Ask Plot Coruscant A Different Kind of Jungle

Kliedden Raxx

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Klied hated the Core, and no planet in it was worse than Coruscant. The constant noise from machinery, ships, droids, and the endless yammering of the people around him was nearly enough to drive the hunter mad. It truly boggled his mind how any sane person could stand to live on this durasteel encased rock for more than two minutes. He sat on a cramped transport ship destined for the lower levels of the planet. To try and distract himself from the grating chatter he pulled out his bounty puck to review the information on his quarry.

The holographic image displayed an angry looking Klatooinian in his mid 40s, Jalir T'lol. Klied had done some research on the mark before reaching the Core. Originally a grunt for the Hutt Cartels he became dissatisfied with his lot and decided to strike off on his own. He'd made something of a name for himself on Coruscant since, a big fish in a small pond. Recently Coruscanti Police had started coming down on his operations hard, and he had gone to ground. That's where Klied came in.

Seeing the afternoon light start to diminish, the hunter turned and looked out the transports window. They were descending past the planet surface into the lower levels, the orange sunlight soon transforming into the artificial lighting of the underworld. Now all he could see around himself was an ocean of durasteel, getting grimier and grimier by the minute. Klied scowled. Bounty Hunting, what a brilliant idea... He thought to himself bitterly. He had wanted more of a challenge then the beasts he used to hunt on the frontiers of the galaxy. He should have known it would bring him to a place like this. Already he was being choked by the morbid overpopulation of this world.

Before long the transport docked and the hunter stepped off onto the landing platform, a foul stench wafting towards him in the drafty winds of the lower level. He stood out like a sore thumb from the rest of the citizens, garbed in the golden fur of a Corellian dire-cat. He squinted as he surveyed his surroundings. Time to get to work. One of the first things he had learned as a hunter was to make sure to use the right bait. T'lol was a veteran of this game, he would be nearly impossible to find in his home territory. Klied needed to draw him out. From his research he had learned T'lol had something of a grudge against another Coruscanti local, one Poffo Sauvage. He would be Klied's first target. The hunter snorted as he tried to become accustomed to the city's stench and started making his way towards the nearest bar. He had a lot of work to do.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Grizzie's Bar - Level 1997

Poffo's head spun, nearly cracking his neck from the Trandoshan's hard right hook. The reptillian raised his three-clawed hands and played to the crowd. His celebration was cut short, however. He had landed a hard punch square on the man's jaw, but Poffo didn't fall. Poffo was dizzy, and he spit out a mouthful of blood as he bent over and tried to regain his senses. He took the lizard's best shot but refused to fall or even take a knee. A raspy, grunting laugh came from Poffo which angered his opponent. The huge green and brown mass came at Poffo hard with both hands raised and clasped together. He sought to bring them between the exposed and vulnerable shoulder blades of Sauvage. Ever the wily fighter, Poffo sidestepped so that the reptlillian whiffed and lost his balance. Poffo had positioned himself perfectly to the lizard-man's side and slightly behind.. His feet pivoted in a single jump-step and Poffo torqued with his full hips, his massive arms, and his club-like fist into Turssk's rib cage. Poffo hammered him a second time, a third time, a fourth. He was lifting the massive Trandoshan off the ground with each punch, but this reptillian was every bit as rough and tumble as Sauvage. With an open paw, breaking the fighting agreement, he swung wildly at Poffo with his sharp claws exposed. Poffo ducked and threw a vicious uppercut that caught his enemy right in his scaly throat. Turssk immediately grabbed his neck with both hands and staggered backwards.

"You wanted to play the dirty way, yeah." Poffo said, stalking him with a smile, pulling a pair of brass knuckles from his pocket, and slipping it onto to his massive right hand so that Turssk could see him do it. "Me too, but I didn't want seem like the bad guy. You know what I mean?" Turssk kept one hand on his neck and was pawing at Poffo with the other to keep him at bay. "You got something to say, scales? Spit it out, buddy. C'mon." Of course, Turssk couldn't breathe at the moment, let alone speak. Poffo followed his prey as he continued to try to walk backwards away from Poffo. Sauvage slapped the outsretched reptillian hand and looped around with a quick rabbit punch to a scaly jaw. Turssk finally backed into a booth and collapsed into it. Poffo pulled his right hand back, his huge shoulders prepared for a devestating blow.

"Poffo! That's enough. You win. You collect. Leave him." It was the booker of the fights and the owner of Grizzie's bar, Grizzie himself. Grizzie was a large Besalisk, and a tough one at that. Behind the bar of his lower-level dive, he often brought in tough guys to entertain his guests with feats of strengths and the occasional fight. Bets were placed and credits changed hands. Grizzie was every bit as tough as the entertainers and fighters he brought in, but Grizzie was also fair. Even Poffo, who didn't take orders from anyone, wised up when Grizzie spoke. "The trouble and legal attention that comes with a dead body is not something that I want to deal with tonight."

Poffo gave the Trandoshan a long stare before holding both hands in the air as if he was innocent. "Yeah. You got it, Griz. Your house, your rules." Poffo collected his creidts, relished in the pats on the back for a while before taking a seat at a booth, licking his wounds and starting to enjoy his beverages of choice.

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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied entered the bar just as a very battered and disgruntled Trandoshan was shoving his way to the exit, muttering about 'filthy mammals' and getting payback. Paying the alien no heed he made his way to the bar and made his typical order. Dorian Quill. As the Besalisk bartender poured him his drink the hunter took a look around the establishment. The patrons here were rough looking folks, even for the lower levels. There was a fighting ring set up where a Zabrak and Weequay were beating the snot out of each other while the crowd cheered them on enthusiastically. Scanning over the rest of the patrons Klied's target didn't immediately stand out, perhaps hidden behind the standing throng.

