Ask An Evening in Epica

[Cassian Graves]

Shards of glass sliced through the Zeltron's skin from multiple angles, visible cuts beginning to appear across his face, hands, and neck before he'd even hit the ground. Cassian landed with a thud, his right arm bearing the weight of the fall.

Jason was calling to him from the window, a stun gun in one hand and a perplexed look upon his features. "Well, how was I supposed to know that?" Cassian quipped, silently wondering why he'd just thrown himself through a window. Glass shattered and broke beneath him as he rose to his feet, stretching his arms to test for any damage.

Another designer suit, ruined. Whatever would Kiacro say?

Cassian trudged blindly across the lawn, the street lights around the front courtyard his guide. That middle-aged man had finally managed to retrieve his shoe, only to fall into the fountain. He laid there, snoring, a happy and dead-to-the-world look on his face. Undoubtedly he would awaken to a pounding headache tomorrow morning, but Cassian had a feeling he would, too.

The Zeltron turned just as Jason trotted down the steps of the estate, running a hand through his dark hair to shake shards of glass loose. "Do you have a speeder?" Even with their three attackers temporarily unconscious, he wanted to get out of here as fast as he could.

@LouJoVi flipped, no lasting damage from the fall

 

[Jason Hipori]

”You saw me with a blaster! What did you think that I was going to do with it? Juggle it?” he said back to the Zeltron, his voice full of amusement. Now that he was sure that Cassian was fine, Jason went to call the police to deal with these criminals. He didn’t want something bad to happen with the Senator. After all, he was his pathway to make the Hipori Motors enter in Onderon.

After warning the authorities about what happened, Jason left the building and went after Cassian. He found the Zeltron in the front courtyard. “You look terrible.” the Senator’s clothes were destroyed, with pieces of glass and cuts everywhere. “Did you get hurt? Maybe you should go to the hospital.”

However, the politician didn’t seem to be hurt and asked if the young Hipori had a speeder. After all that happened, Jason wasn’t surprised that he wanted to leave this place as soon as possible. Whoever these people that attacked them were, there could still be more waiting to make another ambush.

“Yes, I have. Follow me.” Jason gestured for the Zeltron to come after him. He would guide graves toward the valet parking, with who would bring his speeder. After the two were inside it, the young man would start to drive. Soon, the building would be on the distance and they would be able to hear the police arriving.

“So, I think that you owe me some explanations.” Jason said, while his eyes remained focused on the street. “Who were these people and why were they after you?” he wanted to ask about the puzzle box too, but decided to do it later. For now he wanted to know why they were ambushed.

@llamallove

 

[Cassian Graves]

"Thanks a lot," the Zeltron grumbled with a scowl. "Are you always this charming? I bet you're a real hit with the ladies." There was no real hostility behind Cassian's remark, despite his tone. If even half of the tabloids surrounding Jason Hipori were to believed, the young heir was one of the Core World's more popular bachelors. "But I'm fine. Let's get out of here."

Other than some minor cuts and bruising—not to mention a rumpled appearance— Cassian was unharmed. He had no intention of going to the hospital. The heaviest blow he'd been dealt this evening was to his pride, and no bandage was going to fix that.

All the way to the parked speeder, the Zeltron would look over his shoulder, blue eyes unblinking as he watched for any sign that they were being tailed. That little encounter in the corridor had been too easy. It wasn't until they were in the speeder, the glowing lights of Randagus Cobble's estate shrinking in the rearview mirror, that Cassian began to relax.

"I suppose I do owe you an explanation," he admitted with a tired chuckle, leaning back in the passenger seat. "They're Onderonians— anti-royal extremists, to be more specific. They'll stop at nothing to thwart the Crown at every step, and as you saw tonight, they're not afraid to play down and dirty." He ran a hand along his jaw, wiping away blood. "They're roughnecks, really, from fringe tribes on the outskirts of civilization. They hate the Royal Family and anyone associated with them, including the Untamed."

Cassian held up the puzzle box, its intricate design imperceptible in the darkness. "I presume you know how Randangus Cobble died?"

@LouJoVi

 

[Jason Hipori]

Jason laughed with Cassian’s answer. “Not only with the ladies, but with lads too!” he eyed the Zeltron’s body, showing him what he meant. “If you are fine, then we can leave this place.” he never thought that he would be ambushed or even attacked during an auction. The night had been more eventful than he thought.

While Jason piloted his speeder, he would be listening to what Graves was saying. Even if these people being anti-monarchy could explain why they wanted to ambush the Senator, it didn’t explain why they wanted the puzzle box. Unless inside it was something that could bring down the monarchy of Onderon.

“I heard that Randangus died in an explosion.” beyond what he wanted to know about the data card that he was carrying safely in his pocket, Jason hadn’t delved much into the life of Randangus Cobble. If Cassian had more information about it that he wanted to share, the young Hipori would happily hear it.

After some time driving, Jason noticed that another speeder was coming after them. Every turn that they took, it would follow. “We are being followed.” he said, after once again turning and seeing the vehicle do the same. “Put your belt and hold tight, we are going faster now.”

As soon as he said it, Jason accelerated. His speeder was one made by the Hipori Motors and he was proud for making one of the fattest in the Galaxy. The vehicle would go faster, while the young Hipori avoided the others that were in front of them.

@llamallove

 

[Cassian Graves]

Cassian nodded. "Local law enforcement ruled his death an accident, but I have my suspicions." Suspicions, to say the least. "Even the cops in Epica are used to a certain lifestyle, which makes them easy to buy off. No formal investigation was ever conducted. A little strange, don't you think— that a botanist dies in an explosion and no one bothers to look into the possibility that it was more than just an accident?"

