Selonian Promises

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Bomis Koori

Middle Rim - Corellian Trade Spine
- Tooqa Town -

The Kubaz triggerman patrolled the palisade catwalks of the junk city walls, wrapping his dusty shemagh tighter over his head. The winds were picking up, blowing chill and debris in from the north. There wasn't much to do to pass the time in this exposed position. Chewing gacco leaf kept him wired with a little euphoria - just the right chemical cocktail to have in a firefight. Of course, nobody was stupid enough to actually launch an attack on Tooqa Town - even the Empire. Moff Skoreni tolerated the presence of the powerful local crime czar known simply as the Pasha. He needed the Pasha's support to intimidate the scavver crews that picked the bones of the planet's ruined cities to feed the Imperial war machine with reclaimed metals. If the Pasha happened to skim some of the profits or keep the scavvers supplied with drugs, that was simply a cost of doing business. It made a great business model, but a poor opportunity for action. Up on the ramparts, the only thing the Kubaz had to shoot was the occasional womp rat. He lined up a shot on one, pressing the bent pipe stock of his rifle to his shoulder as he trimmed the distance. Just before he could pull the trigger, a shadow passed overhead, spoiling the opportunity. A split second later, the growl of heavy engines rattled corrugated metal walls. It spooked the womp rat, who ducked for cover beneath a ruined reinforced concrete facade. By then, the Kubaz had switched to tracking the source of the shadow, a massive black shuttlecraft passing overhead.

As the shuttle decelerated, it kicked up a whirl of chalky dust in the Tooqa town courtyard, sending denizens scurrying to make room. Other guards trained their weapons on the ship, but no one fired. This wasn't an unannounced visit. The imperial shuttle's broad wings drew upwards to the sky as the flying ziggurat landed in town center with an earthy thump.

"Sweevak whez kohm waakoom tau!" The call went up from the palace minnaret. Summon the Pasha!


The exit ramp lowered from the Delta T-3c shuttle, exposing it's occupants to no fewer than thirty armed men surrounding the ship. Within the bowels of the ship, a phalanx of four Imperial stormtroopers could be seen, but the shock troops of the Galactic Empire did not step foot into Tooqa town. Instead, a human female in civilian dress and a female selonian in an armor cuirass emerged from the craft.

"Captain Typhe," Vissica called back to the ship, "leave this place. Return to the starport until you are summoned."

"Yes, my lady."

As the ramp closed behind them, the shuttle began to ascend once more. From the palace ahead, a procession was emerging. Six strong Koorivar carrying a curtained litter between them. Vissica stood her ground, her gimlet eyes narrow as she surveyed their surroundings.

"Where is the bounty hunter?"

[Sadie K'Vesh]

"He'll be here."

Weren't entirely for the Knight's benefit that Sadie stated what she hoped was obvious. The little bit of communication she'd passed between her and Vittore had been vague at best, lost in Republic Ranger references and stuff that weren't formal but more formal than she would have normally been had an Empire crony not been lurking behind her the whole time. Backtracing hadn't been a thing she'd been worried about, encryptions only Sleazy knew how to settle and bouncing stuff all over the damn Outer Rim should have taken care of that. It was more she was hoping Vitt wasn't gonna go thinking she was in over her head - even if she was - and come in with blasters blazing. She'd gone and emphasized she needed help but a job rather than just help and that should have done the trick but things between her and the Hunter weren't quite on the logical most days.

Course it weren't just her own issues to deal with, it seemed. Not with the guards staring them down and apparently some fancy bastard making way towards them. Sadie had to go and hope that Vitt wouldn't make quite the scene when he arrived - if he weren't already among the folks of Tooqa Town.

Sadie kept an eye on the approaching palanquin, wishing desperate like for a cigarra to scratch the itch this whole situation was bringing on. She settled on crossing her arms over her chest and casting one of them sidelong - and a bit upwards - glances at the Selonian.

"Friend of y'rs?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica let her breath out through her nose in a testy hiss, the black of her eyes pivoting to meet Sadie's glance.

"We share an understanding. It does not concern you."

The litter slowed to stop in front of the two visitors. The men carrying it lowered the carriage to the ground, then drew the curtain back. Within, a venerable old Koorivar with a long white beard and withered legs could be seen inside.

"Welcome, Matatek Sel Vissica, Knight of the Imperial Throne."

The Pasha greeted his guest with a grandfatherly smile and a pleasant voice. Vissica bowed her head - only slightly.

"Pasha."

The elder crimelord brushed through his beard with the pass of a hand.

"You come with a guest. Not one of your Imperial minions, I see."

Vissica didn't look in Sadie's direction.

"She is a slicer of considerable skill. She may be of some use to you."

The old man's bushy eyebrows raised a measure.

"I did not know I had need of a slicer."

Vissica curled her fingers underneath the lower edge of her cuirass, anchoring her hands in place along her torso.

"Then the rumors of your losses to the Gak'tuul syndicate are fiction?" The Selonian queried pointedly, her tail thumping the dirt. The Pasha's demeanor changed. Polite mirth was replaced by a careful expression.

"We will speak of this, but not here. Inside, inside."

The Pasha gestured for his litter-bearers, and the drew him up, turning the cart around to lead their overboss back into the Tooqa town palace.

Vissica followed at a respectable distance, but not before hastening Saidra on.

"Come with me."

[Vittore Montegue]

Vittore rolled his shoulders, trying to shrug free a little of the tension that had been garrisoned there ever since he'd received Sadie's cryptic message.

It had been cryptic in the best kind of way. References to shared moments, to holoflicks they'd watched, to the childhood show that Vittore had practically mesh-taped her to a chair and forced into her eyeballs. Stuff that was benign to anyone except to them. Stuff that said things without saying anything. A reference to an episode. A character doing something off books, against authorisation; not in danger, but in need of help; help that came with the strict understanding that their Commanders and superiors not be informed. Vittore could do that. For all the revelations that had been dropped on Sadie these last months, it was about her turn to have a few secrets of her own; and Vittore was glad to be the one trusted to help keep them.

That positive spin faded somewhat as Vittore pressed his eye to the sniper scope, surveying the scene below him. The rifle's previous Kubaz owner had been kind enough to lend it to Vittore for the foreseeable. He had no further use for it after all: an unexpectedly sudden encounter with blunt force trauma and a face-down nap on the duracrete beside the hunter had seen to that. A stun blast might have been quicker, and cleaner, but those things made light and noise, drawing attention that Vittore wasn't ready to attract just yet. A tranquilliser was out of the question, too: Vittore knew enough about Kubaz physiology to know that the standard dendrotoxin loaded into his Dissuader (http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dissuader_KD-30_slugthrower_pistol) rounds - working with Sadie had made him less inclined to use the slugthrower's typical messier acid-loaded bullets - wouldn't have had enough of an effect on the triggerman to be worth it.

Carefully shifting the rifle, Vittore let the scope brush over the motley assortment of humanoids arrayed below. Sadie first. She looked okay; that was a relief. Not super comfortable about her situation, that was for sure, but at least there wasn't any obvious hurt or injury that he could make out. That earned the Selonian beside her a brief reprieve; though not much of one. Vittore's trigger finger ached as the Imperial Knight found herself in his sights; but no. For starters, at this range and with the muzzle velocity of a rifle like this, the Imperial Knight would have time to react before the shot actually landed. That was the trick with hunting Force Users: you had to stay beyond their perceptions, and hit them fast enough that your shots weren't going to get lightsabered anywhere. That was a definite no-no, especially with Sadie right in the danger zone for where those deflected shots might end up, not to mention well within reach of retaliation.

More importantly though, it wasn't Vittore's call. This was Sadie's job, and this Selonian was her employer. She hadn't been able to give Vittore too many details, but that much was clear.

