Expected Company

[Koil Solus]

♠ THEME ♠
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Today was...well today was whatever it was going to be. Koil walked through the street towards his motel. He was here on business and while his getup was hot it could be worse. There were loads of mean looking people in the streets of Darlyn Boda. He did not draw much attention for the type of visage he may have drawn in all black scatterweave colored mandalorian armor.

What did make people seem to notice was that it was someone they just did not recognize. That made him wonder if the people he was after had formed some sort of urban warning system. Kids post up on street corners and keep an eye out of authority figures like himself. Today the Silent Badger was a mercenary.

The authority Koil had was the type that was little more than a contract killing. There were other mercenaries on the planet, criminals that had been hired by Blastech or rather a specific corrupt employee of Blastech. They were known as the Eclipse Their task was not protecting Blastech. Instead they had been hired to sabotage a market enemy of Blastech, Czerka Arms Incorporated. Koil had been hired by Czerka to find these threats to their interests. However the Echani did not know that his arrival was not as inconspicuous as he would have liked.

So the Mandalorian strode through the criminally populated streets towards his place of stay. A few hours would be spent there while he double checked his gear. This was a job and he wanted to make sure everything functioned. But that was quickly completed thanks to years of routine. Feeling restless he got up and headed downstairs.

The air was starting to get cooler as the evening set in. "Where's the nearest bar? He said in Huttese to what qualified as a concierge. They did not even look up and just pointed down one direction of the street. Taking a sigh, knowing that he would not get much better, Koil headed in the direction he was given.

@GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

Someone had grabbed her from behind and for a moment, the Mandalorian woman became weightless until her body had met the chairs and tables that were abadoned by their patrons as they sought for cover. The woman growled under her breath as she pushed herself up, unhappy that a relaxing evening had suddenly turned into borderline harassement and now a brawl over who had the greatest ego; but Solone knew she was the best. Jumping to her feet she charged at the large trandoshan, her shoulder locking into his stomach as she threw all her weight into him. He let out a yell as her and the mercenary few into the bar counter where the bar tender yelled about the glasses that shattered from the impact.

Solone was quicker to jump back up and as the lizard tried to regain some footing, the woman landed a punch, suckered just under his jaw, though it was at this time it was decided that some of the bar goers did not like a Mandalorian beating up on a regular. She felt someone grab around her waist and threw her to the ground, Solone would admit, that hurt this time as duracrete was not as impact friendly as wood tables, but the next step involved flying through the door out into the streets where cheering could be heard from their success to rid of a Mandalorian.

She could taste blood in her mouth, her lip sore from having bit it at some point and stood up, though taking her time as there was not really any other place she had to be. Flipping her hair back, she looked up and down the street and paused when her eyes caught the red armor of a Solus and she rolled her eyes, unhappy this clan's members were just about anywhere.

@Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

___________________

Rain started to pitter and patter outside. Little plinking drops hit the smooth black helmet and armored plates of the Mandalorian. The sound of a racous crowd from inside the bar built for a moment. It was probably dumb of him walking into a bar that was known to have hardened criminals that also tried their luck at doing particularly foolish things. A fight with him and some di'kut would be an inevitable event. Still, he only slowed his pace when he made it under the awning just over the entrance of the drinking establishment. The soft rain stopped hitting his helmet now that he was under an overhang.

Bursting out of the doors of the building the flying frame of an armored mandalorian woman made him pause. He stared at her as she stared back at him while regaining her composure. "Can't say I'm surprised to see you here, Solone." Turning his head towards the door he wondered if he should just keep walking into the bar and get a drink though that would probably result in him getting treated similarly.

"Did the bartender not like the tip you gave him?" He asked in a way that indicated he was wondering about her situation. Koil had not heard about Solone outside of the Emperor In Paradise and public broad-castings for months now. She was running her own path it would seem. People called her Dar'manda. Koil was, curious. The sounds of celebration from inside the bar died down as the rowdiness levels returned to what was classified as normal around here. Did she leave her helmet in there? The War Councilor wondered.

@GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

She thought he should just keep walking into the bar, his comment, well more like him just speaking to her made her prickly. She was already in a sour mood for being thrown out of the bar, but now she had to decide to make pleasant small talk with the badger. However, he spoke more and Solone huffed and pushed back some loose strands of hair behind her ears, "They do not like Mandalorians." grumbled the woman, her fingers slowly closed into fists knowing she had to go back inside to retrieve her helmet. She pulled her beskad, those who were just entering the bar realized the Mandalorian woman just pulled a weapon and quickly decided this would not be the place for them to drink that evening.

