Lost in Translation (Ask/ Invite)

[Neutrino]

On one of the many metal benches that lined the dark public transit station, Mira was lying on her back cradling a slug throwing rifle in her arms. Her wide brown eyes stared up at a particularly annoying light that flickered more violently the closer it came to death.

If she had the ammo, she would have shot it, and put it out of its misery. She preferred the dark anyway. Maybe it was better that she didn't have ammo to spare. Her firing her weapon off inside the crowded station would have caused some alarm.

Her legs were resting vertically against a wall. Her dirty boots were crossed one over the other in the air and she seemed not to notice or care how her short, upside-down skirt was slipping past the point of modesty. If one was looking though, they would have noticed a small knife strapped to the inside of her thigh.

Here in the industrial sector of Yractos, capital of Gyndine, everyone seemed to mind their own business.

She scooted on the bench so that her head was hanging off. Now upside-down, her eyes followed the many passersby. They all seemed very busy, getting on and off the slow, public transit crafts. She wished she was busy, and not stuck on some random planet in between jobs.

"Does anyone want to hire me?" She was unintentionally asking in the most bored voice she had. Lying there, hugging the rifle, she repeated this question over and over again in every language she knew. It was almost a bad habit now really. It was just how she had learned to find work since she was very young, and she just kept doing it. It worked eventually. And eventually never took very long.

Soon, the repetition of languages began to sound rhythmic and her booted toe began to bounce along with the query for work.

Someone passing by tossed some credits at her, mentioning something like, 'poor deaf girl'.

Mira was on her feet in an instant. Scooping up the credits, she hurled them with all her might at the head of the person who had tossed them at her. Mira glared unforgivably as the person, shocked and confused, turned back to look at her. They cursed a bit, but then left her and abandoned their credits.

As soon as the other person retreated, Mira resumed her position on the bench. She glared at the flickering light for a moment before continuing to ask for work again and again and again...

 

[D.C.]

A young man, in his mid-twenties, sat on a bench and looked at a young Sephi girl who was trying to get some work. She asked in many languages who would like to hire her, and he found it rather amusing. He smiled, something he had not done latetly. Smiling was something that one normally didn't do when he or she was killing others. Though this red-eyed man was a thoughtless killer, he never smiled while killing.

The reason this red-eyed man was here on Gyndine, was because he was hired to assassinate someone. He had not done this yet, but he would, in a few days. His target would not leave Gyndine yet, so he had all the time he needed. That was why he first wandered through the streets of Yractos, and bought himself a drink. He relaxed a bit and prepared for the job. He was a proffessional, but he too enjoyed a drink.

It seemed like the girl could not find someone who wanted to hire her, and he figured she might needed some help. He smirked and got on his feet, and then walked over to her.

"Here." He said. "Do you do bounty hunting? If so, how much do you ask for it?"

 

[Neutrino]

Mira looked up, which was down for her (considering her upside-down position). The man's red eyes were incredibly alluring and she fought the urge to take a closer look. "I do bounty hunting," she affirmed. "I take whatever payment you have. We can talk a deal."

She liked how he stood, blocking the irritating, flickering light.

Suddenly, she flipped up, going into a standing position more decent for transit stations and conversations. She holstered her rifle on her back. This was probably the reason for her change in position. Decency had nothing to do with anything.

With her arms crossed in front of her chest she asked, "What is the job?"

 

[D.C.]

The red-eyed man looked at her. She was not a regular mercenary, she was... odd. Then again, he himself was odd as well. He smiled as he thought about that.

"Actually, we'll be working together on this one, that is, if you decide to join me."

He grabbed a datapad from a pocket of his longcoat and pressed a few buttons. A picture appeared on the datapad and he showed it to her.

"Gotta kill this man." He said, like it was daily work. Well, in fact it was daily work for him. "I'd like to talk to you in a more secured area, if that's alright. I can't go into details here. We might be heard by buddies of the target, and that will only slow things down."

 

[Neutrino]

Mira bobbed her head up and down to say she understood. And she liked his confident choice of words.

