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Grym Kandle
May 26th, 2005, 12:59:15 AM
Grym slowly stood from dingy cot he was sleeping on and stared out the small square window to his side. This motel was not all the shoddy advertisement cracked it up to be but then again, nothing in Nar Shadda was ever half as good as it looked. And even then...

He ran a hand through his platinum hair slowly before he let it drift down the left side of his face. He could feel the veins and scars vaguely on the nerve damaged skin as it slid down his cheek. Revolting... pathetic... anguish ran through Grym's mind as his hand shook involuntarily. He was sure his face was contorting but he would not have been able to feel it regardless. He gazed down at both shaking hands now and examined the little green cuts around the tips of his fingers. Clarity was worth it. It was all worth it.

He reached into his cloak hung over the single chair in the small room withdrew a black case. From there, he withdrew a small thimble sized cup and a vial half full with fine emerald sand. The stopper went next and a miniscule amount of the sand went into the cup. Grym's hands were not shaking anymore. The vial was put away and a small syringe replaced it in his hand. Grym was methodical, an expert in this and a few other things. The syringe squirted out a little of the liquid within into the cup and a slight hissing noise could be heard coming from inside the small cup. His hands were not shaking but his eyes were dilated with anticipation and his spine shivered with mental dependency and hunger. He downed the small cup quickly and placed it back in the case with the syringe and closed them away, resting back in his cloak.

The Clarity of Glitterstim was a profound experience. There were several to take the potent drug and in a liquid form was the roughest but most effective. It tore apart your digestive system but the reaction of it was far longer than any other method. Grym saw it as a fair trade, he did not want a large appetite while on Nar Shadda anyways. The food could not have been much better for him. But the Clarity...

His senses were heightened, he could almost feel the passing of time, and recognize some kind of unseen... thing lying beneath reality. Sometimes he thought he saw glimpses of the future but Glitterstim was known for causing deja vu like that. The best thing about all of it was that it really was an enhancer, not just something that made you "feel" like everything was above par. But it all came at such a price.

Grym laid back on his small cot, breathing in deeply as he was not sure whether the rush of life he felt was his own blood or the planet-city of Nar Shadda.

* * *

The catwalk in the hangar was dim and shady and his cloak wrapped securely about him had gotten him this far without anyone noticing his presence. His now gloved hand reached inside his cloak and activated the SFG (stealth-field-generator) as he crept closer to view his objective. His footsteps were dampened by the SFG and he knew in this lighting, he was near invisible. As he should be. The mask that covered his face served more than its general purpose of hiding the scars of drug abuse as it gave him night vision and tracked the movement of the beings below him.

The mask had been a gift from his last boss. A good boss, worth the effort he'd put into the syndicate. So was the mask. It had several general purposes that served Grym's specific needs, night vision, magnification, infrared thermal imaging, movement tracking, and a deciphering module. It also had vents which would support Grym in a variety of environments. Yes, well worth the work. But he wasn't finished paying back for it. Just a few more things to do.

"Does anyone else feel like we're being watched?"

Captain Breft'Kel. A man who always needed somone to guard his back because far too many had plans to put a blaster bolt in it. Grym had to give it to him though, he'd always found some loyal dogs to watch it for him. The smuggler turned small time syndicate boss had thought to loan some money from Grym's boss and then kill them afterwards. He had mostly succeeded. Grym was still alive though so in the worst case scenario, he had failed.

The Captain had a Bothan and an Aqualish on his back this time, and those two carried riot control supressors, usually carried by the Corporate Security Force. They carried their worth. The Captain had five blaster pistols on him, none of those in his hand. For a simple human, Grym saw it a bit excessive. Regardless of how they were armed, Grym had no intention of confronting them yet. The shipment hadn't arrived. Grym pulled the cloak to him tightly as he disengaged the SFG and rested in a crouched postion, waiting.

Time passed and the three came back out of their ship as the main door to the hangar opened. Four beings led a large train of two crates into the hangar. Shraxx, the trandoshan that had betrayed Grym's former syndicate led the group. For a moment, Grym's breathing picked up but he quickly stilled himself once more, activating the SFG in case of the trandoshan or either of the three humans with him taking notice above them.

