Cloud City, Seventh Tier

[Jerred Rez]

Jerred continued making his way through the busy walkway. Bespin was an unlikely place for an illegitimate business meeting, but it was also just about one of the only places in the Galaxy where one could take a few days to relax without incident. He had requested that Vekaar meet him on the seventh tier...


<font size=5 color=gray>Swish.</font>


The door to the lift he had walked into shut behind him, a few passengers looking at the expressionless green-goggled man with interest. Jerred ran a hand along the brim of his hat and gave a short furry Bothan a rather unpleasant glare. The alien turned around and minded the door, exiting through it at the next stop. Jerred just continued to wait patiently, until the lift finally arrived at it's final destination.


<font size=5 color=gray>Swish.</font>


The wind instantly threatened to knock him off his feet, but Jerred grabbed on to the railing just outside the lift and pulled himself along. The wind finally died down... but Vekaar was still no where to be seen - unless, that is, the man had managed to walk his way to the opposite end of the platform... and if he did, well... it would be a long walk. Hopefully Ryu was keeping the ship's engines warmed up. The bounty hunter tapped his commlink and talked into it over the billowing waves of air. "Ryu, do you copy?"

[Ryu Warusa]

Ryu had kept the engines to his Corellian YT-2400 running, when the Comm beeped. "This is the Luna Shiryou, over?"

"Ryu, Do you copy?" It was the familiar voice of Jerred.

"Yeah, have you found Vekaar yet?"

"No, not yet." Jerred's voice was hard to understand with the wind in the background.

"Ok, tell me when you do. Oh, and one more thing, don't kill him unless you have to, if you do then don't kill him when there are people around, we don't need that much trouble right now, understand?" I hope he gets the message this time, I don't need security breathing down my back. Damn, I hate this place. I hope we get this job over with soon.

Jerred smirks slightly after hearing the last part. "Alright, you don't need to tell me twice."

[Vekaar Vekin]

<font size=4>Swish

<font size=2>(A wide man in a forest green trenchcoat deboarded the turbolift, taking a few moments to catch his breath. He put one finger up to his right ear and began to rub it. His ears had popped from the elevation of the turbolift. The man wasn't too fond of the feeling.)

"Sorry I'm late."

(His voice caused a green-goggled male to turn around. This man that wore the green goggles was known as Jerred Rez. Rez was a Bounty Hunter, a thorough one at that. Vekaar found this as an oppurtunity to meet him and perhaps add him among his list of contacts.

A trenchcoat was not the only thing that Vekaar Vekin wore. He had a neatly trimmed goatee, and wore a white slugball cap. The man's brown hair was almost neck-length. Some would find him an odd figure, but those idiots were colorblind. Vekaar had been taught that a person shouldn't be judged by their appearance. It was the person inside that counted, not what they wore. On top of that, Vekaar liked his appearance. His trenchcoat carried many weapons, along with bio-technology he had stolen from the Yuuzhan Vong, 7 months earlier.)

"It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Jerred Rez."

(Vekaar excitedly shook his hand. Jerred wore a coat too, somewhat like Vekaar's. Although, Rez's coat was grey. Vekaar also guessed that his goggles weren't just a fashion statement. He didn't think Jerred was going to kill or capture him, but Vekaar didn't want to seem too trusting. He had blasters and explosives within arm-reach. That made the Broker feel a whole lot safer.)

"I am Vekaar Vekin. Captain of the Nebula Chaser."

[Jerred Rez]

"A pleasure to meet you Vekaar. I am, as you might know, Lt. Commander of the Vagrant Guard." Jerred released the man's hand, then glanced down at the dark spec below the walk-way that was landing pad number six. The Luna Shiryou was waiting there for him. "I'll get to the point - I need information on a certain Endo Freedo, as well as his traveling companion Tyrsa Krylana, and her lover Sorsha Kasajian." He reached into his coat without hesitation, pulling something out in Vekaar's direction. It was a credit chip. "I'm prepared to pay you four-hundred-thousand credits."

[Vekaar Vekin]

"Four hundred credits? A guy has to make a living you know!"

