Katanos Business (Katanos VII)

[Veleon Dooku]

Veleon needed a new cane sword after it broke hitting the bone of that last angry drunk who had tried to shank him in the alley. What was it with drunks and being angry and violent? They always thought just because he was of noble birth that must mean he carried aurodium bars in his pockets. And while certainly he had access to more credits than most of them would own in their entire lifetime, he did not casually walk around with it on his person. He carried enough credits to buy drinks and perhaps gamble a bit, and that was it. Perhaps they were just mislead by his fine attire? No matter the reason, he needed a new blade.

Veleon had come to Katanos VII for the purpose of obtaining some cortosis to create said new blade. He knew his mother would throw a fit with his absence since he had sneaked out, but spiting her was part of the reward. He had decided he needed the expensive material for it's properties of blocking lightsabers, in case his mother turned hers on him, and for its ability to absorb blaster fire, because he had almost died from being shot once before. So he had arranged for a mercenary who also needed the material to meet with him at the hanger he had arrived in. So he walked out of the hanger bay with his arms behind his straight back. He was dressed in fine, yet practical, clothing and carried the air of nobility about him. Hopefully no one tried to mug him on the way to the cortosis dealer.

[member="Prosecutor"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal Raxis. That was a name that for now meant nothing, but one that the Mandolorian would soon make sure was carved on the minds of many souls. He strode through the streets, wearing for now nothing more than a simple leather Jacket, tee shirt, jeans, combat boots and--oh, right a heavy repeating blaster pistol strapped to his legs.

For now the tactical king was down on his luck. He was just a gun for hire for now, but soon, he would be a commander of an army. A king. One day.

The tall muscled man eyed his employer with green eyes. Yes, that had to be him. He smelt of money. Pretty much worthless, protectionless money. The man was no combat lord, like this vod, he hadn't spent his earliest days chucking artiliery rounds to his dad so they could fend off the raiders. No, he was some common man.

Ardgal moved beside him, matching the man's pace. His cold, auster face roamed around the streets as they found their way towards their contact.

"Good to do business with thee," he said with a slightly courteous though intentionally short wording, "I hope our time together goes with smoothness."

OOC note: The name change for this character has not been approved yet. To avoid confusion, I made this note here for readers. Soon he will go as "Ardgal Raxis." So cheers.

[member="Veleon Dooku"]

 

[Veleon Dooku]

Veleon could tell his hired man had found him and was the one to have come into step beside him. It was a trick one learned when they had servants their entire life, how to tell who did and did not work for you. The man moved with the ease of an experienced fighter as well from the sounds of his foot steps. They were measured, never a chance for conflicting or connecting with each other. The man was perhaps the right hire for this job, or perhaps not. It was too early to tell, he had not proven himself. The only thing for sure was he was at least aware enough to be courteous with his employer. That seemed to be a big problem with many random hires. They never knew how to hold their tongues, or what their proper place was. This seemed to have at least some grasp of that, so it would go well enough.

Veleon did not look over at the man as he continued on his way to the merchant he was to obtain his prize from. He simply stated as he measured out each step to maximize distance as well as speed without wearing out his legs, " Keep to my side, keep your eyes open, and everything should. When we get to the merchant make sure to be a minor distance behind me or the poor soul might become confused on who is to be talking. Your pay can either be in credits or in extra cortosis. Decide and say before we get to our destination." He stopped there and kept his eyes open as much as possible without seeming as if he was looking around. The planet had been on hard times since the mines had shut down long ago, and it had not picked up much since they rediscovered more veins.

[member="Prosecutor"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal listened with a nod from his head. Then another. His head was always on swivel, especially when he was here, out of armor. Many of the vod and the best warriors had their downfall here. But dad had been very specific, he had taught him well. The old man's words rang through his head even today, you gotta be ready to even fight in nothin but your underwear, son.

It was offensive, but true. The principle had saved his life more than once. All the same, the warrior gave a slight smile, "Of course, sir."

He left out the remarks in his mind about always being on point.

