First Reply Red Line or Red Balance

[Nykoria Tallis]

The helmeted racer finally caught up with her new acquaintance, her attention drawn to the people making the exchange. From the distance, Kori couldn't quite sense the mood of the Rodian, let alone his mysterious counterpart. Reading body language wasn't her strongest suit either. What she did see was money changing hands. "Kark." That was the only thought in the woman's head. That complicated things.

Kori's only issue was with Crash. The moment he gave the money to someone else, retrieving it basically meant robbery. Even if the man who took the money was a crook, there was no way of telling that for sure, there and then. Relan didn't seem to bother with that moral dilemma. To Nykoria, he seemed like a fish in the water—casually speaking about going after someone who had nothing to do with the race, just to get his money. Actually, what would he do if Crash didn't have the credits?

But as Relan himself had said, it was Kori's choice. And after a moment of thought, the woman replied resolutely: "Crash. He's the only one who has something to do with this." Her only hope was that the Rodian still had some credits... "The kriff?! You're thinking like some thug, Kori!" The initial desire to stun and punish the cheating racer had already subsided by then; replaced with fear and worry of what she might've gotten herself into. "You don't even have a gun on you, only a stun baton."

If Relan didn't act on Kori's words, the racer might as well give up on the chase there and then.

Relan Dredec

 

[Relan Dredec]

"But he's barely got any of your money left. That man has it all."

A finger was pointed in the direction of the dealer, collector, or whoever Crash had met with following the race.

He shrugged, and moved. He moved like a viper, avoiding this and that to get to Crash. Crash didn't hear Relan's footsteps- and Relan's footsteps were masked to do just that. Bringing a closed hand to the side of Crash's head, Relan sent the Rodian into a sort of frenzy, screeching for only just a moment before Relan hit him with the side of his hand in the neck- causing him to spasm, and choke, and give Relan a chance to grab him by the shirt and drag him nearer where Kori was.

He let Crash catch his breath, while the man below them sputtered and choked, regaining his composure.

"He's all yours."

He spoke with such maliciousness.

Maybe Relan really was the devil.

Nykoria Tallis

 

[Nykoria Tallis]

Relan had a point. Of course he did. Crash had parted with most of his cash, and Kori knew it. Justice or not, she wouldn't drag anyone else into their little dispute. Some lines weren't meant to be crossed. That was something that the woman was reminded of again, when she saw the wimpering blue-skinned Rodian at her feet again.

Right after the race, Kori would've been eager to stun the kriffard. His cheating and smug attitude was enough to tick her off. But there he was: reeling from pain, helpless anger boiling in him and restrained only by fear for his dear life. Instinctively, Kori's hand reached for the missing holster again. It felt so much easier that way: stun the dirty racer and decide his fate without looking him in the glittery eye. But as fate would have it, the hard way was the only way.

The woman walked up to her adversary, tip of her boot landing not too far from his face. The helmet still concealed her own identity, so at least that was something.

"You owe me some credits," Kori's voice grumbled from under the helmet. "Chees-pa! I... won fairly..." the Rodian tried to get up, but was interrupted by a boot connecting to his stomach and producing a quiet high-pitched grunt from him. "Don't have! Paid the debt! Don't..." This time, the Rodian was knocked out cold by the boot connecting to his head.

Kori was lucky that neither Crash, nor Relan could see her face and figure out the conflict that she was going through. For a while, she just stared at the unconscious alien through the visor of her helmet. Briefly, the visor turned to Relan. "Guess we'll settle on what we can get." With that, the woman knelt by the unconscious Rodian to check his pockets. A few credit chips were slim pickings, and didn't even cover Kori's own bet... But that was a start. She was about done, but then she lingered a little longer.

Next thing Relan knew, a keychain was tossed over to him: "Got to be his swoop. Sounds fair?"

Relan Dredec