"Looks like you've got an impressive roster here." He said as he turned his attention back to the Besalisk. "Whose your best fighter?" The bartender gave him a suspicious glare as he cleaned a glass, eventually revealing a small grin.

"Why?" He snorted. "You looking to fight squirt?" He chuckled derisively. Klied grinned back.

"Possibly..." He replied coolly. "You ever book a man named Poffo Sauvage?" The Besalisk's grin disappeared.

"Occasionally..." He answered slowly, carefully. "What's your interest in Poffo Sauvage?" Klied broke into an impudent smile.

"I'm his biggest fan. I want an autograph." The hunter offered a snide response. The Besalisk scowled.

"Haven't seen him lately, may be he'll come around soon." The bartender replied before walking off. Klied remained in his seat, watching as the Besalisk went to a booth where a single man was sitting and spoke to him quietly before glancing back in Klied's direction. The hunter was quick enough to look away so that the bartender didn't see him snooping. Afterwards he looked back again. He couldn't see him well from this angle but it was a human, and a very large human at that. Klied decided not to approach immediately, especially since the bartender had just likely put him on alert. Instead he made it look like he was watching the fight, while subtly stealing glances towards the man's booth every now and then. He wanted to make sure he had the right man before he made any move.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Grizzie, being the consummate professional that he is, played it cool. This was only Poffo's second night of fighting for Grizz, but the Besalisk could just see the credits piling up in his mind. There was a significant uptick in business tonight after getting word out that Poffo would be back. The place was packed. He didn't know who this stranger was that was asking about Poffo. Maybe he was from Poffo's past. Maybe he was a bounty hunter and Poffo had more of a history than Grizzie knew. Maybe he hooked up with the wrong girl one night after a few drinks and her man came looking for revenge. Grizz didn't care. He just wanted to protect his budding star. Poffo's waitress came back with his drink order and the Besalisk discreetly made small talk as he fixed Poffo's drink and gave her instructions to tell Poffo he had an admirer in the crowd and that Grizz didn't get a good feeling from him.

Poffo sat in a semi-circle booth with both arms draped across the shoulders of a different girl on either side of him. If he wanted a drink he asked one of them to lift the glass to his lips. His glass had gone dry and he had requested another from his waitress. It was taking a bit longer than normal. As she delivered his drink, she winked and said, "Can I give the champion for a night a kiss on the cheek for good luck?" She was a pretty girl and dressed in the provocative manner that you might expect from a waitress in a place like this. She also carried herself with confidence, again, a necessity in a tough joint like this. Poffo's kind of woman.

"Well, yeah, baby," Poffo answered, nodding largely. "You can give your very own Mr. Macho a nice little peck on the cheek if that's what you're inclined to do. I wouldn't mind that in the teeniest little bit."

She bent over and gave him a peck on the cheek, then the neck. "Oh, yeah, girl. That's more than I bargained for I have to say." His raspy words and laugh got a chuckle from the crowd that had actively worked and pushed and positioned themselves to sit at his table and the girls that had wormed their way under his arms.

The waitress pretended to be rather foward and advancing, one hand rubbing on his chest, the other wisping through his sweaty hair, but it was a ruse. She whispered in his ear, "Grizz wants you to know that you have company, and he doesn't think it's good. Four seats left of center at the bar." She stood up straight, winked, and sauntered back to the drink station swaying her hips all the way. Poffo scanned the bar and found who he thought she might be referring to. It was a brand new face to Sauvage. He had no doubt that T'lol had found him and sent someone to bring him in. T'lol would want him humiliated and tortured, and that was a disprespect that Poffo couldn't stand. He'd rather be shot and killed with a blaster than humiliated. Poffo excused himself to go to the "Big Boys Room" and made a show of the three, large empty glasses in front of him to sell the necessity of it. He knew where the back door was that led to the back alley, an area largely not patrolled by Coruscant law enforcement. He would try to bypass the bathroom and get through the back entrance. If T'lol's goon had a gun, Poffo felt like he could wait at the door and start pummeling in hand to hand combat range before he crossed the threshold and blasters could be drawn and used.

But first things first...He had to make a break for the door.

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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied watched Sauvage as closely as he could while still maintaining anonymity, unfortunately he felt as though he had been called out by the waitress. Sauvage glanced directly in his direction and then made a move towards the restroom, most likely to make an escape. It surprised Klied, he had assumed the man would step to him rather than run. Not all muscle, he's got a brain as well I see. The hunter thought to himself as he watched Sauvage slip into the back of the establishment.

He made no move to try and stop his mark, instead he simply pulled some credits out of his pocket for the drink and left them on the bar before leaving through the front door. Once outside the hunter immediately increased his pace, wrapping around the building and into the back alleys. Sure enough he spotted Sauvage, waiting to ambush him had he tried to follow him through the back door.

Klied grinned to himself and slowly moved forward, placing one hand on the hilt of his hunting knife just in case it was needed. His moccasins didn't make a sound on the metal floor of the street, allowing the trained predator to sneak up right behind his prey before reaching out and tapping him on the shoulder. "Looking for someone?" He asked with a friendly smile.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Poffo knew it was to no avail, but he checked the door back into the bar. Of course it locked from the inside. You can't have back alley trash wondering into the back of the bar, afterall. The man had addressed him directly. There was no doubt that he had ill intentions, and Poffo was certain that T'lol had sent him. Sauvage looked around and took a quick inventory of his options. He could make a run for it in the opposite direction. If the man had a blaster, he'd almost certainly get shot in the back. If there was a witness here, they wouldn't care to be cooperative. And honestly, if there was a dead body in the back alley on these lower levels of Coruscant, he's not real sure that it would be investigated anyway. Option one didn't sound great.

