Templar Dawn

[Vishus Thorn]

The smell was powerful! Vishus had been to out of the way taverns like this before yet this one had won any award for filthy hell hole. He walked through the door and into the Chaos that was The Warren. A seemingly naked Ugnaught stood in the corner seemingly himself on the wall. Two men sat at a far table with their hands wrapped in bantha intestine competing in some form of show of strength. Worst of all at a table back in the darkest corner sat the man he was looking for. As he walked through the crowded room a person here or there noticed him and nodded. Many more just broodingly watched him as he made his way to the far table.

“Of all the places on Vlarnya to go you had to chose this one. “

The old man looked up from his short broad glass at Thorn's scared face. He grunted and went back to rattling the frozen cubes.

“About time you got here?”

Thorn did not answer. He pulled out a chair and dusted off the seat. He raised his gloved hand and motioned for a server droids attention. The odd looking machine gave what Thorn assumed was a nod and began making its way across the floor. The old man spoke in a harsh horse voice almost too low to hear.

“I Remember when women waited tables? Calling these contraptions wench droids just has not caught one as the ol' Roorn there thought it would.”

The old man nodded his head in the direction of a heavy set man behind the bar. As the droid neared Vishus noticed the thing had on a corset. This was indeed not the place he would have chose. The droid moved to the side of the table and sat a small data pad on some sort of carrying stand connected to its chest.

“What can I get for you hun?”

The voice and what is said shook Thorn to his core. The proprietor must be some kind of sick to program these things to talk and act like barmaids. He looked over a menu that was five lines long. First was Grog. Yes the old staple of the underworld. Next the Bantha Blaster, that’s all he needed, Fizzy Hutt drink. The there was Old Trusty, yes spicy Russan ale at its best. Then something he had not expected, Kashyyyk Ale. Ah the wookie's made just refined gut rot.. Last was cider. Cider, in a place like this? He looked up at the reflective face of the droid and sighed.

“I will have the cider.”

Thorn said embarrassed at the thought of drinking it here in the place.

“Good choice sir.”

The droid moved off to put the order in with the man behind the bar. A few moments later the droid put the glass on the table and pressed a data pad in his face. Thorn inserted his credit shit and the transaction was done. He had a small glass of what looked like thin brown lubricant.. he sipped the drink and fought the urge to spit. The first sip was not the worse to his discomfort, The drink was fearfully sour and tasted of tree bark. The old man let out a small chuckle as he watched Thorn drink the drink.

“Yeah they make it like that so you have to drink the alcohol. They got me the first time I came in here also. “

Thorn sat the glass on the table and pushed it from in front of him and sat back. The smell still permeated the air making Thorn, almost nauseous.,got control of himself and looked back the the man across from him.

“Why am I here ol man?”

Thorn was tired of this place and this man. He had been sent a message to meet here. He had no idea why he had even come. He had other things to deal with and this was starting to be a waste of his time. The old man raise his gaze for the first time and Thorn could see the mans eyes. Dark and almost black. Like a void had swallowed his eyes and left nothingness. The man reached into his tattered coat and handed Thorn a data crystal..

“Not here, Make sure you look at this alone.” the man stood and walked out of the bar. Thorn almost stopped the man but thought against it. He did not care for the man nor the place he was currently sitting. It was time to go.

[Vishus Thorn]

The street of Vlarnya were dark and closed in. Markets lined the streets in sections of the city. Merchants and cheats worked together to barter your credits into their possession. four time someone had tried to sale him something and he had walked less than one hundred meters down the street from the Warren. A larger road crossed the tight ally ahead. If he could make it to the main access way, without losing the shirt off his back, and catch a skimmer back to the star port he would be lucky. To the left a tall man watched Thron. Thorn has notice him there when he left the bar. Something about him looked very familiar.

Thorn walked onto a raised pad that connected the allay and the larger street. He signaled for a skim Taxi and waited until one stopped.

"Spaceport."

he sat back and said no more. the driver was a small Duro who looked like he had not eaten in weeks. He said something softly. Thorn did not hear what the creature has said but it matter very little to him. He had been asked to meet someone at The Warren regarding a ship. He thought he was going to purchase one. Once there he knew it had nothing to do with any ship sale. The old man had done little and said less in regards to why he was there. He turned the data crystal in his pocket, wondering what was on it. Maybe it would shed light on why he had been ask to meet the old man. More then likely it would just give him more questions than answers. Things were like that here on Courkran.

The skimmer slowed down then entered a the front skimmer access way of the space port. It mad a thump then landed on a pad on level fourteen. Vishus payed the deathly looking Duro then exited the skimmer. The air here was thinner here than in the city. The atmosphere got thin rapidly as you rose into it. Level fourteen was nearly one hundred meters high and the main port was another hundred meters up on level thirty. A short walk to the turbolift gave him more time to think about the crystal in his pocket. Why was he even bothering with it. He was here for one reason, a ship. The doors slid open on level nineteen and a woman walked into the lift. She was attractive and wore something akin to a jumpsuit. He watched her enter and nearly missed the man he had seen on the ship standing in the hallway watching him as the doors closed. he let the lift move up another level then stopped it and got off. He ran to a stair way access and ran up the three flights of stairs to the twenty fourth floor. He peeked around the corner and notices no one there. Then from the stair access on the far side of the hall he saw the man run out and move towards the lift door. The door to the lift opened an the man looked for a moment then looked around. Thorn ducked back into the access way door and cursed. His room was just down the hall. If he could get to it and his weapons he might have a chance. He looked around the corner again and the man was gone. Where he had gone to Thorn did not care. He burst from the door way and ran the fifty or so meters to his apartment. The access pad had been smashed. Someone had been inside for sure.