(Then it hit Vekaar, Jerred hadn't said 400 credits. He had included the word "thousand" somewhere in there. The Broker felt a little stupid for the moment. His ears heard 400 credits, while his brain heard 400,000. He had never been offered such a high number of credits.)

"Wait...you said four hundred thousand credits, didn't you?"

(Jerred offered him a slight nod, giving him a confused look. Vekaar's eyes opened wide. He turned to the side, leaning against a railing. The Broker looked down, admiring the Tibanna glass clouds that made up Bespin. He took deep breaths, and exhaled slowly.)

"I-I'll take it!"

(Vekaar took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off of his face. He could do so many things with that four hundred thousand credit payoff. The Broker could get the Nebula Chaser upgraded and refitted with better armor. The possibilities were enough to make any info broker drool.)

"Meet me in Suite one hundred and twenty two on Tier five in approximately three days from now. You can pick up your information then. If that will be all, I'd like to get to work."

(Vekaar nodded slightly, and shakily walked off to complete the task set before him. Not once did he consider the risk involved in this job. He was thinking with his wallet again, and that wasn't healthy.)

[Resanul Kurtz]

Resanul took his feet off the bed and set them onto the floor. Finally sitting up, he stretched his bare arms out in either direction. Not used to having his armor off lately, Resanul thought how nice it was not to wear it, knowing he was about to get back into it. Lifting his rather light body up, he couldn't help but stretch again. Walking over to the refresher, he stepped inside so he could fully wake up.

Finally stepping out from the refresher, Resanul let out “Ahhh…Fully awake and ready to start the day.” Strolling over to his armor, he had cleaned the night before, Resanul slipped into it. Stretching again for no reason he walked up to the cockpit. Noticing that they were not moving anymore, he came in to see that they had landed. Looking from the window down to see a familiar head sitting in the captain’s chair.

“Why look who is still on the ship, I thought you would be off trying for every female’s affection on this…by the way where are we?” Ryu gazed up to meet Resanul’s word with a smirk on his face. “Well, well look who finally decided to get up. I would be out right now but Jerred told me to keep the engines running. This place is called Bespin, he just has to finish up a job here then I might be able to relax.”

Well knowing where he was Resanul decided to wonder back and find something to eat. “Let us see what is to eat, shall we?” talking to himself again, Ryu looked back at Resanul and thought why does he talk to himself like that all the time?

[Jerred Rez]

A strange human being indeed... Jerred nodded silently and extended a hand, signaling for Vekaar to take the first lift down. "I have work to do myself. You have my comm... contact me if you need anything." Jerred walked towards the other end of the platform, leaving Vekaar behind to his own devices. He asked for the man because he had heard of his reputation for being a reliable source. Hopefully he wouldn't be disappointed after coming all this way to find him - and if he did, it would be a long drop from Cloud City to Bespin's core, and no one would ever find Vekaar's body there.

"Ryu, it's Jerred." The commlink clicked at Ryu's end, signifying the transmission was over. It clicked again. "Our contact has informed me that it's going to take some more time to get us what we need. You better shut down the engines and find out how much it's going to cost us for a three day docking period." It clicked off again as Jerred walked on zooming in on the multiple landing platforms around the main structure and taking mental pictures in case he needed to figure out which was the fastest way out. I need to find a place to stay. All the resorts around here are pricey... The green-goggles dulled slightly as they ceased their scans, and Jerred merely continued to walk towards the other lift. He still had a good thirty minutes of ground to cover.

[Endo Freedoo]

:: It was a pretty average day for the Rodian pilot of the Chimera. He was within one of the many underground hangers at the TSE HQ, working on cleaning the sand out of the many different places it had worked its way into on a recent mission Sorsha had ordered.

Only his feet could be seen protruding from the bottom of the ship as he lay on the floor, the noise of pneumatic tools filling the semi empty hanger he was in. As he worked he thought about the last time he had actually been able to turn a profit in his recent ventures.

