Private Familiar strangers

[Tae'l Vizsla]

Gardius... such a strange little world. So peaceful, despite the thriving warrior culture of Mandalorians who lived here. The Supercommando Codex of House Mereel was not unfamiliar to Tae'l, having been taught some of the Ori'ramikad ideals by Jaster Awaud as a child. Still, she never expected to see Oder- No, not order- just peace among her own kind.

If she could even consider herself one of them anymore...

She shook the thought from her mind, instead focusing on her walk down the streets of Aurelian. It was so strange, the way no one stared unless she herself was staring. Usually at Aruetii, though the occasional Supercommando or affiliated warrior caught her eye. They looked so... proud. Filled with a purpose even, thought it didn't feel like some grand conquest to the weary Twi'lek. Just people training to defend their homes and families, with no immediate cause to do so.

Thankfully she no longer wore the emblem of Death Watch, nor any faction for that matter, so she would give them no cause to bear arms today.
It's the closest she's been to the Enclave holdings on Kestri in many years. It seemed a shame to spoil the occasion with unnecessary violence.

Though some violence may be necessary later.
She had plans again. Tae'l could still hear damned voice. That damned, but warm and gentle voice. Like Cassius tea freshly boiled. How could she ever say no...?

It brought Tae'l to a small hub for transports. Speeder bikes, air cars and the like were all lined up in the small courtyard she stepped into, where an old Rodian was there to greet her.

<Bo shuda, konbouaheon!> He said to her Hutteese.

It was of course a familiar language, as it was to all Twi'lek for varied and unfortunate reasons, though she didn't speak the tongue often. Not anymore. as such, her accent was... poor, despite being otherwise fluent.

<Mhm. Jee hatkocanh bacaka wa mogba bai bu phetkoi che. Kava kiuke?>

The Rodian simply tilts his head, wondering why she wanted to go there of all places.

<Jee ciaot danko biw phabeka...>
Darius Mereel

 

[Darius Mereel]

The scion of House Mereel had left his guard behind this time. It was important to not grow too reliant on others to do his fighting for him. Command presence was certainly a thing to cultivate at this point in his life, but the Mando'ade also had a way of valuing personal fame and glory in their leaders. At the moment, Darius still wore the bes'mande armor of his father, the bare bronze colored metal faintly glowing with the kyber infused beskar matrices that hummed with the Force. Any who saw him, given the similarity in build and that lethal stance common to many Mandalorians might confuse him for his buir given the armor. Though their presence in the Force would be drastically different.

However, at this exact moment, instead of giving him a sense of serene comfort, he felt only irritation. His crimson cloak sat flung back from his shoulders, and the crush gauntlets sheathing his hands were spotted with chips of bone and blood as he dropped the corpse of the cultist he had been working over, the light of life fading from said cultist's eyes.

"Well, another dead end. Unless you want to talk?"

Turning from the most recent body Darius flicked both hands downward to both fling gore off his hands and drop the knives clutched in each to the floor as he rolled his head and popped his neck. This virus had to be contained. He knew intimately what it could do from his research, and would do anything, including theatrics, to achieve his goal. He had time though. No one should know these necromancers even existed.

Tae'l Vizsla

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

<Wata um baw wah Kyber phetkoi? woy uba tee dayan cahcata mo kaa?> The Rodian said, concerned.

Tae'l simply tilts her head, musing over her options. And like most days, she was considering the worst option first.
<Jee doth tee wamma uba bai saconba.> Her statement raised tensions so thick, it was as if a fortress wall stood between them. Already her thumb curled faintly against her gunbelt, just waiting for the Rodian to either flee or shout.

But, he did neither. Simply staring at her in silence with those big and dark eyes.

✱clatter✱

✱clatter✱​

She turned her head abruptly, snapping towards the feint metallic sound in the distance. The Rodian could only look over his shoulder. Slowly, and hesitantly.

A peculiar ✱chittering✱ sound followed close behind as the mercenary activated a Scan-pulse module, scanning for any lifeforms- or rather water- within a short distance.

It was unclear exactly what had transpired, but the silhouette of a man collapsed in a nearby alleyway quickly formed on her HUD, in addition to various puddles in the road. At first, this seemed like an ambush. Perhaps the Rodian was there to distract her? A hunter could have followed her here after that recent job. The leads sent her here, after all.

But she was alone, and it was unlikely that an unseen benefactor was aiding her.

