Private In Too Deep: The Item

[Vince Avery]

Coruscant/Underworld​

Afternoon/Clear skies​

Club music thumped all over the place as Vince walked through the streets of level 1313, his rocket boots clinking softly with every step. He hated Underworld. The smells, the sounds, the people, it was a hole that needed to be wiped off the face of the galaxy. But it was arguably the best source of work, and these days pickings seemed to be slim.

It was this exact reason that brought him to the Waterhole. As far as Underworld cantinas went, it wasn't too bad. Certainly a lot cleaner than the other places and the people knew how to behave. It was a preferred place for professionals and a popular scouting area for people with big gigs in need of bodies. One of these Fixers was his contact. He had been told he wasn't going to be the only person on this job and he could expect competition with other mercs, but he was fine with that. Competition made things interesting. And from what he heard, it would be welcome for this job.

Walking into the cantina, he sat by a booth he was told to wait at. He was a little early, so he helped himself to a glass of cola and sat back to observe. He placed his hat on the table and calmly dribbled his fingers against the worn leather. With a deep breath he relaxed and sipped at his drink. The Fixer was sitting in a VIP booth on the upper floor, busy talking with someone else. They seemed to be having a merry time, given his smirk and the enthusiastic nodding from the kid talking to him. That punk was clearly pretty green, but if he was allowed into this place and allowed a meeting with Big Joel Katanga himself, he could likely handle himself. Joe's gaze drifted and met the cold blue eyes of Vince. For a few moments they simply stared until Joe gave a casual salute as greeting, earning one back from Vince as he gave a hollow smirk. The man had a reputation to his name. Rumours that he had karked over those that took jobs from him, but there was no evidence to back it up and the sources were flimsy at best. Vince was going to treat him the same way he treated anyone else: Safety off, just in case.

With their little staring game done, Vince took another sip and let his gaze drift again. There were a few people that seemed capable in the place. A number of them looking like even the likes of the great Cad Bane would think hard about taking on. Vince slipped a toothpick into his mouth and idly played around with it as he waited to see what other contacts would be arriving.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

It was a normal night in the Coruscant Underworld, relatively speaking. The vibrations of club music were felt all around the area and 1313 natives strolled through the streets, carrying on with their night. The violent sound of glass shattering startled all of the passerbys as the wounded body of a Devaronian flew through it and into the street. A crowd began to form, surrounding the coughing and gagging Devaronian and eventually for what would follow him.

Talo Krayt, both calmly and menacingly stepped through the destroyed window and approached the battered scarlet skinned alien. The street was silent and only the sound of the Devaronian's wheezing and the crunching of glass could be heard as the Mandalorian approached his target. Vibrodaggers in hand, Talo stepped over his target's body, placing his boot on his chest before glancing around the curious and nervous crowd - "Don't you all have some place to be?" Talo asked rhetorically in a threatening tone. Fortunately, being a Mandalorian earned him an unspoken level of respect and fear that could command those smart enough to fear one. After hearing his words, the crowd dispersed in overlapping muttering.

With the attention now off of him and the Devaronian, Talo sheathed his Vibrodaggers and knelt down to grab the devilish alien by the collar and drag him into a nearby alley way. Once inside, he propped him up and pinned him against the wall but not before activating vibroblade stored in his knuckle plate "Are you ready to talk? Or do you need more pursasion?" Talo pressurised. The battered Devaronian took in a large gulp before finally squeling "I-I don't know much, but what I know is this Fixer, uh, uh Joe Katanga - a human, fat, has a cybernetic arm, you can't miss him. He frequents the Waterhole. He's real close with the syndicate you're looking for, that's all I know I swear!" and with that, Talo threw a hard left hook, knocking the Devaronian out cold. "Thank you." he said as the Devaronian's limp body slid down the wall.

The Waterhole. Talo immediately began making his way there. In recent weeks, the Clan Krayt member had taken leave from his duties and travelled the galaxy in search of his parents and what happened to them - beginning his journey in Tatooine, Talo learned the name of his father: Nej Cardin and that he fled Tatooine after pissing off the Hutt cartel. It was the reason his mother was sold into slavery. His search brought him to Coruscant after learning the Nej, allegedly, had ties to the Untamed. And now this, Joe Katanga, may have more answers he needed.

