"It's Not Suicide If I Don't Do It Deliberately."

[Julian Valentine]

BLOOD BUCCANEER, CORUSCANT

Julian Valentine shoved a hard finger into Yee Lung's chest, "I told you to shut up kid - it's not suicide if I don't do it deliberately." The small crew of the Paragon were situated in a booth nearest to the bar. Julian Valentine, Corellian, Bounty Hunter. Willow, Human Replica Droid, Pilot and Assistant. Yee Lung, Human Nerd, Slicer and Infochant. Boltz, Ugnaught, mechanic.

The Blood Buccaneer wasn't a watering hole they had ever been to before, but trouble took a wide berth from their table nonetheless. Even with the tranquility screen online, it's soft golden glow masking them from spying eyes, the sight of Julians hammerhead helmet alone was enough to make any troublemakers reconsider a bar brawl. It had become an icon of the renowned bounty hunter. They may not recognize his face, but when people saw the hammerhead coming, they stepped aside.

Julian had been arguing with the sixteen year old slicer. The kid was doing his best to steer Julian from the job he was organizing, a blockade run through the One Sith fleet, containing the precious cargo of a would-be-former-captive Jedi. Though Julian knew it was dangerous, and given it was any ordinary day it would be a suicide mission, but today was different. He'd seen the news, he had to act now, the One Sith's fleet had moved to Togoria. Their greatest combatants would be off-world. An invasion had begun down the road, and with no one home, Julian would burgle the house.

 

[Zetha Vesh]

"Leave me alone," Zetha hissed at the man who was invading her space as she perched on one of the bar stools. The Mando was obviously not aware that people possessed personal bubbles, for he had popped hers, filling the space with the alcohol on his breath. She had just come here for a quiet drink where she could think. Her old master would call it meditating, but she didn't do that cross-legged, deep breathing poodoo. She had chuckled at the thought. For someone who had 'so much potential' (a quote from her old master), she did make fast work of cutting out as many Jedi aspects of her life as she could. Now she was just wandering around Coruscant, looking for a place to call home, when she had ended up here. With this nerf herder all over her.

So far, he had just spoken to her, hit on her numerous times, offered to take her somewhere....away from prying eyes. When he ran his hand up her leg, getting closer to her body, she lifted that leg. "I said get lost." Swinging her knee to the side, she knocked his hand away, then lashed her foot out, planting her boot on the centre of his chest. She gave the kick extra power with the Force, sending the man stumbling back into a table occupied by a group of four. One of these men that she had disturbed had an interesting looking helmet. Zetha brought her leg back, taking a casual sip of her drink.

[member="Julian Valentine"]

 

[Jak Skirata]

Coruscant

It seemed he was spending an awful lot of his time chasing credits on the One Sith controlled world of Coruscant. Several years had gone by since the Sith had taken it from the soft hands of the Republic and their Jedi and despite what the Sith would say about nothing changing, things had gotten worse on the planet. Of course for the traitors and wealthy that turned over like a kath hound waiting for its belly to get scratched it was fine, they still held their towers, their big corporations...But that trickle down nonsense wasn't happening here. Several failed rebellions had left the economy of the middle class destroyed leaving less than scraps for those of the lower levels. Despite increased patrols and a stricter, harsher government the planet's crime rate had gone up. Places that had been respectable ten years ago were now havens for the filth that had once been confined to the Undercity. Bounty hunters, mercenaries and thugs filled many of the bars and cantinas on the planet now...Much like this one.

The Blood Buccaneer. He had been called by one Yee Lung. Must have been new to the game to give his actual name to a bounty hunter he had never met. Then again, he didn't really have much to worry about. Maybe he was just trying to show off his skills and his grit, to be able to find him personally as well as slice into the com channels of his ship...It was impressive. Regardless, the infochant had offered him a job, but what that job was...well he couldn't give everything away.

He was clad in his black and blue beskar'gam. Since Draco's return to the Mandalorians he had been mistaken for the ex-Sith lord many times due to the similarities in their armor style. He didn't mind, it made negotiating much easier when people thought that you could snap their neck with thought. His visor turned to the bartender who shuddered and then nodded to the table with the yellow tranquility screen. There were three silhouettes behind it that he could make out as he walked to the table...and the Hammerhead helmet. There were quite a few mercs and hunters that donned a similar visage as a tactic to intimidate their prey. But he doubted he was working with one of those scrubs. This was the real deal.

"Julian Valentine, as I live and breathe." He had only seen his name in the Bounty Hunter ledger and leader boards. The only man with more confirmed jobs than the Mandalorian. From his own research they were around the same age, from what he could tell of his work he wasn't Force Sensitive...But that could be hidden well, and he had his own crew, the make-up of which was a little harder to come by.

