The Truths We Hide

[Darman Kebii'tra]

Darman once again found himself wandering the streets of his home world of Corellia. He’d departed his meeting with the Mandalorian council a short while ago, a meeting that was still very fresh on his mind. When he’d come to tell Ral about Prudii and KES he hadn’t been expecting to appear before the leaders of the Mandalorian Confederacy. But things had turned out for the better as now Gwen and his daughter would be in a place that’d he considered safe. Safe enough, he supposed.

As soon as he’d been allowed, Dar had immediately called Gwen to let her know how things went and explained to her the situation. She wasn’t particularly pleased that she would need to pack up things, but she understood the urgency. They would need to act quickly once Ral’s people arrived. She’d be mad at Dar for a little while, but he knew that she get over it once she arrived. Sally on the other hand would probably be upset at him for a while. She had the luxury of not having to constantly be uprooted and moved around. Something that Dar was proud to say he was able to give her. Hopefully, as she grew older, she would understand the necessity. Darman was also glad that Gwen had the money KES had graciously donated to help assist in the move. Having to move and then try and get situated on a tight budget would have made things very difficulty.

Anyways, in regards to KES, he’d arrived to a vacant and public enough space to make the drop. He was in plain clothes today, he wasn’t wanting to stick out in this situation. He moseyed around for a little while, trying to get a feel for the area. He window-shopped for a bit, picking out a dress for Sally and a bright orange hat for Gwen to match his own. He even stopped to try one of the meat vendors fried…thing. Dar felt certain enough that he could safely make the drop, and when he was ready to do so he palmed the datapad that he’d been given to hand off to Prudii. Reaching into a trash receptacle, he dumped the remains of the mystery meat while attaching the datapad to the roof using a magclap. When he was satisfied that it was safely attached, Darman wiped his mouth with a napkin and walked away.

As he made a deliberately roundabout trip back to his ship, he activated his comm. Using the number’s Prudii left for him to contact him with. Darman talked casually as not to attract the ear of a passerby. “Hey Smokey, it’s Dar. I just wanted you to know that I’ve decided to accept your offer. I left you a present.” As he said this he manually entered the coordinates of the receptacle, “I hope that I’ll hear from you soon.”

Darman disconnected from the comm and slowly made his way back to the ship. It would be best to wait till he heard from Prudii before he went anywhere…

@Prudii Kyramud

 

[Prudence]

Prudii sat at the controls for his ship as it drifted through black space in an unknown space devoid of planets, other celestial bodies, or anything else. He leaned back, tears welling at his eyes. His helmet lay on the ground near the chair. The news had hit him like a starfighter smacking him right in the chest. She's gone. He's gone. They're all gone. Everything is gone. The console beeped that he had a message. Instinctively he reached up and played the message.

After listening to it he held his breathe for a second before blowing it all out his nose. He tapped his fingers against the screen of his nav computer and had it plot a course for Corellia.

He pulled the lever down for hyperspace and leaned back, closing his eyes behind his helmet, letting the pain wash over him.

~~~

Night had fallen on Coronet as Prudii walked through the streets, looking for Darman's 'present'. He wore his armorweave overcoat over his typical armor. It would disguise him a bit. He had started wearing the coat on Nar Shaddaa as a disguise for just that op, but now, with the fall of KES, he needed a disguise wherever he went. With it being night chances of him being outright recognized were dim. He reached the coordinates that Darman had left him and immediately singled out what he was looking for, a trash receptacle. It was the perfect drop spot. Fishing a hand under the lid he felt around until he felt it, a datapad. He pulled it off of the weak mag clamps and tucked it away on his belt. Turning from the trash receptacle he headed back to his ship.

~~~

Once inside the cockpit Prudii set the datapad down into a dock on his cockpit. He spoke to the AI controlling his ship's computers. "Phenom, scan that for malware, and then pull any data you find off of it. Run all the forensics you can on it. I want everything, hidden, half deleted, everything."

"Affirmative" the droid said.

A few hours later the computer gave a soft beep.

"Sir. I have pulled a small amount of data pertaining to troop movements of the Mandalorian Confederacy, and a small hidden message in a portion of the drive that is typically used to store system software, but it was clearly put there."

"Good job Phenom." He said, "Store it all. I'll look at it later."

He began typing a response to the comm code that Darman had used "Cute gift. I'd love to meet up. I always thought the first place we met was romantic." With that he ended the message.

Prudii hoped Darman would remember the bar that he had been ambushed at, because he would be there.

