Darkness in Our Hearts

[Tarrius Drast]

Tarrius "Tarvix" Drast, Bounty Hunter
Tosh District, Level 2451, Nar Shadda, Imperial Hutta Space
03:34 Galactic Standard Time, 6 Years Ago
Meeting an Old Friend

It had been weeks since the Talent Agency Incident, the credits from the bounty was able to buy him enough time, to begin searching, interrogating and buying off those he needed to find the man he vowed to find. Weeks of constant planning, visualizing, and groundwork had lead up to this night, this moment. It was finally upon the young Drast, he just needed a few more things to go his way; hopefully the sleazeball held up his end of the deal.

"Hey, Tarvix old pal..heh..How you doing?"

Zori Starlighter's eyes connected with Tarrius' helmet visor, his eyes shifting quickly as he scratched against the back of his neck. Zori was a small time spice dealer with a passion for gambling all of his credits away. His measly white skin clung to small frame, as sweat poured from his copper hair. The dealer's posture and movements gave away his fright, one bad move could send him to the Imperial prison system.

"Do you have what I requested," the Drast's voice hissed in a distorted form of basic, forgoing his usual cover of Ubese as he slid into the ally way--pressing his hand against the man's shoulder.

"Look..about tha-.." His voice drifted away into a bit of a yelp as he felt the cold end of a blaster barrel directed under his chin, "Look..you didn't let me explain, I..I got him to report out to Terrix Space Dock, told him a deal was going down..He needed to be there, but he acted like he was in a hurry..I..I don't know..I don't know man, he'll be there though, I swear on the force!"

Tarrius pondered for a moment, his eyes focusing in on the pupils of Zori. He was a slimy rat, but the man's emotions exposed that he was telling the truth. "You might not want to show your face on this level ever again, but your bounty will be wiped from the guild office." The bounty hunter responded as he pulled his blaster away from the man and back into his holster.

"Oh kriff..thank you, thank you, you're a really swell guy..look if this all goes well..consider doing business with me again.."

Tarrius ignored the man's mindless babbling and stepped out of the darkness of the ally way, his visor shifting left and right before he stepped into the flowing crowd. He walked with his head low, each step his anger building--you'll pay for what you did..

 

[Tarrius Drast]

The grimy platforms of the lower levels were covered in dripping reactor oil, organic material, and mounds of trash that created a tense odor that clung to the thick smog ridden air. It was a waste compaction bin as far as the bounty hunter was concerned, but that didn't matter, not now.

The crowds of people that once filled the winding roads of the platform had fallen into small sporadic packs of one or two people. It was a strange sight to see such little people, even for a crime filled area like this. Though the Drast's suspicious had been raised, it provided him with the perfect opportunity to make his way towards the Terrix Space Dock.

Slowly the shops and apartment buildings would give away to large standalone platforms that branched from the main walking platform, various cranes and pullies arched through the sky, their large metal jaws clinging to stacks of freight containers. The static vision on his helmet whizzed and scanned across the writings that dawned the various gates, looking to see if he could spot the exact entrance of his port.

Bingo..He thought to himself as his eyes came across a large flickering sign for the space dock. It was a large industrial freight plant that veered off of the walking platform and to the left. It only had one walkway path towards the dock, which made it perfect to prevent an escape on foot. Who comes to a space dock via foot? He thought to himself as he crept along the platform, his eyes scanning ahead as he found a large container. That should make for a good spot, could possibly see if our little friend arrived on time.

 

[The Storyteller]

Tro-Sloon

The air around the space dock was heavy, Tro was simply happy that he had a filter to manage the air. The lights that dotted the platform were dimly lit, with jitter-bugs zipping and zapping into their bright aura, attracted to the sight of the clear trap that the heat presented, yet they continued on. With smuggling shipments on back order, his life had become extremely busy, he had places to be, people to see. The longer he would have to wait for that bone headed and dim witted Zori Starlighter to show up, the more he had become agitated.