"Excuse me, but I need to remind them why they may not like them too much." she flashed him a smile, her face falling back into the hardened warrior she was brought up to be. With a grace she entered the bar confidently, standing in the door way as it could be clearly witnessed her helm was being passed around, filled with ale and many beings were taking their turn drinking from it. However, realizing who had entered stopped the festivities and someone had the nerve to yell at her to get out.

It would be clear as she had nothing to lose; the woman walked up to the gotal with her helmet and she snatched it back, dumping the ale back on the goat and an armored Aqualish grabbed her wirst.

"No way pretty, you ain't leaving this place with that."

@Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

___________________

Well, that was about the extent of his humor and she did not so much as give a decent quip back. Instead it was pretty clear she was focused on getting her helmet back and making the patrons of the drinking establishment rue the day for trifling with a mandalorian woman. When she headed back in he just held the door open for her, not wanting to be in her way.

Koil would follow her in though and see the people passing around the helmet. His eyes squinted at them. Ok THAT pisses me off a bit. It was not so much that they were drinking from the helmet. It was that they were drinking from it and were not mandalorians. Helmet's had a tradition of being used in the old days of sometimes doubling as drinking buckets but that was rare these days and only between friends. They were desecrating something that the Silent Badger considered reserved for only his people.

The War Councilor was only a few steps behind Solone but grabbed a large flask, half full of ale and turned it upside down, emptying it on the ground in a splattered mess. The man who it belonged to stood up. "Hey?!" But Koil did not look at him. He chucked the now empty mug hard against the aqualish forcing him to release his grip of Solone when he got blind sided by the thrown projectile.

Several patrons rose up too. Two brandishing blasters, the sounds of the weapons being charged having been previously holstered was audible amongst the sudden silence that fell over the once raucous establishment. "Not gonna settle this dispute with your fists?" The mandalorian inquired as his visor slowly turned to look at them. They were separate from the ones Solone had been harassed by it seemed but there were more with them. "Oh we don't care about that. We heard you were looking for us. So we're here to say hi." The voice was far from welcoming, laced with malicious intent. It was then that he noticed the symbols on some of their clothing and armor. They were members of the Eclipse, the mercenaries he had been sent here to take out.

"Looks like we got ourselves two mandos after all." One of the other blaster weilding thugs said. The expressions of the rest of the patrons were slightly confused, not being in the loop but a little happy that Solone and Koil were outnumbered and at a slight disadvantage. Behind the Silent Badger's dark visor his eyes looked towards Solone though she could not see the look he was giving her. They thought that she was with him.
@GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

Solone's brow rose when the glass smacked into the Aqualish and released her wrist. The woman stepped back swiftly, helmet in tow as she glanced behind her to see Koil was now inside also. The woman frowned, she didn't need his help in this, she had things completely under control, however, more rose from their seats and the woman clipped her helmet to her belt, her free hand floated to her quickdraw knowing this was not ongoing to be an easy come and go situation.

Though, it became even more apparent there was something more than just a Mandalorian fighting for her helmet as they addressed Koil, but they took to an understanding that Solone was with him. Slowly, she turned her head to look at Koil and then back at the men and woman who stood up claiming to be the ones he was looking for, "I don't know who he is or you are, I just wanted my helmet, and now that I have it..." she took a step back, standing next to Koil and slammed her hand on his shoulder, shaking him some in an enthusiastic fashion, "I don't need to stick around." she laughed.

However, it wouldn't be enough to convince them and Solone knew this, a Mandalorian was a Mandalorian, no one outside the Mandos cared of the details. Solone also didn't care of the details, she was now marked like the badger and she would be the first to draw and shoot, landing a lucky shot in the center chest of one of the Eclipse members.

@Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

___________________

Solone's reaction was to be expected. He could not blame her but Koil already knew that she was not going to convince the hit men that had been alerted to his arrival. The first thing Koil did when the woman fired was turn and activate his bulwark shield. The arm mounted defense buzzed to life and caught the first blaster bolt that would have otherwise landed square in his chest.

Pulling out his own quickdraw he fired at the man that had shot at him a moment later. Then it became apparent very quickly that the Eclipse members had not underestimated him quite as much as he would have thought. Eight other men and women in various garb but adorned with Eclipse icongrophy rose produced blasters. If he had been alone then things would have turned out much differently but the impossible to predict turn of events had led to him being accompanied by the Wren clan member.