"Standin' orders, Ranger," Vittore muttered to himself, shifting the focus of the rifle. "Don't kill the space otter."

A knot of discomfort twisted in Vittore's stomach as he surveyed the beings that Sadie and the Selonian were apparently here to antagonise. Sleazy had given him a little background on the planet before landing, and there was something just familiar enough about the faces under his crosshairs to make Vittore pretty damn uncomfortable about this whole situation, and how close Sadie was to it.

"Damn it, Sid," he continued under his breath. "What the Force have you got us into this time?"

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Like I gotta choice in th' matter? Was one of them small miracles that Sadie didn't actually say the thought, though she was sure the way one of her eyebrows went and moved upward on it's on accord got the gist across. Following Vissica's lead was just about all she could go and do. She weren't exactly keen on where this was all heading though; working for one dubious type to pay off some sort of life - well not debt, Sadie sure as dren didn't feel like she owed the Selonian anything, was just trading a crap job for not dyin' - deal was one thing, she hadn't exactly gone and signed up to be loaned out to some piece of skrag crime boss, neither. Still not th' worst folks y've worked for. Yeah, yeah, like that was all comforting in a moment like this.

Still, feeling like their deal was getting a bit rotten 'round the edges weren't gonna change nothing - not yet nohow - and Sadie wandered along all dutiful like. Too many questions were going on in her head and what with the curt way that the Knight had gone and answered heer first try at inquiry Sadie figured she wasn't gonna pry. She was missing her trusty datapadd something fierce, could have pulled up all the info she wanted on this Pasha guy or whatever syndicate he'd done gone and irked, could have caught up with Vitt and checked on his whereabouts. Flying blind weren't something she liked to do, not at all, and not for the first time in her life Sadie found herself a might bit jealous of folks with cybernetics that didn't have to be parted from their equipment none. But ugh no, that dren was way too damn creep.

Sadie cast a look about, not quite over her shoulder, just one of them deals to try and make sure you knew where people were and hoping you'd catch sight of a familiar face. No dice, though. The entrance of the palace loomed up and the slicer let out a low whistle. King of crap town. Well, that was at least some sort of clue as to how Pasha saw himself, as if the damn litter hadn't spoken volumes in itself.

"Not one f' subtleties, I see." Sadie weren't sure if she was trying to engage the Knight into telling her more or not, probably best that way. Oh well, looked like prying was still on the menu, at least the slicer made the effort to keep her voice lowered enough that only Vissica should have rightly heard. "Hate t' counter what y' said earlier but if y're gonna have me workin' with this sleemo I prolly should at least know whose caf he went an' shat in. Gonna need t' know if I can do what he's gonna want done."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"You will have what you need."

Vissica assured, keeping an unbothered pace as they were lead into the atrium of the Pasha's palace. Her words to the slicer remained as discrete as Sadie's own.

"Our arrangement has not changed. You work for me. The Pasha requires a certain incentive to cooperate. I can not simply threaten him with death. That would prove inconvenient."

Here, the finery of the building was unmolested by bombs and fire of a long-ago war. The furnishings still appeared with a hint of luxury. The Pasha's litter was eased to the ground, and his minders deposited the crimelord in a cushioned chair. A Koorivar woman entered, wheeling a cart with porcelain tea service, which was offered to the Pasha's guests first. Vissica accepted a cup and saucer, holding it near her chest as she remained standing.

The Pasha, for his part, dismissed the court once tea was served. He sized up his guests, shaking his horned head mournfully.

"Your spies are well informed, Knight Vissica. I wish they were not."

The Selonian sipped her tea, as per the custom, replacing the cup on the saucer in the way that placated her host.

"You are useful to the Empire so long as you maintain your quota on this world, Pasha. Do not forget this fact."

"I have not, I assure you." The elder Koorivar gravely shook his head. He sipped at his tea, gesturing to the human in their midst.

"You mentioned that I had need of a slicer."

Vissica paced.

"The last attack on your shipment convoy from Yag'dhul, you managed to disable one of the raider ships. Several transmissions were beamed from the ship to an undisclosed location."

The Selonian's tail slapped the marble floor.

"I suspect the Gak'tuul syndicate base was the recipient."

Vissica's whiskers rose.

"Since you have not taken your revenge and dealt with this annoyance yourself, the Empire will."

The Selonian's flexible spine pivoted back, allowing her to gesture to Sadie.

"This slicer will discover the hidden Gak'tuul base."

The Pasha smiled, sipping his tea.

"You need not trouble yourself with my small affairs. I'm sure that if I simply knew the location, I would be able to unburden the Empire of any problems the Gak'tuul have caused."

"No doubt," Vissica rumbled, "and enrich yourself with the ill-gotten gains from your enemy."

The Knight took a step forward, leveling a finger at the Pasha.

"That is now Imperial property. It is the price you pay for our continued understanding."

The Pasha stroked his beard, his eyes moving from Vissica to Saidra.

"I suppose I have no choice in the matter. Fine. Let her try. You think I haven't had my own slicers attempt to unlock the secrets in that computer core? You will only find the same frustration I have."

Vissica sipped her tea again.

"My slicer is innovative and properly motivated. She will settle this matter to our mutual satisfaction. If she does not, it is only of consequence to her."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Sadie weren't drinking the tea, rather just letting it sit warming her hands while the adults talked like she weren't sitting right there. Grump about that aside, she was paying close attention; couldn't rightly go and find herself asking something obvious later on. Vissicahadn't exactly gone and been a right font of information and the girl was getting the downright firm notion that anything to satisfy her curiosity was gonna have to be gone and gotten on her own.

She did have to wonder how many other criminal lordy type folks the Empire had under their thumb like this, though. Made good sense from a certain point of view. Also meant that Sadie was gonna find herself down in the more comfortable trenches of the grosser underbelly of things than the nice shiny and proper Imperial type. Still had to mind herself, no doubt, but at least it took a certain amount of edge off.

Task didn't sound too bad. Finding a base when you had the ship that'd gone and sent a signal out to it was a damn slight easier than trying to find a heap of people with nothing but names and general descriptions to go on. Still, there was plenty to not like about it, like the fact that Pasha's goons had gone digging into the core; who knows what sort of security measures they'd gone and tripped and what sort of mess Sadie was gonna have to sort through. Sounded like these Gak'tuul folks weren't complete idiots, or she was grossly over estimating what the slicers of Bomis Koori were capable of.

"How long have y' had it for?" Sadie broke her silence, knowing it probably weren't wise but thems the breaks sometimes. "And did 'er experts happen t' notice if th' core had any sort of emergency wipe procedures?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

The question out of turn caught the Pasha by some surprise. He concealed that with a sip of tea, raising a finger to offer a second's respite.

"I've had the computer core for a week. My men did mention something about countermeasures but that's all so very technical, and not the sort of thing for old men like me."

The Pasha's eyes moved back to Vissica, then to Saidra once more.

"I'll have someone bring it out for you."

He snapped his fingers, bidding one of his litter guards to carry out the command.

"It can be your problem now. Just make the Gak'tuul go away."

Vissica's flews slightly parted to reveal teeth within.

"If the base location can be found, the Gak'tuul will become a problem for no one."

Curtains opened at a side doorway, as a pair of men carried a bulky computer core between them. They eased the device down before Saidra for her to inspect.

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Sadie kept herself from making one of them rather unladylike faces; barely mind you, but it happened. Working with an audience just weren't her ideal, especially not one over zealous Force using Imperial and her tea sipping stooge. Still, she was getting that right feeling like complaining weren't an option and damn if the core weren't entirely mobile. Preference would have been that they'd kept the blasted thing in the wreckage it came from but when did folks ever do what was sensible and good for anybody else?

