One For the Money, Two For the Show

[Rory Naasade]

"I need to figure out who I am.... and to do that, I need to figure out who I was. And.... I'm sorry. But I don't think I can do that with you. Always looking to you for guidance. I think. I think I need to do it on my own."

It wasn't good bye. But she had left [member="Gideon Blackford"] to follow the only lead she had. She'd promised to come back when she had, and it had been hard. Staying would have been easier by far. She could have moved forward, tried to forget where she'd come from, what she had been.... the only problem was that she already didn't remember. And that ate at her in a way that gave her no real rest. The hollowness was too real, too encompassing, and no single person, no matter how much perhaps either of them wanted it to be the case, would be able to fill that.

So she had taken the navigational data they had salvaged from the ships the Sith had brought to his colony, and that had brought her to Selvaris. It had been the last jump before they had descended on his enclave, and, she hoped, the first stage in discovering who she was and where she had come from. Even if learning that would be unpleasant.... she had to know.

Liya looked at at the city as she moved through it- marked immediately by that single habit alone as an outsider. She had in truth expected a much smaller city from what Gideon had explained to her before she left. But apparently they had built up their main star port since the last time he had been there, and this back water, while no great metropolis, was certainly a bustling population center, nestled in the mountain jungles.

It made it much harder for her to find what she needed to- the small frown that marked her face showed that she understood that clearly. Other than that she and the other sith had been here, she had no guidance, no clue as to where she should start-

"WATCH IT!"

Liya looked up just in time to be barreled over entirely by a large, cloaked figure. She caught a glimpse of fur and not much else as she picked herself up from the ground slowly, wincing slightly. Stepped out of the main thoroughfare, she frowned, checking her pockets and shaking her head. Gideon had warned her of pick pockets, but that had just been someone outright rude.

She sighed, looking up again. Carefully, she threaded back into the foot traffic, watching the signs carefully. The first cantia she found she turned into- a good a place to start as any, after striking out already at the starport.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

LOCATION: SELVARIS
EQUIPMENT: IN BIO
CURRENT MOOD: ON THE HUNT

You aren't getting away this time, Orin.

Ghorua didn't know what to think of Selvaris. It was his first time on the strange planet, and the dualities of it confused him. Spires of society sprung out of the untamed jungle, somehow cutting through and coexisting with each other. The wilds were kept at bay, and the communities respected their forests. It was an odd form of symbiosis, something rarely seen in the galaxy; nature and science living peacefully side-by-side.

Of course, no system was perfect. Every one was bound to have it's hiccups. For Selvaris, it came in the form of an illegal spice operation. One Ghorua had almost caught up with.

It was one of his hardest hunts to date. He wasn't facing a mighty warrior. His target wasn't even fast, or all that good at staying quiet, for that matter. But his acquisition, a greasy Vodran named Orin, had gotten a hold on the Jawsome's transponder codes, and used them to stay a step ahead of the Shark for too long. Finally, Ghorua had to book passage on a smuggler vessel to get the drop on his target. Word on the street was that Orin and his gang had a hideout in the city, and had been seen talking to dark-cloaked individuals.

All the Shark had to do was root it out.

Ghorua found himself in a well-manicured cantina, the Cantabile, sitting in a corner booth. His armor shone in the dim setting, beams of light playing off the stark white duraplast. His giant hand rested on the table, his other fingering the holster at his side. His helmet was off, revealing a set of dark, obsidian eyes, and sharp, polished teeth. The blowhole on his head huffed as he took in the scents of the establishment, looking for any hint of danger.

Ghorua was out in the open. If any of Orin's men saw him, they would almost certainly contact their boss, or attack him, or bolt for the door.

It was one of the Shark's favorite strategies; startle his prey into a panic.

- [member="Liya"] -

 

[Rory Naasade]

Liya glanced up at the sign, barely registering the name 'Cantible' before stepping into the cantina. It was.... nice. Actually it was really nice. She hesitated in the doorway for a moment, suddenly deeply self conscious of... well, everything about herself as she looked around at the upkeep of the location as well as the appearance of most of the patrons. Tattoos, piercings, clothing that, while clean, was well worn and mended in more than a few places, the blonde woman stood out like a sore thumb. Clearly in the wrong part of town.

A quiet but terse 'scuse from behind her had her mumbling an apology and heading all the way in, side stepping out of the way as a Bothan sniffed stiffly, brushing past her on his way to a table full of other Bothans.

Working up her courage, she was only halfway to the bar when-

"You've got a lot of nerve, coming back here lady."

It took Liya a moment to realize that the bartender was talking to her. And that several sets of eyes had turned her way at the venom in his voice. She looked around, suddenly wishing she could sink into the floor.

"You- you know-"

"Haven't seen ye boyfriend. He ain't welcome around here neither."

"No, I mean-"

"Dun care whatcha mean. Dun care what ya threatened last time neither. Got security now, ye lay a finger on anyone in this bar-"

"Please, I'm not here to do that, I just want to know-"

He kept talking, raising his voice over hers.

"Ye'll be a puddle on da floor. Now turn yer arse around and get de feck outta my establishment or force help me-."

Liya looked like she was on the verge of tears, trying to get out whatever her question was only be to talked over, the barkeep growing more and more belligerent with every word.

Most of the bar was paying attention to the altercation now, Liya looking all around as she started to back up.

It was, apparently, the perfect opportunity for someone who had been waiting all too impatiently for one. In the corner of the bar, a Rodian, part of the spice running ring Ghorua was tracking, drew a blaster out from under her coat. As the bartender started to come out from around the bar, she opened fire on the Herglic bounty hunter. With the tension already near a breaking point, it was enough to erupt the cantina into chaos.

[member="Ghorua the Shark"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

A disturbance at the bar caught his attention.

It was a small thing. It was a small thing. A disagreement, from what he could tell, between a woman and the bartender. Ghorua could barely detect the subtle scent of adrenaline spiking around, as voices rose and fell like waves in a tumultuous storm. He spent so long trying to sift through it, looking for meaning, that he missed the obvious threat ahead of him.

The Rodian's blaster rang out amid the growing chaos, upsetting the delicate balance of the Cantabile. Patrons screamed and panicked as the shots splattered across the Shark's armor, leaving smoldering craters in the heavy duraplast. A gaggle of Bothans ducked under their table, screaming. Ghorua sprang up with far too much dexterity for one of his size, performing a complex spin around a man and woman to get to his attacker. All the while, his helmet hid his confident smile.

He couldn't stop the one-liner from leaving his lips, the words deepened and robotically enhanced.

"Would you like to try that again?"

Ghorua had to admit it wasn't his best.

Despite the Rodian's best efforts, the Herglic's hand closed around his torso. Ghorua hoisted him into the air, and slammed him through a table. The thug was barely conscious after that, and a non-lethal stun from Ghorua's shockboxing gloves finished the job.

Ghorua let his eyes drift around the room, trying to sort through the chaos. His helmet stopped on the bartender and the woman he had seen before. Had it been a planned distraction? From the shocked expression of the bartender, to the almost helpess cluelessness Ghorua had picked up from the girl before, he doubted that to be the case.

That didn't mean the Rodian was alone. Ghorua activated his personal signal jammer, watching on as two more thugs, a human and an Ithorian, pulled blasters clumsily, while another took out their comms, panicking as it didn't work.

It was almost comical.

- [member="Liya"] -