Another Mimban

[Crix Dolan (TL8)]

Another

Mimban

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"Carter, welcome back. I believe we were discussing your debt." Said The Man in Black, "You've accumulated an impressive debt in a short time and I'm here to make sure you don't do anything," he leveled an ironic gaze at Crix and Dalo, "...Rash." He finished with a flat mirthless smile.

"I assume my men are dead, I'm impressed." Dark power radiated from the being, but Crix kept his Pazaak face on, maintaining his masked force signature as the captain spoke. "Is one of these men the swoop pilot you mentioned before?"

Carter's face was calm and collected, the silken clad gambler smiled, "I told you they were on the way," Carter replied with a cool tone.

The Azure Twilight Captian smiled menacingly, "I see." His tone skeptical, but intrigued.

Crix was scrambling, his mind grasping at the vague insinuations made by both men during the tense discussion. The Smuggler had pieced together that Carter had claimed to have an ace up his sleeve. A swoop rider of incredible ability no doubt as an excuse to buy him some time to secure a discreet way off planet and the Captain had called his bluff.

"Azure Twilight Captain Cal Danner, may I humbly introduce you to Swoop Mechanic, Vykk Garris," he said gesturing toward Crix, "And ace Swoop Pilot, Korl Marcus." he said introducing Dalo as the pilot.

It took all of Crix's experience as a smuggler and his training as a Jedi to refrain from breaking his composure. What in the hell was Carter thinking?

Cal Danner laughed, "It's a pleasure. I look forward to seeing if you live up to Mr. Bellator's remarkable stories."

Danner, seemingly satisfied with the turn of events, clasped his hands behind his back, turned toward the door and began making his way out of the deluxe apartment. over his shoulder, he said to Carter, "Remember, if Korl loses, all three of you are dead."

With that final warning, the Azure Twilight Captain left. Crix rounded on Carter his accusatory index finger jabbing into the other man's chest as he said, "This is just like Mimban!" The Smuggler ran his hands through his hair saying, "You're unbelievable."

Crix looked to Dalo, "Please tell me you've driven a swoop before."

@vamp

 

[Dalo Claxus]

.

Dalo looked from Carter to the other guy, who had the composure of a Sith, though seemed to be more interested in the crime world. He recognized the dark side energy that radiated off him, though someone not sensitive to the Force (like Carter) would just feel it, a strange air that filled him with dread. The Padawan eyed the Man in Black warily, then Carter as he threw Crix and him into the mix. Dalo had wanted an IFF Spoofer, not an introduction to the Outer Rim crime world, though it seemed the best things in life came in bundles.

He nodded and flashed the Man a sly smile, hiding his uncertainty with a thick layer of arrogance, just like the arrogance an ace swoop pilot would feel when being introduced to someone important. Yeah, I'm the shit, he said with his eyes, even though Dalo had never driven competitively. Fortunately, the Man left soon enough, not before leaving them with an ultimatum straight out of a superhero holofilm. "You're damn lucky he picked me," he replied to Crix. "You don't seem the swoop racing type. I'm no pro, but the kids of Tatooine have to do something for fun."

Carter let out a sigh of relief, though his face made it obvious he was still a little worried. "Good! Good." Dalo stared at him through his eyelashes, eyebrows raised. "But?" The man was doing his damned best to avoid the Jedi's gaze. "Iiiiiit's a big match." Dalo popped his head out from his neck, looking like a giraffe, but maintaining the same facial expression. "And?" Carter let out another deep sigh, this one more troubled. "It's an Allstars match. You're going to be racing against the best pilots in the Outer Rim for a place in the Allstars Hall of Fame." There it was.

Dalo tried to figure out how the hell the Man had even believed Carter when he introduced the two Jedi to him. He didn't. The Man was toying with them, probably feeling amused as hell, prepared to end all three collaborators and not expecting their plan to work. It was damn obvious the cover had been hastily put together, and an experienced mob boss—and trained Force user—was easily capable of seeing right through them. So, the Man knew, but the audience did not. With a clever costume, Dalo could pass off as the Korl Marcus guy. The only thing that would need some working on would be his skills.