"Cortosis," he said without hesitation. The stuff was hard to come by, and he had a few gauntlets he was intending to make out of those. Or--well now he did. That was worth more than money to him. They took a turn down a side street and came to a shed. The warrior gave a look over his shoulder before giving the metal door a quick knock.

[member="Veleon Dooku"]

 

[Veleon Dooku]

The man was a professional it seemed, although seemed to be a little disappointed about something. Whatever the cause might be though, it did not matter. The point was he understood and followed orders. Veleon needed a gun with a brain, not a gun with a finger always on the trigger. Eventually they came to their destination at the end of an alley way. It was a shed with a metal door, which was not unusual in any way. There was no response at first, but after several moments foot steps could be heard on the other side. The door flung open slowly at first but then with great force. It seemed the door was in need of repair due to the clear signs of it sticking. A bald, older man looked out at them with slightly hazed over eyes. Clearly on something illegal.

Veleon waited a moment for the man to ask his obvious opening lines, but it did not show up. So instead he said in a slightly annoyed tone, " Are you Hiemi Dringer?" The old man did not seem to have realized he had been spoken to at all. Vel was not going to repeat himself, so he just waited and waited and waited. After what felt like an eternity, the old man finally turned his head to Vel and said in a raspy voice, " Yay.......who be ya?" The man's words were slow and lacked energy. It was a clear sign of the state of the man's wits. Vel looked down at him with a stern gaze and said, " Mr. Dorn. You have something to sell me." He then waited to see what the man would do next. It seemed this was going to be a rather dull, drawn out event. How dreary.

[member="Prosecutor"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal leaned back against the shed, casually placing his weight on the metal wall as he looked around casually. To the rest of the world he looked like just another large, hulking man leaning against a building and checking out the local woman-life. The trained eye would notice his massive body covered the form of his employer as he was doing his business.

But gods damn this was taking forever. Ardgal could feel his life ticking by. They were exposed out here. If anyone wanted to get to them, it would be a simple matter of perching on one of those nearby buildings with a pee shooter and popping off a few rounds. Snipers. Ugh. The lot could pin down and destroy an entire company without so much as a scratch on him. The Mando pushed down memories of Roon--about his company had been pinned down by one of the snipers. The bodies had fallen around them like flies as they all did their damndest to try and get that karker to the next life. How much ammo had they wasted? Thousands of rounds and shelled out the country side. It had been a feirce battle--three against three hundred.

Ardgal looked over his shoulder at the old fool, "Beg your pardon, sir, but we are in bit of a hurry," he said before moving his leather jacket just enough to reveal his massive repeating blaster pistol."

 

[Veleon Dooku]

The old man was tedious, oh so very tedious. Veleon would ask a question of the old man about the state of the cortosis, and be met with either the question repeated back to him slowly or the old man would just give an answer that made no sense. It was beginning to push Veleon past annoyed into being frustrated, but then his hired help made a comment about time while flashing his blaster subtly. The old man had gradually looked down to it after listening to the man's words, but none of the situation seemed to register at all. Lovely, just lovely. They would die of old age before this burnt out old man before he did.

The old man finally seemed to have a spark of realization. He walked away at the pace of a snail to the back of the shed and emerged with a small crate. He held it out to Veleon to take, which Veleon did. Vel then checked the contents and saw the refined cortosis inside and there was enough to cover his project as well as pay the mercenary for his work. The old man then began to thank Veleon and herded him out as he said goodbye. The shed door was closed behind him in the same fashion it was opened. Veleon just looked at the shed for a bit. No credits had been exchanged, no payment had even been asked for. Strange. Was this some sort of scam or con? Likely, but the cortosis was real so that was all that mattered.

Veleon said as he turned around to the mouth of the alley way, " It would seem our business is complete. We are leaving." He began to walk back towards the street when two dirty, unkempt men walked into it. Veleon could already tell they were up to no good. He stopped and said, " Deal with it how you see fit." He was certain the man with him would get his meaning. He would need to be an idiot to not be able to tell this was a bait and rob job. It was even possible they would try to throw in a lawsuit for "stolen" cortosis, but that would not work with them. Vel had not given his true name and his guard had remained nameless. He would just let the man do his job, then pay him, then part ways. Simple, easy, smooth.