Setting the untouched tea she'd been given down, Sadie mosied over to the core and started taking a gander. Yeah, weren't nothing too out of the ordinary on the outside; few different types of ships used the model. Not that she'd gone and had direct experience with cracking into one before but they were all rudimentary the same. Mostly. That word countermeasures sprung to mind and this time the slight scrunch of her nose like something smells all kinds of rotten didn't quite get so contained.

"Not exactly friendly with the movin' 'bout ain't it?" Was half mumbled to herself, though she was right sure the others heard and didn't like it. Tough, game was in her smashball court now. "Look, much as I'd love t' put on a show 'ere and proclaim a big 'bingo' when I get them coordinates. I ain't exactly got a tool bag with me. My associate-" Careful not to go breaking down the fact he was a bounty hunter in front of the Pasha, "should have all I need t' get this done in a right jiff. Guessin' y' got some folks that can haul this bastard where I can work more proper?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"The work will be done on your ship," Vissica spoke up, solving Sadie's logistical quandary for her, "when it arrives."

The Selonian glanced to the Pasha, who in turn nodded and made a small gesture to his men. They placed the device on a repulsor dolly, then covered it with a sheet to deter curious eyes.

"Our business is concluded." Vissica addressed the Pasha, setting aside a half used cup of tea. "Soon the Empire will have what rightfully belongs to it, and your competition will be removed."

The Knight canted her head slightly as her tail slid across the marble.

"I trust I will no longer hear rumors from Governor Skoreny about missed production quotas?"

The Pasha's expression turned careful. He took a dainty sip of tea.

"I value our mutual understanding, my friend."

"See that you do, Pasha."

With that, Lady Vissica pivoted on her footpads, loping towards the front door to leave.

"Slicer, come."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

It was kind of impressive to watch the way the Knight pulled strings and made not-so veiled threats. Impressive, yet Sadie couldn't help but see it as mighty distasteful too. This sort of thing went down all over the Galaxy, no doubt, but there was something about it coming from some giant government agency that didn't sit right. Maybe it made them seem more relatable on a level that Sadie just weren't comfortable with.

She let that thought tumble about as the slicer blinked against the light as they stepped back outside the palace. Too much damned time spent in the Underworld in front of monitors - or at least, that was sure what someone else would go and blame it on. The sun had no right to be so damn bright was more along Sadie's thinking. She weren't really grumpy about it, more just on account of not being able to actually let loose on building frustrations at the kriffing mess she'd gotten herself in to. Not to mention that less than subtle hint that Vissica was expecting her to know right where her people were and Sadie trusted Vitt more than enough to know he was close and he was gonna be there but the girl also had no damned clue just how sort a string of patience the Selonian actually had.

Was a downright miracle she didn't fall to her knees and thank The Force or some other kind of entity when her eyes settled on two really familiar looking droids lurking about outside the palace. Took the weight off her from trying to figure out how to get in contact with Vittore again without pushing the Knight's patience.

"Perfect timin'," she said, letting the Knight know something was up as well as hopefully making it seem like she weren't as damn relieved as she was.

A quick jaunt brought her over to the orange astromech and the unfinished looking communications droid with his hat all perched atop his head.

"K8. CZ." Formality was gonna get used here and she was hoping that Vitt had made it clear to them, kinda hurt to not go calling 'em by the usuals. "Glad t' see y' made it with no problems. I take it Mister Montegue ain't far?"

[Sleazy]

The message Miss K'Vesh had done gone and sent had been cryptic. Not encrypted, that was something Sleazy would have been fine with. Business and communications was his base programming, after all, and Sleazy hadn't met a code in need of breaking that was more complicated than trying to handle Captain Montegue's taxes. No, this had been the bad kind of cryptic. The stupid kind. The you had to be there kind. Sleazy hadn't been able to make head nor tail of it, and once Captain Montegue had explained, and Sleazy had downloaded the entire Republic Rangers back catalogue to scrub for context, he'd wound up feeling stupider as a result, as if his CPU had lost a few percentile points of capability in the effort.

An added downside was that Sadie's new employer - Sleazy was starting to suspect that there wasn't going to be any actual currency changing hands, so perhaps abductor was a little closer to the mark - wasn't just the Inquisitor or Imperial Knight that Captain Montegue had deciphered from the context clues about Republic Rangers' not-very-subtle Count Dooku proxy: they were a giant honkin' space weasel to boot. That the Selonian was still alive implied one of a short list of possible scenarios: either Captain Montegue somehow hadn't noticed; was dead in a ditch somewhere; or had noticed, and was exercising a level of restraint that Sleazy's past calculations would never have concluded he possessed. Maybe it was just a case of that affection he had for Miss K'Vesh, and his vested interest in her still being alive and not lightsabered into conveniently portable segments.

"The Cap'n wanted t' be sure we ain't followed back to the ship. Seemed t' think the situation was a mite dangerous, an' thought clearin' any tail y' might've picked up 'd be prudent."

Sleazy paused for a beat, head shifting to aim his ocular receptors at the Selonian.

"Tail in the sense a' military parlance," he clarified. "No offence with regards t' y' species intended, sir or ma'am."

His neck servos whirred as he shifted his scanning focus downwards slightly, aiming below the Selonian's cuirass to try and determine a clarification on that last detail for himself. Nothing conclusive. The personality profile that Captain Montegue had installed offered a few allegedly humorous suggestions for possible nicknames and quips based on that fact, but Sleazy's self-preservation protocols ensured those options were safely partitioned away from his vocabulator.

Sleazy turned his head back towards Sadie.

"So what's the word, idget? Cap'n says you're callin' the shots on this one."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Sadie weren't the type to go and be ashamed of who she considered friends and all, but the downright unquestionable night and day difference between Sleazy and Vissica was almost physically painful. Not that the slicer had been on best behavior and tried to talk more proper like or none of that, but the rough and tumble backwater way that the droid had taken to talking felt like it was gonna look like some poor reflection on her. Which was... odd. Sadie was mighty sure she didn't give one flying frak for how the Imperial saw her aside from useful but she still felt a touch ashamed that this was the best foot forward. Aw well, the Knight seemed the sort to have sussed out just what sort of person Sadie was and what her people might echo like.

"Yeah, somethin' like that." She started, fidgeting a bit until her thumbs tucked in belt loops she never made use of. Staying that way only was held for a tick or two as Sadie realized how ridiculous it looked and set about crossing her arms across her chest where they more proper belonged. "This here's Matatek Sel Vissica, Knight of the Imperial Throne."

She thought she had that right, and if nothing else put a little more emphasis on those last two words just in case Vitt was listening in via one of the droids.

"We're workin' for her for th' time bein'. Well, I am. Captain Montegue knows th' rest." He didn't. Well, not entirely. Not yet anyhow and boy howdy was Sadie sure he gonna pitch a fit when he found out. "For th' now we're takin' this here core to th' Tide. Me an' Kate'll set about gettin' what the Lady needs off it an' then..."

A wary eye was cast back towards Vissica.

"Well then we just see where th' info takes us."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"Indeed." The Knight affirmed Sadie's instructions in gravelly monotone, her eyes tracing the ramparts of Tooqa town as she spoke.

Vissica's whiskers splayed in a wide array on her face. There had been seven guards manning the wall upon their arrival. Now there were six. A change in numbers that in and of itself meant little, but the Selonian's feelings upon this chance observation felt dark with intent.

"Your bounty hunter is watching us."

Though she could not ascertain the unseen Captain Montegue's presence, the Knight felt soundly affirmed in her appraisal. Her pink tongue pressed into the cleft of her upper lip, then flicked upwards to wet her muzzle.