"When's the race?"

@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan (TL8)]

Crix admired Dalo's confident facade, but he had feeling things were about to get pretty... complicated. He wondered if the Kid was ready for something like this, unfortunately, they didn't really have time to change the plan. Upon Dalo's request Cater began to explain the event. He was painting it like some walk in the park, and Crix wasn't going to let him get away with that.

"Uh, how 'bout you tell him what's this race is called on the circuit?" Carter visibly flinched.

Knowing Carter would just try to ease the blow with frilled words, Crix decided to fill in the gaps. "It's called The Gauntlet, this race is brutal, and there will be highly skilled pilots looking to forcibly remove anyone they deem competition. The mortality rate on this race specifically is out of control."

Carter jumped in, "Sure, that may be true, but, that doesn't mean it won't be awesome." Crix rolled his eyes.

Dalo's question was answered by Carter, "Oh it's, tomorrow." Said the silken clad gambler with a nonchalance Crix wished he could pull off. Too bad he wasn't fooled by the man's gilded veneer.

Crix sighed and shook his head hooking his thumbs in his gunbelt while asking, "Really, we have less than 24 hrs to prep for a death race you decided to throw us in?" He laughed sardonically feeling ire rise in his gut Carter was pushing his luck this time.

"Do we even have a swoop?" Carter's lips spread into a grin and Crix's stomach sank.

"I have one in mind, but I'll need a little help stealing it." He held his hands up stopping Crix's outburst. He was suddenly serious, "I know what this looks like, but it's the only out I can think of."

Crix crossed his arms over his chest indignantly and said, "Fine, we steal the swoop. Any other requests while you're at it?"

Carter smiled, "Yeah, you'll need to get my codes back,"

The Smuggler frowned at the request, "What!? How'd, you manage to LOSE your codes?" He asked exasperation clear in his voice as his expression darkened.

Gesturing toward the door he said, "It's a long story, but Danner managed to get them. I have to be at the race, but you don't. While Dalo and I take care of the race, I need you to go get the codes from Danner."

The Jedi rubbed his temples as this entire thing continued to spiral out of control. "Fine, any idea where they are?"

Carter nodded, "I've got a contact on the inside that says he's keeping them in his hidden personal vault in his office."

"So, you're asking me to break into the personal residence of an Azure Twilight captain?" His question was rhetorical, and his tone dripped with irritation. Carter replied with an eager nod and a smile.

"I hate you."

"I know... but we don't have the time to deal with that let's save my ass and get you guys some IFF Spoofer's, huh?"


@vamp

 

[Dalo Claxus]

.

The door slammed behind them as they strolled out of the office building. "This better be worth it," he murmured to Crix, eyes scanning the dusty street. He was a bit jumpy, now that he knew how trouble-prone Carter was. No one knew when another enforcer might jump out of a trash can or something and try to get into the building behind them to collect some outstanding fees. Dalo was looking forward to getting back to the ship, where he at least knew no Azure Twilight thug would try to kill him for no reason other than entourage. Still, people had tried to take him out for less.

They roamed down the street side by side, Dalo trying to make sense of what the kriff they'd gotten themselves into, already reaching for his datapad. He typed for a bit, then tapped on something. A video began playing loudly. "So, you've decided to try your hand at swoop racing!" praised a calm male voice. "Swoop racing is a sport as old as t—" Dalo paused the video as fast as he could, not letting the announcer speak anymore. "Oops," he murmured, tabbing out to hide the evidence. "Just a refresher."

@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan (TL8)]

Crix rolled his eyes at Dalo chuckling as he made his way toward the door. If he were going to be playing spy he needed his gear from the ship.

Turning back to Carter he said, "Don't get this kid killed please."

Carter spread his arms in mock surrender and added a little extra velvet to his voice, "Oh you can count on me, baby." Crix passed through the doors leaving Dalo and Carter in the room. The silken clad gambler flashed a winning smile in the younger man's direction, "Let's go get that swoop."