 

[Darman Kebii'tra]

"Cute gift. I'd love to meet up. I always thought the first place we met was romantic." Darman read the message and sighed. Prudii was real nut case that was for sure, Darman thought. He finished snapping on the plates of his armor, which gave him a love bite every now and then, as the sun went down. As much as he loved this set, he kinda of wished Aranar had left him his set after he'd past. This durasteel wasn't nearly as good as the true beskar stuff Aranar kept. He'd have to look at finding a set one day, maybe after the payment he'd get from KES.

Once everything was in order, his beskad and blaster in their holsters, he slipped the white and blue t-visored helmet on. He stepped down the ramp of his ship and made sure that the anti-tampering devices were active. He didn't want Prudii playing any games and he'd have to remember to sweep for trackers before he departed. He didn't want Prudii pulling the same trip that Dar managed. Especially now that Gwen and Sally would be put in harms way. Satisfied that nothing was amiss, Darman departed for the rendezvous.

-Later-

Seeing the wacked-out Mandalorian, Darman walked across the threshold to join him at the bar. The bartender evidently recognized them both and shot them a look. Darman shook his head, "No trouble, I promise. Can I get a cafe?"

The bartender grunted and set a mug before him, steam curling up from the piping hot drink. The place was fairly crowded, but Darman was more focused on the man next to him. Taking a sip of the bitter drink, Darman spoke up. "I brought you some data. It's a little old, but I suspect you'll find it useful. Now keep your end of the bargain."

 

[Prudence]

Prudii sat helmeted at the table. Darman had never actually seen the man without a helmet, as his helmet had been on the last time they had met as well. He turned to the man and shrugged and then slid his hand over, raising it and then letting it return to where it had been. Where it sat after sliding it and later raising it was a credit chip "It's the proper denomination, you can check."

He paused for a moment waiting for Darman to pick the chip up "I'll look over the intel, but I can't give you refuge. KES is gone. As of yesterday a coalition of forces amassed above Imynusoph where we had been." His voice tightened as he welled back tears in his eyes Mia, Trane, Val, everyone I cared about short of Inferno and Ryan are gone...

 

[Darman Kebii'tra]

"That's....ah...unfortunate." Darman replied, "I'm sorry for you lose. Well then, I suppose that's it for us then."

Dar waved the bartender back over, "Two whiskey's please." The bartender nodded and set two glass before them. He stepped away for a moment before filling each glass with a dark brown substance that Dar was very familiar with. The bartender set the drinks before Dar, who slipped the man a credit chip. Dar took one of the two glasses and set it before Prudii, he then indicated the man to drink. Dar downed his in a gulf that seared the back of his throat.

Dar looked over, "So what are you gonna do now?"

 

[Prudence]

Prudii tilted his helmet up enough that the drink could reach his lips, poured part of the glass in his mouth and dropped the helmet. "It is."

He gave it a moment and shrugged "Back to where I came from. Mercenary work. Bounty hunting. The likes."

 

[Darman Kebii'tra]

"We'll then..." Darman answered, "It seems that our partnership is at an end."

Darman slid the credit chip that Prudii had slid over a moment before. "If there is ever something that you'd like to work together on, let me know. With the price on your head, you'd do better to keep your head down. But I suppose you know what you're doing. I guess, until then, good luck."

Darman left the establishment and began to retrace his steps to his ship.

 

[Prudence]

Prudii nodded "Good luck with your fa.." his words stopped for a moment "Your family. Keep a tight grip on the ones you love."

With the conclusion of their meeting Prudii stood, tilted his helmet back once more, downed the drink and let it slide back down. He departed the bar bound for the Devastator. He did a quick sweep of the ship for bugs as he was now getting back in the practice of doing. With no safe haven, his ship was the closest to a home he had. His scanners began pinging when he hovered over the control panel for the docking ring. Prying the control panel off he peered in and saw the bug. He pinched it with his fingers, removed it, and examined it. Not knowing who the bug belonged to he found a nearby ship in the hangar, attached it to the ship in a similar position it had been on his, and left it alone.

Once he was inside the cockpit he began analyzing the data as the Pursuer lifted off and began to climb towards the sky. Most of it was just troop movements. Names, locations, assignments. Things Trane... He stopped and felt his lungs spasm as he began nearing the sobs that had formerly occupied his time. Something Trane would have loved to have. But the man wouldn't ever see this.

But there was one really interesting bit in all of it. Amongst the system files for the datapad software, in a place typical users couldn't even access, was a simple readme file. All it said was a meeting place, and a wishlist of sorts.

As the ship climbed into the atmosphere Prudii spoke to his ship "Plot a course for Daedalus. I've got some shopping to do."