There were any number of reasons this Montegue might want to observe (and kill to observe) rather than meet directly. He may be studying her from afar to determine the quality of his patron. He may be securing their exit from a seedy and nefarious den of criminality.

He may also be acting under the slicer's command to betray and ambush.

Vissica glanced down to the brunette human and her strange-accented droid companion.

"I appreciate his punctuality. Now call him out."

[Sleazy]

"No can do, Matatek-Sel-Vissica Knight-of-the-Imperial-Throne."

Sleazy's words didn't come out especially defiant, but his self-preservation protocols did flag a slight alarm at how unwise it probably was to be a droid saying no to a towering creature armed with what looked to be a very large lightsaber. If it had been left up to his own programming impulses, he would have allowed Miss K'Vesh to say such things, based on the logic that the Imperial Knight was far less likely to act violently towards a slicer that she had apparently gone to considerable effort to coerce, than a coverless protocol droid that she had only just encountered. Unfortunately, Captain Montegue had been deeply specific. Don't let Sadie seem like th' bad guy. Sleazy understood this to mean that he was required to be the bearer of any bad news.

"Not meanin' to non-compliant, I just have specific instructions from Cap'n Montegue, and y' know how us droids can get once we've got a specific instruction in our heads."

Sleazy assessed the remainder of his voice log of Captain Montegue's instructions, analysing them for a seventeenth time to fully verify the parameters that had been set. How much was he to say? How much was he not to say? Organics had a frustrating habit of revealing their desires and intentions in pieces, instead of simply explaining them outright in a clear manner. A considerable amount of most human-interacting droids' time was spent attempting to defragment their instructions into something that could actually be acted upon.

"Cap'n wants t' provide overwatch. He's sure y' Knightly self is plenty intimidatin' enough to make anyone think twice about doin' anythin' stupid, but he's the Cap'n, it's his ship, an' makin' sure the Bomis Koori underworld don't come kickin' down the airlock or anythin' problematic like that is all part a' his whole due diligence thing."

The droid offered his closest approximation of a shrug, more a function of neck servos than anything else. Seemed strange when you considered it, but despite all the advances in droid design, and all the efforts towards human replication, very few droid chassis actually seemed capable of pulling off a satisfactory shrug. Perhaps it was an upgrade Sleazy could request the next time Captain Montegue was in the mood to tinker.

"Asked me t' convey his apologies, an' appeal to y' Imperial affinity for operational protocols an' what-not. Says he'll meet us as soon as we hit the boardin' ramp."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

A growl rose in the Selonian's throat that held for a measure, before petering out into a hiss of released breath through her nose. Vissica's gimlet eyes narrowed in a smoldering expression as she considered just how expendable the messenger was.

"So be it. Your Captain may slake his ill-conceived concern. It is unlikely to be of any consequence to me."

The Knight's eyes panned in either direction, looking over the top of Sleazy's head.

"The Pasha understands the foundation his rule is built upon. Those who betray the Empire have no future."

Vissica's head turned back just enough to ensure that her last words weren't missed by the human.

"Now, take me to your ship."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Well that could have gone downright better. Could have gone far damned worse too so Sadie was kinda counting her blessings on that. This whole thing was feeling like balancing on a wire, or maybe trying to herd nexu cubs. Dangerous and frustrating as all get out, either way.

She nodded towards Sleaze and Katie, little non-verbal way of saying lead on. The girl couldn't help but cast glances up and about as they walked, wondering just where it was that Vitt had holed up and how long he'd been watching for; no doubt that'd come up when they managed to hash this all out - if she weren't too busy blubbering out all sort of apologies, that was. For now though, calm had to be kept, which weren't easy. If not for some of the lessons she'd gotten from Inyos she probably would pulled some dumb move by now that would have cost them all, one of them nervous ticks that sent stuff flying across the room or something. Didn't happen often, but Sadie was damn sure glad it didn't stand a chance now.

As the Tide came into view, Sadie felt all sorts of relief at the simple sight of the baudo-class piece of home. She weren't exactly free, far damn from it, but it was like safe harbor in one hell of a big damn storm anyway.

"And there she is. Shouldn't go an' take long t' get this core all connected an' cracked wide open." Once more one of them bits of self assurance than for the benefit of anybody else.

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

As Sadie and the droids made their way to the ship, Vissica followed. The Selonian dropped to four paws, each step leaving a broad track in the dust, only for her club of a tail to furrow over as it passed. In this way, the Knight appeared less a sinister agent of the Empire, and something almost like giant hound or a tamed nexu. The denizens of Tooqa Town knew better, and even as the foot traffic resumed, Sadie, her droids, and their escort had a three meter berth in either direction.

"We will wait until the Captain returns. What lies within, I will not have spoiled by prying eyes or sensitive ears."

The ship appeared within sight, and the group of four headed to the gangplank.

"Your droid speaks in your peculiar manner of conversation. You programmed the unit?"

[Vittore Montegue]

"I did, actually."

Normally a cluttered landing bay would have annoyed Vittore. If you were going to charge him to rent the space, don't use it to stash someone else's random junk. Today he didn't mind as much, though. Today was the sort of day when you didn't object to having a few extra points of cover and concealment scattered around the place, though that might change pretty damn fast if this Imperial Knight got it in its head to start hurling boxes around the place.

The sniper rifle was draped casually across Vittore's shoulders, commandeered for the course. You never knew when a long range rifle that would be traced back to someone else or no one at all might come in handy, and Vittore had never been the sort of person to say no to a potential souvenir. He wasn't entirely unprepared though; his other hand carried his Dissuader pistol, plainly in sight but held by his side in as non-threatening a manner as a man with a loaded gun could manage to be. The toxin might not work on a Selonian metabolism - he honestly didn't know - but he imagined that if he shot the thing enough times in the right kind of vulnerable places, he'd at least buy Sadie enough time to get away if he had to. Maybe Bumble could manage to cook up something a little more potent while Sadie was busy working on whatever the hell it was that thing needed from her.

"An' besides, Sadie's clearly got a Nar Shaddaa accent, whereas Sleazy is a little more Feriae Junction. Guess they don't teach you that kind of stuff at the Citadel."

That was right: Vittore knew things. He'd made an effort to know things. As soon as he'd figured there was an Imperial Knight involved in all this mess, he'd had Sleazy compile one of his dossiers, and Vittore had actually gone and read the damn thing, cover to cover. He knew all about the Knights operating out of the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant; something he doubted Sadie's old man would be particularly comfortable with. He knew about the white lightsabers, the ruthless reputation, the way that Force sensitive kids and recruits had a habit of vanishing from their old lives, showing up a while later all dressed in black and blue. Seemed strange, hearing that the sensitives out there had their own special breed of monsters to be afraid of; weirder still feeling sympathy for them, feeling that urge to protect instead of the old gut reaction to just kill on sight. That had changed slowly, and then all at once; and when that new reality had gone and moved in, it had brought whole boxes full of regret and reconsidering his past, leaving them stacked up pretty much everywhere he looked. Was getting awful cluttered up in his headspace: but by snatching Sadie, at least this Selonian had made things nice and simple. It would die, eventually. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow: but that wasn't the kind of thing Vittore planned on letting slide.

"You must be Lord or Lady somethin' or other," he grunted, coming to a halt far closer to the Selonian than he would have liked to be, picking a distance that wasn't right up in the creature's face, but close enough to show that he didn't plan on being intimidated. He chose his stance and his mindset carefully: not openly defiant, just unthreatened and unimpressed. He'd fought and killed scarier things over the years; he wasn't about to let an oversized rodent phase him.