Now standing back to back he blocked a second bolt with his gauntlet and took a shot at another hired gun. "Move" He said in mando'a to Solone. Other patrons were either making a break for the exit or hunkering down and producing their own means of self defense to further add to the chaos. Meanwhile the War Councilor ran and dove for the space behind the bar counter where at least a few centimeters of fake wood and durasteel would keep some of the blaster bolts at bay. Shots following him struck the bottles behind the bar, partially vaporizing their contents but otherwise showering his armored body with bits of glass and spilling the booze onto the floor.

"I don't think they care. Buy you a drink if you help me take care of them?" The criminals that were shooting at them were in more numbers around the city than just here. Solone was going to be labeled an associate of his probably after all this. Truth be told the Silent Badger was sure he could take these goons out solo but right now a little extra help was welcome.

@GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

In mere moments the bar broke out into a shootout, many swarmed to get out of the bar as soon as they can, other screamed out as they were hit with stray blaster bolts. Solone, though, eye rolled so heavy it could move systems. They seemed to be extra focused on ultimately adding enough holes to Koil so he would become a sponge, Solone had her own blaster out, firing where ever she saw a body that was still standing. Koil let out a command and as much as she wanted to tell him to stick his orders up somewhere, she followed, her own mind focusing on trying to find a way out of this mess and off this world.

The blaster fire continued and Koil offered her a proposition, an exchange for help and he would buy her a drink. She gave him a look that communicated she was not convinced, though alcohol was the last thing she wanted as she was a lightweight compared to her former brothers and sisters.

"You know, I told another badger this, and now I'm telling you, but us Wrens are not boom-bang-entrance types." she told him and shifted into a crouch, "We're more sneaky-sneak type." she quickly jumped up, the flamethrower activated from her bracer, fire ignited along the counter-top, following the trail of wasted beverages swiftly down the sides and engulfing the floor of the bar.

"C'mon, no one wants to be burned alive, not even your buddies..." she held out her hand helping him up quick as the place filled with black smoke. They would have better luck in a less confined area. The fire that was spreading only left one exit where the members of gang quickly filtered out, maybe a few through the windows. Solone pulled a gernade, priming it as they would move to the exit. She tossed it out the door first, the extra second would give the mandos an advantage.

@Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

___________________

"If you haven't noticed...I'm not like most badgers." he tapped the butt of a pistol grip against his scatterweave covered chest plate. "...Didn't you start that bar fight though?" he said to point out the contradiction. She may have not started it but she was fully ready to come back into the bar for her own boom-bang-retribution to get her helmet back. Koil had seen the look enough times. Then again, every mando had a bit of that in them. Really he was just saying that to tease her a little bit considering the high level of stress present.

Koil rose up as the gout of flame shot from Solone's wrist. Yeah...because nothing says sneaky like a wall of flame. He sarcastically thought to himself as he got to his feet. He kept his blasters raised and headed out the back. Without slowing down he kicked open the door and moved into the back expecting to see more Eclipse members. But for now it seemed like there were none.

"This way" He said and moved to a connected side alley. His form stuck to the shadows. The Eclipse that had been thwarted were retreating from the flames out front and would probably eventually circle around. Others would go back inside. Maybe they had about all of thirty seconds before they realized the two mandalorians were no longer on the premises. Koil knew well enough that he would see them again. For now they needed to get some distance and so he began making it back with the Wren clan member back towards where he started the evening. Guess it's too much to ask to just have a nice quiet drink these days.

@GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

At least they were out of the bar that was now engulfed in flames; the Wren grimaced at the thought of damages, but let the thoughts pass without pause. She at least got her helmet back and she felt it would take ages to clean it out of the putrid drinks they had filled it with. She gingerly stepped backwards away from the building before attention went back to her surroundings. The idiots that were trying to take out the badger were still around and she heard him call for her follow. She felt resistance, but knew if she were to get stuck fighting off the horde of them, it would not turn in her favor.

Her steps were light, her boots barely making a sound. Her training for most of her lifetime had taught her how to navigate the snowy wilderness as ever step you took could echo for miles. It had inevitably paid off once she sought jobs across the galaxy and managed to make a decent living off small bounties.

