Yes, We're After a One 'Lady Kay'

[The Upright Man]

[Theme]

"Ah, the beautiful stench and decay of desperate living," Julian Solo sighed. He had just taken his first step off his shuttle. Docked in the Vertical City, they were to take an express elevator down into the Undercity. There was an infochant waiting for them. This was where the hunt began. They'd buy some information on Lady Kay, enough to get them started. Who she is, who her friends are, and where was her most recent whereabouts.

The 'they' was Solo and a Herglic. Personally, he had never met one before, and he didn't deny it was more than a little intimidating. The whale of a creature could squash Solo's head like a bad fruit if he so desired it. Good thing Solo was the one calling the shots. He'd hate to see what an angry Herglic did to his inferiors.

He barely knew the creature. He was looking for a few extra hands on his ship. It wasn't easy being the only organic running a prison ship, and someone to help capture a target was definitely welcome. After a string of successful hunts he could afford to keep one or two extra people around. He took three quarters of the pay, and the Herglic would keep one-fourth. That was still one-hundred and twenty-five-thousand credits if they caught Kay.

But Julian was covering the expenses. Food, power, fuel, ammunition and weapons, and of course, information. Information would be the most costly product. He turned to the Herglic, and had to quite literally tilt his head upwards just to look the fish in the eyes, "How many bounties have you completed?"


{ [member="Ghorua the Fish"] | [member="Subject Emilia"] }

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua the Fish looked around the port, unimpressed. The Herglic had expected more garbage and scum out of Nar Shadaa, but one couldn't be picky when it came to location. The scum would have to wait. Besides, they were on the job.

The they was himself, and [member="Julian Solo"]. He'd heard stories in the guild of Solo's expertise and professionalism. Overall, the Herglic was a bit unimpressed with the human. He was no heayweight, and the weird helmet was a bit dorky. Julian was a professional, though, and Ghorua was willing to learn.

He looked down as the hunter looked up. Completed missions? "Well," he said hesitantly, his deep, smooth voice puncturing through the soft din of ratchet voices, "This is technically my first. I joined up with the Guild not too long ago. I'm no novice to combat, though." Ghorua smiled oily, flexing his massive muscles.

Ghorua was a bit miffed when he discovered that he would only get one-fourth of the profit for this job, but deemed it fair. Julian was doing most of the work, and paying for practically everything. As far as he could tell, Ghorua was there for appearances. His bulky, almost nine-foot physique was probably terrifying to go up against. All going well, the sight of the half-ton Herglic would ward the pickpockets and murderers of this stink-hole of a planet, as well as force the surrender of the acquisition without resorting to a firefight. Not that he didn't enjoy a good firefight.

"Lead the way, Solo." Ghorua pulled out his blaster cannon and toyed with the rotating barrels. No knowing when you'll need a wall of blaster fire.

 

[The Upright Man]

". . .I'm no novice to combat, though." Julian shrugged his brows and murmured quietly, "Yeah, doesn't look it." They were just about to begin walking down the streets of Vertical City when the Herglic offered him to lead the way, and proceeded to take out his blaster cannon. "Holy shite, what the kark are you doing?" Solo said, "Put the damn weapon away unless you want trouble. You may be big, but I've seen Jawa's and Ewoks take down bigger."

Solo waved his hands about as he spoke, "You need to be discreet on Nar Shaddaa. People who stick out are the people who get shot. You need to hide in plain sight. Otherwise, people are going to start listening to our conversations. People get suspicious. Not to mention, our jobs require us to be a bit more professional than casually strolling the streets with a canon for a walking cane." They were fast approaching the elevator by the time Solo had finished talking.

He eyed the other occupants before the grates shut and the elevator began to descend into the Undercity. The usual type. Some techie with mean glasses, slick hair and a smirk that warranted a slap. The man clutched a datapad and was typing faster than, well, just about faster than anyone he had ever seen. He'd make a great slicer, probably is. Another man, clean pressed suit, dirty blonde hair that was neatly combed back. Steel eyes. Had the look of authority about him. Probably some spice pusher, middle-man for a crime lord. Reminded him of a man he once met.