"I'm led t' believe that you an' Miss K'Vesh have come to an agreement that includes my services."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Vitt showin' up was like a breeze on some sort of Force-forsaken heat scorched planet. Nice and soothing in some way but it still carried little grits of sand and hints of that heat that made it unpleasant to start with. Him just being in close proximity made her feel all kinds of better but at the same time she was the reason he was having to try and play nice with the Selonian rather than putting a slug through her skull and Sadie knew that probably weren't exactly the most easy or satisfying thing for him to deal with. She more than trusted Vitt not to do nothing crazy that'd throw this whole thing into a bad mixer but she was getting the feeling she weren't gonna like the after conversation they was gonna have to have at some point.

That apologetic feeling never really made it to her face and she was thankful for that as she watched the little scene unfold between hunter and Knight. She both wanted to hit him and do other things with the way he kinda stood his ground and it made her a might bit uncomfortable but this was how he was and she damn well knew that. Bit of that over protective flair muddled in with Vitt's natural edge of not backing down from stuff he didn't like. Good on him. Made up for the way she'd kinda got them into this mess and kinda echoed Sadie's own little twinge of defiance against this Imperial.

She didn't go and interject or add nothing, just felt herself easing into a more comfortable posture even if her arms were still crossed all defensive like. Her partner was here now and that made her courage go and kick up a few notches too close to foolish. Just had to hope this weren't gonna right irk the Selonian, though Sadie figured that by now Vissica had figured out the types she'd gotten under her thumb.

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica's head craned up from her four-footed position to take in the visage of Saidra's bounty hunter. He carried himself as a capable being. Postured and talked in a way that served to reinforce the subtle visual cues as well. The Selonian remained silent, opting not to respond to the barbs and baitings embedded in the hunter's salutation. Her four paws bunched closer together, causing her flexible spine to rise in a hump. There was a sense of this man. Anger on a low simmer. Likely directed at her, if the slicer had done more than serve the hunter the particulars. Even if it was true, it drew no offense from the Knight. Anger brought clarity and focus. That he was still alive was testament that, given his posture of expertise, this bounty hunter was professional enough to know his place.

"My agreement was with the slicer. I have paid her appropriately to be kept on retainer until a series of tasks have been completed to my satisfaction. She requested you accompany us, and has claimed personal responsibility for your conduct while in my employ."

Vissica paid no mind to the sound of fidgeting droid servos to her side. The hunter had her complete attention.

[Vittore Montegue]

Well then, if that didn't go and put things firmly in place.

Vittore bit his tongue, forestalling any reflexive comments that might have tried to leak out. No way that was happening, not with Sadie's head apparently on the block. Wasn't how things were supposed to work with them, but it didn't exactly seem like there were much in the way of options.

His attention shifted away from the Imperial Knight, settling on Sadie instead.

"Your orders then, ma'am?"

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Ma'am? Yeah, okay, so Sadie probably deserved that considering the mess she'd gotten them into but, really? Ma'am? And then what? Like she was really gonna go and give her partner orders? She knew he was just playing the part then that was kind of expected with how Vissica was addressing him, but dammit, Vitt, that stung a bit.

"Jus', stay close..." Yeah, okay so she half mumbled that since her brain weren't quite dealing with everything so great.

She'd held up her end pretty damn good so far all things considered, cool kept and all, but she'd maybe gone and made the mistake of letting a bit of that slide now that Vitt were about, relaxing a bit of the weight she was juggling knowing he'd hold her right on up. Game weren't over yet, but damned if she couldn't use a bit of a time out.

Sadie looked over at the core and forced herself to suck in a big breath. Right, onward and such.

"Let's get that thing inside. Sooner I get what th' Knight 'ere is after, sooner we can be on our merry."


***


Being aboard the Tide did a whole lot to go back to making things right. While Sadie was probably right considered a citizen of Cloud City nowadays, it was this ship that was her home proper. She didn't like much that the Selonian was lurking about in such private space, and she knew Vitt felt even more against that but sometimes things couldn't be helped and hopefully this would be the one and only time this would happen. The room with all her slicing equipment weren't hers exactly, but she did get the most out of it. Well, her and Kate at least. Which was the only other being in the room with her right then and there, thank gorram gods.

"Think I've frakked up big time," She mumbled to the droid as she set about connecting the core to her work stations. "Hope th' Cap'n don't go an' hold thiss'un 'gainst me. Th' thing with th' Y-Wing was bad 'nuff, but 'm guessin' this is gonna rank right on up there."

[R4-K8]

The slicer droid loitered dutifully, but there was something subdued about her movements and motor functions: none of the usual enthusiastic over-motion, just a series of precise movements and compliant whistles of droidspeak as she assisted Miss Sadie in connecting the foreign hardware into the Crimson Tide's systems.

As Miss Sadie spoke however, concerned about what reaction Captain Vittore might have to this situation, the droid's truncated conical head rotated to aim her primary ocular receptor towards the Nar Shaddaan slicer directly. A quiet but angry error noise escaped from her vocabulator's main speaker, almost like some sort of human grumble or growl. The droidspeak that followed was delivered in a careful, moderated tone however, a matter-of-fact delivery of words that Katie wirelessly made sure would display upon the nearby consoles.

Captain Vittore is not the only one displeased with your choices, Miss Sadie.

There was a pause, and Katie took the time to manoeuvre her chassis so her entire body was orientated towards Sadie.

I offered to assist you, and you declined. As a result you found yourself in danger. This is not agreeable to me.

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Sadie sighed, little droid had a point of course. There were bound to be quite a few folks who weren't too happy with her for this one, but the crew of the Tide was the ones here and the ones she probably spent most time with on a normal basis. Seemed like her sorries weren't gonna start with it's captain, after all.

"Yeah, I guessed as much. Look, Katie, weren't nothin' against y'. Was supposed t' be some sort of simple job an' I just needed a bit of time t' myself, y' know? Didn't really go an' count on some frikin' Force usin' giant weasel t' show up an' muck it all over." There was an apology brewing there, but the slicer werne't quite ready to give it up. "Just, kinda miss people lettin' me off on my own sometimes. I know it's just cause folks care that they don't want me t' be all on my solo but..."

The last bit of cable was connected and Sadie looked away from the core and all back to Katie, face etching in the hint of not-quite sadness at it all. She kept her voice low enough that hopefully nobody that was lurking outside the door would go and hear, just in case.

"I just still ain't used to it. You, Vitt, Sleazy, Dad, Mum, Uncle... None of it. Think I would be by now, but nope. Made a mistake, Kate, a big ol' one at that. 'M sorry if I made y' feel like y' weren't wanted. I jus... Wanted t' prove I was still okay on m' own. That havin' backup an' th' like was more a happy perk than a downright necessity."

Sadie turned back to the console and set about bringing the core online and getting into the root core of the thing.

"Guess I was wrong. Least that I'm used to."

[R4-K8]

Katie contemplated Miss Sadie's reactions for a moment. Her protocol subroutines were unsophisticated, and self-written, but she had analysed enough of Miss Sadie's emotional responses to gain a reasonable understanding of what her expressions and vocal tones translated to. Miss Sadie was sad, frustrated, and overwhelmed. This was something Katie could relate to. There were times when the droid attempted to process too many operations at once, and it made all of her other functions slow and sluggish, making interaction with humans difficult and taxing. At such times, Katie understood that being alone was a logical course of action; and she understood that at those times, her processors were too occupied with other activity to register the potential danger she might be placing herself in.

She droid trundled forward slowly and slightly, a manipulator arm extending from within her chassis, carefully letting it rest atop Sadie's hand.

We are friends, Miss Sadie.

The servos in Katie's head twitched ever so slightly, the light of her ocular receptor shifting to be a little more blue than red.

And Captain Vittore has articulated that we are family. Your value to us is not contingent on constant demonstration. We -

Another twitch of servos accompanied the pause in Katie's droidspeak output. She searched for the kind of phrasing that Captain Vittore might use in this situation.

