Public Scallywags, Scoundrels, and Scavengers [Nar Shaddaa]

[Morgan Arcturus]

In hindsight, he should have seen this coming.

Nar Shaddaa was the kind of place that most people who had a brain would rather avoid. It was a rather lawless planet and it was home to the many criminal organizations that plagued the galaxy. This didn't really matter to him as it was also a place where you could just about any job that paid well if you didn't ask questions. In Morgan's case, he was a scavenger who could sell whatever he wanted without having to go through any bureaucratic red tape. That was the reason he was here. The young starfarer had managed to find intact military-grade hyperdrive motivators from corvette class ships that were in a starship graveyard. He got lucky that they weren't looted by pirates and they were worth a pretty penny, so he thought he'd stop by Nar Shaddaa and get them appraised.

He was directed towards a building that housed an appraiser named Kala, a female Twi'lek with green skin. The smell of spice struck after heading inside and he saw her lounging in a chair smoking from a cigarra which didn't paint a fine picture of the establishment. But it was Nar Shaddaa so he shouldn't be too shocked about it. When his presence was announced this caused the woman to jump out of chair and become a whirlwind of movement as if to make it look like she was always busy. After tidying herself up, she tried to mask how flustered by his sudden appearance she was with an air of professionalism.

Looking at him, she said, "Ah! Hello and welcome to Kala's Appraisal Services. I can determine the worth of any item that you bring to me and direct you to places that are most likely to appreciate those items if you are looking to sell them. How may I help you today?"

He responded, "Yeah. While I don't have the items on me right now, I do have a manifest that I want checked out."

Morgan pulled out a data pad that contained information on the hyperdrive motivators and gave it to the Twi'lek. She hummed while she looked through it. "So these are hyperdrive motivators. Military-grade corvette class? Since these have been obtained from corvettes that were damaged in battle, they are worth 4,500 credits each. The Black Sun could make use of them."

He nodded, thanking the woman and paid 500 credits that the appraisal cost and headed outside to find a buyer. However, he felt a tug in his gut and instinctively dodged the stray blaster bolt that came his way. Morgan spun around to find what he didn't want to see. A group of pirates led by a human with black hair and sharp blue eyes. His name was Kel Blackstone, the leader of the Blackstone Raiders which was a gang that he and his father had a run-in with when he was 15. Morgan's blaster pistol still in his holster, he kept his hands up to not make any sudden movements. After all, he had a gun trained on him. That was when Blackstone spoke up.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Morgan Arcturus. Never thought I'd see you here, much less without your daddy."

Morgan kept a mask of calmness despite his heart going 100 miles an hour. Keeping an eye on the armed man he said, "Well, gotta leave the nest at some point. Why not wet my feet on Nar Shaddaa?"

The pirate chuckled. "Boy, you must have some kind of death wish coming to a place like this. Especially since the last time we met and I have plenty of friends who know what you look like. By the way, where IS your old man? It isn't like him to let you do solo runs."

Morgan grimaced and pondered on how to answer the question. "For one, I am an adult who is capable of going on runs solo. The second thing is that my dad died years ago. So whatever score you're hoping to settle with him? You're too late."

This caught the pirate off guard. "Wait. You aren't pulling my leg, are ya? Old man Arcturus kicked the bucket? Who did him in?"

Morgan simply responded, "Legion."

The pirate winced and said, "Damn. Well, as much as I want to say I am sorry for your loss, we both know it won't be sincere. Man's been a pain in our collective ass for years. That wasn't the first time we met, but the first time you were in the picture. Shame I couldn't be the one to do him in myself."

He motioned, and the other pirates brought their guns to bear. "Well kid, we couldn't take him out so we might as well settle on the next best thing. Your father owed us plenty. But recently that upgraded to his life. So, bye kid."

Morgan did the one thing he could and bolted as the blasters started shooting. He ducked into the nearby alley as blaster bolts shattered the ferrocrete wall of the building next to him. Looking around, he found piping and started climbing it to the rooftop. He then dashed to the edge of the roof and jumped to the next building, using the infrastructure as cover as he did so.

