Karma

[Butler]

The red co-pilot's chair squeaked against his falling weight, leaning back away from the console as it fizzled silent from a transmission. Lucifer swallowed, parched, and licked his lips as he looked over to his gruff pilot. How disappointing it was to stare at a man's legs all covered in worn tears and stains. It was debilitatingly boring. His hands rough and hairy. His grip firm and forced under scrutiny of Lucifer's unashamed stare.

Lucifer's arm bent up over head faintly, frail and delicate against the side of his ear as he blamed the lack of excitement on the hired pirate.

"Such ugly men are hired by the Hutts..."

The pilot angled his disconnected dare just off kilter, eyes unable to come up and meet the effeminate male leering in pressed, all white suit. White gloves. White polished shoes. Creases up and down his tight pale body. Yet one crimson sash poked out from his breast pocket. Pale blue eyes seemed almost empty as he stared through the man in wait.

Hovering in space over Ryloth, the small shuttle was ready to depart at a moment's notice. Yet it waited. A show of faith would be met by another's. But perhaps voices might only be traded over the comms. It didn't matter. What mattered was what was said, not how much trust could be traded. There was nothing to be given at this juncture, nothing to be taken. It was what could be gained that was of consequence.

A city builds in his mind. Will he live to see it made, he wonders...

 

[T.J]

The waiting shuttle would see a lone freighter drop out of hyperspace several kilometers away. As it silently coasted off of the momentum brought from the exiting the opposing shuttle's inhabitants would be able to see that the freighter was a rugged looking sort. It's hull having the appearance of being worn and pitted, lacking any kind of paint or insignia. One would think upon first glace it to belong to some sort of pirate or low grade bounty hunter. The truth was far different however. Beneath the facade of decaying hull thick armor plating provided excellent protection for the small craft. Precautions had been made for the journey as well, its pilot making multiple random jumps before arriving to remove any possibility of being traced back to its origin.

Within the freighter was one Delmon Skyblade, Alor of the now adrift clan Ordo.

Though it had been only days since the Sith's attempted genocide of his people, his hatred burned for them as if it was still happening. Without a planet to call home his people stood little chance of surviving, let alone delivering the vengeance he had sworn on the Sith and their kind. He would seek every avenue possible to keep his people from harm, even if it meant selling his very soul to do so. Such thoughts were what brought the Mandalorian to the deserted chunk of space above Ryloth. His speech had been broadcast throughout the holonet by the Sith, many who despised the dark siders as much as he had began to seek him out shortly after. Many were treacherous, Sith ploys to draw Ordo out of hiding to finish the deed. This very reason was why Delmon had come alone, risking his own personal safety rather than the whole of his clan.

Opening a hailing frequency, he turned to the monitor beside his ships controls and pinged the opposing vessel in the hopes of commencing communications. Being that it was one of the only other ships in the immediate area, he surmised it was most likely the group he had agreed to meet with. Though the connection had not fully established yet, he opted to speak prior to the feed fully establishing.

" Greetings. Am I to assume you are the emissary of the Hutt Cartel? "

If it happened that they weren't, he would simply cut the feed and move on. The longer he stayed the bigger chance of potentially being discovered. Even in the outer rim the Sith had eyes and ears.

 

[Butler]

Lucifer's legs kicked his weight forward onto his hands upon the console, excited to see the ship drop out of hyperspace before them in the hopes that it was who he sought with which to speak. The pilot looked over to Lucifer, but opted to stay silent rather than exchange words with the salacious libertine. Lucifer whipped his gaze to the pilot, smirked with anticipation, then whipped back to the drifting ship out there.

"Ah," he gasped happily before switching on his mic. "The emissary," he excitedly echoed before clearing the rasp out of his throat, requiring of himself perfect pitch and diction. "Yes. That is I, The Emissary of the Hutt Cartel. I am Lucifer. And you are here. Which means you are..."

Lucifer paused for the mandalorian to continue introductions. Lucifer wouldn't assume any knowledge either in this situation. Just as Delmon was cautious, so would Lucifer be for the protection of both parties. And Lucifer knew better than to attempt to speak their language and use their titles with an outsider's tongue. But even though he was courteous in his candor, he could not hide the inflections in his voice. He enjoyed the prospects of this meeting for many reasons.

Perhaps the mandalorians had a new supporter, regardless of how they returned their favor?