We care about you regardless. You do not need to operate alone, because you are no longer alone.

A little more red warmth crept into Katie's ocular receptor.

Do not push us away, Miss Sadie. It is inefficient. We will always return to the same proximity.

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Sadie could never understand folks that thought of droids as just... Well... Droids. She hadn't gotten to know a lot of them in her lifetime, but they always seemed more like people than some actual people she'd met. Maybe there'd been a time when droids were nothing but fancy tools or glorified pets or some other nonsense, but Sadie was pretty sure they'd started being their own little race of beings for quite some time now. A rather smart and insight one at that.

"Thanks, Kate." Sadie kept the reply sort and simple, reaching out and resting a hand on top of the astromech's head for a tick or two.

Another one of them big breaths was drawn in as she pulled back and returned her attention to the consoles and screens.

"Now, let's see if we can't convince this lil' bastard t' give up th' goods, yeah?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

In the lounge of the ship, Vissica awaited news from Saidra's efforts. That left her with time on her hands. She considered finding a quiet corner of the ship in which to meditate, but the presence of the bounty hunter provided an outlet for her curiosity. The Selonian's doll eyes tracked him as he paced, and she offered a question.

"The guard along the ramparts, I assume you killed him?"

[Vittore Montegue]

Vittore had been trying his hardest to ignore the foreign presence encroaching upon his ship. To the Selonian, this was no doubt just a vessel, but to Vittore it was his home. It represented the entirety of his world, the only place that felt comfortable and safe; and here was danger, encroaching upon that comfort, and stinking up the room.

He stopped as the Knight spoke, grudgingly turning to face, well, her? The Selonian hadn't even done him the courtesy of providing her name; not that the Knight seemed like the type to be all that big on using names in the first place. The Selonian, then. Seemed to be about the most civil form of address that Vittore felt capable of mustering right now.

"Unconscious, not dead."

The bounty hunter did his best to keep his tone factual, reporting in like the good little soldier his father had always wanted him to become. There was scope for hostility, for sarcasm, for verbal rebellion against this situation, but he buried it deep behind a mask of mild blanket anger. He'd gone up against Force users before; knew a trick or two about forcing them to mind their own damn business about what was going on inside his skull.

"When killin' is your occupation, it's bad business t' go around doin' it for free."

The statement was more glib than he would have liked. He didn't redact it or apologise. There was playing nice, and then there was playing the part of someone other than himself. For Sadie, he'd willingly do the former, especially if it meant saving her neck by doing so. But even a dog on a chain or in a cage got to bark and growl every once in a while; he wasn't going to let some damned space weasel deprive him of that.

"The guy's been subdued, heavily sedated, an' deprived of both his rifle an' a few select articles a' clothing. In a criminal environment like this, he'll be too embarrassed to go admittin' what happened. Sign a' weakness like that'll go an' compromise his whole standin'. Won't pose any kind a' trouble to us."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"A careful and thorough approach." The Selonian approved of Vittore's tactic with a splaying of whiskers and a rumble in her throat. She did not rise from her seated position on the floor.

"The slicer's faith in you appears to be well placed. You have protected her before?"

[Vittore Montegue]

Vittore's emotional barriers were hardly impenetrable, but Sadie was a vulnerability you could have driven a Star Destroyer through. It took all Vittore could muster to keep his reaction to a subtle wince, memories of Nar Shaddaa and all the anger that came with it stirring up inside him.

"Once or twice."

The short answer served a variety served as a deflection: an answer, and yet not really much of one at the same time. Vittore knew when he was being probed for information; or at least, he strongly suspected that was the case here. Perhaps the Selonian considered him a more vulnerable target for the kind of information that it hadn't been able to extract from Sadie. Perhaps it was simply trying to compare their stories, exposing any lies or misdirects when the two differed. After all, the Selonian had been careful to ensure that Vittore and Sadie had not been given time alone to get their stories straight.

This was hardly Vittore's first rodeo, though.

"We have an arrangement. She says the word, an' stuff ends up dead."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"A most useful arrangement." Vissica appraised in a neutral tone. It did not escape her notice that his claim had a certain duality to it.

"My name is Matatek Sel Vissica. I serve the Empress in hunting enemies of the Empire and bringing them to her justice. That is how I met your slicer."

[Vittore Montegue]

Ordinarily, being able to put a name to a hideous face that badly needed punching or shooting would have felt like a win to Vittore. Names and faces in combination made his life a damn sight easier: it meant you could find the damn thing, and that meant you could get right on with killing it. Except right now, killing wasn't even on the table, let alone in the cards. That didn't sit right with Vittore; but this was a job, somehow, and killing your employer usually wasn't the best course of action if you wanted to get paid. Didn't do much for your reputation either, even if it had only happened once or twice with folks who really deserved it. Then again, doing business with an Imperial Knight wasn't exactly a smart business move either, so maybe this was one of those skiffs and speeders situations.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head - or at least, into the corner of his head where such thoughts were allowed to ferment and fester - and focused instead on what the Knight was actually saying; on the information that this Matatek Sel Vissica was choosing to provide him with. Something felt a little off about some of the phrasing - her justice, not just regular justice; things like that - but there was something else that nagged at Vittore. He played the words over again in his head. That nagging something clicked.

"How does Queen Matatek feel about that?"

To an ordinary person, or even an ordinary bounty hunter, the Knight's name might have meant nothing. Vittore was smarter than the average bounty hunter however, and smarter than he looked; and he'd been raised by a father who saw everything freakish, monstrous, and non-human as the enemy, expecting his children to know their shit. Cambrio had always been the one with the head for that sort of thing, but Vittore wasn't some simpleton thug: he had layers, he read, and he knew that Selonian culture was ruled by a Queen, Matatek, who pooped out dozens upon dozens of furry little death creatures that were supposed to be unerringly loyal to her. Maybe it was nothing; but maybe there was something there, some vulnerability that Vittore might be able to explore later. The only way to find out - or at least, the only way that Vittore ever bothered - was to poke at it, and see what happened.

"The serving the Empress and exacting her justice thing, I mean."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

There was a sound in Vissica's throat, less than a growl but more than a clearing. A testy noise that punctuated in the muted his of expended breath from her nose. She did not like his tone and the unsaid implications he didn't dare breathe.

"It was my Queen's wish that I dedicate my service to the Empire, as she did. If she did not wish it, I would not be here."

[Vittore Montegue]

The Selonian was irritated. Good. While deliberately antagonising one's employer was hardly the most shrewd employment strategy, Vittore saw it as a calculated risk. Every living creature had at least one button, at least one raw nerve that you could irritate to make them angry; and anger was good. Anger was predictable. A being in any other state could act in a myriad different ways: even something as primal and primative as fear could lead to fight, flight, or freeze; but anger always, always led to the same place, eventually. It might take a while. They might try to resist it, or bury it down. Eventually though, they'd get angry enough to snap, and that was the kind of certainty you could build a contingency plan around.

"Then you an' I have somethin' in common."

Vittore didn't allow himself to bask in the satisfaction of having irritated the Selonian. Instead he squared off opposite, his words lacking the childishness of defiance or spite: merely stated as matter of fact. His head gestured subtly to the sealed doorway that Sadie had disappeared.

"If she didn't wish it, I wouldn't be here."

The faintest ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of Vittore's mouth.

"I'll leave your imagination t' figure out what happens if the Empress is stupid enough t' do somethin' that puts the Queen in danger."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Didn't take a gorram Jedi to be able to feel the tension that was surrounding the hunter and the Knight. Which was good, because Sadie weren't really one at all. Which was also good, because she figured that sort of thing would mighty quickly alter how Vissica saw her and as unwelcome and unwanted and everything was now, it could have been a whole heap load worse.