"If that wiry son of a bith doesn't arrive in five minutes, I'll have his head mounted to my wall and his body fed to the rancors." He exhaled loudly, "This better have been worth my time..this associate better be worth big credits." He called out into the open, though none of his men were around to listen.

There were fourteen of them here, half of them were on a patrol, walking through the rows of large containers, keeping an eye out for rival gangs or intruders, their weapons were lowered and their eyes lazily glanced to the side. The other half stood in a circle, chatting it up and laughing at several jokes--as a few of them smoked and cheered at the color call of the latest shockball game, they were located against a stack of shipment containers that stood directly in front of the area that lead to the lone walkway out of the property.

Bzzzzzz..A vibration was felt as the holocom came to life in front of Tro's eyes, the small frame of the weaselly boy came to view, "Sir. The associate is on his way." The spice lord gave a simple nod and clicked the man's image away. Good, let him come...like a jitterbug traveling to the light that sits atop of a light pole.

 

[Xaria Wren]

It had been just over a week since the incident between herself and the other bounty hunter which had cost her eye and the other hunter's life. Now however she was hunting a bounty of a fella named Tro-Sloon, some small time gang leader that had angered the wrong person one too many times. Now however, she had managed to track him down to a Space dock that seemed like a pretty decent ambush location. The area was crowded with tall containers, rancid air and a group of patrolling guards. Pulling herself up onto a container she lifted herself up a few more levels until she was above the lights that dotted the platform.

From what she could tell, she could probably take out the circle of guards before the patrolling group would even notice that she had jumped in. Her right hand traveled down towards her hip where she had kept a pair of thermal detonators a few days earlier, but now they were gone, left behind before she had left her ship, the PoS, on a different dock. Glancing around again she looked down at the guards that traveled around the containers. That's when she spotted a figure, overlooking the same group as she was. Perhaps someone else who was after the same bounty?

Giving the person a quick glance she tilted her head slightly before turning back to the group of individuals and began to assign them numbers in her head. As one of the figures fetched out something and produced a small hologram from his palm, that was probably her bounty. Looking between targets one through six she shifted over towards the edge and saw the patrol moving away from her. When she could no longer see them behind a few more containers she looked towards the circle. Pulling out one of her Strill blasters she began to run. Loud clanking echoed out into the air as she sprinted towards the group and leaped into the air. Hitting a small switch in her gloves she propelled herself towards them with the help of her jump boots, her left foot hitting the back of the head of one of the targets in her head.

The momentum that propelled her forward brought him down onto the ground, followed by a loud crack, followed by an equally loud squishing sound. With the momentum she rolled forward between the off-guard soldiers, fishing out her second Strill blaster and aiming it at two of them. "Alright, time's up girls, Tro-Sloon, drop to your knees."

@TWD26

 

[Tarrius Drast]

Fourteen men, that was all that stood between Tarrius and the coward that had killed his mentor, his muse, his father figure. The fire inside the Drast burned as his vengeance boiled to the surface, it consumed him and his thoughts. With it came his lack of vision of the greater picture, to see that others were pursuing the same man he was after. He was ignorant to it all, all he could see was Tro's neck around his hands.

He would slide his way down the shipping crates, and onto the surface of the dock below. Two guards walked with their backs towards Tarrius, unaware of his presence. Creeping forward with ease, he would extend out a small blade from his side--jabbing it into the back of the man towards the right, who let out a groan as he fell to his knees.

"What the kriff.." Responded the other guard, who had turned to see what had happened. Instinctively the man would reach out and attempt to grab the hunter, which he allowed his left arm to be grabbed while his right foot kicked out the man's knees, causing the guard to fall to the ground and lessen his grip on Tarrius. Using his strength he would quickly wrap his arms around the falling man's shoulders and flip him to the ground--placing the knife to his neck and slicing his throat.