[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua swallowed his temper, and followed his associate. Ewoks? Take me down? I don't think so...

Not sticking out was a weakness for him. He put his cannon on his back again. By the time the Hunter was done berating him, they had reached the elevator. With a bit of a grunt, the Herglic squeezed through the opening.

The space in the turbolift was obviously built for much smaller beings. He had to duck a little to not bump his head. Act casual... He crossed his large arms over his chest, and stared at the floor. As a bodyguard, you're supposed to be as big and intimidating as possible. Apparently, that wasn't the case for Bounty Hunters. The man in the business suit slowly edged away from Ghorua. That made him feel a little better. He cracked a grin.

The elevator slowly crawled to a halt. As the door opened, Ghorua waited to be the last one out. No need trampling someone just to escape his new-found claustrophobia. As he waited for the little humans to filter out, Ghorua looked over the undercity. Here's the garbage and scum I was waiting for.

The undercity reminded him quite a lot of Courscant's underbelly. Sparsely populated streets with shady, but non-memorable faces, and species of all kinds. Gang symbols and assorted graffiti covered the walls in violent hues. Garbage littered the ground with bland color, giving the sight a dark, dangerous feel. Ghorua whistled appreciatively.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

Solo smiled cheek-to-cheek when the Herglic put away the gun and crossed his arms, "See, much better. I'm sure anyone would want to have a drink with us now." He frowned, "By the way, I'm smiling underneath this helmet. Just as an F-Y-I." The turbolift hit the lowest level with a bit of a jolt. The grates swung open and the stench of sewerage hit his nostrils. "Our contact goes by the name Yee Lung. He's a bit of a lanky fellow, blondish hair and likes to sport goggles. He's a green-as-grass kid, but he's got a knack for knowing what's what."

"Now, I'll tell you the three basics of Bounty Hunting," he tapped his index finger, "One, information gathering. That is what we're doing now. We grab what we can where we can." He tapped his middle finger, "Two, we investigate. This can involve a lot of slicing, or hiring someone to slice for you. If someone is in a ship, track their registration codes and cross-reference that with ports and docks. You'll find your ship, and with it, your target. Or, go to the site where they last were, ask around, look for clues. Investigating is the hardest part." He tapped the third finger along, "Three, we capture - or kill. Whatever the client wants. Just a whole bunch of shooting, swearing and threatening. Sure it's hard, but it's harder to track down someone in a galaxy of almost two-hundred billion star systems."

Solo was on auto-pilot, manouvering through the crowd with ease as he maintained eye contact with the Herglic. Without even thinking on it, he slipped into a doorway that led them into a dark back-alley cantina.

[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua laughed to himself as Solo described to him the basics of Hunting. "Swearing? Shooting? Threatening? That's what I do best! But, I do see your point." Ghorua made a mental note. He would have to work on his people skills a bit before going on a solo hunt. No pun intended.

As they walked into the cantina, the scent of stale air and strange drink hit him like a durasteel wall. The setting was dim and dreary, and seedy laughter punctuated the soft cantina music. Ghorua blinked his eyes as they adjusted to the sudden darkness. Ghorua didn't feel out of place at all here. A large Herglic like himself probably didn't attract as much attention in this bar as a guy in a weird mask.

Ghorua looked to the bartender, a short Duros with a mug in her hands. He could really go for a good sip of grog right now. "Well, then, shall we see if this 'Yee' wants to have a drink with us, then?" Ghorua took a few tentative steps in, trying to blend in with the environment. He pulled his jacket closer to him, making sure his smaller weapons were well concealed. Just in case.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

"He doesn't drink, but he likes hanging in cantina's," Solo mentioned, he walked past a bright neon light that was dangling from its wire and sputtered electric sparks. The sign read, Frida's Spaceport Cantina. "Apparently the atmosphere in these places remind him of home, plus, the music helps him when he's slicing." He slipped into a booth where someone was pouring over a datapad. Red goggles. Blonde haired-male. Rather skinny and looked in his mid-teens. He was definitely underage to be in a cantina.