It made option two the better of two bad ones. He could try to intimidate him into leaving on his own. If he couldn't see reason, Poffo would whip him. Of course, this only works if he doesn't pull a blaster. If he didn't have a blaster, Poffo had no business running anyway. He saw the man put his hand on the hilt of a knife. Worth the risk. Poffo cracked his neck and then his knuckles. He slipped a pair of brass knuckles on each hand and started walking to meet this mystery man that T'lol had no doubt sent.

"I ain't looking for nobody, man. No," his raspy voice filled the alley. "You look like you're the one searching, yeah." He felt his hands tense as he got with twenty feet of the stranger where he stopped. "But as you might well know, be careful what you start looking for. You may not like what you find, yeah. If you came looking for Poffo Sauvage, then I hope Jalir didn't send his best man. I would hate for him to go home battered and bruised and licking his wounds, man." He chuckled. "I sure would hate that. Now why don't you just save us some time and you some pain. Turn back around. Go right back on down to Jalir and say that he should give up this little hunt of his. Poffo Sauvage last you heard has went on a freighter. Tell him there was money to be made in a nice little circuit in the Hutt systems." He outstretched his arms and pushed out his chest inviting him to fight. "Or, you can take your chances with what you see here."

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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied kept his distance as Sauvage started approaching him, sizing the man up. Judging from the fact that he was confident enough to bring his fists to a knife fight the man had to be quite the brawler. He was a lot bigger than the hunter. Klied figured he was probably lighter on his feet than Sauvage, but still, one good punch may be enough to lay him out. He wasn't certain which one of them would come out on top in a close quarters fight, and he had no intention of finding out. He had gotten a measure of the man, and figured now he may be able to work with him.

He grinned at the brawler's threats and slowly took his hand away from his knife. "You certainly are a peculiar mark I'll grant you that." He said with a chuckle. "But I don't work for Jalir T'lol. I'm interested to learn what you know about him..."

Any hope Klied had of explaining himself flew out the window when several Trandoshans entered the alleyway behind Poffo, one of them looking very familiar to the hunter. "There he is!" Turssk hissed, pointing out the larger man. His friends growled and began stalking forward, cutting off any exit. "You want to see 'dirty' Sauvage?" Turssk rasped, still brusied and battered from their previous match. "I'll show you dirty!"

"Aw hell..." Klied sighed, and pulled out his knife. This wasn't quite what he had expected, but he couldn't allow Sauvage to get killed here. He was the only lead the hunter had on his real target. His explanation would have to wait, they had a fight on their hands.

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Poffo Sauvage

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The stranger was spinning some yarn about how T'lol didn't send him, a story that Poffo wasn't buying. He wouldn't buy it with someone else's credits. The stranger didn't get too far into his story before things got exponentially worse. Six reptillians stepped out into the alley from the back exit of the bar. Poffo looked over his shoulder and sighed. He could take Turssk no problem, but the five buddies, while not the maulers that Turssk was, were still Trandoshans. Sharp claws, strong constitutions, and could pack a punch. They weren't much for sympathy either. If they got a hold of good ol' Poffo, they may not stop until his heart did. Sauvage didn't answer them, but instead focused his attention back on the stranger. "Well, damn," Poffo muttered. T'lol's goon had pulled his knife, and by the way he was handling it, he wasn't a novice at using it. Still, it was a man to man fight, one on one, as opposed to taking on six big lizards behind him.

With only about 20 feet between them, Poffo would go for broke and bull rush this guy. He set off at a dead sprint toward the stranger and lept at him from about four feet. He'd go with a little maneuver that had worked for him more times than it hadn't in past fights, especially against men that had not seen him work. As he lept, he led with the knee as if it was a flying knee aimed at the sternum of his opponent. The natural tendency is to protect oneself from the knee, and the hands usually move to protect their core. Instead, Poffo sends his foot back behind him creating additional torque into a powerful right aimed at the other fighter's jaw. A lot of opponents are focused on that incoming knee and never see the big right hand coming. With any luck, he might knock this stranger out, avoid the knife, and give him an outlet to flee from the Turssk and his buddies.


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Kliedden Raxx

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When the Trandoshans showed up they received Klied's undivided attention. It was an enormous complication to his plan, and the hunter began to kick himself for not simply being more straightforward with his mark in the first place. That distraction gave Poffo the opening he needed to make a charge at the distracted hunter. Klied knew how to fight hand to hand. He had gotten in more than a few scraps in his time and considered himself decent enough at holding his own in close quarters. But he was nowhere near Poffo's league, and he fell for the man's feint hook line and sinker.

The hunter put his hands up to defend his torso, letting out a surprised "Wha-" right before Poffo hit him like a bulk freighter. Klied's head snapped to the right and he went straight to the ground, rolling over on his hands and knees and scrabbling away instinctively as stars danced in his vision. He spat blood and wiped his lips. "Kark me!" He grunted, barely in command of his senses. He looked up to see the Trandoshans charging forward. He scrambled to grab his knife and uneasily got back to his feet, swaying back and forth. He prepared to defend himself, but the lizards brushed right past him, clearly focused on running down Sauvage. Klied watched them go before cursing under his breath and sheathing his blade. He unslung his cycler rifle and dashed after them. He'd be damned if he was going to let that schutta get away now.

