Unusual Is Not Quite The Word For It

[Silfe Sosuri]

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. This was not like anything she could have imagined. She had spent the better part of the day working hard physically and mentally. Now he was taking her on what equivocated to a field trip. This could end in triumph or tears. The chances were more the latter than the former with her on his team. She had only just learned how to defend herself and had not yet the muscle memory of long practice to assist her. Still, [member="Darlyn Excron"] would hardly lead her into a situation of which he could not keep her from dying. Silfe let out a laugh and shook her head. "I don't know if this is the best decision you have ever made or the worst."

Thankfully there was time between Commenor and Tattooine and during those hours, she rested. As the ship descended into atmosphere, she felt the change and it woke her. Blinking slowly, she opened her dark eyes to look out on the world of Tattooine. This was not a planet she had ever had cause to visit though she had heard of it certainly. "Don't forget the face scarf." She called out as he left the cockpit.

Sore from the day's exercise and the hours of sitting in one place, she stretched deeply for a minute before leaving the ship to follow Darlyn. As she approached the Minister of Justice, she put on her jacket. It wasn't light but it would protect from the winds of the planet and the sun overhead. "Alright. Where to first? A dive bar?"

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Not quite. Man does have an address, but he might be hiding out in the sands somewhere. So we're going to hope he's there and if not we're going to go for a ride after hunting clues." He smiled at [member="Silfe Sosuri"], tossing her a thin face scarf he'd purchased her while waiting on her, and wrapped a red one around his neck in case he needed it. All the while, he was walking down the streets, the little bit of wind causing the sand to buffet his armor, though for Silfe there would be less of a problem as he stayed roughly upwind of her while walking. He reached into a pouch pocket and handed her a piece of paper with the address on it. "See it anywhere?"

Of course he knew it was roughly two or three buildings down the little street from them, but it would be more fun, at least he hoped, for her if she actually took somewhat of an active role in this.

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

She was amused at her automatic assumption that the scum would be in a cantina somewhere on this hellhole planet having a drink. Not everyone in the fringe lived in bars, unshaven and unclean. Silfe caught the scarf he tossed to her and began to wrap it over and around her head so that only her dark eyes remained visible. It helped immeasurably with the sun and she was thankful. Realizing he was getting away from her, she ran a bit to catch up to him just in time to take the piece of paper. The Minister examined it and then looked ahead, her eyes searching the street for the particular place. This city was hardly well laid out and her travels to foreign places had only really started being standard to her schedule since she arrived on Commenor. The unfamiliarity of the place was a bit daunting but she took a steadying breath and scanned the buildings again.

Finally, with an "ah ha!" of surprise, Silfe nodded. Pointing and acknowledging the place would likely be a bad idea, after all, bounty hunters were rarely wanted around by their bounty. The first chance this man had, he would likely run and if Darlyn was correct, he would have friends with him. "Its ahead three buildings, the bright orange set of doors." Silfe told him fairly quietly. Indeed, the doors were run down like the rest of the place, but they were distinctively orange.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn nodded a little bit, and reached down to his hip, pulling out his DL-18 and his personal lightsaber, both weapons resting in his hands calmly and naturally. "Right then, stick close. Set your blaster to stun if you can and keep calm. This is going to be fun." He chuckled and motioned her to follow, walking right up to the orange doors she had mentioned. He paused, closing his eyes a moment as he reached out to feel who was in there. Two on the left side, three on the right, one in the back. Guessing by how they seemed to be, none were the actual bounty, so this little get together might just be one of his little wannabe gang hideouts. He hummed a moment more, and put his hand up to the door, knocking three times.

A pair of eyes at the door, in a little slot. Not able to see the armor from his proximity, the gruff voice asked, "Who the kark is it this time?"

