Well, hello there stranger..

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

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It was a cool and kind of rainy evening on Coruscant. It was raining just enough to be annoying, but not enough to be a drenching rain. A young Mandalorian pilot by the name of Abigail Soler, landed on the planet not long ago and was finding a place to rest for the evening, but first she would decide to stop somewhere for a drink.

Grabbing her brown leather jacket and putting it on, Abigail then made her way off of the ship, ignoring the small rain drops that were falling all around her. She took her time, watching as people walked briskly through the rain as if they would melt. The thing she never understood is that they were moving fast. Yeah, she understood that they didn't wanna get wet, but the trick to that, was to walk a normal pace. Especially with a rain like this.

After walking for a few minutes, Abby found a nearby cantina and made her way to there through the crowd of people. When she entered, she was surprised at how large the place was. There were many people inside. A few men in the corner acting mysterious, the loner who had nothing better to do than just drink his life away, two dancers on the dance floor most likely in a dance competition as people cheered on and then there was Abigail, thirsty, tired and somewhat hungry.

Walking up to the main bar and sitting on one of the bar stools, she ordered a sweet Corellian beer. The bartender nodded and a few seconds later came back with her order. Popping the top off, Abigail took a sip of the sweet amber colored liquid before turning around in the bar stool, using the bar as a support for her elbow as she watched what was going on on the dance floor. She loved the idea of dancing and she loved to watch people dance, but she had two left feet and was totally not talented in that subject. She was a Mandalorian, she was better off blowing things up, creating art and flying.

@TheHook1

 

[The Captain]

Given his amphibious heritage, one would assume that Vol Kalinth would have no issue with a little rainfall. Vol however, would assume you to be an idiot. Rain on any urban planet tended to be cold, foul-smelling, and in some areas rather acidic, the former two seeming to rule the day. Having no intention of trudging back to his dingy motel through the frigid, odious rain, he located a nearby cantina and made his way inside.

The Exchange scoundrel had been called to Coruscant on official business, but had arrived a few days early, mainly to perform a little reconnaissance on his intended meeting area. He had been dressed in his more casual attire for the day, a plain dress shirt and pants, with his blaster pistol hanging prominently on his hip. To the common observer, his appearance suggested a security agent or bodyguard off-duty, but his movements betrayed him. Vol still moved with an air of authority and arrogance, normally reserved for politicians and corporate big-wigs.

Entering the cantina, Vol was met with an almost cliché menagerie of drunks, criminals, and eye-candy, all seemingly necessities for seedy bars. Taking a seat at the counter, Vol called for his staple, Corellian whiskey, which was shockingly more alcohol than water this time around. While his sense of taste was almost non-existant, a little booze might numb his nerves and warm him up.

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Abigail had taken a few more sips of her beer, still watching the dancers, tapping her foot to the beat of their music. As the young Mandalorian pulled her long braided hair over her shoulder, she noticed a newcomer who seemed to act as if he was some high man in the senate, but appeared to be some bodyguard or some agent. Abby sighed taking another sip of her drink before looking back to the show she had a view of.

She could say that she was a little surprised when the man came over and sat down at the bar rather than his own private little table. She listened as he ordered a Corellian whiskey. Abby remember the last time she had one of those drinks. She ended up sick because of how much alcohol it contained, so she stuck with her usual.

 

[The Captain]

With his paranoia itching at the back of his mind, Vol turned to survey the bar scene, hoping to settle his nerves. Beyond the usual riff-raff and scum, only one person stood out in his search, a human woman sitting just two seats away from him. While most of the bar patrons only gawked for a few seconds before he sat down, she had been keeping her eyes on him longer than most.

Putting on his most charming face, he turned toward the woman, intent on discovering why he was of such interest to her.

"I take it you've lost something over here?"

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Once Abigail realized that he found he was being looked at longer than anyone else had, he started talking to her. She was actually kinda surprised, nobody really ever talked to her. Upon seeing her, his look seemed to change a little bit, which made her raise an eyebrow. This would probably be an interesting conversation. She knew but didn't know what to say in response to his question.

"No. I haven't. You just seem... familiar."

She said in response to his question. Honestly he did. She didn't know how or why, but he did.

 

[The Captain]

He looked familiar to her? Well, she was either an idiot or a terrible liar, although given the surprise on her face it was most likely the former. Turning back to his drink, he effortlessly downed the liquid, as he was unable to taste the burning flavor that normally accompanied the liquor. Turning back to the woman, Vol knew he had a choice to make, either swallow his pride and engage this simpleton in conversation, simply out of boredom. Or sit next to her in awkward silence and wait for the rain to stop.

"Any idea where you would have seen me before?"