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Poffo Sauvage

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The old Super-Macho-Man-punch came through again. Many a time, Poffo had been on the short end of the beating stick during a fight, but that technique saved his skin more often than it didn't. He knew the stranger was dazed and not knocked out clean which was not ideal. He gave a short look over his shoulder as he sprinted away in hopes that the lizard people would take the time to stop and finish him off. That would buy him a little more time and permanently take one of his "suitors" off the playing field. Unfortunately, that was not the case. They ran right past him and continued tracking after Sauvage. The last thing Poffo saw was the stranger getting up and getting his long gun at the ready.

Poffo cut left out of the alley and made it back to the main drag. He wanted to take weapons like that rifle out of play, and getting back into a highly populated area may do the trick. From there, he took a right and weaved through the pedestratians and darted into a building with loud music and flashing lights bounding from the entrance and spilling into the street. It was dark. It was loud. It was packed. It was perfect. Poffo paid the bouncers in the entranceway some extra credits to expedite his admittance and slipped in. He quickly made his way to a darkened area on the floor, took a seat, and made a quick order. With all the dancing and darkness, it was hard to get a good view of the door, or even his immediate surroundings.

"Who's it going to be?" Poffo mumbled, nursing his drink. After a few moments, two of the Trandoshans made their way into the club. They must have broken up in pairs in order to cover more ground. That was a good sign. They didn't see him slip in. They also must have paid the bouncers a little extra because they bypassed what line there was waiting to get in. After they were granted entrance, they split up to start their search alone. Poffo smirked at that. "Silly, silly, lizards, yeah. Not the brighest star in the system are you, Scale-boys?" Separated, they lost their advantage. Poffo felt he could make quick work of either of them in a one on one situation. Still, he didn't want to act too quickly. It was the stranger that was the wild card. He wanted to see what he was dealing with. He was savvy enough to get the jump on Poffo once, he hoped he could prevent it from happening a second time. Besides, if the stranger managed to track Poffo in here, he knew that he had a bigger problem than the Trandoshans on his hands.

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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied couldn't help but smirk as he followed the chase out onto the main street, forcing him to shoulder his rifle once more. Very smart. He thought to himself. He was starting to like this Poffo Sauvage more and more, he loved a challenging hunt. It wasn't hard to pick up the trail, he just had to follow the disgruntled shouting and occasional screams from the crowd as they were shoved aside by the running Trandoshans. He silently followed them until they stopped at an intersection, seemingly lost. Turssk snarled viciously in frustration.

"Split up!" He hissed. "Find that sleemo! I want to kill him myself!" His goons growled in compliance and paired off into three groups of two before heading in different directions. Not smart. Klied thought. He briefly looked around himself for any sign of where Poffo went. His eyes were quickly drawn to the nearby entrance to a club. The line outside had become quite rowdy, everyone shouting and shoving each other.

"Hey that's a load of Bantha crap man!" One of the men in line was shouting at the bouncer. "We've been waiting here all night and you're just gonna let that guy waltz right in?" He seemed to have the agreement of the crowd, who were now jeering the bouncers as well. Two of the Trandoshans also seemed to catch on, because they were next to go to the door and pay their way in. That just made the crowd outside that much angrier. Klied had a gut feeling that's where Sauvage had gone, but didn't want to take the front entrance. If anything the brawler would be watching anyone coming in. The hunter didn't want to give him an advantage.

Instead he moved once again into a side alley, finding the building's fire escape and climbing up. Using his knife he pried a window open and climbed in, finding himself in the ladies room on the second floor. A Rodian woman gasped as he slipped in and made an unflattering remark towards him in Huttese. Klied just put a finger to his lips and shushed her before stepping out into the club proper. Keeping to the shadows he moved to the balcony and looked down at the dance floor below. Scanning the crowd he spotted the Trandoshans, and then the table where Poffo was sitting.

"Bingo..." He whispered, but decided not to approach immediately. He would let the brawler make the first move, then try to get the jump on him again. And this time he wouldn't give him the opportunity to throw another sucker punch he thought, rubbing his aching jaw.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Poffo kept his attention divided between the entrance and the Trandoshans. It forced him to keep watch in three different locations, and that was no easy task. He considered making a bolt for the door, but, while unlikely, it was possible that the lizard folks had sent two into the club to flush Poffo out into the tooth-filled jaws of angry reptiles. With those razor-sharp claws, they could gut him on the street real quick, run, and be guilty of a crime that never gets seriously investigated. At least if the bantha crap hit the fan in here, the bouncers would try to pry people apart. Clubs like these weren't the same as bars, saloons, and cantinas even just a few doors down. Raves such as these were designed for some of the upper and surface level citizens to pretend to live dangerously. It was a dangerous neighborhood, to be sure, but an establishment like this was self-policed fiercely because of the clientele.

So far, so good on the entrance. No other Trandoshans. No stranger. But, as things go, a spirit of panic welled up inside of Sauvage. He lost one of the Trandoshans and the one he saw had stopped moving along the outer wall and casually was making his way closer and closer. Sauvage could kick himself. Trandoshans and their damned infrared vision. He should have considered that. Poffo clinched his fist around his brass knucks, ready to make a ruckus. He would cause a scene that nobody could ignore and get the bouncers on top of him in a hurry. He was just about to flip the table and charge the reptillian that he did see, but he felt a sharp, piercing tap on his shoulder.