 

[T.J]

" I am Delmon, Alor of clan Ordo. You requested a time for us to meet and deliberate. I find I am lacking in time these days... Say what you must and let us get on with it. "

Delmon's voice grew hard as he spoke. It was true he no longer had the luxury of time on his side. Though his people had plenty of resources throughout their meager fleet to survive for more than a year in open space, he did not want to subject them to such conditions. They had been a people of the green, accustomed to the endless reaches of the Dxun jungles. Being confined within tightly packed metal ships was akin to clipping the wings of a great bird.

Though it would be completely masked by his helmet, Delmon's face was showing the wear and tear of the ordeal. He hadn't slept since their departure from Dxun, the inside of his eyelids burning like his jungle home at every attempt. He would not let his voice convey this fatigue however. He was an Alor, and so he was forced to be strong for the sake of his people.

 

[Butler]

"I have requested to give you what you need," Lucifer's jaw jutted forward over the comm with lilting tone, tongue patiently licking the backs of his teeth. "If time is that need, then that is what I offer."

Lucifer fell back into his chair comfortably, folded his arms contently, and waved up a rolling hand as he went on.

"The Sith have made you their enemies. The Cartel may be your friends in whatever form you desire." His head quirked. "It is clear you are both wise and strong. I have no doubts you will continue on, find yourselves a new home, and flourish until the Sith decide you're enough of a nuisance to be destroyed yet again. And yet. However far away from the city you stray, you always return to deal in the market. And that is where we operate, in the heart of trade. That is where we offer safe haven. That is where we offer mutually beneficial operations and paydays and intel and, most of all, revenge."

Lucifer skipped a breath, pacing himself before continuing to speak to the window out into space.

"Revenge is in our commonality you see. The Sith has targeted us both, whether we do business here today or not. Will you allow yourself to utilize our resources, launch from our safehouses, and move from within our city fortresses all so that you might accomplish your goals? Your goals. We would have nothing but that you would accomplish your goals. So long as you commit to the destruction of the Sith and all that entails, we will commit to aiding you."

Lucifer brushed off the wrinkle resting upon his knee.

"Shall I go on?"

 

[T.J]

A low rumble of a laugh would be audible to Lucifer. It carried no joy however, being as hollow as the space between the two vessels.

" Forgive me, but as I did with that Sith Barabel, I find it difficult to believe what you are saying is genuine. I've been around your employers in the past. Multiple times. They only see through gilded eyes, always looking for bigger and better profits. What happened at Dxun and beyond put a bounty on anyone claiming to be Mandalorian. I alone would fetch a tidy sum if captured alive. Once my clan's location is known to your superiors, what's to stop them from turning us all in at once? "

Pausing for a moment Delmon began the warming up procedure for his ships hyperdrive just in case. At a moments notice he would have the ability to jump if his host decided to try anything under handed.

" You speak as if the Hutt's want to remove the Sith from power, yet I have seen nothing come from their sector in the past decade that would indicate that. They've seemed content to wallow in what they have, why the sudden change? "

 

[Butler]

Lucifer sighed, combing his palms over the back of his slicked head into reclined indifference. He'd lost all excitement in loss of potential.

"We don't want to remove the Sith from power nor do we care to know your location. Have you ever been to Nar Shaddaa? You could loose a rampant rancor on the streets and hold a city council meeting two blocks over without a soul the wiser. We want to even the odds. We want to cripple the Sith back into stagnation, into the state they once were in the past decade. They aren't the same, content beast in hibernation. Or have you failed to notice even after they suddenly attack both the Cartel and the Mandalorians after so long?"

Lucifer was tiring of this shell of a Mandalorian, a shell of fear. Everybody uses everybody. It is the way of the galaxy. You take what you can. And if you benefit someone else in the process, you benefit someone else in the process. Lucifer knew the Mandalorian leader was thinking only of the safety of his clan, foolish though his thoughts presently were. And Lucifer knew the Cartel would do as it always did regardless of this conversation's outcome. But what a waste it would be if these warriors would not let the Hutts fund their fight against the Sith.

"I'm not asking for trust. If that is what you told yourself you came here for, then this was all a farce and you've deliberately wasted my time. I came to do business, to offer your people funds to simply attack the Sith so that we may continue to do business, and to offer shelter and defensive aid to help your people retain a foothold in the galaxy before your homelands are lost forever."

Lucifer swiveled his chair towards the pilot and kicked his heels onto the man's lap, staring out at the worn ship across from them, half expecting them to warp out of sight without another word.

 

[T.J]

Delmon's hand hovered over the activation switch for his ships hyperdrive, but there it stayed. Floating just above the instrument panel with measured hesitation. He had let his own emotions get the better of him, something that under normal circumstances would have never happened. He had several hundred other lives to take into consideration with every action he took on their behalf. Foolishly holding onto old prejudices would not give his people the resources they needed to begin anew. Risks would have to be made if the vengeance he had sworn as Dxun burned had any hope of coming to pass.