<Chat yatuka.>

The Rodian slowly nods in agreement, standing very still while she passed him by, drawing her favorite blaster as she approached, holding it at her hip. More as a precaution than presenting a threat.

Confident that she could back it up if a casual chat was no longer an option...

Darius Mereel

 

[Darius Mereel]

Turning, Darius cursed as the other cultist bolted the moment his head cocked to the side in a bird like fashion to observe Tae'l Vizsla . His visor reflected the dying light of twilight, turning the distinctive 'T' almost chrome in the reflection off it. Far from adopting an aggressive pose, Darius seemed to relax and his posture seemed to loosen. He had learned this habit from a champion of Loaerta's in the fighting pits. The hurt wasn't much in the ways of honor, but he knew pit fighting, and his champion was a Zabrak that Darius actually rarely had to patch up after fighting. Tensing up telegraphed your movement to the experienced opponent, so one had to learn to actively suppress that instinct yet still be at the ready.

Finally, a metallic voice sounded from the bronzed armor.

<<Speak or forfeit your life. That was my last lead and I'm finding myself irritated at you just now for losing them.>>

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

The equally relaxed posture to her own caught the outcast Gunslinger off guard, delaying her word in only the briefest silence as she tilts her head in curiosity. This Mandalorian had experience, not just a fancy costume...

<He won't get far...> She answered in fluent Mando'a.

The light would shift just barely across her weapon's golden hue as it lowered, pointing towards the ground between them as a means of easing the tension while retaining defenses.

All the while, a quick glance had told her much. This warrior was House Mereel, as expected, but the bodies strewn around them were far from being Mandalorians. In fact, a few of them seemed to match her reports. Damnit! the situation had gotten more complicated since then, with no telling how many had taken notice of the cult.

They must have gotten sloppy. They were no longer a potential asset, but a rotting branch to be cut off.

<You're after the cult> She began, taking a step forward to gaze in the direction of their runaway.
<We have a common enemy, then...>

Darius Mereel

 

[Darius Mereel]

<<Cult? I knew them as a cabal of Sith underlings that stole something from my employer. I was given loose standards on retrieval conditions...>>

The words were sparse, but with a cultured accent that spoke of education and a sense of refinement. Yet, there was little of the customary bloated verbiage most of that class were accustomed to use. Still a Mandalorian, and ever to the point. Turning to better face the new arrival, he flexed his hands, popping strained knuckles to relieve tension in the joints. To someone else it might have intimidated. To one who knew him, or of combat, that would be merely the movement of a man stretching sore limbs. He took a moment to consider the other like armored figure, then spoke again.

<<I wouldn't call them an enemy. Target. Enemy implies personage. Just business, as I'm sure you understand, vod. Regardless, if we hunt the same quarry may be we can each help the other, eh?>>

Reaching up, the man took off his helmet with a pin-hiss of depressurization and cradled it in the crook of his arm like one might a baby or a sports ball, revealing a patrician face with hard angles and lines that spoke more to sterness than humor, but there remained a spark in the eyes that showed it not to be fully the case.

Tae'l Vizsla

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

<Slightly more dangerous than your average goons. They've got an Alchemist, and resources...>

The gunslinger was in the middle of scanning for tracks or blood, only keeping enough of an eye on her fellow hunter to react in case of sudden movements, which she doubted would be an issue now. She had bigger worries, and already her mind was racing to put the pieces together- and plan on how to make them come crashing down later- should knowledge of the cult be too widespread or the threat larger than anticipated.

Her frantic and bloodhound-like search only paused shortly after the Mereel explained his business, peering over her shoulder as he began removing his helmet.

Turning to face him proper, something about his eyes drew her in.

They spoke of something she didn't expect to see out here, certainly not from a Mandalorian and certainly not on the job. Something she was missing herself. At first it was a sad reminder of what had been stolen, but then, she was glad to see someone still had a little fire left.

if we hunt the same quarry may be we can each help the other, eh?

<I reckon so>

Though she hesitated at first, The Twi'lek finally holstered that old Handcannon and reached to pull her silvered helmet away, letting her Lekku slide out and flicking them over her shoulder much the way a human would their own hair.
A pair of Irradiated-Green eyes peered up, almost guiltily as they contracted under the solar exposure without a visor to hide behind, relying entirely on facial tattoos to reduce the strain. But soon enough, she feigned an awkward smile just long enough to flash her fangs and greet him with a little wave.