Definitely not the bounty. Darlyn shrugged and placed stepped back. "Delivery, I've got a bunch of food I'm supposed to deliver here, prepaid of course!" The wave of his hand, a jedi mind trick. Granted it was less effective than it could be, instead just making his words silky smooth and agreeable, but with idiots like these it didn't take much. There was a moment, before the slot closed and the door was opened for them. Almost immediately, Darlyn kicked his heavy boot into the center of the door guard's chest, and stepped inside.

"Dingy little place you got here. Anyone mind telling me where Aren is so i can be on my way?" Naturally they responded by shooting at him with blasters, to which he responded with deflecting them rather calmly with his lightsaber, which blazed to life as they struck. "Mmm... guess not. Silfe you mind knocking a couple out for me so I can teach them about consequences?"

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Amaunet Asira]

Wrong character

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

She took a hold of her own small blaster and set it to stun as he had shown her earlier in the day. Silfe was nervous, watching Darlyn as he approached the door and moving quickly to stand beside him. There were people inside, she could hear a bit of general buzz from conversation. As he knocked on the door, she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, relaxing though her grip on her gun remained strong. The man on the other side sounded less than cheerful, but Darlyn's trickery worked and the door was unlocked. As soon as it was opened, Darlyn kicked it forward, catching them all unaware.

She was ready to shoot, her gun trained on the nearest two who looked as shocked as they could possibly be. White as sheets, the lightsaber caused them to lose control of their bowels. At Darlyn's request, she shot both of them before they could do anything more. It was a very strange sensation to be doing this in real life and not on guards. Adrenaline rushed into her system, heating her body and face. Such contemplation, however brief caused her to be surprised. One rushed her from her right side, likely choosing her as the easiest target to take down so he could run and leave his companions behind. As he tackled her into the door, she smashed her elbow down and across onto the temple of his head repeatedly until he dropped her and backed away, holding his head dazedly. She shot him quickly before he could get his wits about him and attack her again.

The door had not been the most solid of doors, but it had not been made of paper either. She was going to be bruised, but it didn't matter, at least for the moment. She stood, coughed and trained her gun on the remaining three. Silfe was breathing heavily from adrenaline rush but she seemed to be steady. "I'm sure they are ready to listen now, aren't you boys?" Silfe was glad to find her voice far more solid than she felt. In a mock whisper, she said to the men, "I would nod and say yes."

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn had been deflecting bolts away from everyone, hoping not to hit anyone and have more cooperative thugs after they realized the futility. He trusted Silfe to work her kind of magic, though he did get somewhat nervous when he saw one of them tackle her. She handled the situation well enough, which meant that there was some hesitation. Even the weaker of the two was able to beat them down. Taking her advice, the one of them in the back tossed his weapons to the ground and held up his hands, however the two others were still trying to shoot him. He rolled his eyes, deflecting a couple of bolts into the ground, and fired a couple of stun shots at them. They dodged, of course, and he tossed his weapon aside gently to free up his hand.

They were predicting shots so he had to be faster. When one came up, he blasted a bolt of lightning into their chest, sending him flying back into a wall where he spasmed uncontrollably for a while, before falling still. The other, who still chose to fight after this, soon dropped his weapon as Darlyn's hand moved to him instead, lifting him up by his throat from halfway across the room. The lightsaber turned off, and Darlyn slowly closed his fist. It didn't take much imagination to wonder what happened to the thug, as he fell limp to the ground. Darlyn huffed, putting his weapon away to pick up his blaster, checking it for any dings from the gentle toss. "Silfe my dear, would you like to question the scum or should I?" The man in question clearly was quivering in intense fear of them both.

[member="Silfe Sosuri"]

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

It was both fascinating and intimidating to watch Darlyn work and though she kept her eye on the man who had disarmed himself, he was paying so much attention to Darlyn, that she needn't bother. The two men, she knew, were doomed from the moment they decided to shoot and not disarm themselves, but it was something else entirely to watch the process. Silfe had seen death before. Her father had killed men for betraying him in business many times and never bothered to cover it from her eyes. However, it was different watching the Force be used in such a way. Both she and the unarmed man jumped as the bolt of lightning flew from Darlyn to one of the men. The sick sound of a body crumbling to the floor with the sizzle of burned flesh and the smell was nearly overwhelming for Silfe to see. She swallowed hard and looked at the unarmed man. He had lost all color and was white as a ghost.