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

The look on his face told her that he wasn't exactly sure about what she had said. She wasn't sure how much he was really wanting to talk to her at that moment, but then, who would? She was a Mandalorian and everyone would be able to tell by the blasters she had. She was smarter than she looked, it was just, no one ever cared to find that out.

"Well, I'm out and about quite a bit for this group called the Exchange. They always have something for me to do but today.. not really. But I think I have happened to see you around that area. I believe we've passed each other, but never really talked. I mean, unless that was someone else.."

She said in a low voice before taking another sip of her drink.

 

[The Captain]

Well, this certainly confirmed his hypothesis, as only an idiot would mention their association with the Exchange openly. The group was meant to remain in the shadows, and had a variety of enemies at every level of society. Taking a quick look around the bar, he tried to discern if anyone had overheard her. Satisfied with his examination, he moved one chair closer to her and leaned in, whispering.

"Back corner booth, now." Not waiting for a response, he simply stood up, moving with surprising calm and confidence toward the intended booth, sitting down and waiting for the woman to join him.

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

He may have thought of her to be an idiot and that as fine, cause that was his mind, but truly she wasn't. She had only recently joined their faction so she wasn't exactly sure about why he was now being odd. Yes she had been given the basics, but she hadn't heard of it being a secret faction. As he came closer to her, she felt confused for a second but listened as he told her to go to the back of the bar.

"Alright then."

She said under her breath. Getting up, she calmly turned around and saw as a drunken man looked at her with googly eyes. She rolled hers and looked at him again. "Step off, buck wheat." she said to him. He looked defeated and started walking away to find someone else to hit on. She then made her way over to the booth and sat down on the opposite side of him.

"So, what's up?"

she asked. She rested her head upon her hands and waited for his response.

 

[The Captain]

"What's up? Nothing really, I just have a rather simple question; what imbecilic thought compelled you to announce your allegiance to our...shared association, in the middle of a bar? I would genuinely like to know." His expression was no longer relaxed or confident, it was wrought with visible anger and a hint of fear. He had no intention of being outed as an Exchange member, or revealing the organization's existence, because someone decided to get chatty about her membership.

Meanwhile, back at the counter, the rather invasive drunk who had attempted to make a pass at Abigail straightened up, moving to an open booth nearby. Reaching into his dingy coat pocket, he drew out a small communication device and activated it.

"Some Mando in the corner bar mentioned that she's in the Exchange, and I don't think she was drunk enough to be lying."

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Raising her eyebrow, she leaned in, her voice chilling, but calm and quiet.

"I beg your pardon, but I'm not as stupid as you think. You have no idea who I am or what kind of person I am. I just joined these people and they never said anything about being a hidden faction. If that is not clear enough, I don't know what is."

She said in a hushed tone. She was a Mandalorian and more often than not, it didn't take long for her to lose her temper, but still be self conscious enough to know when to keep something like this conversation in between both of them especially after he takes her to the side and out of the way of anybody else. While it took almost too much to frighten the young Mandalorian, she held no fear in her eyes, just pure seriousness.

Abigail noticed that the man who tried to hit on her, had changed drastically and was saying something over a com. She cared less though, because she felt that she'd be able to easily take him out.

 

[The Captain]

"Yes, a hidden faction, one that you shouldn't be openly blurting out." This was becoming almost comical, she claimed to know that the Exchange wanted to remain anonymous, and yet she was still willing to complain about it with strangers like she was working a nine-to-five. Groaning, Vol eased back in his seat, rubbing the bridge of his nose in order to sooth the headache she was bringing on. From this position, he noticed that her gaze had shifted from him to somewhere behind him. Turning in his seat, he spotted the drunk from earlier leaning over a communication device...and he had noticed them.

Leaping from his feet, he made a mad scramble to the door before anyone could react, barreling out into the street. While the rest of the patrons stared in wide-eyed confusion at this display, Vol had other ideas.

"We need to leave, now."

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

"Well, sorry, but I didn't know."

she said still using a hushed tone, but also said in a somewhat flat tone. Abigail kept her eye on the man as she wondered who he truly was. After all, why would he care or be contacting someone because she was with the Exchange? As Vol stood up, the man had turned to see him stand up and run for the door and then he made eye contact with Abigail and she glared at him. Someone then walked in front of her and when they passed she noticed they were gone.

Standing up much more calmly than Vol did, she walked with a quick paced gait and when she got to the door, everyone seemed to be staring at her. Stopping and turning around for a second, she looked at everybody.

"Go back to what you were doing, nothing important here."

Abigail said firmly. It seemed to work because then everybody immediately went back to what they were doing. She gave a short nod before then running out the door after Vol.

 

[The Captain]

"Of course..." Vol had intended to slip out the back with Abigail, disappearing before the reinforcements the fleeing vagabond had undeniably called. But it appeared that his new drinking partner intended to just run the man down. Standing up from his seat, he strode quickly out the door after the tramp and Abigail, ignoring the stares the patrons gave him.

