Private Spinning in the Void

[Vetru]

G L A V I S​

The ringworld was home to many great powerbrokers. They set bounty hunters on the right path. They opened up that paths that led people to positions of office and leadership. They also maintained the frayed ropes that kept the axe from falling upon those same leaders, for a price.

Vetro had no seat at such tables. No tower from which to rule, no guards to keep him safe. He was on the street corner, making what credits he could. It was the way his mother had taught him. Keep moving fast, never set down roots, and never get too involved.

He didn't possess so much that anyone took a great interest in him. Neither the authorities, nor the power brokers of the criminal underworld. He still had his enemies; he was too liberal in voicing his opinions. They were simply not powerful enemies.

Vetru checked his datapad. Two people had reached out to discuss smuggling a small camtono off world and a message that needed passing on. He was hoping that no one would be late. Word down on this level was that two rival gangs were going to let loose when darkness fell on the section of the ring. Vetru wanted to be far away if that turned out to be true.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

Going deep into the underworld wasn't something Valery did that often anymore — she had given up her duties as a Jedi Shadow. But the Jedi weren't as numerous anymore these days, so when trouble was stirring up in the darker corners of the Galaxy, her experience meant that she found herself going back to handling particular cases again.

Sometimes it bothered her when she felt her skills were of better use elsewhere, but at times she was requested to deal with slavers or other incredibly dangerous organizations, and she never hesitated for even a second to accept those assignments.

Today, she had traveled to Glavis to look into the various criminal gangs that had been growing in power and influence there. The Jedi suspected that the ring could transition into a hub for more extreme criminal activities, and it was best to stop such things from growing early. Especially if rivalries were already starting to get heated, and innocents were at risk of losing their lives in the crossfire.

To any Jedi, that was simply unacceptable.

"Hmn..." she muttered to herself, as she walked around the ring and looked for a good place to start. The difficulty of this assignment was that she had very few leads and very little concrete information about the criminals on the station or the work they were responsible. She needed to somehow learn more about them without exposing herself too much.

If only her usual info broker was still available...

 

[Vetru]

Vetru didn't have a seat at the top table because he lacked a lot of what it took to get there. A strategic mind, a ruthless attitude, stacks of credits and connections.

What kept him moving from world to world and always just escaping the law and rivals was a good sense if when a situation felt wrong.

The streets had turned unusually still and quiet. He could see the line of shadow crawling up the curve of the ring towards them. It was going to be a long night.

He would have already left had it not been for the two deals still to be held up.

What felt even more out of place was the lone woman walking down the street in his direction. It felt off.

Vetru zipped up his jacket and tried to turn back into the alley behind him without drawing attention to himself.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

Who do we have here...

After walking around for about an hour, Valery hadn't really seen anything or anybody that caught her attention. Sure, there were some shady figures here and there, but none really stood out to her at all. But for some reason, the Zabrak who zipped up his jacket and turned away right as she appeared did pique her interest.

Did he have something to hide? Or was it just a coincidence?

Valery's fiery eyes narrowed and with a slightly faster pace, she began to move in his direction. It was definitely going to draw attention from him, but she didn't seem particularly hostile.

Come on, don't start running now...

 

[Vetru]

This was not good. He could just see her in his peripheral vision. It definitely wasn't one of the two people meeting him tonight. The human definitely wasn't a three eyed gran and certainly wasn't a large, male houk.

Vetru increased his pace. Turning over his shoulder, he made eye contact with his follower for just a fraction of a second.

It was enough.

Just her focus on him was enough for Vetru to break into a run.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

He noticed her.

"Shit," Valery muttered to herself as he increased his pace and tried to disappear from sight. For a moment, Valery considered using the Force to augment her speed and catch up, but that would draw a lot of attention. It wasn't every day that people saw someone sprinting faster than a speeder bike, after all.

But even without the Force, Valery looked and carried herself as a warrior, and physically she was capable of a lot. That hopefully included catching up to this Zabrak today.

"Hey, you! Stop!" she called out in the least threatening way she could. The last thing she wanted was to really scare him, but she did want to catch his attention so he'd hopefully stop before they stood out too much.

"I just want to talk!"

 

[Vetru]

Valery Noble

"Just want to talk..." he muttered to himself under his breath. That didn't sound likely. Vetru slowly his pace, keeping his hands in his jacket pockets.

In one of those pockets was a hold out blaster pistol.

He kept moving, walking backwards quickly as he turned to face Valery.

"Yeah? Why?" he called out back to her.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

Valery watched him slow down after she called out to him, and for a moment, she believed she had caught his attention and willingness to talk to her. But there was a strange kind of tension in the air as well — a sign of danger she couldn't entirely ignore. So while he turned around and asked his question, Valery slowed down and kept some distance.

Her lightsaber was something she could draw very quickly, but she didn't want to make him believe she'd cut him down now that he had stopped, so she decided against reaching for it.

"I just want to talk," she said again as she brought up both her hands slightly, and almost defensively, "I'm just looking for information... and something told me that you might be able to help."

 

[Vetru]

Valery Noble

Vetru kept walking backwards, but his pace slowed. The zabrak frowned, changing the shapes of his markings.

He should have had the sense to turn and keep running. Vetru didn't always make the most wise decisions. There was a brief war between green and caution. Neither side quite managed to tip the scales.