But it was not done yet. There remained one foe who had decided to continue fighting even after his comrade had been burned to death. Darlyn lifted him with a wave of his hand. It was obvious he was choking the man to death. The fear was cast in the opponent's eyes and the realization that he would die was written all over his face. Then he fell to the ground in a heap. At this point, it was useless to hold her weapon up. The unarmed man was sobbing in fear and watching Darlyn as though he knew he was next to die.

Silfe, for her part seemed to come back to herself as he said her name. She blinked and turned to the unarmed man who turned out upon inspection to be excessively young, probably younger than herself... late teens. "We just need to know where Aren is." Her voice was soft and soothing without being patronizing. After what she had seen, she could understand the man's fear. It was entirely justifiable.

He nodded, fixing his gaze to her as if she were his saving grace. "Th.... There's a gamblin den about four blocks south fr... from here.It's called the Praetor's Gambit. He likes goin' there cause he can cheat newcomers easy and has a deal with the owner give him credits on the side from his winnings. He has Sou and Barden with him. They are both armed and big guys. You can't miss them. There is a back entrance that is around the corner. Black door with a long white scratch down one side. It will enable you to get in unseen, gives you a full view of the room before they can see you because of how dark it is." He paused and spared a glance at Darlyn before turning back to Silfe. "Please don't kill me."

"My blaster is set to stun." She said at last, bringing it up to shoot him. He was still terrified, not trusting that she was telling the truth. Had it been Darlyn leveling his gun, it might have been wise to think so, but it was Silfe who kept her word. She shot him and watched him fall to the floor thankfully no longer sobbing, and hoped he would have the intelligence to get out of this life now that his wits had been scared from him.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Lowering his blaster and putting it away, he walked over to the bodies, who looked around their thirties or so, and shook his head. "A real shame you know." Darlyn muttered as he moved the bodies a bit, covering them with sheets he found laying nearby. No need to be visible after all, he had that much respect for the dead. The stunned bodies he moved to the side as well, so they wouldn't be hurt when they woke up, before dusting his hands off. "A waste really. Their choice but by the Force was it a stupid one. At least the boy was smart, hopeful future for him don't you think?" He offered a half laugh, like he found the net result of someone being left to change their ways amusing on some basic level.

Then of course, he turned and walked out, heading down the street as directed by the boy, and careful to let Silfe keep pace. "Right then, that makes it three people to disable. Two armed men and the target. I can handle it myself, of course, but I'd rather not get anyone unaffiliated with this involved." He walked Silfe up to the door with the long scratch, and slowly opened it, motioning her inside. As said, it was dark, difficult to see them, but they could see out perfectly well. And the noise masked their sounds, as they could now speak softly without being heard, and see the target. Aren, a bit of a pudgy human, was backed by a tall behemoth it seemed. Sou or Barden, certainly, and another one much further back. A classic strategy, the one nearby could protect Aren immediately while the one in back could see more area than the near guard.

If Silfe glanced over then, she'd see a moment of appreciation for a smarter duo, before he would whisper to her. "You see them I assume. I can come from that angle, and it'll cut them off from escaping out the front. The two guards will likely come for me and Aren will try to escape out the back. Which would put you in his path and the one to chase him down. Or we can try to do it quietly, get the guards and then Aren when he leaves. That could take some time, though. I'll put it to you Silfe, which do you think we should do? Or do you have an idea?" Perhaps a bit odd for a 'lesson', he was treating her like an equal in this job, and trusting her judgement.