"Ur, Solo," the boy looked up and spoke. His tongue flicked in his mouth, lips wide open. It was an alien language, and definitely not Galactic Basic. "The kid doesn't speak basic, grew up surrounded by Vuvrians, it's where I got my helmet concept, back on Vurdon Ka." The teenager stared at Solo, almost like in distrust of what he was saying to the Herglic. "Don't worry, he has no idea what we're saying." Something mimicked Solo, "Don't worry, he has no idea what we're saying."

"Hey!" Solo shouted as the kid turned his datapad around to show a translator. "Look, Yee, my friend and I here are willing to pay you a lump sum if you can tell me who Lady Kay is." The kid nodded and answered, "Fe ioas rew polloo kra kre en Kay." Solo leaned back in his seat, reached up and removed his helmet. Short black hair, pale skin from a lack of sunlight underneath his helmet, almost-perfect eyebrows and a smart-arse smirk that looked permanently glued to his face, matching his bright blue eyes. "He said we should lay low here for a few day. Have a few drinks, stay the night and head out tomorrow. He hasn't heard of Lady Kay, but he says he can quickly learn everything we need to know, and more."

[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

I guess they really do start young, thought Ghorua, looking Yee up and down. If this kid could get them info, though, he wasn't complaining. "Stay the night, huh? I believe that means drinks are in order." Ghorua looked at Solo carefully. "Of course, not too much, because getting roaring drunk on the job is unprofessional..." The Herglic gave his fellow Hunter a thumbs up, and went to stand at the bar.

Ghorua flagged down the barkeep, Frida, he presumed, and ordered a cheap drink. No need for anything fancy, he needed to be sober tomorrow. Also, he didn't want to let his guard down on this planet. On Courscant, almost everyone seemed afraid of him. Here was a totally different story.

A drunk spacer reeled next to him, clearly intoxicated. "Another round, big eyes," he slurred to the Duros, who, rolling said big eyes, went to get the man another drink. The spacer turned his attention to the Herglic, punching the large Bounty Hunter on the shoulder. "Hey, big guy. Hang's it howin', uh, how's it hangin'?"

Ghorua ignored him, making sure he had no loose credits in the process. The guy, a flamboyantly painted visor on his head, got a bit angry. "Hey, I'm talkin' to you, fish-fry!" The man pushed him. Well, tried to push him. Ghorua didn't move a muscle. Keep it together. You've sat through worse. Ghorua tightened his large hand around his drink, containing his annoyance. This was going to be a long night.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

The bartender took the drunk mans drink when he started to get violent. Solo stood up and moved away from the teenage slicer. "Give it back to the poor bloke," Solo protested as he stood behind him. He gently rested his hands on the mans shoulders, "I don't think he's going to start trouble," Solo said, and tightened his grip. He heard a bone pop out of place and his right arm suddenly hung limp. The man lost his breath, trying to sputter out words and suck in air at the same time.

Solo let go, flexing his crushgaunts, and then took the man by his arm and shoulder again and put the bone back into the socket with a sickening pop. The man cried out in pain, nursing his shoulder. He wouldn't be anymore trouble. Solo took the seat on the other side of the Herglic. "Keep a low profile - but don't be a pushover." Pushovers were the type to get into trouble, just as much as someone who was making himself obvious. Nar Shaddaa wasn't friendly to many people, but if you held your own and didn't poke your head out, you would have no worry.

[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua was getting very mixed signals from Solo. Not stand out, and not be a pushover? That seemed a bit tough for Ghorua to do, considering any action against the man would've resulted in his absolute obliteration. He did appreciate the help, however. "Thanks. I think if I had to take another second of that, I would have pushed him over. Into his grave."