" Recent events have made me... Weary. I would by lying if I said it wasn't affecting my judgment. You say in exchange for your aid I only need to commit myself to the destruction of the Sith? I can do that and more. My people were born and bred for subterfuge, we will have no trouble infiltrating nearly anywhere we are needed. "

 

[Butler]

Lucifer's neck straightened, surprise lifting his features. And as he finished listening, he honored himself with a moment of silence.

"Perfect!" his throat squeaked happily, legs kicking off the pilot and returning himself to fully face the hovering ship with his full attention returned. "That is all I ask. For now, I believe our mutual understanding is sufficient. You must have much to do. If you've no further concerns, I thank you for your time and bid you a pleasant evening. Is there a way I might get in contact with you to work out the details of our arrangement?"

Lucifer leaned forward onto his elbows, lacing his fingers together underneath his tired chin. Now came the really boring part. The legality of friendships such as these is always a complicated, tedious process. But it would work out in the end, so long as the Mandalorians were fighting the Sith and keeping the Imperium off of the Cartel's jewels. That was all that mattered when it all boils down. The rest would fall into place.

 

[T.J]

Flicking on the screen beside his ships main controls, Delmon brought up special clearance code that his clan had used in its hayday during the first Mandalorian civil war. It wasn't his clan back then, and all the codes and clearances had been changed over when he took the lead. Using it would mean nothing to practically anyone, unless it was given a new purpose.

" I'm sending you over a clearance code for a defunct comm. channel. Use it with a burst transmission near the end of the Rimma Trade Route and we'll be sure to receive it. May be both prosper from this arrangement. "

With that Delmon cut the feed. Turning to his ship's controls he promptly activated the hyperdrive, making the first in a series of random jumps before finally making the one that would take him home. Or at least the loosely formed wandering fleet he referred to as home.

 

[Butler]

Days Later...

There he sat, in the same chair, in the same suit, in the same manner. But this time his pilot was much better looking. Lucifer looked over at the beautiful Zeltron woman and her purple flowing hair, all tight in black leather. She looked like a rubber toy that should be all his to play with.

"How do you feel about waterslides...?"

But before she could add to that sexy smirk with dirty words to banter back, they both noticed the ship come to meet them in their orbit over Elrood. Again they would meet, ship to ship, to finalize their plans for alliance. Lucifer had followed Delmon's instruction and pinged a signal at the end of the Rimma to meet here. And as the mandalorian ship settled out there across from them, Lucifer this time opened up a channel.

"Well hello there. It is I, Lucifer, the Emissary. Shall we conclude this business of ours?"

Once Delmon responded and confirmed it was him via video feed this time rather than just audio, Lucifer would continue.

"Ah yes, there we are. Alright then. Are we agreed to terms then? The Cartel will unofficially fund Clan Ordo to fight the Sith in our stead. We will provide additional support through mercenaries and ships if deemed necessary as well as provide safe haven within our territories. You may use various safe houses we are currently preparing. We ask that you regularly commute your ships through our territories, as discussed, as well as exchange intel on our common enemies as we will trade intel with you. Our resources will smuggle your men in through our gladiatorial recruitment avenues as well as officially hire them on as dock workers and pilots to hide your numbers as they move in and out of our territories. And we accept your aid as we assist you in your assaults against the Imperium. Our funds are at your disposal."

 

[T.J]

Once again Delmon found himself drifting aimlessly through space, and once again it was to meet a total stranger in the interest of keeping his people aloft. Activating the holo-screen beside his ship's controls, he was finally able to put a face to the voice he had talked to in length several days past. He of course, was wearing his armor and helmet. Lucifer would be met only with an emotionless t-visor instead of a flesh and blood face. A tactic Delmon was accustomed to using made all the more prevalent in the new hostile galaxy he found himself in.

" Greetings once again Lucifer. I hope your travel here was not... hazardous. "

Listening intently to the terms and conditions of their little business venture, Delmon smiled from behind his helmet. There was a chance now, however slim of a chance it might have been. Vengeance was all he knew now, out weighing all the sorrow that had befallen him as he fled the only home he ever knew. With the cartel backing him and his clan mates, he would have a fighting chance to show the Sith the error of allowing them to escape.

" I agree to your terms. My only question is... When do we start? Ordo's sorrow has turned to bile. We burn for vengeance, to show the Sith and their Imperial dogs the error of their ways. I will see their worlds turn to ash, even if I must turn to ash with them to do so. "