Regardless, now it felt she were being hunted and nonetheless with this badger of all clans! Solone couldn't help but scowl at him the entire time, the slightest flinch of his head to turn to look at her resulted in a seeming relaxed Wren, but the scowl would return once his focus was ahead. "So I hate to ask, badger, but what is the deal with those guys back in the bar. They didn't seem to fond of you, I mean I have my reservations about badgers, but they, they seemed adamit about killing you." she frowned in thought as she tried to pry information from him. She hoped it would be of use at some point to get her out of a sticky situation.

@Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

___________________

"The feelings I have towards them are mutual.." he murmured in response without slowing his pace. "They are part of an illicit mercenary group hired by a dirty Blastech employee to conduct corporate espionage among other things. To put it simply, I was hired by Blastech's competition though it seems my element of surprise is gone and they think you've been hired by the same people I have." He stopped at a corner for a moment and looked around it to see if there was anybody in plain view that would spot them.

Nobody was visible so the man trotted across the street to the last block until they got back to his hotel. "I can wash your helmet for you when we stop." He offered. The man took care of his own armor adamantly. Beer was water based and was hardly the worst thing he had ever got on his beskar'gam.

"Why are you on Darlyn Boda anyways?" Koil was not so much surprised that Solone was here of all places. He did find it curious how they had managed to run into one another when there was the whole planet and in turn the rest of the galaxy to get lost in. From what he had seen Solone had been looking for trouble, or at least not trying to avoid it. The Silent Badger knew that feeling all to well. The duo eventually got back to his hotel. He walked passed the dozing front desk attendant and up to his room expecting Solone to follow before going inside, letting the door hang open as an obvious invitation for her to come in after him.

@GABA

 

[Solone Wren]

She looked at him with a slightly upturned nose as he offered to wash her helmet for her; it seemed like an odd gesture from someone for one she didn't even know and yet she was following this guy. At times she wished she had witch senses to determine what his intention was, she heard they could do that, reading thoughts were one thing, but to know exactly what that person is looking for with those thoughts, seemed like a useful perk. "No, its fine, I'll wash it later." she said turning her hip with the helmet subtly away from the silent badger. She wasn't too sure about his story about the mercs, seemed convenient, though he turned his attention still on her and her business now on Darlyn Boda.

"If I had business worth sharing I wouldn't share it with you." she stated in a matter-of-fact fashion, but paused in thought as though her comment was a bit too sharp even for a Solus. She stopped and looked the hotel up and down before seemingly satisfied and followed him inside.

"But, if you had not heard of my disqualification for Manda, I have a lot of free time now to do what I want to do, just so happens Darlyn Boda is where I drifted lately." the Wren shrugged, clearly communicating she slightly regretted her knee-jerk response only moments earlier. "Or Hod Ha'ran has been entertained with my antics lately and wishes for more." Solone explained and then fell quiet as though she had fallen into some reflection about all that had transpired over the years to lead her to following a badger into a hotel. Internally, her eyes rolled as she could still hear the echoes of her matriarchal elders chastising her choices.

@Darasuum

 

[Koil Solus]

___________________

She refused the offer but he could not blame her. Armor was personal and did not want what was more or less a stranger, touching it. But she seemed to be defensive judging by her tone used to respond to his inquiry. His face cocked an eyebrow underneath his helmet. How she reacted was curious but it might also be telling the Echani more than the woman wanted to admit. Koil had been good at reading people for a very long time and only got better as he watched them.

A moment of silence passed between them as the Silent Badger headed into the refresher and did not answer her until he was standing in front of the mirror. "Are you happy?" Of course Solone was not. What he was not asking what if she was happy though. Why he asked was to see if she wanted other people to believe she was fine with her 'disqualification' as she put it.

The Silent Badger picked up the towel hanging next to the sink. It was meant for drying hands but the man began wiping away the grime and dirt. When he pulled it away he saw soot from when the Wren had let loose her wrist flame thrower. "Was it worth it?" He continued the conversation regardless of her answer, or lack of one, from his last question. Do you regret your choices?

There was some blood on his armor, no, that was just some juice when one of the red colored liquors broke in the bar. When he was done with his brief cleanup he went to the duffel bag on the desk in his room and pulled out a replacement piece for his bulwark shield. He had taken damage and needed to have it fixed before using it again. Koil was here to take out the Eclipse members. Talking with Solone was a sidebar to that and he was fine continuing this but the man also was not about to full stop just to talk with the woman. Despite her obvious frustration with being dar'manda she looked like she had kept herself in good shape. At least that much he could tell from the way she was handling herself.

@GABA