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

Even while his actions had been shockingly merciless, his actions after were that of a respectful man. She watched him while he worked and laughed off his discomfort. Silfe knelt down to look at the young man she had stunned. There was a sadness in her eyes as she touched his hand. He was likely either driven by peer pressure or poverty to join this life. Neither would be easy to escape even if he wished it. "Yes. There is hope."

With that, she got up and walked out, following Darlyn as they made their way to the Praetor's Gambit's back door. She entered first at his behest, wondering what all she would see inside. The gambling den was dirty and dingy on the right side of shady, as was most of the social clubs here. There were quite a few patrons but it wasn't overly busy. She watched the men as Darlyn spoke, coming up with two separate but good plans. "I would consider possibly luring Aren, but looking at my attire, clean hands and fingers and general countenance, I am likely far too rich looking to lure him back here without suspicion or getting incredibly drunk." She pursed her lips and looked down at her attire once more, still considering but in the end she felt she was not quite up to the task of acting like a harlot.

"I think we have no choice but to either charge in or wait." Her eyes glanced over the rest of the patrons and shook her head. "I don't like these men. It would be really bad odds if they joined in on the action. I say we wait."

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Solid decision. A stakeout it is." He gave [member="Silfe Sosuri"] a nod, and found a seat in the darkness, motioning her over to take the other while they waited. For a dingy little gambling den, this place wasn't that bad. Relatively clean, plenty of decent sounding music, Darlyn might've spent time here before listening for rumours before getting his new job. He sat rather still, taking in the sights and sounds as he watched the patrons, some leaving, some staying, some with surprisingly deep pockets, never losing track of Aren and his entourage. His eyes had a steel, rigid lock on them, watching each and every slight movement with almost unblinking, unwavering focus. Today was a day of contradictions to his usual persona.

After a while, his voice broke the quiet in their little corner, still waiting for Aren to move. "You think poorly of me, don't you? Perhaps not entirely but, you think poorly of my ability to kill, don't you? Don't be ashamed to say yes, you wouldn't be the first. Certainly not the last. I've never been blind to how people perceive those like me, those able and willing to do whatever it is they feel is right, morally or otherwise. I don't claim to be a hero after all."

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

Silfe waited patiently, taking the seat beside Darlyn. Her thoughts were all over the place, certainly most on her most recent experience with him. She knew her world was different than most and that her lack of experience often made her think differently than others. She was innocent of much of the ways of life, she knew. This was an eye opening experience and Silfe had yet to decide exactly how she was going to take to this newfound information. Not only was she finding strength within herself she did not know she had with Darlyn's help, but she was finding him to be not all that different than her first impressions of the man. At least he was sober.

His words made her drift her attention back to him. Silfe turned her dark gaze to the man beside her and considered his question. She never thought of censoring her words, not shamed by any thought she had. She just hadn't chosen to speak to him about the subject yet. Finally she said, "I think you take joy in killing and I cannot understand that mentality. I think you kill unnecessarily, but that could be my lack of experience talking. I am willing to concede that." She turned to look back at their prey, continuing softly. "I do not expect anything different from you than what you have shown yourself to be; a drunk, a man in pain, a man who has his own scruples and I wouldn't call them morals, a man who fights and enjoys it, and an attractive man who for some reason can still show kindness but hide behind a mask of nonchalance. I never thought of you as a hero even when you saved my life. You surprised me more then and during the aftermath, than you have any other time in your presence."

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"Not a bad assessment." He chuckled, not looking at [member="Silfe Sosuri"] and instead focusing straight ahead. "I wouldn't expect you to understand it all. I'd hope you wouldn't. Beaten or not, your life was sheltered to some degree, if you understood it all then reality is a damn lot worse than I expected. Though you did forget my love for the hunt." He laughed again, and watched time fly by, his words hanging in the air like a foul stench, unpleasant but very real. Time stretched, and compressed, until it was just the two of them sitting there, the patrons mostly gone, leaving Aren, his guards, and a few others. The portly man spoke with the owner, credits exchanged, before he began to wander out the door. It was then that Darlyn stood up, and began to go to the back door, pausing for a moment.