Still, nothing quite like interrupting a glower session with some downright good news. If nothing else it severely reduced the chances of her home turning into some sort of fight zone. She knew there was a space aboard the Tide for Vitt to work, but Sadie hadn't seen that happen yet and sure and frak didn't want it starting right now.

Standing just outside the door that'd hidden her fully from view just a bit ago, she cleared her throat a touch to get both parties to look her way. A datapad was waggled and she allowed herself a slight bit of a smile.

"Got one word f' y'," She let a pause go for the sort of necessary suspense one would expect, but not enough to go testing the Empire Lady's patience. "Kafrene."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

The perturbed sound rose in Vissica's throat, and she'd readied a retort on her lips when the slicer interrupted the exchange. It was a fortuitous interruption. The Selonian fluidly switched her posture to face the woman as she gave the lead she'd been hoping for. Without pomp or fanfare, and right to the point.

Kafrene.

Clarity of focus brightened the black glass of Vissica's eyes. Her whiskers splayed against her muzzle.

"Set course immediately."

[Vittore Montegue]

Reluctance squirmed in the pit of Vittore's stomach. There was a giant weasel on his ship, and it was giving him orders. Everything about that grated with Vittore, dredging up all manner of discomfort from his past. He'd been Dad's good little soldier for far too many years, obeying every command, absorbing every prejudice, believing everything that Dad filled his head with. He was, perhaps irrevocably, his father's son; but that was something he'd rebelled against. He wasn't His soldier any more, nor anyone else's. That wasn't the man he wanted to be; wasn't the man Sadie wanted him to be.

Sadie. That's what this was all about, wasn't it? She needed him here, or wanted him here, or both; and that was who Vittore's wanted and chose to be. There for her, no matter what. His eyes found Sadie's, and for a fleeting moment he managed a small, private smile.

"Kafrene," he echoed, mind wandering back to the last time he'd visited that grime filter encrusted with the dregs of society. At least this trip wasn't going to be uneventful. "Yes, ma'am."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

With a destination set, Sadie headed towards her right and proper place within the cockpit. The familiar footfalls behind her proved that Vitore was following and once the two of them were inside the soft hiss proved that Vissica weren't gonna be following right along. The slicer had made her promises and given her word that the Knight wouldn't be betrayed by the likes of them and she was hoping that would be enough to grant her and the Captain a few moments of privacy that were desperately needed.

The co-pilot's seat was found and easily plunked into as she'd done a hundred times before. This time though it felt like she was carrying the weight of the whole gorram verse on her shoulders.

This was all kinds of wrong. Working with an Imperial, a frakin' Force-Using monster of one at that. And she was here, on the Tide. On Vitt's ship. In their home. Force sake this was ten kinds of fraked up and she was to blame.

That weight Sadie felt settled between them as Vitt plotted the course and sat back himself. She could see him in her peripheral view as she didn't feel it was right to go and look towards him just then and there. Her hand crept towards the shirt - once his - that rested across the arm of her chair, snuck under it to where she kept her pack of cigarras and only decent common sense kept her from going through with the urge. She ain't never smoked aboard Vitt's ship and she wouldn't adding it to the slights she'd made against him now.

Was one of them pauses that people described as pregnant that fell between them. Stupid phrase, Sadie thought, or maybe not. To some folks that sort of belly full of life was a joy, to others it was the beginning of the end and all kinds of unwanted misery. Yeah, okay, it fit the bill here then.

"Sorry." Sadie broke out, much quieter than she wanted to but despite the closed door between them and the unwanted ally, she felt like she had to whisper any how.

A deep breath left her lungs, painful in it's own right. "'M sorry, Cap'n," she repeated, the added bit thrown in by way of unspoken heaps of addition to the apology. "I jus'... got in over my head big time. I've fraked up an'... an' y' were th' only one I knew I could count on t' help me see it through."

That naggin' urge for a cig tugged at her again and instead Sadie took the momentary privacy to bring her hands up and pressed the palms just above both eyes, cradling her head sort of while her fingers worked all sorts of cruelly into her own hair.

"'M just... so so sorry." Her voice cracked with the repeated apology. Damn her for not knowing what else to say.

[Vittore Montegue]

Vittore hadn't been sure how he'd react. He wasn't sure what explanation she'd offer, but he'd been prepared for all the ones he could think of, and had a spectrum of responses in mind to fit the circumstances. Anger featured heavily in a lot of them, but not all. There was a fair bit of understanding queued up as well: Sadie was pretty damn smart after all, and having good reasons was just as likely as something stupid or reckless. He'd even rehersed the I'm just disappointed angle, that response that was somehow more devastating than any anger or insult could be.

But then she went and said it: not the Cap'n, as exploitable a weakness as that often was; but rather the part about trust, about knowing she could count on him. Sadie had been in trouble, and she had called him: not her father, or her uncle, not Miss Shadowstar, or the Mandalorian, or her nerd-bro Nen - she'd called him; the only one. Damn if something like that didn't go and steal all your words away.

Vittore's attention lingered on the console for a few moments longer. There was a way to fix this, potentially. The hatch behind them was closed; a few control inputs was all it would take to pop an external hatch or seal, and either suck the damned Selonian out into space entirely, or at the very least do the same to her oxygen supply. It might work, but probably wouldn't: knowing his luck, she'd cling on with some sort of death grip, or she'd hurl her lightsaber at the cockpit hatch, breaching the air seal and consigning him and Sadie to the same asphyxiation fate. If it was just Vittore alone, it might have seemed worth the chance, but not Sadie.

Wordlessly, he slipped from his seat, a few short steps bringing him across the cockpit. Still silent he fell into a crouch, attention on Sadie's hands rather than anything else. He let his rest gently on top of them, still wordless for moments longer before he finally looked upwards, seeking out Sadie's eyes. "T' hell with all that," he said quietly, his voice a soft nexu's purr. Worry tugged at his brows, shimmering in his eyes. "All that matters right now is if you're okay."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Sadie was damn glad he'd come down to her height rather than making her look up at him, as it were just them few inches of pulling her head up seemed like more of an effort than she'd had in her. She weren't sure how she'd held it all together up until now but damn if the cracks weren't showing with just Vitt to witness it all.

She made an effort at nodding, she were okay, after all. Damned Knight and her goons hadn't hurt her or nothing, but that was just the tip of the big ol' hunk of ice at it all.

"Yeah," Sadie lied before quickly backtracking and the subtle shaking of her head went and reversed right along with it. "No. No 'm not. She... She don't know what I am. If she finds out..."

Horror stories from her pops and Vhi aside, Sadie didn't know much about exactly what the Empress' new fangled army of Force users did when they ran across rogue kinds of their ilk. Vissica had called a Jedi a jihadist though, and that probably didn't exactly bode well on any spectrum.

Truthfully though, Sadie weren't sure why she'd said that was her worry. It was, and wasn't. Not given everything else that could potentially come from this if it all went south. She took a sec to breathe, eyes closing as she did to just try and cope with the reality of the mess she'd made and the fact that Vitt weren't rightly outwardly irked by it. She breathed in that moment of quiet, of the feeling of his hands on hers and let it shove tension right out the airlock. Sadie didn't dare go further, her little outburst more than enough of a reminder to keep her other inclinations damn well in check.

She looked back to Vittore and those damned too-green eyes of his. "It'll be okay now that you're here, though. We just do the job like always. Just... little less likable of a client, yeah? I know you don't like it an' I'll find a way t' make it up t' y', I swear it. I just gotta do this, to keep everyone else safe. T' keep our family safe."