That was when everything changed, he heard a voice and the sound of guards running towards the center of the dock. No...someone can't be here. He would jump up onto his feet and storm forward to see a woman quickly surrounded by guards, her blasters raised. "He's mine," a static voice emitted from the helmet, "This is personal.."

tag: @Danee

 

[The Storyteller]

Tro-Sloon

The underbelly of Nar Shaddaa always had a way of making things interesting and surprising, even for an original like Tro-Sloon. So when the sight of a feminine figure appearing between his men was a shocking surprise. Starlighter's intel better have been spot on, he thought to himself as he slung a set of dual blaster pistols from his sides--aiming it in the direction of the woman. He watched as his men began to surround the woman, though he questioned if they would have the ability to take them out on their own.

That was when the guest of honor arrived, in typical fashion. He always was a hot head, the gangster thought to himself as he saw the armored boy come sprinting into the scene, his anger flaring at the woman. So they're not together...this should make things interesting, unfortunately for him I was prepared for this. His pupils would glance towards the walkway above, "Zerro..take care of the two of them, I have other business to get to.." He would respond as he began to back away from the scene, each step gaining speed.

An armored figure would come flying down from the pillars above the space dock, the metallic figure glancing towards the two of them--his visor sensors blinking and glowing red. A thick cybernetic voice would emerge from the audio communicator as a set of dual vibroblades were presented in front of him, "Shall we make this interesting...I'm afraid your little games end here."

He would toss a smoke grenade in front of himself, vanishing into the darkness for a brief moment, before reappearing within the group of thugs that had surrounded the woman, his blades lunging down towards her with quick efficiency. "Let's see what you're made of," his voice would cackle through the helmet.

 

[Xaria Wren]

As the attention was drawn away from whatever game or joke they were telling and redirected to her, Xaria couldn't help but smirk beneath the T-visor helmet that protected her scarred face. As she looked between the men, reassigning their numbers by shufflnig them around in her head, from the least dangerous to the most she had her firing solution set up. She just needed to know which one of them was Tro-Sloon so she wouldn't end up blasting him down among the blaster-fodder guards he kept to himself. However, her attention was somewhat diverted towards a figure coming towards her from the containers, proclaiming that he, presumably Tro-Sloon, was his and that it was personal.

But, Xaria didn't care if it was personal, he had a bounty on his head and she was here to collect. It apparently set off some urge to speak within Tro-Sloon as he called out for someone named Zerro, the bounty hadn't mentioned him, so, another body to bag, perhaps the blasted Imperials would pay her for having taken him out.

However, Tro-Sloon had now told Xaria who and where he was and as he began to back away from the commotion and pick up speed, she shifted the numbers around in her head. As the armored figure came crashing down onto the dock she rolled to the side, using 'Zerro' as a distraction to shoot the closest guard between the legs and then flash out with her right arm in the direction of Tro-Sloon's escape, firing once and twice as she moved her left hand to take out another of the guards with a quick shot into his chest.

All of this had happened within the span of a few seconds and the surrounding smoke didn't register for Xaria until she heard a thud landing where she had been crouched up moments earlier.

@TWD26

 

[Tarrius Drast]

Tarrius' eyes watched as the armored figure came crashing down from above. Part of him felt lucky for having this woman here, without her things could have ended poorly. It seemed that most of the attention had been drawn onto her, which was a blessing, as well as the attention of Zerro.

His eyes would lock in on two thugs who approached the hunter with various melee weapons drawn. Together the two of them charged towards him, yelling in anger with their weapons cocked back to pummel onto the hunter. Tarrius would smirk underneath his helmet as he matched their charge though as the two men approached he would dive onto his knees, sliding across the metallic pavement, his knife drawn in hand. He would cut at the Achilles of one of the men, while his left elbow would jam into the back of the back of the other's knee. Causing them both to tumble to the ground. He would twist his body, his left arm reaching towards his blaster pistol, removing it and firing two rapid shots into the men's chests as they stumbled to get up.

