's head, look it looked cool on him.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]

Nobody followed them, not that she saw anyway, and she commed in to the Garden. The Arcona gribbled confirmation: no pursuers. Her first breath as their speeders entered the Hutt frigate felt like her first breath since she'd breached the vault. Hands shaking, she closed the hatch and pulled out fistfuls of pontite crystals from her pockets and pouches. She put them on a cargo container, the next best thing to a table.

The hat caught and held her attention. Specifically, the hole where the Gran's third eye had been. "Is your hairline receding?"

 

[Juwiela Melec]

Finally, another mission for the Rogues. It felt like forever since any of them had been out of the hangar, let alone in anything that resembled a dogfight. And now that they'd finally gotten the chance, Juwiela couldn't be more ready for it. Once the call to arms had been sounded she'd been preparing with the rest of them, pulling on her flight suit over the outfit she'd been wearing previously - nothing more than her typical hooded ensemble - and sliding her helmet on, tinted goggles built into the device over empty eye sockets covered by a band of fabric, physical sight not a necessity due to her heritage. But there wasn't a reason to remove that piece, so it had stayed.

The next step was boarding the chosen ship for this particular mission, the Eraser starfighter, as they'd been dubbed. While she would miss the maneuverability of her own starfighter, the Blind Gambit, she could understand when a different type of firepower was not only necessary, but required by those higher up in the hierarchy than she. So she'd entered the ship without complaint, flashing a thumbs up to the personnel on deck after she ran through the pre-flight procedure, everything checking in green.

It was then her comms crackled to life, "Yo! It's Rogue Three. Standing by, but not for long." So she would be joined by the others of her squadron on this mission, instead of having to make do with the other pilots the Alliance had to offer. It wasn't that she minded the company of the others, but flying with those she'd trained with was definitely the preferred option. Flicking on her own communications she responded in kind, "Rogue Leader, right behind you."

After waiting for a moment in light of the others showing up themselves she activating the hyperdrive, registering the pre-loaded coordinates before easing forward the lever that took her to lightspeed.

[member="Sannika Brynn"]

 

[Arage Bao]

[member="Alec Rekali"]

While she was sighing and puffing I had a very different reaction to the sudden close in the adventure. When we were finally safe, I slumped against one of the walls and started laughing uncontrollably. That was one of my things. I would queen and moan a lot when in danger, but man… I enjoyed every little second of it. It was that pump of adrenaline that made me grin, that made me feel alive, nothing could compare to that.

No sex, alcohol, drug or smoke gave me the same kind of rush as standing in the fray of battle, to zip through space in a fighter - hull of a few centimeters standing between me and being sucked into outer space- it’s the rush, the thrill of the moment.

Nothing can compare to that, but I already said that, no?

Anyway. Managed to get a grip, but couldn’t stop grinning as I walked over and took one of em crystals. Raised it in the air, lights of the illuminative bars on the hull giving it a peculiar shiny glance. Yeah… this was some good stuff.

‘Your contact worked out.’ I simply stated, ignoring the quip. She needed it, that faint sense of establishing control after what had just happened. I let her have it, didn’t cost me nothing and probably meant something to her.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Khaleel Malvern"]


"That he did. I'll have to toss him a kickback, not so big that it gets him noticed. He goes by Wuher -- yeah, one of those Wuhers. No love for some of the richer mine bosses in town, and no love for the Fringe, but he's too old to do much on his own, so he passes tips to the Underground here and there." She held the crystals up to the light. "Know who'd pay good money for these -- my grandpa over in the Yavin system. Retired Mando field marshal, runs the system, trying to set up a Jedi academy of sorts. He stole a moon and sold it at auction for a couple billion. He's good for it."

She touched her comm. "All clear on sensors?"

The Arcona on the bridge gribbled to her satisfaction. A couple of pit droids began budging the speeders into place.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

In the command throne of the Chimaera, Ashin kept one eye on the long-range sensors and one (even more metaphorically) on her Force-bond with [member="Spencer Jacobs"]. Spencer was in combat, but not in trouble -- she could sense that much from her wife. The long-range sensors brought up nothing unusual, but Spencer in combat, plus the SIGINT and HUMINT buzz on Halm, and the ongoing contractor operation, meant she'd be sitting here for a while. Thus far, she hadn't launched combat patrols; there was nothing to guard against, and the Chimaera didn't carry starfighters anyway.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

Who was Darth Carach? He had come seemingly out of nowhere, one day nothing, the other an infamous Sith Lord popped up, more suspicious? People suddenly knew him, of him. As if someone had created an elaborate identity... for some reason.

This Voice of the Dark Lord was usually clad in nondescript robes, a simple unadorned mandalorian mask hiding most of his features. Only his eyes were visible, non remarkable blue eyes.

"My Lady Varanin." It seemed familiar, cadence pronouncing her name in a peculiar way.

His presence was a way to strengthen the ties between the One Sith and the Fringe, probably.