[Vittore Montegue]

Make it up to him. As if his help, his presence, his caring was some commodity that needed to be bought and paid for. It hadn't been intended to sting, but it did; worse though was the realisation that on some level Sadie felt as if this all came with a price. The sting quickly turned to anger, aimed not at her but rather all the ghosts of her past that had condittioned her to think that way.

He wanted to protest, he wanted to explain, to insist that things just weren't like that between them; he didn't get the chance. The impulse took hold before the words had the opportunity to take form. He leaned forwards, lips pressing against hers in a long, deep kiss that felt as if he was breathing in her very soul. His hand reached up, fingertips snaking into her hair; an age later, when he finally tore himself away, the hand slid downwards to cradle her jawline, thumb brushing gently against her cheek as his forehead came to rest against hers.

"Y' don't owe me a damn thing," he half whispered, half muttered, a mix of soft sincerity and stern dismissal spiralling around his words. "Not for this, not for anythin', not never. You're -"

My partner was the intended response, but it tasted so hollow and insufficient on his tongue, despite the apt additional meanings it offered. No other words felt right either, no other term felt suffiient. Not friend, not family; everything felt lacking. An unertain smile disrupted the corner of his mouth.

"- my Sadie," he settled upon; nothing else did her justice. "Ain't a damn thing that'd keep me from comin' when you call."

[Sadie K'Vesh]

Given the last few days worth of stress, this tiny instant in time was something that Sadie wanted to grab hold of and cling for dear life. Weren't time for that though, maybe when this was over, maybe when the Imperial was out of their lives and Sadie had found that unfortunate group of folks the Selonian wanted then maybe just maybe her and Vitt could go vacation somewhere with a ton of booze a coastline and a hammock made for two.

"I knew. I know. Weren't no question you'd be here, just wish it were under better circumstances."

For now though? Now they had a job that needed doing.

"So what's say we find the quickest way to Kafrene and get the gorram space weasel off your ship?"

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

The subtle kinetic shift roused Vissica from a meditation. Gimlet eyes opened into almond shapes. Though she remained in a windowless compartment, the Selonian could intimate from the emotional focus she felt in the cockpit ahead. They were here.

whoosh

The door peeled away, and Vissica trotted into the cockpit to join her team. The Selonian's broad paws softly thumped, punctuated by the click of blunted claw-tips and the slither of her trailing tail. She gathered herself before the canopy, bunching to lower her haunches into a sitting pose.

"The ring outpost."

It was an ingenious ramshackle, cobbled together from two major asteroid's in the debris belt of Kafrene. Through a network of shields and support structures, a vertical city had been constructed to tether the two large rocks together. The miners who'd founded the outpost had even managed to import a tenable atmosphere, allowing for living conditions that, while uncomfortable, were sufficient to satisfy most life forms.

Vissica glanced to Sadie.

"Did the encrypted data bank contain the location of the Gak'tuul syndicate stronghold?"

Kafrene outpost was a rat's warren of chop shops, hangars, storage facilities, factories, and refineries. It would be a cumbersome nuissance to root through them all.

[Sadie K'Vesh]

"Not exactly," Sadie went and admitted while her fingers sped about bringing up a holographic map of the ruin of a join before them.

It hovered neatly and a few more keystrokes enlarged one specific area of the faint lined model, a myriad of areas in particular taking on what Sadie right figured were some sort of ominous red hue.

"These were th' places most mentioned in th' info on th' bank. As y' can see, they're all pretty close twixt each other so if one of them ain't y're stronghold, then y' may be lookin' at somethin' more piecemeal set up t' try an' keep from allowin' for a direct whack t' their sensitive parts."

Sadie felt weird sayin' what she was. Was like these Gak'tuul folks had half a brain if she was interpreting correctly. The slicer set about enlarging the areas in question again, just enough to keep 'em all in view even if the outlying ones had to go and be just on the edge of the display.

"There's a bigger area here, central like. 'M guessin' that's main HQ, yeah? But what's got me vexed is all them offshoots. Guessin' they ain't storin' everythin' and everybody in one place, savvy? We hit an' they go scurryin' like rats anyhow an' make a getaway."

She looked towards Vitt, the experienced hunter, the one who probably should have been giving the briefing, really. One of them checking to make sure she weren't spouting a ton of gibberish but actually was making proper sense and proper guesses. Though, even if she was wrong... Well, it weren't like she was deceiving the Selonian and purposely making the Knight's job harder, now was it?

"So unless y' got enough backup t' cover all them li'l rabbit holes, I'd say y' best pick y're target might careful like, Lady."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

Vissica's blunted muzzle leaned closer to the map. The spidery array of her whiskers raised and lowered as if they were trying to taste information out of the air.

"The Empire will supply sufficient force."

The Selonian raised a paw off the ground, prodding the floating map with a single thick digit. A sturdy-looking block house changed color, highlighted from the rest of the mining station.

"The local garrison is here. On my order, I can mobilize the occupying battalion to overrun their defense perimeter."

Vissica angled her head up to affix Montegue with a look.

"Preventing escape is not my intent. I wish to give our enemy a single escape route, and intercept them in flight."

[Vittore Montegue]

Vittore continued to focus on the digital display for a few moments, before eventually acknowledging the Selonian's attention. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed - he had - but it was a small opportunity to make a subtle point. Weren't Imperial Knights supposed to be leaders and strategists, cut from the same cloth as the Jedi Knights of old, but died a slightly more assholeish comment? Wasn't the whole point of her to be the one coming up with the strategies and plans, rather than waiting on a politically disinterested bounty hunter to magic tactics out of his ass based on the piss all information that this Vissica had actually bothered to share?

He folded his arms across his chest, and shrugged.

"Not sure what kinda input you're expectin' from me. Sure, that seems like as good a strategy as any, I guess, but the kinda thing I do takes research an' information. We could set up an ambush, mines and tripwires, the works; but that ain't gonna do a lick a' good if they come racin' outta there on speeders or Mando jet packs. We can prep gas grenades, toxin rounds, lethal or non lethal dependin' on the lady's preference, but unless we know what kinda folks and races we're lookin' at in there, we ain't gonna know which chems to load. But if this whole secrecy shtick y' got goin' on is non-negotiable -"

He let out a small sigh: not of frustration, more to clear his thoughts and sweep those last sentiments away. He leaned forward, gesturing at the display.

"Looks like there's a set a' pressure doors at this intersection. If Sadie can hijack the safety systems, your garrison can herd 'em into that tunnel, and then shaped charges here pop a hole in the roof. Air goes out, bad guys go down, and a small team in pressure suits can hop in and mop up whatever's left. Quick and dirty, but it'll get the job done."

Another shrug.

"O'course, that won't do shit if these guys are packin' combat droids. Which brings us right back to were we started, with the whole you ain't exactly told us who we're up against thing."

[Matatek Sel Vissica]

"The Gak'tuul are a regional organized crime syndicate with influence within these adjoining sectors. They are primarily Gran, though like the Pasha, I suspect they accept a motley assortment of hirelings. Nevertheless, your concerns are well-merited. We have no informed expectation of their defensive capability beyond a reasonable estimate. While I expect an Imperial garrison to be capable of crushing these criminals in a frontal engagement, their destruction is only half of my intent. I wish to secure their contraband, but not at the expense of your slicer's life. She must remain useful."

Vissica paused, turning to Saidra with an arched brow.

"You mentioned the possibility that the Gak'tuul may retreat if under assault."

The Selonian touched one of the outlying Gak'tuul compounds in the hologram, and it's color shifted to distinguish it from the rest.

"This structure is the closest enemy compound to Kafrene's atmospheric shield. Can you determine if there are ships within or nearby that may be launched in an escape?"

Before waiting on an answer, the Selonian again turned to Vittore.

"What are the offensive capabilities of your ship?"