After a ten minute walk, Talo finally arrived at his destination. Thankfully, everyone was too focused on getting drunk, dancing with the help of the distracting cantina music to notice him. Hopefully it'd make things smoother. One of the patrons managed to catch his eye, a gunslinger in a hat, only one person he knew thought they could pull off a getup like that: Vince. Despite having made eye contact with the bounty hunter, Talo consciously ignored him and made his way toward the VIP area. Of course, bouncers attempted to halt him once he was close enough and a stare off would ensue "Move." Talo demanded coldly "Back off Mando, the tough guy act won't work when only one of you is here."

Talo wasn't above hurting these men if they didn't move within the next few seconds... unless someone managed to diffuse the situation.

Vince Avery

 

[Vince Avery]

Finally it was his turn to speak to Joel. He finished his drink and rose from his seat, placing his hat back on his head. But as he moved out of the booth, he noticed a very familiar Mando walk in and attempt to ignore him flat. Vince's eyes narrowed as he pursued after the kid with a hand already curling around the grip of a blaster.

As Talo and the bouncers stared each other down, the hiss-and-click of a blaster priming sounded off directly behind him. Vince stood with his pistol less than an inch away from Talo's neck as he glanced around them. "You better cool your jets, kiddo. 'Else your next stop might be the dumpster outside." he warned him with a chillingly chipper voice. Joel's glare shifted between the two while the bouncers drew their own pistols. "An interesting first meeting, Mister Avery. Don't know who your choom is, though." Joel spoke up calmly, sitting back and taking a long drag of his cigar. "Not anythin' of mine. Pestilence of a chrome dome I worked with in the past. But he'll behave himself for the moment." Vince quipped with a smirk as he lowered his pistol a little. "Won't ya, Talo?" he asked him as he indicated to an open seat by Joel's booth. With a smooth flourish he spun the gun and slid it back into its holster.

"Both ya'll better behave 'round me. I got a rep to uphold 'round here. Don't need moon jockeys like you two messin' up my good name around here." Joel warned them as his gaze shifted between the two. "I know Mister Avery is here for a gig. But what are you here for, Mister Mando? Can't recall makin' an appointment with you." he asked him as he sat forward a bit.

Vince's cold gaze shifted between the two of them as well as the bouncers, his hands resting on his blasters. "I take it the absence of my partner might also have somethin' to do with ya? If I recall, he's supposed to be a Devaronian." he quipped, eyeing Talo for a moment. "Don't matter, right now. Maybe he might tag along in that horn-head's place, dependin' on what our Beskar friend here wants." Joel quipped as a crooked smile adorned his chubby face.

Talo Krayt

 

[Talo Krayt]

The sound of a blaster being primed caused Talo to roll his eyes. It didn't take a genius to figure out it was Vince sticking his nose in matters that didn't concern him. As the bounty hunter threatened him, distracted by what he had to say, Talo silently and discreetly activated the vibroknife inside his knuckle plate, then positioned his arm slowly and hovered it over a vital artery in Vince's thigh. Once he was finished, Talo would retort callously "Okay, but you'll be joining me." tilting his head down slightly, to draw Vince's attention to his thigh. Him dying was a possibility but as a Mandalorian that didn't concern him, as long as the enemy wouldn't survive either.

Eventually things seemed to simmer down, but the tension smoldered still. Talo would retract his vibroknife once Vince returned his blaster to his holster "You tell me, Vince." the Mandalorian finally responded before approaching the empty seat. He sat stiff in his seat, folding his arms and closing himself off from the rest while keeping a watchful eye on Vince. Following being addressed by Joel, his helmet tilted in the criminal's direction "I'm looking for someone in the Untamed. A man who operated on Tatooine about twenty--" Talo started before eventually being cut off by Vince's comment about his Devaronian partner - the one Talo had interrogated earlier.

Moving his head to turn his attention on Vince, while his facial expression was unreadable, his body language shifted from closed off to aggrevation. Something about Vince bugged him, whether it be his callous nature, his lack of value for life or his general temperament. However, the Mandalorian would "grace" him with an answer "He's otherwise idisposed right now." Talo quipped dryly. Already knowing how this conversation was going to turn out, Talo leaned back in his seat and folded his arms once more "If I do whatever this job is for you, you'll give me the information I want." he stated outright, saving everyone in the room some time.

Vince Avery