Vetru slowed right down, but continued to take steps backwards.

"What kind of information?" he asked.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

"About the gangs active here on the ring," Valery said as she briefly looked around. With the way she was holding up her hands, it looked like he was already holding her at gunpoint, so she hoped it wasn't drawing any attention. That, and she wanted to make sure nobody was watching them or listening in on their conversation.

The info she was requesting could technically get him shot as well if any of the gangs found out.

"I'll pay you if you have anything, but I need to know more. People's lives might depend on it," she pleaded with him, hoping there was some sense of honor or care in the man when it came to these things.

 

[Vetru]

Vetru grimaced and hissed through his teeth. Fethdamnit, he had to have the most naive law enforcement officer on the entire ring after him.

This was spoiling two perfectly good transactions and now putting them both at risk of getting boiled in an acid tank by one of the local gangs.

He changed direction rather suddenly, moving close enough to drop his voice.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" he hissed. Perhaps that was the deliberate tactic, he thought. Scare him into cooperating.

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

"No, I'm just trying to get what I need," Valery said in response as he got closer and dropped his voice. At this point, she had lowered her hands and wasn't going to play the defensive game anymore — she had no intentions of drawing a weapon, and as long as she felt no hostile intent from him, she would stay unarmed.

"But here..." she stepped off in the direction of an alley and tried to nudge him along. A quieter place so they could talk without drawing any more attention than they already had.

"Look, I'm sorry if I put you in a tough position, but this is important. Can you help me or not? I can assure you that I'll pay better than any of the thugs who knock on your doors,"

 

[Zole]

"A tough position?" he asked incredulously. It was hard to get the tone right when he was trying to keep his voice down. Instead he gesticulated harshly towards the street behind them. He was lucky not many of them were out on the streets today.

"Come on, what is this? Who are you? " he asked, the initial emotional outburst slowly being replaced by curiosity. "Is this your first day on the job or...did someone put you up to this?"

It wasn't that Vetru thought it would be a practical joke, though he was struggling to find a logical reason behind this.

Vetru thought seriously about turning to run again. There was just the small matter of significant payment she had thrown out so casually.

 

[Vetru]

Oops, wrong character Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

Valery rolled her eyes at the question about this being her first day, and continued with the same, lowered voice, "I'm Jedi Master Valery Noble," she said before she allowed a moment of silence to linger. Telling people in places like this that you're a Jedi always sparked interesting reactions, and she mostly just wanted to make sure it wouldn't be a hostile one.

"This is definitely not my first day on the job, and I know what I said was risky. But I did get your attention, and that's what I was looking for," she said with a gentle smile.

"I'm looking into some problematic gangs here on the ring, and any information you can offer about that would be appreciated. For a reward, of course."

 

[Vetru]

Vetru narrowed his eyes. A reward was tempting. His ears were close to the ground and he was certain he heard much more than she would. Especially if her approach was the run around shouting at people for answers.

Unfortunately, despite the part of him that was already trying to weigh up the value of what he knew, his mouth decided to subvert his chances of getting paid.

"Piss off are you a jedi master!" he laughed, looking her up and down once.

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

"You don't believe me?" Valery raised an eyebrow, clearly a little unamused by his laughter. With her hand, she reached for the robes she had wrapped around herself and opened them so he could see her actual Jedi gear, including her outfit and the two lightsabers strapped to her hips. It wasn't really an overly traditional look, but she certainly wouldn't seem like a fake.

"Convinced now?" she asked, her tone still calm. Valery wasn't really the type to get frustrated, even with this not running as smoothly as she would have hoped. But she was hoping to get the information she needed.

"If you need to know anything else to be sure, let me know. But I really do need that information."

 

[Vetru]

V E T R U​

Vetru's eyes fell to the hilts that she carried. The zabrak canted his head to one side.

"When someone said jedi master, I think bearded old man in a robe," he admitted. "Not form-fitting leather."

If she was a Jedi Master, then he supposed he wasn't going to be at imediate risk from any of the low level enforcers that could still be on the street. Vetru had seen enough death in his time to know how quickly everything could go wrong. A single stray blaster bolt was all it took.

"So what do you want to know..."

He grinned.

"...And how much is it worth to you?"

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Location: Glavis
Appearance: Link
Outfit: Factory Link
Weapon: Lightsaber
Tag: Vetru

Valery's eyes narrowed a little at his comment, "Sorry I don't quite live up to your... expectations, but I am a Jedi," she said again, but still without any real frustration. If he ended up not believing that she was a Jedi for some reason, she didn't really care too much. All that mattered to Valery was that she got the information she was after one way or another.

Whether he believed or trusted her or not.

"I heard some gangs have been rising in power on the station, and that tensions are growing. I want anything you have on them. Their leaders, their activities, whereabouts," she paused and looked at the Zabrak for a moment.

"Just name your price, I'll make it work."

 

[Vetru]

V E T R U​

"Get a person killed talking those kind of things," Vetru said, casting a furtive glance over her shoulder. "And I've lost out now because you chased me off the street."

He was leaving the world soon, long before any of the gangs could track him down. Assuming the worst case, where they captured the Jedi and tortured her for information. He would be several systems away.

"Word is the Steel Six and the Scythes are going to clash tonight. Want names and places and it'll be one thousand credits. In chits. Nothing traceable."