Meanwhile, the pirate was not mad, but disappointed. He tsked and said, "They always run. What are you asswipes waiting for? Get after him!"​

 

[Tibera Jessen]

The bars of Nar Shadda had become a sort of second home for Tibera. A place where they could lighten the load of credits from the various factions of the galaxy. It seemed that they spent more nights than not getting blitzed on cheap wine and eating greasy bar food. One day it was probably going to catch up to them, if a blaster didn't find them first. And speaking of blasters, Tib could swear they just heard one outside. Now, broadly there were two types of people in the galaxy when blasters started to fire. Those who ran away from the sound, and those that ran towards it. Whether because of bravery or stupidity, Tibera was in the latter camp.

The mercenary downed what was left of their glass of wine, and threw some credits on the table. Damnation, and they were just starting to get a good buzz going too. There was a time when Tibera would have left whoever was being shot at high and dry, this was behind them now. Meeting certain people in the last few weeks had thrown the Merc for a loop morally, and now they were running off playing hero.

Now was the hard part, finding just where the hell that shot came from. It wouldn't be hard as they thought. Shots continued to fill the warm night air with cracks and pops. One just had to follow them to the source, and it seemed to be coming from...above? Sure as shooting, there was a group of scumbags chasing a man across the rooftops. No way to get to them in time, and just shooting at them from down here would get Tibera in deep chit. That meant only one thing, a foot chase.

It wasn't the Merc's favorite thing to do, but if it meant saving this guy's hide, it was worth a run in full kit. One thing was for sure, whoever it was these thugs were after, he was a fast one. Even on the unsure footing of the rooftops he was able to outpace the scum behind him. Another observation? These guys couldn't aim worth anything, that was good to know.

 

[Morgan Arcturus]

When he got out of this, he wasn't going to come back to Nar Shaddaa if he could help it.

The first time he ever came to this Force-damned planet results in getting shot at by pirates. Now, of course he knew that something like this would be bound to happen. Morgan just didn't expect it to happen right off the bat and he asked himself if he somehow managed to piss off some random god. The blaster bolts flew over his head as the scavenger leapt across the rooftops. Despite the uneven terrain and some buildings being shorter than others, he was able to keep stick perfect landings without losing momentum. When he got to a roof that was significantly farther, he realized that he had to chance it. Backing up a few steps he focused on where he intended to go and made the mad dash. When he did so, it felt like something was giving him that extra push he needed. This allowed him to clear the gap that would've been impossible for normal sentients.

When this happened the pirates who chased him gawked at the jump. They shot at him, but Morgan twisted his body and moved his limbs out of the way of incoming blaster fire. In the jump he pulled out his blaster and responded with two quick shots that hit their mark: an Ithorian pirate who was the closest to the edge. It made him lose balance and he fell forward and off the rooftop dead. He hit the other rooftop and rolled to a stop and stood up, dusting himself off afterward. He then took advantage of their surprise and ran.

What Morgan didn't know was that they had jetpacks or jet boots and once activating them they took after him. This caused him to sprint and use cover more as they had air superiority. A pirate looked around and he noticed Tibera Jessen following and said, "Boss! We got interference!"

Blackstone looked behind him and saw the armored mercenary following them. "Damn. Did the kid call for backup?" He gestured at the pirate who spoke and said, "You take three and head them off! I'm making sure this kid is dead."

The pirate minion nodded and said, "Got it, boss. You three with me!"

The four armed pirates rocketed towards the interloper and fired at them in an effort to delay their rapid approach. Meanwhile, Blackstone's group of five continued towards Morgan with increased determination.​

 

[Tibera Jessen]

Four flyboys to scratch off, then they could catch up with the mystery man. Seemed just a little unfair, but not the worst odds the armored up merc had ever ran against. It was only a shame that they couldn't just whip out the heavy artillery and vaporize the opposition. A couple of disruptor shots would have the pukes flying off into the sunset. Only problem was there was too much background, one stray shot and they might end up dusting the wrong target, force forbid. They took the blaster from its holster and primed it to fire, even in their fully plated hands it seemed an unwieldy hand cannon.