"You should sssstop right there, Ssssauvage," a Trandoshan said behind him. He placed his sharp, five-inch, talon-like claw around his jugular. Poffo swallowed, expanding his neck, and knicked the skin against the razor sharp appendage. The other Trandoshan sat down and spoke without the same prolonged s's that many Trandoshans were known to have. "And now we have Poffo Sauvage. You know, Turssk was undefeated for Grizz before you came along."

"Well, Turssk is a cheating bastard, yeah. I imagine that has something to do with his so-called winning ssssstreak," Poffo said, mocking the pronunciation of many Trandoshans.

The Trandoshan behind him dug his thumb claw into Poffo's back at the comment which caused Poffo to grunt and sit up straight. He could feel the blood start to run down his back. "You ssssshhhouldn't talk like that, Ssssauvage. You may end up with a few holesss and ssscrapes."

Poffo refused to give these lizards the satisfaction of cowering. He crossed his massive arms defiantly and lifted his chin. He checked the entrance again for any more Trandoshans or any sign of the stranger. Nothing there. Best case scenario that he could see would be the bouncers. Maybe a waitress would come by for an order. If he could just get this razor off his neck, he would have a fighting chance.


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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied watched as the two Trandoshans slowly got closer to their quarry, all while Sauvage remained seated. The hunter could understand his fear, he was in a tough spot and didn't have much information to make a good move. He was tempted to stand by and watch how the brawler would make his escape, but this had gone on long enough. He needed Sauvage's knowledge on T'lol.

Seeing the two lizards closing in Klied quickly made his way down the stairs and towards Poffo's booth from behind. The Trandoshans got to the table first, one grabbing Poffo while the other sat down to talk to him. Seemed like they wanted to play with their food. That was fine Klied thought as he put his hand on his knife and slowly began to draw out the blade. It gave him plenty of time to get ready.

"You ssssshhhouldn't talk like that, Ssssauvage. You may end up with a few holesss and ssscrapes." The standing Trandoshan said, only for Klied to slide in beside him and raise his knife to the lizard's throat. "Wha-" The surprised thug started only to be silenced as Klied pressed the blade a bit harder against his scaled skin, threatening to cut him.

"Easy there..." The hunter said smoothly. "Don't cut yourself." He turned his attention to the hissing Trandoshan sitting across the table. "Hate to interrupt..." He started with a grin. "But I've already got an appointment with Mr. Sauvage. You gentlemen will have to wait." The sitting Trandoshan growled.

"You shouldn't have gotten involved..." He hissed ominously, and started to move his hand to reach under the table. Klied pressed his knife harder, causing the standing lizard to gasp and turn his head up, blood starting to trickle down his neck.

"Careful now." Klied warned. "You sure you're quick enough on the draw?" The sitting Trandoshan glared right back at him, the two remained in a staring contest for a good few seconds before suddenly the lizard acted, his hand going to a holster on his thigh and trying to draw a blaster. Klied was faster. He brought up his foot and kicked the table, overturning it on the sitting Trandoshan and knocking him to the floor. The standing lizard took the opportunity to swat Klied's hand away and then release Poffo, instead trying to make a swipe at the hunter with his deadly claws. Klied caught the Trandoshan's arm mid swing, then brought up his knife in his other hand. He stabbed the lizard right in the belly, drawing a pained cry as he dragged the blade across his abdomen and pulled it out again, spilling his guts all over the floor before shoving the body into the crowd. The dance floor was instantly in a panic, everyone screaming and shoving each other as they made a break for the exits. Klied quickly surveyed the room. The other Trandoshan was getting up, and the bouncers were running towards them. He looked towards Poffo, hoping his assistance had earned at least some degree of trust. "How about we get out of here?" He asked.

@Isen
 

Poffo Sauvage

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"Easy there..." Poffo heard over his shoulder. It was the stranger. He didn't even have to look back. Who was this guy? If it was a T'lol goon, he likely would have left Poffo for dead in the hands of the Trandoshans and told his boss that Poffo died in a scrum. Heck, he might even take credit for it. Things moved quickly, and mass hysteria ensued. Patrons running for doors, tables flipped over, and reptillian entrails sloshing onto the floor. He saw the living Trandoshan trying to stand. "How about we get out of here?"

Poffo's adrenaline was going full throttle and he soccer kicked the Trandoshan right in the teeth, causing two of them to dislodge and hit the floor. He could see the bouncers moving against the grain of panicking clubbers. Poffo added three hard stomps to the neck and head of his downed opponent spouting obscenities now and then. "Oh, yeah! Not so tough in a fair fight, are you, Scales?" The bouncers were closing in, but Poffo's rage kicked into overdrive. He started stomping over and over, ribs, hands, and back to the head. The Trandoshan was out cold and Poffo thought he felt some ribs and a reptillian jaw crack under his boot. He looked up to see three bouncers fight their way to a clear path to Sauvage and the stranger. He looked back and thought he saw annoynace in the stranger's face that Poffo didn't just bounce when he had the first opportunity.

Poffo smirked a small grin off to one side of his face. "Maybe you're right, yeah. After you, stranger." Poffo certainly didn't trust this stranger yet, but leaving with him beat catching a double murder charge if that second Trandoshan didn't wake up.



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Kliedden Raxx

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Klied watched as Poffo flew by like lightning to attack the off-guard Trandoshan, knocking him to the ground and giving him a few good kicks. But it didn't stop there, and as the bouncers drew closer Klied began to panic. "What the hell are you doing?" He shouted to the brawler. The man didn't even hear him. He was too busy pulverizing his would-be killer. Klied looked again, the bouncers were almost on them.