"Sad thing is, I may be no hero, but I am the good guy."

And then he walked out the door, leaving her to consider his words, or follow, as she felt appropriate. Meanwhile, he was following behind Aren, somehow managing to stay out of sight despite his armor's frame, and leaving massive footprints for Silfe to follow. Of course, if she did, she'd catch up to him roughly within a quick time frame. Just as Aren would enter an alleyway, and Darlyn would follow in. Within moments it would be lit blue and red, Darlyn firing stun bolts behind his defensive barrier from the yellow lightsaber, and them firing lethal red bolts. It was just one person right?

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

She understood more than he would like, she knew, but she wasn't going to tell him everything that her life had been. To some degree, he was right. She had been sheltered from the galaxy at large. There was much of it she did not understand. Her life had been at least somewhat insular. She had no acquaintance with living among the scum of the galaxy, being in a privileged family as far as monetary value was concerned. There were so many ways in which her life had kept her sheltered; no experiences with the poor, the downtrodden, those driven to criminal acts due to poverty or situation. She had no experience with Force users until she came to Commenor and still had very little to date. She had never fought for what she wanted until she came to Commenor and even then was unsure of herself in almost every respect.

What she did have experience in was manipulators, scum in suits with money pouring out of their pockets, men and women felt they could take as they wished and no consequences could be given them in any way that would be more than an inconvenience on their day. She had been her father's trophy and his prisoner. Silfe wrenched her thoughts away from her experiences. Sheltered and not sheltered. Strange combination.

She watched as he left to follow their prey but realized as he did so that if she followed him through the establishment, she would be seen. Aren was not alone. He had two bulky men following him. She unholstered her blaster and left out the door they came in and circled around to the alleyway. As soon as she saw the firefight, she joined in, stunning one of the two massive men before anyone realized there was a second assailant from behind them. He fell, motionless to the surprise of his comrades. They had been so focused on [member="Darlyn Excron"], they had not suspected him to have a partner.

What she had not seen, was the proprietor of the establishment, seeing movement in the back and following the young woman out to the alleyway with all the slyness of a space eel. She smiled as she hit the other body guard in the leg, causing him to crumble to the durocrete street. Had she another moment, she would have been able to incapacitate him but luck was not on her side. For the second time that day, she was caught by surprise. Her inexperience and lack of cultivated instinct causing her to be unaware of being followed. From behind her, she was hit by something big and hard. In hit her like a ton of bricks, throwing her out into the alleyway with force. Her blaster flew from her hand to the other side of the alley. Silfe tumbled to the ground and lay motionless.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Even with [member="Silfe Sosuri"] being sent flying, the distraction was perfect. The one on the ground couldn't get up before Darlyn's stun shots struck him, and he lay motionless on the ground. That left two, and the armored man was approaching with calm confidence even as the proprietor tried to move to leverage Silfe as a hostage. "Now now, it's not nice to use a lady like that. If you lay one finger on her, I'll have your hand." He grinned, with Silfe knocked out he'd grown angry, fueled by it, and exacerbated by Exar Kun's lightsaber on his hip. The corrupting influence was making him viler than ever, even if his cause here was legitimately something to be concerned over. Aren tried to back away, but a cold glance froze him in his steps. Darlyn's blue eyes were, to say the least, cold enough to give frostbite, or so it would feel.

"Surrender, now. You're worth more alive, but I'll settle for dead if you resist." The blaster fell from Aren's fingertips, and he fell to his knees. Darlyn grinned, and withdrew a pair of hand restraints, using them to hold his hands behind his back. During this, the proprietor began trying to scoot away, and Darlyn would have allowed it honestly. He was uninterested with scum like him beyond what he did to Silfe. But, as his poor luck would have it, his hand brushed against Silfe's leg, and Darlyn's eye caught it. Yanking him with the Force, Darlyn's lightsaber hissed angrily through the air, outmatched only by the man's scream as his hand fell motionless to the ground.