Just as they had drawn a bead on one of the thugs, the whole lot of them zoomed past her. This was going to be a lot harder than TIbera originally anticipated. Before they could even fire several volleys of blaster bolts crashed down around them like a hellish rain of red plasma. Tibera would roll and duck out of the way behind the chimney of the roof they were standing on. The brick structure wouldn't hold up long against sustained blaster fire, so this fight would need to be a short one. Glowing yellow shots flew out at the enemies in the sky, cutting throught the air with a high pitched whistle.

One of the darts fired from the merc's gun struck home in one of the alien fliers, leaving a smoking hole in them. With no more control over the jetpack the creature was sent cartwheeling through the air before finally crashing into a nearby billboard. Dramatic as the display was, it seemed to draw the ire of the remaining pirates, who flew around Tibera's cover. There came another salvo of hateful red bolts. They made an attempt to dodge through the bolts, but one of them struck the mercenary in the left arm. While their armor was rated to take some amount of blaster fire, it made the strike no less painful.

"Frag me," They cried out "Alright scumbags, follow the leader!"

Since the thugs seemed thoroughly focused on them, Tibera decided to go mobile with the fight. They ran as fast as they could to the edge of the building and made a leap of faith. Thankfully there was an overhang for the merc to slide down as the jetpack wearing baddies gave chase. Tibera would fire mid slide, barely missing a few snapshots on the way down. They hit the ground running, turning for a moment to shoot again, this time hitting one of the mercs in their jetpack, the incendiary round from their gun setting the fuel alight.

A good reminder why Tibera never invested in one of those deathtraps...

Morgan Arcturus

 

[Morgan Arcturus]

Morgan eventually ran out of rooftops and looked at the pirates following him. He quickly yanked out his blaster again and pulled the trigger twice, one shot hitting a human and the other hitting a Twi'lek. The human was shot in his jetpack and it sent him flying away from the fight before exploding. The Twi'lek was killed by a headshot that caused him to fall out of the sky and tumble across the roof of the building that was next to the one he was on. Blackstone growled and intensified his blaster fire, forcing Morgan to jump off the roof and get himself lost in the crowd. The people he landed by were understandably pissed about the interruption, but the anger turned to panic when they took notice of the armed pirates. Morgan pushed his way through the crowd that fled from the attackers, who were shooting without a care in the world.

------

Blackstone tsked in frustration. He never wanted to bring this into the crowd. He might've been a pirate, but he had standards, and the boy is taking advantage of it. The pirate held up a clenched fist in a gesture to signal for a ceasefire, and the blasters quieted down, allowing people to clear the area. He gestured at Mikk, a Nikto pirate, and made a series of hand signals to spread out and search for the kid. The Nikto nodded and took the others with him and started looking in a wide search pattern. Eventually, they would catch sight of him trying to get to a speeder. He had an idea on what the kid was going for. Lose them in the crowd, find a speeder, and get to wherever his ship is docked. Smart plan. If only the seasoned pirate hadn't found him first. He immediately took aim and fired, then whistled sharply at his allies and pointed them towards his general direction. "Get him boys!"

------

Dak cursed when he saw his two buddies get smoked by the mercenary that showed up out of nowhere. He knew the risks of being a member of the Blackstone Raiders, but he always believed that they would go out in glory. Not dying to a damaged jetpack. He whistled at his remaining ally, a wet behind the ears human who knew how to pull the trigger. This was his first real battle. "Jankso! We need to flank that merc! Fire up the blasters and give them everything you've got!" The kid nodded and quickly messed with his blaster's settings, increasing the rate of fire. Unfortunately, this meant your ammo could run out faster and it overheated the barrel like nobody's business. So they needed to make their shots count. They rocketed fast to Tibera Jessen and flanked them, trying to saturate the mercenary with blaster fire.​