"You're late Shraxx. Tell me that means you have absolutely everything?"

Always so confident, Captain.

"Of courssssse Captain, glittersssssstim, ryll, carssssssunum, andrisssssss, yarrock, and ssssweetblosssssssssom."

So maybe the Captain was not small time, merely short handed and dealing with the most loyal and unloyal kind of scum in Nar Shadda. Those spices were no joke. Sweetblossom was the strongest narcotic on the blackmarket and you did not just crate it around like that. Then again, no one but Grym was alive anymore to have a problem with Shraxx, so Grym could see the confidence in the act. And the glitterstim... photoactive as it may be and with a short shelf life, Grym still saw the advantage of getting away with those spoils. Not to mention the credits he could pull of the others.

"Let me see the goods, Shraxx."

"Now, now, Captain. You know assss well assss I do that glittersssstim isssssn't any good exposssssed. Here'sss an xxxxxx-ray of the cratessss though if that will pleassssse."

The Captain grabbed the pad and examined it before blowing a few strands of hair out of his face in covered sign of exasperation. One could not just make the jump from simple smuggler to syndicate boss so easily.

Grym Kandle
May 26th, 2005, 10:59:14 PM
Grym slowly stood, leaning over the rail as he made a last scan of the area. Seven opponents, two automatics, four with blasters, and then Shraxx, who had his flamethrower strapped to his back. No melee visible but Grym predicted at least one dagger on each and then Shraxx' claws as well. Grym's hand gripped the rail tightly as his other attached the liquid cord dispenser's end to the catwalk.

Grym threw himself over the rail with silent grace, the cord snapping tight as he pressed the button on the dispenser. Unfortunately, a loud "twang" accompanied it. So much for silent grace. All seven sprung around weapons drawn in time to catch the explosion of light from a flash grenade. Grym's mask protected him from the side effects but the infrared sensor was recalibrating. He dropped from the cord and in two long strides was behind the Aqualish with the riot supressor. A white gloved hand snaked out from beneath Grym's cloak and wrapped about the Aqualish's neck. With a violent jerk, the small blade in his hands sent blood flying.

The others were pulling out of it, especially Shraxx who was whipping his flamethrower around. Grym caught the Aqualish's automatic rifle before it hit the ground and rolled to the side of one of the humans. A spray of laser fire went into the human's leg and he fell to his knees as Grym grabbed a handful of hair and pulled the wounded human towards him. The next human in line had a blaster ready and fired. The red beam scored the chest of Grym's human shield and the human's face of anguish went slack. Grym fired over the shoulder of the dead man and sent another six feet under. He threw himself backwards as he heard an all too familiar noise. The clicking stopped only to allow a roar that was followed instantly by a wave of fire.

"You need to sssssstay dead Kandle thisssssssss time!"

Grym hurled himself behind a large stack of crates as blaster fire came blazing over his head. Shraxx could have just walked up and toasted him but then again, who enjoys an easy game? But another familiar sound had to ring out first.

"Kandle? I thought he was dead. What's that son of a rancor doing here? How has he made it this long without his fix? Someone go see if we killed him already."

Grym was sure there would have been much more to the Captain's "delegating" if not for the next flash grenade he tossed over the crates just for Shraxx. The loud bang followed shortly afterwards and Grym flung himself around the corner of the crates and held the trigger down on the rifle. Blue laser fire sprayed everywhere, a few scoring the thick durasteel of the drug shipment and well enough, two of Shraxx' men. Shraxx was no where to be seen and the Captain was hiding on the other side with the Bothan.

Grym Kandle
May 29th, 2005, 10:39:16 AM
Grym scanned the area for Shraxx who he considered to be the most dangerous not just by general physical standards but also because Shraxx was no sort of coward. Shraxx had that hunter like personality that was found so often in his race and Shraxx meant for Grym to become the hunted. He took another look around the corner of the crate, thermal imaging now readjusted, allowed him to view the two on the other side of their cover. The captain and his bothan associate had not moved. Thermal imaging did squat though when trying to find a cold blooded race like Shraxx'.