Meanwhile, with the aforementioned bum, he had ducked down a nearby alley, the sounds of splashing puddles betraying his position. As he tried to escape his pursuer, he ran smack into the four mercenaries his call had warranted. Bouncing harmlessly off the lead goon, he landed in a puddle, before glaring at his back-up.

"Nice to see you finally got here!"

"Shut it, Hitchens, just tell us where the girl is." As he said this, Abigail would have rounded the corner, spotting them from down the alley.

"There!"

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

Abigail saw as the drunk fleed the bar and she got up, chasing after him. She was pretty quick and as she looked behind herself, she made sure that no one was following them. She gasped and ran faster, before rounding the corner into an alley where the drunk had seemed to have gone into.

She stopped dead in her tracks, sliding a little bit as she did as she saw four large muscular men, plus the man from the bar out here and she gasped and heard as one of the larger guys started asking for where she was. The guy from the bar then saw her and she gasped again as he pointed her out and thought for a second of where to go before she then turned and started running through a crowd.

 

[The Captain]

After entering the main alley, Vol staggered to a halt as a massive crowd, Abigail included among them, came barreling toward him. Turning and ducking into a side lane, he narrowly avoided getting swept up in the tide of panicked pedestrians. As soon as they passed by, the Chagrian poked his head into the main alley, only for a blaster bolt to zip past his head, forcing him back.

"Th-that guy was with her too! Get 'im!"

"...damnit." Tearing off down the path, two of the four mercenaries splitting off to chase him. Meanwhile, the now armed drunk and the other two mercs continued to chase after Abigail.

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

As soon as Abigail was immersed into the crowd, she realized that her buddy wasn't with her. Frantically looking around, she finally saw Vol and started running towards him, so they would stay together. That was until she saw two of the guys including the man from the bar all armed and running towards her. Gasping, she started to run along the outside of the crowd.

"What the kriff is wrong with my head?!"

she asked herself as she started to put all blame on her being a total jerk. As she ran, she pulled out her blasters in case anyone from their group decided to come in for extra backup. If they had cornered her somehow, she'd have no chance other than to surrender.

 

[The Captain]

Without a crowd to block their shots, the two mercenaries after Vol had a much easier time shooting at him. Drawing his blaster pistol, he attempted to return fire, but marksmanship was not his forte. Thankfully neither of the men on his tail were fantastic shots either, as their shots never came closer than a foot. All he had to do was keep moving and he could stay alive...and the dead end he came up on made that difficult.

"You know, this almost feels deliberate..."

Taking a second to contemplate the cruel cosmic joke that was undeniably being played on him, a stray blaster bolt reminded him that he had other concerns at the moment. Ducking behind a nearby dumpster, he began firing blindly into the alley.

Meanwhile, running along the outside of the crowd was probably Abigail's first mistake, as it made it easier for the mercs to fire at her, and simultaneously drive of the pedestrians. Once they hit the road the cantina was on, her moving cover scattered in every direction, trying to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

 

[Rae Anne Jarrus]

While running along the crowd may have been a mistake, it'd also been an advantage, because she was able to move quicker without running into anyone. She looked behind her to see that they were firing at her and quickly turning, she started firing back at them. The shots came close to hitting them, but she purposely missed cause she preferred not to kill them but more tried to shake them off.

Then she got it. It would either be the stupidest move and get herself captured, or it would give her the advantage of losing them. Running faster and running around the corner into an alley, she sadly found that it was a dead end. She was running so fast that she had to use the wall to stop herself. Turning around she saw all three men as they came down the alley way after her. There was nowhere to hide.

"Oh I am the dumbest person I've ever met."

she said under her breath to herself. She then readied her blasters and waited confidently to see what their move would be.

 

[The Captain]

Through the combined bad luck of both Exchange members, the mystery mercenaries had both of them pinned in dead ends. The only thing that kept both of them alive was the distant blare of police sirens. Taking this as their cue, they bolted off in every direction, scattering to avoid being nabbed by the authorities. While the immediate danger was gone, there was still a problem, the police. Considering that they were now the only armed people in the area, they would most likely by blamed for the massive crossfire.

Eyes darting around the alley, Vol knew he had to get out of the alley fast. The duracrete labyrinth he had sprinted through was most likely being sealed off by the police. There was no way out on foot, no doors or windows within reach, no fire escape to climb up. There was only one option, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.

There was a manhole cover in the center of the alley, and it was his only method of escape. Adrenaline and fear egging him on, Vol was able to lift the covering off the hole enough to squeeze in, before pulling the cover back into the place. The sound of footsteps and incoherent shouts told him he had done it just in time.