His little round mouth formed what passed for a grin as he thought about how easy it had been to swindle Sanis Prent out of the money and the spice in Sorsha’s planned set up of the nefarious and well known man for hire. He had heard that Sanis had actually survived that encounter, from some of the techs at TSE who serviced his ship, when he had made a stop there not all too long ago.

It made him wonder if Sorsha had some future plans for the man, not having been able to snuff him out as was originally planned. But all in all that was of little concern at the moment to him. He was more busy cursing in his native language, the only one he understood, about all the sand he was cleaning out of his Sith Infiltrator. ::

Dren, I hate frelling dessert planets!

:: His exclamation was followed shortly by the clanking of the manifold he was removing against the steel floor of the hanger, as he went on doing what must be done. ::

[Ryu Warusa]

"Right, I got ya. Seems like we're stuck here for a bit then." I wonder if there are any hot ladies around here.

Ryu shuts down the engines, and walks toward the back of the ship. He sees Resanul looking around for something to eat. "I'm going to go talk to the person in charge of this landing pad and see how much its going to cost us to stay here. I'm also going into the city. Keep an eye on the ship, ok?"

[Resanul Kurtz]

Resanul only half paying attention to Ryu agreed to his banter about females again. Finally finding something worth eating on this ship, he walked back to the living quarters. He heard the door open and Ryu walking from the ship, than the door close behind him. Sitting back in a chair, he started to nibble on the food in his hand.

Alone again with his thoughts, Resanul pondered about his life and where it was going. Not to sure about that aspect just yet, he stopped thinking all together. Sitting there in silences he ate his food. Finally standing up and throwing away the wrapper, he walked over to the door of the ship and opened it. “Well they are not going to leave me on this ship by myself…with a whole new world to explore…” and take things from!

[Jerred Rez]

Jerred had made his way back into the market place, weaving his path through the small crowd of people that were gathered in the narrow pass. Everyone there seemed to be mindful of him, most likely because of his contrasting attire and solitary attitude. Everyone there was walking with someone else, or a group of others. Jerred was alone, as usual. A strange alien woman smiled in his direction, but he just kept walking, not paying any attention to her. A few moments later she came up beside him, tilting her head to glance at the glowing goggles over his eyes. "Excuse me..?"

"Yeah?" He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, his tone one of frustration.

"You're new here, aren't you," she pointed out, her red eyes looking over him, taking in the strange attire which he dressed in.

"Maybe." Jerred conceded defeat this time. He couldn't really argue otherwise... "And you are?"

"Neileen," she replied, "Neileen Tristev." She smiled again, this time stepping out in front of him and pulling his hat off. Jerred just signed and snatched the hat back from the girl.

"Look, I have to go find a place to stay. if you don't mind I'm going to be on my way." He placed the hat back on, then started his walk towards a few places in the city which he'd heard had rooming.

Again the short green alien girl jumped out in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders. "I can show you a place to stay..." Her hand pointed over to the strange set of doors and the spiraling staircase way out towards the very end of the corridor. She obviously had better eyesight then most people he knew... he had to use his goggles to get a good look at the structure.

"All right... Just show me the way."

[Ryu Warusa]

Must find the person in charge of this pad... Ryu was walking around almost aimlessly like what he usually does when in a new place. Ahh, I think that is him...

"Hey, are you in charage of this pad?" Ryu tapped the short alien mechanic.

"Yes I am."

"Great!" I didn't need to go far to find him. "How much is it to leave my ship here for three days?"

"It will be 1000 credits."

"1000 credits?!? Are you insane?!" Ryu was about to tear the little creature's head off.

"sigh... I always get this. This town is like a resort town. There are many people looking for a place to leave their ships and stay for a while, its a logn waiting list, thats why it costs so much."

"Tch fine. I'll pay it!" Dam,n dirty money grubbing alien... they are all the same. Ryu paid the man the amount and stormed off into the marketplace.

Wah.. That little alien wasn't kidding when he said this place was a resort town. It has everything... A group of young women pass by Ryu. Including hot babes.... Ryu blindly goes off after the young ladies. Ignoring Jerred passing by him being led by a small alien female.