Kandle slowly moved to a crouched position, making ready to dash to another position for a better view of the area when he heard loud clicking noises from above him. Grym pushed off to the side in a lunge as fire rocketed down to where he had been. The flames rolled off the ground almost like it was some kind of billowing liquid and they spread out from there. Grym continued to push himself backwards as he viewed Shraxx standing on top of the crate he had previously been hiding behind.

Now in his line of sight, Grym unleashed a hail of his own fire on Shraxx, blue lasers going everywhere. Shraxx went to a knee and held his large flamethrower before him. Somehow the flamethrower took everyshot intended for Shraxx and left the trandoshan untouched. The lizard tossed the sizzling weapon aside with ease and leapt from the crate. It was too fast for Grym to follow at first and in no time, Shraxx was ontop of Grym, claws in his shoulders and one knee resting in Grym's stomach. A large hiss of air could be heard from Grym as he struggled to catch his breath as Shraxx slammed his head back and forth into the duracrete. Grym twisted his hand and his close quarters blade slipped into his fingers. If Shraxx could have seen Grym's face when he thrust that blade beneath his scales. Blood instantly began to pour from the wound and Shraxx let forth a screech of pain. Having regained the ability to breath and with Shraxx caught off guard, Grym withdrew the blade and ran it through the lizard's intestines a few more times before he threw the body off. The trandoshan curled up on his side, holding his blood in as well as he could through his trashy flight suit.

Kandle did not stand though. The moment he threw the body off, he rolled to the other side as blaster fire scored about him. The good Captain had finally decided his time was then. Too bad he had not just shot Shraxx and Grym, that would have been the most oppurtune time. Oppurtunity was something a syndicate boss needed to know how to find and abuse to the utmost degree. The Captain could not have been able to find his own ship if he was standing on it.

"Dren! We almost had him. You go that way, I'll go this way. Catch him between us and we'll blast his stars out."

Grym hunched behind a crate and wondered if he was not supposed to hear that. Activating thermal imaging, he supposed he was not as the bothan went to the left and the Captain went to the right. The heat signature of the bothan slowly crept around while Breft'Kel casually snuck the other way; Grym decided he would steal Shraxx' tactic.

He deftly climbed up a taller tower of crates and moved to holster the rifle. It took a moment to realize it was lying on the ground beside the shivering trandoshan some ways away. This would take a bit more it seemed. He withdrew his blade again and activated the SFG field. The bothan came first. They had more acute senses than humans and thus the use of the SFG field. The SFG field protected Grym from sight and hearing, not smell though. The bothan's nostrils flared as he took in the area, hopefully the rank of the trandoshan's blood would mask Grym but he found it doubtful if the bothan could discriminate between the sources as one was on the ground and then Grym was far above. As expected, the bothan's gaze drifted from the lizard and then upwards. By the time his eyes had started to look up, Grym had pushed off and now fell on top of the bothan, pinning him down and breaking the not to hard fall. It managed to get half a scream out before the blade slipped across its exposed neck.
The Captain yelled out and Grym rolled to the side and he heard the laser fire burn the air beside him. Coming up to a crouched position, Grym now held the bothan's laser pistol and fired off a few shots; none hit the Captain but it pushed him into a covered position as well. The Captain was weilding two blasters at once now which was fine by Grym as the Captain seemed unable to aim too well either way.

Grym Kandle
May 30th, 2005, 10:58:45 PM
"C'mon Kandle, no hard feelings, right? You knew your boss had was gonna have me black listed anyways? Isn't it what you would've done in my shoes?"

The Captain turned the corner to see if Grym was still there and quickly turned back as laser fire scorched the crates he was covering behind. Grym's projected answer was emitted from his mask at a louder volume so he spoke normally but the Captain could still hear clearly.

"I have never been as desperate to think of myself in your worthless position Breft'Kel. The syndicate obviously deserved what it got if a mynock like you can take it out but still..."