Crix walked up the boarding ramp of The Highwind and into his room. He threw on his armor adding his helmet for a little discretion and slipping his lightsaber into his jacket just in case. Peetwo warbled inquisitively and The Smuggler sighed.

"No, I'm not."

The little astromech grunted argumentatively and Crix ignored him. He started toward the airlock and Peetwo blocked his way. Crix sucked his teeth with mild annoyance as he tried and failed to step around the droid.

"What's the big deal, buddy?"

Peetwo responded with a worried hum, the response brought a frown to The Smuggler's face.

"You've got a bad feeling about this?" Peetwo rocked back and forth anxiously trumpeting his concern. Crix placed two steady hands on both sides of the astromech's dome.

"I know things have been nuts, but it's a job. I don't have a choice, pal."

Crix's voice was calm and reassuring. Things had been so wild he'd not had time to wipe the little guy's memory circuits and he was starting to wonder if it was affecting the little guy. With a wry grin, he deftly slid a hand to the droids power core and manually powered him down. He couldn't let Peetwo put himself or anyone else for that matter in danger and based on his growing anxiety Crix couldn't be sure he wouldn't wander off. He lifted the droid and secured him in the main hold. He rested a hand on the droid's dome considering the warning and regretting powering his friend down.

He didn't have a lot of time so, he hopped on his swoop and made for the Azure Twilight Captain's personal residence. As he closed in, his comlink went off. He connected the comm to his helm and said, "What Carter?"

"Dalo's ready for the race. We got him a sweet ride and I'll be honest, the kid seems like a natural."

Crix chuckled knowingly, but said, "Yeah, I figured he'd be a shoo-in."

The Smuggler swung into a nearby alley and parked his swoop behind a dumpster and covered with a tarp. He double-checked his equipment and finished the conversation with Carter. He was early, but that was fine he needed a little time to get a lay of the land. Carter transmitted the coordinates of a secret entrance courtesy of this inside contact. Peetwo's warning was prevalent in his psyche as he made his way to the entrance.

The mission had finally begun.

@vamp

 

[Dalo Claxus]

.

"Alright, so you know the basic controls?" Dalo glanced down at the swoop he was sitting on—a base mode, though pricey from the looks of it—and nodded. Who didn't know? Just to be sure, he held the brakes down and revved what he thought would be the bar that was connected to the engine. The swoop roared, and a sly smile broke on the Jedi's face. This would be easy.

"Competitive racing it different from your average, run of the mill, racing. You have to drive around in the circle, and keep foul play to a minimum. Be too blatant in your rule breaking and you'll get kicked out of the race." Fair enough. Dalo nodded as Carter got into the details, letting him continue before speaking. "That said, I managed to pump some nifty tricks into this puppy. Press that button near your heel." Dalo looked down, finding a big red button next to his foot. He pressed it, and a massive plume of smoke erupted from the exhaustion pipe of the swoop. "Nifty little trick. Good to confuse anyone behind you. Now, you good to go?" Dalo nodded again. He was prepared for the race.

—————​

If he wasn't ready, he better muster up the courage now. Dalo surveyed the roaring crowd, his eyes scanning the stadium around him. It was massive, and there were dozens of floating droids taking pictures and recording the race for various networks. He was wearing a mask to prevent being spotted by anyone he knew—this would be an awful way for the Jedi to get found out.

The racers around him were all focused on their own swoops, and the Padawan looked down to ensure nothing was falling off. It would have sucked to start the race and find out he'd been sabotaged, so he'd kept a close eye on his vehicle. After one last check, he looked back up—just in time for the countdown. The Jedi revved his engine.

"3....2.....1.....Go!" The roar of the crowd mingled with the roar of the engines as each swoop took off, sending a massive cloud of dust flying up. Dalo was in the first few, though he knew that was bound to change. The Jedi's eyes were on the road ahead, though he couldn't help but wonder how Crix was doing.

@Zay