There was only one hole in the Zeltron's theory—a large, gaping hole. How had a group of fringe tribesmen on the outskirts of Onderon's civilization acquired enough credits to pay off an entire police force?

There was only one solution: someone had to be backing them—someone with either a lot of money or a lot of influence and reach. Someone had hired those two goons back at the estate tonight, and someone had disposed of Randangus Cobble, at the height of the scientist's paranoia no less.


"Cobble spent the last few years of his life in Onderon's jungles, searching for something that's supposedly just a myth." The Zeltron sat up straighter in his seat, glancing over at Jason as the heir continued to drive. "Cobble claimed he found it, and despite what King Hakan might spout—I believe him. The key lies in this box. I hope," he added in a hushed tone, confidence waning.

When Jason announced that they were being followed, the Zeltron turned to look over his shoulder. "They're catching up to us, too. I hope you've got insurance."

@LouJoVi

 

[Jason Hipori]

”Indeed. I’ll not be surprised if that was what happened. Nowadays you can’t trust even the police.” Jason said sarcastically. He couldn’t say much about it, the young Hipori himself had bought the silence of the police several times. Before him, his parents did that too.

Jason’s attention returned to the Zeltron when he mentioned what Cobble had discovered before his death. If he wasn’t needing to focus in the street to avoid their pursuers, the young Hipori would have asked more questions about it. He still wanted to know what was this supposedly myth that the scientist had found.

He wasn’t having much luck in evading their pursuers. Each turn that he made, the speeder that was coming after them seemed to be closer. Jason always boasted of being a faster pilot like a professional pod racer. Not being able to evade these people was a shame that he would not allow to continue.

Once again stepping in the accelerator, Jason tried another attempt to evade them. There was a garbage truck piloted by a droid coming from the opposite side of the street. Seeing it as an opportunity, the young Hipori moved his speeder toward it. As he had expected, their pursuers were hot in their wheels.

At the last second, Jason would swiftly turn back to the proper side of the street. Unfortunately, their pursuers weren’t fast like him. They weren’t able to stop in time and their speeder collided against the truck. “It isn’t me who will need to have insurance. So, where do we go now?”

@llamallove

 

[Cassian Graves]

Cassian stared over his left shoulder, eyes wide as the racing speeder and garbage truck collided. Metal screeched against metal, moments later the two vehicles exploding and erupting into flames. Thick, dark gray clouds of smoke billowed into the sky, chunks of metal and garbage flying in every direction.

An involuntary breath of relief escaped the Zeltron's lips as he turned around in his seat, once again facing the road ahead. "I hope that droid was insured," he remarked, adding a little levity to lighten the unmistakable tension in the air. "Not that it'll do him much good now." The droid, along with the rest of the trash he'd been escorting, were scattered from one side of the ditch to the other.

"Remind me never to ride with you again." Cassian was joking, and even though they'd only met that night, Jason would be able to pick up on that. If it weren't for Jason's quick reflexes and fast vehicle, they would've been scattered from one side of the ditch to the other.

"First, I need a drink. There's a cantina up ahead, a little quiet, out of the way place. Take a left up here." The Zeltron ran a hand through his hair, the faintest of grins tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Then I'm getting off of this planet."

Not that he would be any safer on Onderon now that they knew he had the puzzle box.

@LouJoVi

 

[Jason Hipori]

”I think that the people inside that speeder would need more than insurance.” he looked at the rearview mirror, seeing the smoke rising from where the two vehicles had crashed. Jason didn’t stop to see if they were alive. He only wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

Jason laughed at Cassian’s comment. “Well, next time that we are being followed by possible assassins, I’ll allow you to pilot.” the young Hipori jokes. He didn’t expect that something like that would happen again. Although, he would be prepared for the next time that he meets the Zeltron.

“A cantina? Of course!” Jason said, before stepping in the accelerator. While he preferred to go into fancy nightclubs, the young Hipori wasn’t strange for this type of place. He could also use some stronger drinks after all that happened tonight. He turned at the left according to what the Zeltron had pointed.

“Yeah. I’ll not stay here much longer either. After some drinks, I’ll return to Coruscant.” Now that he already had the data card, Jason needed to give it to the engineers of the Hipori Motors. He wanted to start the production of this new line of vehicles as fast as possible. “We can see when I can visit Onderon, so we can talk about business more calmly.”

@llamallove

 

[Cassian Graves]

"The 'next time?'" the Zeltron repeated, eyes wide and lips curling into a wide grin. "You expect us to do this again?" Maybe Jason Hipori wasn't as lily-livered as the majority of rich and spoiled heirs he had met in his lifetime. Of course, he supposed that same stereotype could be easily applied to politicians. Neither were destined to be popular amongst the masses. "I assure you my life isn't always this exciting. Usually, it's as dull as dishwater."

The racing speeder would pull to a stop outside of the wayside cantina, letters barely flickering to life in the electric sign that hung above the door. The windows were filthy, with grease and dirt caked to the glass panes.

Just the sort of place that the two men could slip in and out of without ever being recognized. Cassian climbed out of the vehicle, fruitlessly brushing off his three-piece suit. The damage was already irreparable, and if anything, would allow him to better fit in amongst the cantina's clientele.

A long, exaggerated breath of air escaped his lips, throwing an arm over his companion's shoulder as they walked across a dirt parking lot. The puzzle box he slipped into his suit jacket for safe keeping, out of sight but not out of mind. "Quite an evening, huh?"

Tonight, a drink was in order. Tomorrow, it would all catch up with them. @LouJoVi

/end thread​

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