[Resanul Kurtz]

Wandering for about an hour now, Resanul took in many sights about this floating city. Noticing how well kept up this place was, I wonder what makes the repairs about this city? On a mission to find out, he looked in every side street he could find. Running out of ideas of where to look, he came upon an idea that will answer his question.

Resanul looked around the area he was standing in to find a good place to test his theory. Finally spotting an electrical console that stood out, just off the street. He walked slowly over to it and sized up the best way to break it.

After a moment he pulled both arms out from his cloak. Rubbing the right elbow of his dark gray armor he raised it and SMASHED the console. As sparks flew over his elbow he looking around to see if anyone noticed his deed. To his surprise, no one paid any attention to what he had just did.

Resanul walked quickly across the street, and then looked around for the best view of the freshly broken console. Now all I have to do is wait and see what will come and fix that.

[Jerred Rez]

"Here it is," The young alien female said, waving a hand up at the establishment. From up close it looked much, much more expensive than he had estimated.. but then again, this woman was dressed in very expensive looking clothes - everyone in the city he had seen seemed to be dressed in equally fashionable clothes. At least he'd be able to afford thanks to the mess on Adarlon... Resanul and Ryu weren't as dim as he had first thought. In fact they were both quite clever in their own ways.

"Well, thanks for showing me the way." He turned away from the girl and started walking, only to have her shove him lightly on the shoulder. She obviously thought she was owed something for the deed of guiding him. "Fine... here..." He placed a credit chit into her hand and looked at her blankly, hoping she'd leave. Suddenly everything was was blurry, and his face was streaked with red mark. Her hand clapped against his cheek hard as she slapped him, and then threw the credit chit against him and stormed off. What did I do? The sting in his cheek was distractingly painful... he had never been slapped by a woman before. He had been punched, stabbed, shot, and even poisoned by women... but never slapped. I'll have to check on the bruise later to make sure it doesn't get infected. She might have had a disease...

Inside of the main entrance to the alcoves and doors, there perched a strange looking droid. It's eyes lit up as Jerred approached it, it's head lifting up from it's cylindrical bronze chest with a whirring effort. "Greetings. Would you like a room?" It extended an extremely long and slender arm to a control panel about a meter away, then punched in a few buttons. "We have several rooms available on the upper level, as well as a few on the lower level."

"How much?" Jerred wasn't really interested in the placement of the room, but thinking back to just how high the alcoves rose, maybe one lower to the merchant center would be best if he needed to make a quick escape. Jumping from thirty stories wasn't the ideal way to make a discrete exit if they ran into trouble. Especially not if they landed smack in the middle of a busy crowd...

"The price will be five-hundred credits - New Republic or Imperial..." It's gravelly voice mewled on about accommodations and features, but Jerred didn't feel like hanging around any longer than he had to. There were a few more things he needed to know about the place before he could feel at home.

"I'll take it," Jerred said, flipping a six-hundred credit chit onto the counter where the droid stood. The other arm it had been keeping tucked away beside itself extended in a viper-like motion, striking the chit and pulling it behind the dull metal counter. A tray popped open from the droid's chest, a card sitting neatly inside it. The bounty hunter took the card and began walking outside of the room.

"Thank you for your business. Be sure to visit us again." The droid's words were lost to Jerred, who had just stepped out before the bronze desk clerk could start up another stimulating conversation.

I wonder how good these rooms are...

[Ryu Warusa]

Mmm so many women... What the?!? A young alien female passed by looking a little upset about something. A crest falls to the floor, it appears that she dropped it. A pin... a woman in distress... bingo! "Excuse me... miss?" Ryu chases the girl still keeping his eye on the other two women he was trailing. Wow.... they are feeling on each other. Ryu taps the young alien woman as the 2 other women apparently stop to look in a shop. Ahh, my chance! Not even my master has gotten three women before...

"Oh hey!" The young woman turns to look at Ryu and immediately spots the crest in his hand. "Hey, my crest!"

"You dropped it." Ryu was staring at the woman's reddish eyes. She looked humanoid, which was good, for Ryu. Good, a humanoid... I can't stand those dirty aliens. Ryu hands the woman her pin, but before letting go continued to hold her hand. "My name is Ryu Warusa, and you are very beautiful."