Thorn looked around then back at the half open door. No weapon, no idea what was behind the door. what other option did he have? He kicked the door open and rushed to the corner of the interior hallway. as he looked around he saw the room had been tossed. He paused for a moment to listen for any out of the ordinary noises. This is not the first time he would have busted into a room rigged to blow. With his back to the wall he slide down the hall to the laboratory. he looked in and saw no one either in the refresher or the room itself. The last place to look was the bedroom. he slowly opened the door and looked around. the room was tossed and everything had been strewn across the room. There in the corner his gun case sat opened. His blaster and knife gone. "Krik!" He cursed again. No one was in the room but all of his weapons and even his com transceiver was gone. Then there on the desk he noticed the data pad was gone also. "I guess I wont be reading this tonight." He stepped away from the wall and walked to the kitchen. He opened the cooler and cursed again. They had taken his brandy. What kind of person steals someones drink. That is low even for pirates and thieves. He could not stay here. that was for sure. He needed someplace to lay low. Someplace safe he could work out what was going on. Someplace with something to drink.

[Vishus Thorn]

Thorn looked down the hall in both directions then made his way back to the stair well. He took a second look then darted in through the door. He paused for a moment and thought about where he was going. Who did he know in the housing complex, who did he trust? The list of people he knew on Courkrus was short. The list of people he trusted in the entire galaxy was shorter.

The Gungan Kan Lan was on lever twelve. No he did not hate himself enough to put himself in that situation. Gungans should never travel off Naboo. The Empire should enforce a law like that. He knew of two Rodian brothers, but they were across the city. The like a spear threw the gut he remembered he had seen an old acquaintance when he first arrived. From afar but he had still seen her. It had been a long time since his travels in the transitory mist. and a long time since he had seen Vita Carr.

A chill ran up his back and into the scar on his face. They had know each other for many years. Most encounters between the two of them was less than civil. She had been part of the Hapen Royal Guard group who disabled his mentors ship, and gave him the scar on his face; which now pained him at the thought of seeing the woman again. He considered his options. Kan Lan was closer, and the Gungan was trust worthy. He was bantha spit crazy though, and Thorn was in no way ready to deal with ol floppy ears. Vita was on level twenty eight. He had made sure to look her up on the guest directory to know which floor to stir clear of. Of course she had used an alias. A name few have even heard. It had been nearly eight years since he had heard it used.

He turned and walked up the stairs to the twenty eighth floor. He slowly opened the door and looked around. Two women stood waiting for the lift. Chattering about some male escort they had both used in the past. The name was familiar, but he had no time to think about some jig-a-loo. He needed off the grid and fast. He neared the door to Vita's room and took a last glance around. With much disdain at himself for getting into a situation where he had to ask someone like Vita for help, he pressed the address button and spoke.

“Vita, Dont shoot. Its me Vishus, let me in.”

[Vitra Karr]

flick-thunk

flick-thunk

flick-thunk

There was always a gun within arm's reach of the woman, but there was something to be said for the satisfaction of flicking a blade end-over-end through the air and into a target. A target, she noted with grim pleasure, that had perfect clusters of daggers in an almost artistic pattern throughout the circle.

Fingers nudged her black hat (http://www.polyvore.com/vitra_templar_dawn/set?id=51413736) aside on the table to reach the bottle of lomin ale trying to hide behind it. Freshly opened and still cold to the touch, it would have been a shame if it had gone to waste. She took a long sip and sighed with pleasure as she sat back in her chair, sinking into the comfortable cushions.

Across from her seat, floor-to-ceiling glass panels set into the wall on either side of the balcony doors let an adequate amount of light for her to see with. Tiny silver threads in her eyes flickered, as if floating to the surface of her irises. The nano-implants fixed the inherent vision issue she had as a Hapan, but also enhanced it considerably. Useful when one is a Royal Space Marine in service to the Queen Mother. Lethal when everything goes to hell and forces one to turn to piracy as a way of life.

Vitra sighed and stared at her reflection as she polished off the ale and set the bottle aside. It didn't bear thinking about most nights, and tonight certainly wasn't one of the good ones. Come to think of it, there was never a good night to relive those memories.

Rising from her seat, she smoothed out the black fabric of her shirt settled it properly over the waistband of her metallic silver pants. Heels clicked along the floor as she made her way into the kitchen for another ale. Vitra paused, arching a brow as she heard footsteps approaching her door out in the hallway. Her door was out of the way from the traffic to the 'lift and the stairwell...and she wasn't expecting a visitor.

The blaster lying on the counter found its way into her hand and pointed at the door by the time the intercom beeped and a voice threaded through the air. She swore under her breath. Of all the gods-be-damned people to darken her doorway, it had to be him.

With the gun still raised, she stalked over to the door and opened it with her free hand, enough to pull him inside with a strength that belied her petite frame.

"Vishus Thorn." Vitra muttered, gaze narrowing as she shut the door and secured it. "What in the nine hells are you doing here?"