Under any other circumstances he would have just bolted, left the madman to fend for himself. But he needed Sauvage, so he growled under his breath in frustration and let the brawler blow off some steam. Once Sauvage finally turned to face him Klied just glared back at him before nodding his head towards the stairs. Time to go.

The hunter made a break for the stairway, planning to leave the same way he had come in. One of the bouncers, a big Karkarodon, cut him off, interposing himself between Klied and the stairs and spreading his arms wide. Klied didn't slow down. Instead he leapt up onto a table and leapt again right towards the big alien, kneeing him in the head and laying him out on the stairs. He kept moving right up the stairs to the second level, making a dash for the restroom from which he could make it back to the fire escape. He was stopped as a blaster bolt whizzed past his head, hitting the ceiling above him.

Klied glanced over the balcony at the now empty dance floor below. The four remaining Trandoshans must have heard the commotion in the club because they had forced their way in, and Turssk was holding a smoking blaster aimed right at him. Klied just turned around and ran right in the other direction. There had to be another emergency exit somewhere. The bouncers tried to stop the lizards as well, only to be gunned down without a second thought. It looked like playtime was over. They really wanted Poffo dead. Klied just hoped he wasn't trapped in this club. Two on four weren't the best odds.

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Poffo Sauvage

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The stranger should seemed to know where he was going, so Poffo decided to follow. He watched this man leap and connect with a beautiful flying knee right to the dome of the sharkie. "Damn..." Poffo mumbled under his breath as he trailed behind. He may have to grind this guy into the Coruscant concrete after he found out who he was, but damn if Sauvage wasn't impressed. Poffo followed him up the stairs to the second floor, but a blaster shot fired in the vicinity of their noggins caused the stranger to pause and look. He watched as the bouncers fell to the blaster fire. Would have been nice to have them for help, but that was no longer a possibility. Poffo hated blasters and gritted his teeth in anger. Escalating to blasters, to Poffo, signaled that you weren't man enough to handle your business fist to fist. He hoped to get a crack at these lizards one more time in close proximity, numbers be damned.

The stranger took off at a sprint, but Poffo could tell that his primary escape route had been compromised. Poffo ran after him. This guy had shown himself to be a wily SOB to this point, and Sauvage had a feeling, that together, they might get out of this mess. Turssk was running and shooting, but thankfully, Trandoshans and their claws made their fine motor skills suspect. Trandoshans are typically below average shots. Turssk didn't appear to be much of an exception.

Looking up, Poffo saw a huge metal duct that poured out cold air into a building that accumulated a lot of heat from machines and dancing bodies and not many outlets for fresh air and ventilation. The ducts looked heavy duty, but the brackets that it hung from looked suspect, and the joints of ductwork itself was clearly a rush job. Not at all uncommon in the lower levels. Poffo stopped, leaped and wrapped his arms the ductwork and started pulling on it to come down. Turssk and his followers had made it to the second level and followed them along the balcony to a catwalk that connected this balcony to another one. The Trandoshan smiled and took aim at Poffo, only about twenty yards away. As he pulled the trigger, Poffo screamed for strength and pulled down with everything he had, collapsing the duct down between him and the blaster. The bolt ricocheted harmlessly away. The huge pipe blocked passage to the catwalk. They had no clear exit that Poffo could see, but at least he bought some time. On the flip side, going back was no longer an option. Plan B wasn't usually better than Plan A anyway? If it was, the Plan B would have been Plan A.


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Kliedden Raxx

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As he ran Klied's mind raced. This was a bad situation. Normally when he was on the hunt he had an area well scoped out before he even made a move on his quarry, ideally he would have had several escape routes already planned out if they were needed. This time he didn't have that luxury.

As they neared the catwalk Klied jumped up onto the thin walkway and started hurrying across it was quickly as he could while maintaining his balance. Thankfully their Trandoshan pursuers weren't the best shots, most of the blaster bolts flying harmlessly past him. One lucky shot grazed over his shoulder, but it mainly just fried his jacket and left Klied with nothing more than a stinging burn.

He jumped down on the other side of the catwalk, looking back to see Poffo cutting off the Trandoshans from being able to follow them. Once again he was impressed by the man's raw strength. He wouldn't mind having this Sauvage guy around more often. Maybe later if they didn't kill each other he'd offer him a partnership. But he had done more than block off their pursuers, he had given Klied an opening.

While the lizards were distracted trying to forcefully move the duct obstructing their path Klied pulled out his cycler rifle and leveled it aiming across the balcony. He fired off a single shot, blowing off the head of one of the Trandoshans. They took cover quickly after that, and soon Klied was crouching behind the balcony to avoid a hail of blaster fire. Three down, three to go. The odds were slowly shifting in their favor.

As Poffo joined him on this side of the second floor Klied continued moving along the balcony, keeping low enough to stay out of blaster range. Eventually he found the emergency exit he was looking for. The hunter picked up the pace, sprinting forward and trying to push through the door and to their escape, only to slam into it and fall right back on his rear. "What?" He exclaimed as he shook his head, shouldering his rifle as he stood up and going back to the door. It was jammed. "Of course this place isn't up to code..." He muttered to himself before turning to Poffo. "Sauvage! I need a hand here!" The door was stuck good, even with Poffo's strength it might take him a minute or so to work it open. And their pursuers were slowly but surely making their way towards them. Klied took up a defensive position and prepared to fire. This was it.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Poffo ran from a crouch, trying to limit his vulnerability to blaster fire. He did pop his head up to see the stranger earhole one of the Trandoshans with his blaster rifle. "Deadly with a knife and a rifle, hmm?" Poffo thought. Poffo didn't know whether to be impressed or suspicious of this guy. Both, probably. He could definitely handle himself in a fight and held composure as well as he's seen on these streets. Poffo watched him as he tried to run his way through the door only to be repelled with a hard thump. "That looked painful," Poffo thought. He couldn't help but grin.