[member="Prosecutor"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

An amateur would have taken a moment to understand. Or they would have given some sort of primitive chuckle or whatever. Ardgal was quite far from an amateur. He did this for a living, he did this for a lifestyle. For some war was a choice. For some violence was fun, but for Ardgal, violence just was a way of life. He savored it no less than anyone in this world.

"Aye, sire," he said with a nod of his head before turning back on his heel and making his way back to the shed.

The door was locked, but it was a simple lock and the Mandolorian had no trouble undoing that. Stepped inside casually/

"Hey what the bloody frells are you doing in here?" one of the two new comers demanded when Ardgal entered.

The Mandolorian closed the door behind himself quietly before turning and looking at the two. They were pudgy, but still held a modicum of strength. He noted it, along with the fact that they had no blasters on them. Or Slugthrowers.

"You better get out if you know what is good for you," the second snarled.

Ardgal merely grabbed a rusty pipe from one of the nearby shelves and examined it. Yes, this would do nicely. The first took a step forward, Ardgal brought his crude weapon down on the man's head with a sickening thwack. The body fell into a crumbled mess. The other moved to run, but fell to the same demise. Ardgal was much faster than him. The old man took a blade to the through, bleeding himself out. The trained killer placed both weapons in his posession. It would look like a simple double homicide and suicide. Simple as that. To an over-run and under paid police force... nothing worth investigating.

The near-human stepped out from the building, adjusting his jacket before casually walking to [member="Veleon Dooku"].

"Taken care of."

 

[Veleon Dooku]

Veleon waited outside of the shed as the hired gun dealt with the potential problem. Scammers and con-men were a serious problems on worlds like Katanos VII that had gone through sever economic collapse. The records from his study at home were clear about it being the reason the planet had defected from the Republic to the Confederacy back during the Clone Wars. It was good to know the history of a place before you ventured there. The past told you as much about the present as anything else would. It was like a trail marker guiding you to an accurate conclusion. One just needed to know how to read them properly.

Eventually the hired gun joined him once more. He listened to the report and smiled slightly. The man was effective and worth his price for this trip. He said, " Excellent. Back to the dockyard. I will give you your pay there." He then began to walk toward where they had come from. The job was more or less completed. All that remained was to pay the man and then leave. But first they would need to pick up a container for the man's portion. It would be highly unwise to carry refined cortosis on your person. So off they went to finish the last leg of their rather minor adventure.

When they arrived at the hanger, Veleon asked an attendant to bring them another small crate. When they came back with the requested item, Veleon tipped the boy and then shooed him away. No need to advertise what they had after all. He divided the material up so the man had enough to cover the cost of the job, and then set it down for him to take. Veleon picked up his once more closed crate and said, " There is your pay. You did well. I may hire you again in the future. Farewell." He then turned and left to catch his shuttle back home to Serenno. He had a craftsman who could work his item for him there. All went smoothly in the end.

[member="Prosecutor"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal followed the noble man to the dockyards without much incident. All things considered, this had been a rather bloodless mission compared to what he was used to. The warrior was quite pleased with that. After a string of bloody campaigns in the Outer Rim and Wild Space, he was more than glad to stop having carcasses stacked around him. The trauma it marked on a soul was hard to let go.

When offered his payment he accepted it with a a gracious bow. "This sounds like a mutually beneficial arragement, sire."

The man turned and left, then Ardgal made his way in the opposite direction, out through the city. He shifted the precious ingots from his case into his jacket's inner most pocket. He took a fifteen minute walk out to a taxi, from there he crossed to the other side of town and took two buses on the scenic route back to the dock. It was better safe than sorry when men in his work left a planet. There was no small level of mugging and assassination to be had. Everyone wanted to be a glory hog.

[member="Veleon Dooku"]