"I warned you." His voice growled, before he hurled the man back out of the alley with the force, and retrieved Silfe's blaster. He put the safety on, and slowly picked her up. He held her rather gingerly, one arm under her upper back, and one under her knees, to give her full support. He moved her head to his shoulder, so it would be resting comfortably if she woke up, and glared at Aren until he began to walk. They would be getting odd looks, of course, but did he care? Hardly. He just wanted Silfe to be safe when she woke up now, and finish his job. Where she'd wake up, on the streets, or in the hangar, it mattered little.

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

Silfe saw and felt none of what transpired. For a long while, she lay in the darkness, either unwilling or unable to come to. At first her senses awakened as if through a fog. There was still the smell of the alleyway though it was faint and almost gone. The sounds of the city were blanketed and hushed in comparison to the tang they had been before she had gotten hit. She could feel the gentle bump and movement that made her slowly aware she was being carried. Her mind traced back her memories, starting with leaving the Praetor's Gambit and then ending with the blinding pain before she remembered nothing further. It was then that she felt the pain returning with her senses. Silfe groaned and lifted her free hand to the back of her head. It was wet, from blood most likely as head wounds often bled like a stuck pig. She sucked in a breath as the touch incited more sharp pain. She immediately stopped touching it and finally opened her eyes. Had Darlyn finished the mission without her? Of course he would, silly woman, she thought to herself.

Before her was... his neck. She blinked and gingerly raised her eyes and head. "Where is he? Did you get him?" All she got was a sense of them being away from the alley and likely almost to the ship before she felt the oncoming pain and wave of nausea. Finding that lifting her head had been a stupid thing to do, she quickly reset it to resting on his shoulder and groaned again. She closed her eyes tightly to fight off the wave of nausea that came with the head wound, hardly her first one. Perhaps she would protest being carried, if she didn't feel like it was completely the right way of transporting her at the moment. Silfe was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, his armor felt cool on her heated brow.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

"You could say that. I like to think he got himself here." He gave her a sort of smile as they moved through the last bits of the hangar, and opened the ship up ahead of them. The ramp lowered for them, and the cuffed man walked up ahead of them. First, Darlyn lifted a hand from Silf's back and knocked him into a force cage in the back. It was amazing what you could find for cheap. He pressed a button to activate the cage, before heading back to the cockpit and slowly setting [member="Silfe Sosuri"] into the seat, setting her up to be safe and comfortable. Then he sat down, went through the sequences, and had the ship take off and begin the trip home.

"I'll have a medical team back home waiting for you to make sure nothing got damaged by our lovely friend here, then I'll be returning him to the proper authorities. You did well though, all things considered."

 

[Silfe Sosuri]

As the ramp lowered, she allowed her eyes to open and from her position of resting her head against the cool armor of her partner, she watched their prey move of his own volition into the awaiting cage. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him in a childlike gesture of revenge, but only just. Sometimes, you just wanted to be childish and petty. Her head stung like crazy and it was his fault, him and his shifty friends.

Settled in her seat, she pressed a cloth to her head to help stop the bleeding and watched [member="Darlyn Excron"] navigate them towards home. Home was such a strangely wonderous thing to her now, being so different than what she was used to. Silfe didn't feel the oppression she always had felt before upon returning home after a journey with her father. Her home was on Commenor now with people like Lady Kay, Darlyn, and Brad. She had her own space and a job she loved. There was an elation within her at the thought of finally heading home.

She grinned at Darlyn. Considering that she was young and inexperienced in anything she had done thus far today, she had done well. She had also gotten herself knocked out from behind. "All things considered? I suppose that is a compliment if there ever was one."