<Okay big guy, name's Tae'l. I'm working for a lady with an interest in removing these guys, permanently. Let's just say that I'd do it for free if she asked me to, so you can bet I want 'em gone just as much. Lucky for you, she's done some of the homework>

<Between the two of us I think we'll do just fine>

Darius Mereel

 

[Darius Mereel]

The eyes took him aback for a moment, though the only outward sign was a slight widening of his. Not normally one to pine over aesthetic, the twi'lek had an air about her that spoke of danger and grace in one, and here the Mereel grinned broadly and stepped forward, offering his hand as he spoke.

"I'd say we can make shorter work of this together. And as long as you don't mind me reclaiming some dusty old spear an archaeologist is paying top dollar for me to retrieve, I'm more than glad to let you do as you do. Provided you don't slow me down, eh?"

A flash of a smile, there and gone, with a wry twist of the lips to accompany the fading gesture of mirth. He doubted either could slow the other down in any way, and despite his calmer demeanor that usually bore out, a competitive streak prodded him to teasingly goad his new associate.

Tae'l Vizsla

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

She noticed the very slight change in his expression while she spoke, having decent enough skill at reading faces in her own opinion. That said, she hadn't quite narrowed the options just yet. He was the short spoken and stoic type after all. It could be that she simply wasn't what he was expecting, as was often the case, or perhaps the unusual color in those eyes were the cause. Though, she couldn't quite rule out a third option, given how her fellow gunslingers had reacted as of late even with the helmet between them.

Either way, it wasn't a negative reaction, and a minor degree of trust had seemingly blossomed between the two Mandalorians. Or at least enough for her to take his hand in kind, though her grip would be surprisingly firm for such comparatively small hands, which ended in black claws and fingers.

"I'd say we can make shorter work of this together. And as long as you don't mind me reclaiming some dusty old spear an archaeologist is paying top dollar for me to retrieve, I'm more than glad to let you do as you do. Provided you don't slow me down, eh?

"Heh. First you gotta catch up~" She chuckled playfully, letting go as she was abruptly kicked into the air with seemingly thought alone to activate her jetpack.

It carried her to a nearby rooftop that overlooked the runaway cultist's previous route, and that familiar chittering sound echoed around around them again as she slid her helm on, Highlighting nearby liquids and lifeforms just like before.
Mostly she just saw pipes through the walls, or those traveling a nearby street until she happened upon her goal: Little droplets leading down a new set of alleys away from the prior carnage.

The blood of their runaway friend no doubt, or at least his comrade's. It was a messy scene.

"He's traveling east, I think. Not sure where to, but I got a trail for now" Darius Mereel

 

[Darius Mereel]

"Right. Keep me with a heading. You take high, I'll take low"

With as simple as that, Darius was offer in the direction the other had came from at a sprint, heavy boots thudding in such a way most had cleared from his path before he reached them. One man, maybe a street enforcer or maybe a legitimate policeman (Darius did not stop to check) stepped in front of him waving him to stop.

Darius merely spun around the man adroitly, with as little deviation from his path as possible, and when the man grabbed for him cussing in Huttese, the younger of the two rammed an elbow into his diaphragm and continued on, leaving a gasping humanoid in his wake. The blood trail he was following led up to a barred door that was guarded by, of all things, a Wookie in heavy plastoid armor with a ryyk blade that looked more apt to cleave speeders than tanks by it's size.

With a spin back behind cover, he cursed and relayed the information to Tae'l Vizsla , thinking fast.

<<You cause a distraction and I try and take him out?>>

 

[Tae'l Vizsla]

Tae'l had difficulty spotting the trail once it led into the crowd, blending into the host of other life signs and movement that faded into an amalgamation of moving pixels on her HUD. Thankfully, the Mereel became her eyes on the ground to her eyes in the sky, covering each other's shortcomings. It felt good to work with other Mando'ade again.

<<You cause a distraction and I try and take him out?>>

<<On it!>>

She was hopping from rooftop to rooftop as the chase continued, dropping to a nearby ledge with a weighty clatter that quickly got the Wookie's attention.

"Hey, plastic wrap!"

The Wookie roared as a Kunai from her wrist-railgun became partially embedded into his armor, drawing enough blood to cause pain but not enough to be fatal. At least, not for a Wookie.

Then she shot a whipcord at him, only to be deflected by the behemoth's blade, which cleaved right through the rope to her surprise. He was faster than expected.

Darius Mereel