[member="Julian Valentine"]

 

[Julian Valentine]

The table shook as some drunken fool was kicked into the tranquility screen. The golden cloak shimmered, but stood firm as it hung over the private booth. Julian shrugged it off, but Yee looked a bit more concerned. The kid was a paragon of slicing, but he was easy to intimidate. He wasn't a natural born fighter, and Julian did his best to keep him out of the line of fire.

A pocket holo-projector sat in the center of the table, displaying a three-dimensional blueprint of the Imperial Palace, with a location icon in what appeared to be the gaol. Their mark was a Jedi who had been kept prisoner since the Sacking of Coruscant. Underfed and malnourished, he was weak and unable to perform any escape of his own.

Just as Valentine was about to begin his presentation to Yee and Willow, so that they may begin to formulate a plan of capture, a voice broke the air. "Julian Valentine, as I live and breathe." The Bounty Hunter craned his neck, the tranquility screen vanished in a heartbeat as his thumb tapped a button under the table. He knew the face, he had read his profile within the Bounty Hunter's Guild private ShadowNet.

"Davin... Skirata," Julian had to pause in recounting his name, not for a lack of recollection but that he had not expected to see him. Then in his peripheral vision he spied Yee become suddenly still as a stone. His brow raised, the expression Yee had said enough. The boy had called for aid. It was more an insult to Julian than a helpful hand. Did the kid think he couldn't handle the job? He would have to talk to him later, he didn't want to make another cut in his paycheck. Too late for that.

"Take a seat, have a drink," Valentine motioned, welcoming Davin into the warmth of their booth. The tranquility screen reactivating. The loud smazzo that was playing in the cantina had gone from deafening to a mild whisper. Their appearances would be kept hidden within from any spying eyes.

Davin and Julian were two men of different creeds. Davin was a Mandalorian, honor-bound, raised to defend his family, his people and his land. Julian was a Raven, there was no honor where he had come from. He was just another gun-for-hire in a vast criminal empire, that had become overburdened and collapsed under its own might. Davin had been taught warfare, and Julian was taught assassination and kidnappings. The only creed they shared was that of the Bounty Hunters Guild, but Valentine being a former Red Raven, he tended to see how far he could bend those rules.

[member="Davin Skirata"] - [member="Zetha Vesh"]

 

[Jak Skirata]

The Mandalorian nodded, taking in the faces of the beings seated around the table. With a thud Davin's helmet was placed next to Julian's, the T-shaped visor complimenting the Hammerhead next to it. Alone the helmets would draw wary eyes and worried glances. Together they represented death incarnate. Davin, a soldier turned Bounty Hunter and Julian, a career assassin. He slid into the booth next to the small slicer boy.

His eyes fell on the hologram of the Imperial palace. He had been there once before. Then he had been chasing a different prey and had used the building as a vantage point. He had a vague idea of what the job was to be, but he wouldn't say anything or intrude too much on this cheery band of hunters.

"By all means, continue with explaining your plan," he said, leaning back into the cushy wall of the booth.

[member="Julian Valentine"]

 

[Zetha Vesh]

Her eyes drifted to the table that she had kicked the drunk into and everything caught her attention. The hologram showing the Imperial palace briefly before it was turned off. The interesting helmet that she had never seen before. Even the collection of people sitting around the table. What their business was, even though she didn't know it, still fascinated Zetha. She wanted to know what they were up to. But it would be dangerous to just walk up and talk to them. Who knew what they did to those people, how they acted? Sure, one guy was able to slip in, but maybe he had connections. She was just some street girl with no credentials, an ex-Jedi no less.

But she felt something. Something that told her she needed to be on that mission. Maybe it was the Force, shaping her path. But that was impossible. She had fallen away from the Jedi Order long ago. The Force didn't guide her anymore. However, no matter someone's alignment, the Force still connects them. It guides them. And right now, it was guiding her to join that party. The new man asked about the plan and Zetha casually rotated her hand on her knee, her focus trained on the man with the hammerhead helmet. Using the Force, she quickly scanned his mind. Not enough to be detected; just scratching the surface to see his foremost thoughts. The plan.

She didn't care if she seemed like a mad woman. Standing, Zetha would confidently stride towards the table, standing over it. Or trying to with her short height. "They are planning a blockade run through the One Sith fleet to rescue a captive Jedi." She nodded towards Yee. "He doesn't want to take it."

[member="Julian Valentine"] [member="Davin Skirata"]