"Sauvage! I need a hand here!" his "partner" yelled at him. Poffo made his way to the door and tried all sorts of things while this guy held the reptiles at bay with a long gun. Poffo tried prying, kicking, shoulders, pulling. Looked for buttons, nothing. It was jammed tight and wasn't budging. He looked back at the advancing reptiles. Between the obstacle course of the trashed ducts, the catwalks, and balconies and the sniper fire of the stranger, the Trandoshans were slowly advancing in their direction. Their direction was fully focused on the stranger who was pinned in a defensive position, but it was a good spot. It wouldn't hold forever, but it certainly held their attention and drastically slowed their advance.

"Time for Plan C, yeah," Poffo said and made his way to the edge of the balcony and stepped over the railing. "I'd be forever grateful if you don't earhole me like you did Scales back there." With that, he dropped down and landed as gracefully as you could reasonably expect a 240 lb ball of muscle to land. He took a deep breath and looked at several ways to leave on the lower level. He looked up and saw the stranger continuing to exchange fire. The Trandoshans were fixated on him, and they had reason to be- he was the one who was playing whack-a-lizard with his rifle and leaving them lifeless on the floor. Poffo could escape easily. Several huge windows, a couple of doors...he could just take his leave and leave the stranger on his own to deal with the trio of Trandoshans that remained.

And he gave it serious consideration. However, Poffo owed him one. Maybe even two or three. If it weren't for the stranger, he likely would have encounterd all these Trandoshans alone in the alley. The stranger saved his life in this club no less than twice already. The idea of this stranger going to such great lengths while working for T'lol didn't make sense. Maybe he was telling the truth about that. Poffo sighed and knew he had an obligation here. Besides, if he alienated this guy and he survived...he would be pissed. This stranger didn't seem like the kind of guy he wanted to piss off, and he already had a head start on that with the right hand to the jaw in the alley.

Sauvage raced through the darkened bottom floor and made his way to the stairs. He would flank them from behind. He ran up as quietly as he could. He navigated the destroyed ductwork and the catwalks and the balconies and the dead bodies. The Trandoshans were still advancing, and the fire was still incoming. Now he was in the stranger's kill zone. He hoped like Hell that he was right about this guy and that he was as good a shot as he appeared to be in the early going.

Thanksfully, the Trandoshans are a heavy footed lot, so Poffo's own footsteps and creaking along the metal walkway didn't cause alarm. They had become stalled with an open space about twenty yards between their position and the stranger's. A bit of a stalemate, but they had numbers. Poffo, as quietly as he could, crept behind the one in the rear and snapped his neck. He never saw it coming. The body of the reptillian slumped over without too much noise, but his blaster clanked loudly against the metal floor, causing it to misfire in the general direction of the closest living Trandoshan. He spun around saying, "Hey, watch your....He's behind us!"

Poffo heard these words as he was bending over to pick up the blaster. Poffo, not being well-versed in blasters started firing at the two Trandoshans who were now giving their attention to Sauvage. Both parties started panic firing without much aiming, and it was a shower of blue and red bolts. Poffo stumbled backwards just trying to get to the stairs. He clipped one of the Trandoshans in the shoulder, and they returned the favor with a shot that caught clipped Poffo's wrist of his shooting hand. The blaster dislodged and flew over the railing to the bottom floor. Poffo turned tried getting back to the stairs, but there was too much debris to move quickly enough to survive the barrage of fire. Again, Poffo slipped off the balcony and tumbled to the first floor, landing hard on his ankle without two good hands to roll into his fall. He tried to stand on it to run, but it gave way under his weight. He flipped over a table and tried using it for protection against the blasters. The Trandoshans were panicking, they were disoriented, firing wildly, and he hoped upon hope that the stranger had a clean shot to make these last two Trandoshans dead-dead. Otherwise, with no blaster, his ability to run flee hampered, and a thin table that couldn't protect against laser bolts, he could well be lizard-meat if the Trandoshans wern't take care of.


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Kliedden Raxx

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They were in a bad spot, even with Klied having drawn first blood. His slugthrower was a hunting rifle, ill suited to an outright firefight. He was managing to hold off their attackers for now, but a low fire rate and limited amount of ammunition told him he was doomed to fail unless they found an escape route quickly. To that end Klied was very much surprised when Poffo gave up on the door and instead made his way over to the balcony to leap over it.

"What are you doing?" He shouted somewhat desperately, only for the brawler to jump over the side down to the floor below. Klied glanced over the railing at the dance floor where Poffo had landed, but then was forced to take cover again from the enemy blaster fire. If you leave me here I swear... He thought to himself, but in the end knew he had no choice but to keep up the fire on the Trandoshans and hope he got lucky.

Having lost visual on Poffo he continued to pop up from cover periodically to fire off a shot at the lizards, keeping them at bay. Even so they slowly advanced on his position, getting closer and closer. Just when Klied was starting to panic he spotted Poffo coming up from behind. The brawler killed one of the Trandoshans, then tried to shoot another. He failed and was forced to retreat, but the distraction gave Klied another opening. He popped up and fired his rifle, downing one more lizard. Now only Turssk remained, and with Poffo jumping back off the balcony down to the dance floor again he turned all his fury on Klied.