The drunken man hobbled away slowly, clutching his sore arm.The way that the Hunter handled the situation fascinated Ghorua. Subtle, yet leaving a deep impact. The Herglic had never seen crushgaunts in action before either, although they didn't impress him as much. His half-ton of brute force didn't need any artificial strength. He thanked the bartender, gave him a tip for the drink, and turned to look at Solo. "You want something from here? Drinks are on me." This little human was surprising Ghorua at almost every turn, and he was excited to see who Julian would hurt next.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

"Why not," he said, he looked towards the bartender and the Duros came shambling over, "La di su un?" the alien asked. "Yeah, can I get a scup of lashes," Solo said, pointing to one of the many taps. The Duros came back with a large tankard and placed it down. It looked like it was filled with Rancor urine, albeit it frothed at the top and bubbles of air floated around in the drink. Solo took a sip and winced at it. It was foul, but the taste would soon go down like a chocolate milkshake once he got used to it after a few gulps.

In a manner of seconds he was downing it like a can of soda.

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Wow, he's going to have a major hangover tomorrow, thought Ghorua as he watched Solo down the drink. Ghorua only nursed his mug, making sure his sips were slow and well-spaced apart. He had learned from an early age that a drunk Herglic is never a good thing, and had promised himself never to drink to drunkenness. Of course, he had broken this promise many times, but it was the thought that counted.

Ghorua the Fish looked around casually, noting the different patrons. Like usual, no one was as big as he was. There were a few Talz in the corner, playing a game on a holotable. He pointed it out to Julian as they sat. "Huh. Dejarik. Do you play? I hate to brag, but I was the champion of my family's game nights. Won every time, I tell ya." Ghorua figured that a friendly game would be an easy way to pass the time. And maybe talk about the job, or swap stories. Anything worked for the Herglic, as long as it kept his business partner from becoming roaring drunk.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

"Pfft," Solo answered, "Everyone knows how to play, and if they don't, they can't come anywhere near my ship." He stood up from the table and moved for the nearest board. It was cylindrical with a top surface printed in black and white squares. He pumped the switch and three-dimensional holographic monsters appeared. Four per play. Solo motioned to Ghorua to come and take a seat. Solo nursed his tankard in his lap, taking occasional sips from the drink.

"Ready when you are."


[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua stared at the pieces, trying to form a strategy with what he was given. He was stuck with the two mid-pieces, a power piece, and the Kirtan Strider. Not the best odds. He decided to go with it, though. "I'll let you go first, Solo. Let's see what you're made of." He gestured with his large hand towards the table, phasing it through the holographic monsters. To be honest, he was a bit rusty, but he wasn't about to admit it. No need to let the man think he wasn't at his top game.

Ghorua was glad to see that Julian had started going slower on his drink. Although tonight and tomorrow probably wouldn't require them to be completely sober, Nar Shadaa was unpredictable. Like a game of Dejarik.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

"Ah, hrm," Solo mumbled, running his hands through his hair. He took a good long hard look at his pieces. They were randomly generated so no one ever had the upper hand time and time again, that was unless they were superbly lucky. He looked at his pieces, and he didn't deny it. They were shite. They were lower-mid range pieces with a poor power piece. He took the poorest of the two mid pieces and commanded it forward, not wanting to use his K'lor'slug until later in the game. The mid piece moved forward, and forked Ghorua, threatening two of his mid-pieces. It was a cheap tactic, but Solo never played fair. Not here, or out there on the field. The move made it so that no matter what the opponent would lose at least one piece.

[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua cursed to himself silently. Kark. I should've gone first. Solo had stolen his cheap move. He didn't want to play the Gambit so early in the game, so he moved one of his mid-pieces in for the attack. All going well, he would sacrifice it to break the fork. The computer whirred as it calculated the results.

As the computer finished it's calculations, Ghorua smiled. His mid-piece was destroyed in a shower of electronically-generated gore, but it gave him the chance to move his power piece past the fork with his second action, and let him fork Julian's power-piece and the unmoved mid-piece. Taking a second look at his power piece, he laughed heartily. The little holographic figure was a short Duros, wielding a mug and a dirty towel. Of course, it's the bartender. The sight of the additional piece lightened his spirits. "Huh... Battle of the ages. K'lor'slug versus Frida the Mighty Barkeep," he said, with a bit of a smirk. "So, you got any stories worth telling?"