A public craft was pulling up to the station. "C'mon. This will take us to busy places. No one will hear at the market sector." The market sector was famous for yelling. They would be lucky to even hear each other. She didn't think there would be any problems though.

As soon as the passengers were spilling out, she squeezed herself inside, waving for her employer to follow. She could see his red eyes on her.

 

[D.C.]

The market sector, a place where he had not been before. He had heard of this place, but he had not seen it yet. Well, actually, he did not come to Gyndine that much. This was his second time on the planet ever, but that was no problem. The girl was right, no-one would hear them here, and even if they did, a fight on a market place was funny.

"This man is a Republic Officer." He said. "Hope that doesn't make you hold back. He has a datapad with some coordinates on it that we must destroy, before they find out the location of a base where smugglers keep their stuff before they transport it to other places. I was hired to kill the officer and then destroy the datapad, and I have been given permission to kill anyone else who is a threat. They have not said anything about help from other mercenaries, but I assume that's no problem, and even if it is, they are too afraid of me to tell me. I know exactly where the officer resides, and we'll kill him in the middle of the night. Reward is quite big, my employers must be really paranoid. 15,000 credits. I'll give you half of it after this is done. Now I got two questions for you. One, you still wanna do this? Two, can you please tell me your name? Or at least part of your name."

 

[Neutrino]

"For 7,500 credits, I will do it." She was nodding her head yet frowning. "I am called Rey, Mira Rey. Or just Mira." The public transport jostled its passengers as it took off roughly. She caught herself against one of the hand railings. And then they were fairly close together in the crowded transport.

Devoid of emotion, her big brown eyes went up to his strangely red ones. "And what are you called?"

 

[D.C.]

"Tyro Fen." He answered as he looked back into her brown eyes. "Have you done any jobs like these before, Mira? You look like the type who knows how to deal with certain situations."

 

[Neutrino]

"I know how to deal, yes." She said, nodding her head. That was her whole life, or rather, that's all she ever did. She dealt with life. And then instead of answering his question, she asked him one. "Do I look like the type to..." She lowered her voice so none others would here, "murder?"

The swaying of the public transport had them moving back and forth with the changes in momentum. It was getting very hot inside the small, noisy craft. Mira shifted her weight from one boot to the other. Her lips were pressed tightly together.

 

[D.C.]

"Do you?" Tyro repeated the question. "At least someone with a slugthrower rifle does." He gestured at her gun.

Tyro smirked and took a look out the window. He hated public transport, but it seemed to be the fastest way to get to another location.

"Anyway, do you have any questions?" He then asked. He had to make sure she fully understood what was going on, what they were going to do, and how they were going to do it. If she did not fully understand, then that could cause some problems along the way. Not big problems, but they were still problems.

 

[Neutrino]

Mira looked up at him silently. Many thoughts were passing behind her eyes. And then she looked out of the window also. "Just tell me what to do and when to do it."

She had so many questions for him. But they weren't entirely appropriate. Normally, she would have asked, without care. But this was not the situation for such a conversation her questions would spur. He was her employer, of a delicate nature, and in this business everything should be kept strictly to business.

The public transport craft began to shudder to a stop. It lowered and opened its door. This was their stop. Mira hopped out and waited for Tryo Fen to follow.

It felt good to be out in the open, night air. But there was yelling all around them. Even in the middle of the night, the market sector was boisterous. Vendors called out to potential customers. Customers haggled with vendors. Vendors and customers fought amongst themselves. It was a very lively place. The artificial and colorful lights added to the busy atmosphere.

"This is a good place to talk." Her soft voice was probably lost on him here though.

 

[D.C.]

Tyro sighed as he got out of the vessel. He was glad to breathe some fresh air again. He remembered when he was transported by a republic prisoner ship, and how he hated the stench aboard. Luckily he got out alive, yet the guards suffered a different fate.

"Perfect." Tyro said. "Can you tell me about your past jobs?"

 

[Neutrino]

He would have it out of her eventually...

"Protection, transportation..." She began to walk and talk. "Retrieval, mostly." She used the nicer word for some reason. Retrieval usually meant getting goods or information in a not-so-nice way. "I was a waitress once."