She looked surprised but didn't pull her hand away. "Er... my name is Neileen Tristev..." Her face was flushed, it could almost be described as blushing, on her blue-ish skin.

"Aahhh, that's a beautiful name... would you like to show me around. I'm new and would enjoy a tour." Its in the bag... Now all I need is to convince them to be together, with me of course. The two young ladies appeared out of the shop, still grabbing and groping each other, just as she agreed to lead him around. This looks easy enough though.... unless they are not into guys... its worth a shot!

She seems cool, now how to get them together... "Aah, lets go."

"Say, what do you think of those two girls in front of us? Do you think they are attractive?" The girl apparently noticed that Ryu was watching the two girls intensely. "I could see if we could share a special moment, I've always wanted to see how humans mate. Besides it may be fun, I'll go ask them."

What... wow! Fantastic! I can't believe this... "All right. Lets go ask them." Ryu and Neileen manage to catch up to them and attempt to persuade them to join him and Neileen for a night filled with joy and passion.

"Hi this is Neileen and I'm Ryu, we were wondering if you two would care to join us... we were going to have some fun in a room somewhere..." The two girls seemed interested, they also appeared to be drunk. They agreed to the encounter.

"Lets go then ladies, to my ship. I'm sure my ship is nicer than any of the hotel rooms around here." The group then walks off to Ryu's ship. Oh crap... I told Resanul to watch the ship... Ah well, I promised that I would teach him about women, why not bring them along and show him.

[Resanul Kurtz]

Resanul has been waiting many hours for something, anything to come and fix that console. Tired of waiting, he pushed himself off the wall and turned to walk away. When, alas, he spotted a small fuzzy alien coming down the sidewalk opposite him, noticing that he had a toolbox in one hand and a small step ladder in the other and was walking straight to the console.

Finally, so that’s what fixes stuff around here. Interesting. He watched the small critter work fast and precisely on the piece he had broken. In a blink of an eye the critter was done and packing up to leave. Resanul wanted to know more about this little critter and if there are more like him. Quickly walking over to the small alien, he pulled from inside his cloak, a small chip.

Coming up behind the critter, Resanul placed one of his feet in front of the other, which in turn made him stumble towards the alien. He stopped himself from going face first into the ground by grabbing onto the small critter’s shoulders. The critter freaked out from the surprise of someone touching him. It flipped around and started to yell in its native tongue. Resanul put his hands up and apologized as he slowly backed away.

Standing up straight Resanul turned around and started to walk away with a small but noticeable grin on his face. Pulling out a small receiver, he turned it on and looked down to see a blinking light. Turning it off, his grin turned into a full smile. Tucking it away he scrambled around in his pockets for the comm. unit. Well I can bet I know what Ryu is doing right now…seeing how that’s all he ever does on every planet we have been to…So let me try to find Jerred. “Jerred, are you there?”

[Jerred Rez]

He had been in the room for a few minutes, looking around and running quick scans of the place to make sure it wasn't rigged or tapped. Everything seemed to be safe, but it seemed too classy. He didn't like it. A chirp came in over his comm, and he quickly pulled it loose from his coat so he could make out the words. It was Resanul. "I'm here. How's the ship?"

[Endo Freedoo]

:: His work was now completed on the Chimera and the droids in the hanger were cleaning up all the sand that was left behind from his efforts. Endo sat in the cockpit, checking all the ship’s functions to make sure that everything was in prime condition. He never knew when Sorsha might have another mission for him, or even when Tirsa would hatch another plot to make some quick creds or a big score of marketable goods.

This ship was for all intensive purposes, his home. He spent his sleeping time here, and a good portion of his waking time as well. Being the only Rodian, and unable to understand basic, made socializing at Rama’s corner rather dull, so he stayed cooped up in the hanger, within his ship most times, doing a whole lot of maintenance, upkeep, and repairing, to both the ship, his own, and Tirsa’s weapons as well. One day he would be rich and could hire someone else to do all these menial tasks, but for now, this was the life he enjoyed. ::