The hunter fired once more, hitting the Trandoshan in the arm and causing him to drop his blaster. The lizard let out a feral roar and started bounding right towards him in response, throwing caution to the wind. Klied pulled back the bolt on his rifle and let the shell fly, only to see he was empty. He reached into his pocket for another clip, but it was empty. "Kark…" The hunter muttered under his breath, and checked another pocket. Empty. "Kark kark kark!" He desperately patted over his person for any more ammunition, only to find he was completely out. And Turssk was getting closer.

The hunter drew his knife and hurled it at the Trandoshan, the blade embedding itself in the lizard's shoulder. He just growled and kept coming, right on top of him now. Klied stood up straight and swung his cycler rifle like a bat at the Trandoshan, but the lizard caught it and ripped the weapon from his hands, tossing it aside. Klied kicked, landing a blow to Turssk's midsection. The Trandoshan grunted and grabbed hold of his leg, then reached out with his free hand and grabbed the hunter by the throat. With no visible effort he hoisted the hunter into the air before throwing him off the balcony.

Klied landed badly, groaning painfully as he rolled onto his stomach and tried to crawl away. Turssk leapt down from the balcony behind him, stalking towards the injured hunter. It was clear the Trandoshan was in a rage state, seeing nothing but red. He was going to kill him. Klied was too dazed to fight back at this point, and could do nothing more than try to crawl away.

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Poffo Sauvage

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Poffo's most important order of business was just to stand. He would need to stand to be able to defend himself, and some point, the local authorities would be investigating a brouhaha this big regardless of what level they were on. He had no intention of being questioned and hung out to dry. For once, Poffo didn't start anything here. Purely self-defense in his eyes. With the table flipped over in front of him, he noticed that he was no longer taking fire. He took a peak and noticed that one of the Trandoshans was dead and the remaining Turssk was stalking the stranger. "Good, yeah. This guy can handle himself. He'll be ok, yeah."

Just as Sauvage muttered the words, he saw the stranger being flung over the balcony by his throat and landing harshly on the floor. He didn't look too good to Poffo. Sauvage had worked a couple of the durasteel legs of the table off. They were thin, but they were hardy enough to break bone and cause one heck of a headache. They also could make for a makeshift splint. He ripped off his shirt, ripped it into strips, and tied one of the table legs to his own to create a splint for his ankle. It wasn't ideal, but at least he could stand and walk with a limp. He saw the Trandoshan chomping at the bit to get to the stranger who was in no position to defend himself. A couple of swipes of those claws and it was curtains for the stranger, who Poffo had to admit, was growing on him.

Turssk was standing over him, claws raised for a killing blow when Poffo hobbled into the reptillian's view with the stinted leg and another table leg in his hand being used as a cane. Turssk's eyes lifted up to Poffo and he laughed. "Haven't had enough yet, Sauvage? I'm going to enjoy this, Poffo." Turssk bypassed the stranger and started walking toward Poffo. "You don't look to be...a hundred percent, shall we say. This will be easy."

"I ain't exactly a hundred percent. You're right, yeah. No, no. I'm a MILLION percent, yeah! That's better than a hundred percent!" he screamed back. Poffo leaned heavily on his good leg and waited on Turssk's arrival. The Trandoshan himself had a small limp from the skirmish, and he was still bleeding from the knife that was tossed into his shoulder. Still, he was in much better shape than either the stranger or Poffo by the looks of things. Sauvage stood a little straighter as the Trandoshan approached. His ankle was likely severely sprained, not broken, but he wasn't sure. Tender, it was extremely tender, even with the splint. Poffo was still bleeding heavily from his back, his right wrist was suffering and swollen from a glancing blaster shot, and the scrape on his neck was trickling pink of a mix of blood and sweat. His face was still swelling and battered from the fight in the saloon earlier.

As Turssk approached, chuckling at the easy pickens, Poffo stood firm. When the Trandoshan got within five feet, Poffo threw a handful of shards of glass at the Reptillian that he had stored away in his pocket from a glass that had fallen off the table he scavenged for a splint and a cane. His hard scaly skin made it mostly inconsequential from a harmful standpoint, but it caused Turssk to raise his hands to block the barrage of shards. Poffo gripped the steel table leg like a bat and used the opening to crack the Reptillian in the knee on the leg he was using to brace himself against Poffo's attack. Turssk collapsed in a heap of pain as his knee buckled and popped out of place. Poffo hopped over on his own good leg, now bleeding from his hand as well due to the shards cutting him when he threw the pieces of glass. Sauvage assaulted Turssk with a savageness like he flipped a switch. Swinging the table leg like an axe chopping wood, Poffo hammered Turssk over and over in the head. Life had passed from Turssk, but Sauvage continued chopping away until the face was a bloody and misshapen heap on the floor of the club.

Out of breath, exausted, Poffo tossed the table leg on the body of the Trandoshan. In disgust, he spit on the corpse of his rival. He could hear the authorities gathering outside and see the flashing lights as more gathered for an assault of the building. Poffo and the stranger needed to find a back entrance, but Poffo knew how things worked on the lower level. When the local law enforcement got word about the caliber of fighters inside the club from witnesses, they would take their sweet time getting prepared. They probably hoped for them to escape out the back so they wouldn't have deal with it. Sauvage looked at the stranger who was still struggling to come to. Panting, and breathing heavily, his shoulders dropped. "Alright, stranger. We need to dance too, or are we good?"


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