She spotted a vendor selling pants. Putting some credits down, she took a pair in her size and examined them.

 

[D.C.]

Tyro saw she just bought new pants, but it did not bother him. If she wanted to go shopping now, then he would not stop her. They had all the time of the world right now, as their target would not leave anytime soon. They had plenty of time to talk things through and to... go shopping.

"I see." Tyro said to the various jobs she mentioned. He was a little bit surprised to hear she was a waitress, but he decided not to ask about it.

"Can you name a few of your previous employers? Or is that a secret? I will understand if it is, because I won't name my previous employers to anyone, unless I know the information is save with them. I might tell you one day, I might not. But can you tell me about yours?"

If she could tell about her employers, then he would get an idea who he was dealing with now. If she worked for The Hutts for example, then she probably was a skilled one, like Tyro. He had worked for the Hutts a few times.

 

[Neutrino]

'One day'... That meant all kinds of things. Things she didn't like to think about.

"I would rather not say. But they are all small, private operations that are of no significant importance." She frowned, "Especially that diner..."

She held the dark pair of pants out in front of her as they walked. Then suddenly she stopped walking and slipped her boots off. She bent down and was slipping her new pants on. They went up her bare legs and underneath her short skirt. It was a snug fit.

Then she was slipping her boots back on.

"Is there any else?" She said, walking again while looking up at him.

 

[D.C.]

"How's your aim?" Tyro asked, without paying too much attention to her putting the pants on. He looked in front of himself, so he would not walk up to someone. Although that would was always a good starting point for a fight, and fighting in market places was funny, he figured now was not the time to just start a random fight. That just would make no sense. Then he remembered the cantinas where he had started fights. Just punching someone and all hells would break lose. Then he would sit back in a chair or on a stool, with a nice glass of Corellian Ale, and just watch the fighting. It was always funny to see drunken fools, punching each other.

"I mean, you have killed people, right?"

 

[Neutrino]

"My aim is the best." She said suddenly looking up at him with a big smile on her face. Shooting was her favorite thing to do. It was as if she was an artist who could find no better way to express herself than firing off an explosive round.

But to answer his second question, she took longer. He really would have it out of her, with all his damn questions. "I suppose I have killed, yes," she nodded her head, frowning. "Many."

Her eyes roamed the crowded market. Sometimes she walked on her tiptoes to see over people. This did little to help any.

 

[D.C.]

"I trust you on that." Tyro said.

He realized she did not feel comfortable while answering his questions, but he was just trying to get an idea of who he was working with and what her qualities were. It was important, or at least, Tyro thought it was important.

"Alright, enough questions. I know what I have to know, and I guess you can do this. The execution will take place the day after tomorrow. We'll leave no witnesses, and we will do what we must. Try not to get too carried away with it, but I'm sure you won't."

Tyro grabbed a paper from his pocket and gave it to her. "Paper, old fashioned, I know. But at least nobody can slice into papers like they can slice into computers or datapads. This contains all the info on the location. Let's say we'll meet there around 2 am. We'll do this at night, I'm sure you'll understand."

 

[Neutrino]

Mira examined the paper careful, memorizing its contents before folding it neatly and stuffing it in her new pant's pocket beneath her skirt. She hugged her black jacket around her tightly against the cold that was settling even in the busy market.

People's breath was becoming misty and foggy in the many artificial lights.

"Do you like noodles?" She asked suddenly. She had spotted a noddle shop where some people were huddling away from the cold around their steaming bowls. The smell wafted over toward them and her mouth began to water.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten.

 

[D.C.]

"I do." Tyro said. And he laughed, a thoughtless killer like himself likes noodles. Yeah right.

He looked over to the shop and he too smelled the noodles, and it smelled good. He had not eaten noodles in a while, it was months ago since he last ate some. It was on Coruscant. Right before he was going to kill somebody, he visited a shop and bought some noodles, and then walked over to the appartment of the person he had to kill. He ate the noodles along the way towards the location. He smiled as he thought about it.

"You want some?"