Grym stood and dashed to the side, not down the small pathway Breft'Kel would most likely be expecting. Nonetheless, blaster fire followed his path but still too slow. Grym was breathing heavily, the short beating from Shraxx had been enough to wear Grym down a bit and now trying to get close enough to waste Breft'Kel was becoming time consuming. Occasionally, when conflicts took too long, the Hutts would eventually investigate with the dock patrol and Kandle did not feel like getting involved with them. The Hutts ran an efficient but sloppy business and Grym did not favor their style.

"I've got a proposition for you Kandle. Work for me. You've proven yourself worthy, you took out Shraxx who I was about to offer this deal up to as my personal bodyguard. C'mon? Good pay, benefits upcoming and a nice place in a syndicate that'll take the smuggling business by storm. We'll even shock the dren out of the Hutts. What do ya say? I'd hate to have to kill you and waste your value."

Grym's regripped the blaster. Grym's kind of kill was quick and fast so he could kill the next one. But there was not a next one. There was only Breft'Kel. And he felt like showing the good Captain his worth, every credit of it. The projected voice rang out once more.

"You serious? We put all aside and I join under your new syndicate? How much are you offering?"

Kandle could almost hear the Captain's gears working. Was Grym serious about accepting? What else could a man offer and not be cheated? What else? How much? The Captain wiped the sweat off his forehead before answering.

"I can give you all the glitterstim you'll ever want. And enough pay to keep yourself from suffering from your overdose effects. I mean... We all know that's why you wear the mask. I'll even get you a good surgeon for the process if you like. Just walk over here, unarmed and we'll come up with a contract?"

The sound of Grym's cloak could be heard from above and the Captain aimed upwards. Blaster fire blazed through the cloak but it fell empty beside Breft'Kel's feet.

"What the-"

Both pistols hit the floor as the Captain gazed upwards. His back was stiff and arced, his hands by his sized, opening and closing slowly as he tried to stand on the tip of his toes.

"The contract, Breft'Kel, is simply stated and as the last member alive of my syndicate, I am obligated to fufill it. We all swore revenge on the one who spilled the boss' blood and you're it. My contract is fufilled."

Grym stood behind Breft'Kel, his elbow bent at a 45 degree angle and his blade was entirely up the man's spine. Another similar blade appeared in his other hand and he brought it down and into the shoulder which put Breft'Kel on his knees. Grym held the man where he was as he circled around him, taking a knee so that they were face to face.

"Kan...dle..."

Grym figured he could loose a blade on this, it was worth it. He smiled beneath his mask as he drug the body to where the cord was still hanging from his initial descent. Rolling the Captain on his stomach, he made sure the blade was lodged solidly in his back and then lifted him up. He tied and knotted the cord to the blade handle and then released Breft'Kel.

"Kan...dle..."

Grym withdrew his blade from the shoulder and then quickly searched the body. Grym held the discovered datapad before the Captain and then pulled up his ship's private passcodes and showed them to him again. He gave the Captain enough time to come to a conclusion over Grym's actions and then enjoyed the painful moan that followed.

* * *

Grym was onboard Breft'Kel's Legacy, in a different hangar though, and on a different side of the planet. He sat in what had been the Captain's quarters and laced a syringe with glitterstim. He needed a quick dose after the day's events. Breft'Kel had given Kandle enough to bargain with now and he had a ship to boot. The Captain's accounts had quickly been drained once Grym had gotten ahold of the authorization codes. This wouldn't last forever. If only the clarity of the glitterstim would last. Grym quickly slid the needle beneath the skin at his arm and breathed in. He closed his eyes, injecting the green tinted liquid and then breathing out.

The clarity... his blood rushing... he could feel every puncture mark Shraxx' claws had made. He concentrated on the rush of the glitterstim in his veins and felt again as if he could feel more than his own life but the life of Nar Shadda. An image formed in his mind like he should be remembering something. As if he'd seen this coming. A Gran spoke its odd language for a moment and then it was back to the deja vu feeling of glitterstim again. Had he spoken to a Gran earlier today? Maybe. Who cares...