Zerro had missed his initial attack, but the man seemed skilled in executions, though this armored woman seemed up to the challenge. He would watch as a few of the guards fell to the ground within the matter of several seconds. Zerro whose blades had crashed into the surface swung them up from the ground and towards the woman in a crossing motion. "It's a shame...you seem to have so much promise, but this fight..will be your last." His metallic voice cackled through the helmet as he attempted to cut the woman down.

Sorry, I would help you, but this one..this one has to be done on my own, his death..my hands, she can have the bounty. He thought to himself as he took off towards the way that Tro-Sloon had run towards, dodging a few of the blaster bolts that the Mandalorian had sent his way.

tag: @Danee

 

[Tarrius Drast]

Tarrius took one last look back towards where the mercenary and the Mandalorian had been fighting, seeing her stuck in the struggle of combat. I can't think about that now, I have to focus on the task at hand.. He pushed away the thoughts of going back to help her, and focused on chasing down the man as he raced across the spaceport. The large metallic containers became a blur as he focused on his pace and picking up speed as he slowly caught up to the frantic gangster.

Before Tarrius had the chance of snagging the man, the gangster veered quickly to the left and onto a small and narrow walkway, that lead to a series of communication arrays. "What are you going to do now? Dare to come out here boy, die like a pathetic dog like your master?"

The young man's teeth snarled underneath his helmet as his fists clenched tightly. "Don't tell me you came here all along just to stand there," the gangster readied his weapon and quickly fired a shot toward the side of Tarrius, striking him against the side. The shot sent him onto a single knee, grabbing towards the pain that had burst through his armor, his teeth gritting as he tried to fight back the pain.

He grunted out in sheer adrenaline as he took another breath, his eyes scanning up to see the gangster approaching him with the blaster pointed towards his head, execution style. Tarrius drifted his head down, panting as he attempted to catch his breath and prepare himself for his attack. He would slip his hands away from the blaster wound and onto his raised knee, his head low though his eyes scanned and watched the position of Tro's feet.

"Given up so easily? Pathetic.." The gangster touted as he clicked back the sound of the blaster, preparing to put the young man out of his misery. Part of his mind flashed to the thoughts of it all ending, here on some random spaceport, all his dreams and aspirations ending. He saw Soussh's face one more time, burned into his eyes. The anger inside of him burned up, the fuel of his hatred reignited once more.

"Think again," he grunted through his helmet as he pushed his hands up from his knee, which caused the blaster to aim up into the air, sending the blaster shot straying off into the ceiling. Tarrius would send his raised knee into the gangster's gut. The sound of his knee knocking the wind out of the man was enough to make him smile through the pain.

He shot up, pulling his blade from his side and stabbing it into the man's blaster hand, which caused the gangster to roar out in pain and drop the weapon. Seeing his opportunity to strike, he would grab the man and pile drive his body onto the walkway--causing the frail structure to shake. Straddling over top of the gangster he would grip tightly against the man's neck, while his left hand began to punch towards his face. With the punch his mind slipped into a state of pure hatred and anger, he no longer was present in this world, his mind was somewhere else. The punches continued and continued, he couldn't hear the sound of the gangster's skull crushing inwards or the sound of flesh breaking between his knuckles.

He wasn't sure how long he kept it going, it all seemed to end in a flash with a sudden jolt. The blaster burn had stung a sharp pain that caused the man to fall to the ground, snapping him back into reality. Tro-Sloon's head was nothing but a bloody pulp, while his hand lay a bloody and mangled mess. Am I dying? He thought to himself as he began to crawl towards the end of the walkway, leaving a visible trail of blood behind him as he did so. His eyes flickered, and darkness slowly overcame him. His senses blurred around him, he felt as if he was being carried by something or someone. Possibly the force had taken him to the heavens or more likely hell? Whatever it was, he felt nothing, he was empty.

/END THREAD