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

He smiled, "I wouldn't underestimate Frida. Some of the most powerful dealings in this galaxy in recent years have gone down in this cantina. That is, the illegal kind of dealings." He watched as Ghorua's piece came for him and his smile dropped from his face. He quickly sacrificed his mid-piece and watched it be eaten alive. He activated a special of his K'lor'slug, the worm-like creature broke into a quick scurry, stomping its blades down and keeping its mouth wide as it spun around the board until it was back where it started. The computer calculated damage and fatalities of the attack.

While it did that, Solo began to talk, "Last hunt before this. I was on Coruscant, some Jedi Padawan decided a field trip to the capital city of the One Sith Empire was a great idea. Turns out her friend was a pilot, and a good one at that. We got into a dogfight, by the end of it, I was flying his ship and he was flying mine as we slung shots at each other. I had to shoot off my own ships wings, and he blasted a hole in his ship so big that the middle of the ship was missing a floor. We both crashed, right on the streets. I got out, so did they. I thought it was over, I had them. Nope. I should have expected the unexpected."

"Some hot-shot Togruta who thought she was all that bounced the scene. Said she was the best bounty hunter around, and without having shed a single drop of sweat, she grabbed my target and ran off with 'em. I had just spend the last hour shooting down my own ship just to catch them, and she steals my target. Then ANOTHER one joins in, and it turns out both these bounty hunters have lightsabers. I don't know where they got them but I doubt they earned them. I called in a shuttle from my transporter that was in orbit. We followed the Togruta and shot nets at her until she gave up. By the end of it, the Jedi had a broken leg and her friend was missing an arm, and had some glass in his eye. I patched them up and first thing I did was dump them in a cell and take the girls lightsaber."
[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

Ghorua tapped his thumbs together, doing calculations of his own as the computer did. Luckily, the K'lor'slug didn't kill anything, but his pieces were all pushed around and in a jumble. Before Solo could finish his story, Ghorua moved his Kirtan Strider up to where the little Frida had been pushed back, protecting the power-piece with the powerful defense. He didn't want to blow off the Gambit too early, but this game was shaping up that way. The Strider sat temptingly in front of the slug, daring the little inanimate piece to take a bite. Something in Julian's story ticked a memory in his brain, though.

"Wait, hold on. Hot-shot Togruta. Bounty Hunter. With lightsabers? Two yellow, I'm guessing. And she was young, like a teenager, right?" Ghorua was dumbfounded. He had met this girl at a bar not too long ago. What are the odds that there are any more than one lightsaber-wielding Bounty Hunter Togruta? "I think I met her. Tried to threaten a guy with her sabers in the middle of a fancy cantina. The Angel's Den, on Soceras." Ghorua took another sip of his drink, and frowned down at the holotable in thought.

[member="Julian Solo"]

 

[The Upright Man]

Julian wasn't thinking much now, a little bit of alcohol down the gullet and a good conversation was distracting him. He launched his slug at his associates Strider, not realizing that it was a guarantee loss after he had just spent his special. He listened to Ghorua and slowly nodded his head, "Sounds like the girl. She's not smart and an attitude like that gets people killed, namely, themselves. Since I saw her on Coruscant I put a bounty on her head, but I guess she took the warning and has since gone dark. She dropped of the face of the galaxy. Good thing too, I don't take kindly to theft." He motioned with a wave of his hand, "Got any stories of your own?"

[member="Ghorua the Fish"]

 

[Ghorua the Shark]

As the slug was pounded into holographic puddy by the Strider's counter-kill, Ghorua stroked his chin. "Nothing much, I'm afraid. All of my best stories are when I was doing guard duty at some terrible bar on Courscant." The Herglic whistled. "Man, the things I've seen there! Drug raids, slave auctions... More naughty things..." Ghorua attacked Solo's mid-piece with his, only managing to bump it a space back. "That's partly why I joined up with the Guild. I want to get some stories of my own that I can pass on some day."

Ghorua casually scanned the scene around them, and noticed the kid, Yee, typing away at his holopad. "So, what's with him?" asked Ghorua, nodding his head towards the blonde. "Does he have a story?"

[member="Julian Solo"]