Ask Zaa Fenn!?

[The Storyteller]

ZAA FENN!?

Although he thought he had kept it a well-hidden secret, Shere had miscalculated the resourcefulness of his lieutenants. They found out that his birth name might've been Cann, but his adopted last name was Zaa Fenn! The Bounty Hunter's Guild has been contacted!

Player 1: Aska Ryun (@Tulos)
Player 2: Pidge Batana (@Kestrel)​

Mission: Capture the Old Cathar alive and deliver him to the BHG contact that is set to arrive at the Byblos spaceport soon. Reward for a former Crimelord of the Zaa Fenn? 200.000 credits! DM: @Eccles.​

___________________________

A large holo-projector played the Crime News Network continuously in the middle of the fortified penthouse's living room. A female weequay lay on the couch, lulled into sleep with spice, while her bare back, shoulders and legs displayed claw marks and scratches into her thick leather skin. Scratches deep enough that a human skin would be torn apart and bleeding profusely. It wasn't until a dapatad loudly pinged that an old cathar seemed to rush into the room, wearing only shorts and displaying both the scars on his body as the healthy fur he was covered in. "Did it come in?" he wondered out loud as he took the datapad in his hands and unlocked it. He was waiting for confirmation of the death of Tall Tulo and the massacre of the speakeasy cantina. Both would once again cement his position as gang boss here in the Byblos capital.

Instead he found yet another gossip post about Preef Zaa Fenn being spotted at the Supreme Mogul's side. "Bah," he tossed the datapad on the couch next to the resting weequay, "Preef is dead. When will they accept it?" No response. The Glitterryll he supplied his weequay mate with had her spiced out of consciousness most of the time. Wait, where was the other?

Meanwhile, sixteen residential levels lower, the door into the alley was opened from the inside. "You the mercs?" another weequay woman asked to the two strangers waiting there. She had similar scratchmarks across her body, but her short sleeveless dress revealed only those on her arms and legs. "Tulo said to escort you to the penthouse."

 

[Pidge Batana]

It had been a long time since Pidge had run any scores. For awhile, after Preef’s death, she had been syndicate hopping, looking for a new home. All she ever was, however, was a contractor. No family wanted to take the blue beauty in again, perhaps because of her seemingly scrambled loyalties. No matter how many hours she spent waiting for her comm to buzz for another mission, it rarely did.

Grief was hard. Sure, maybe not as hard as losing a parent of a child, but the twi’lek had lost the job she loved and the allies that made up her inner circle. Was it fair to request her to make such a commitment again? Who was she when she wasn’t gathering intel and sassing security guards? What use were her skills without an outlet? And so Pidge had once again taken up shifts at a med bay, living vicariously through her patients.

A week prior, a patient had presented with abnormal cranial swelling, asking to only be treated by ‘Practitioner Batana’. After handing her a data pad, he left without treatment, leaving the scoundrel to assume the injury was self inflicted. The data pad offered the details of a certain Shere Cann as well as a meeting place and a promise of a hefty sum of credits. Naturally, Pidge accepted the offer without thinking twice. The only thing more addicting than spice was being needed by someone and she was hooked.

Now, the woman stood before a towering penthouse next to a stranger. She smiled winningly at her accomplice. “Pidge Batana. If we’re gonna be working together, I think you should at least know my name”. With the brief introduction completed, the twi’lek turned to the woman who appeared to be their guide. Her eyes narrowed momentarily as the saw the gashes on the woman’s limbs. They looked like deep scars. Oh well, she would pull her aside and ask about that later. “Lead the way, ma’am.”

@Eccles
@Tulos

 

[Aska Ryun]

While her partner was busying himself with his new passion of Tenloss, Aska longed for a return to the simple life. Get a mark, find them, bring them in. Simplicity. None of this complicated maneuvering through governmental policies, negotiating terms in business dealings and all that standing around. It wasn’t what she had been brought up to do since the day she was old enough to walk. It was monotonous and bland and while it seemed to work for Covax, she found herself slowly diverting herself back to her roots. And who could blame her? She needed the thrill. Her life had been one contract after another to such a point that almost all of them blended together in obscurity.

Of course when the word of an existing member of Zaa Fenn being located reached her ears, it brought a multitude of memories back to the clone. Memories she often preferred to leave buried and forgotten but they were impossible to let go. To her, this was a job left incomplete. Maybe she should have been able to wash her hands of everything that went down in the Quick Draw Cantina all those years ago but when she read the name, she felt an uneasiness that needed to be rectified.

Standing in the alley she was instructed to wait in, Aska had donned her custom armour for the first time in what felt like years. She knew from past experiences that any Zaa Fenn bosses were not to be underestimated so while she would have preferred to bring in the Cathar dead, she opted to load the dart launcher in her suit with a heavy sedative tailored to his species blood that should render Shere unconscious for hours, if not days. The last thing she needed was an angry cat waking up in her cargo hold.

It seemed she wasn’t working alone on this either, as a young Rutian Twi’lek arrived and offered her name. Aska returned the woman’s smile casually before turning her attention back to the door, undeniably slightly suspicious of her arrival.

”Pidge,” the clone responded, still smiling. ”Nice to meet you. I’m Domino,” Something she had learned long ago? Never share your real name with strangers, especially when you’re walking into the hide out of a broken family that likely wants you dead. Perhaps there’d be time for a proper introduction later but for now, she didn’t want to take any chances.

As the weequay woman allowed them inside, the clone was already wary of what was across the threshold. Cautious eyes scanned the room with one hand on her holster before settling on the woman and her scarred limbs. While Pidge opted to mention it later, the clone felt it prudent to know.

”Nice scars. Where’d you get ‘em?” she asked, unconcerned with the discourteous nature of the question. Any sort of insight into what kind of man this Shere Cann was would be valuable before they encounter him face to face.

@Kestrel @Eccles​

 

[The Storyteller]

The conflicting instructions seemed to confuse the woman for a moment as she clearly wished to get all of this over with as fast as possible. "You'll see," she replied to Domino as she turned around and headed to the elevators with a speed somewhere between walking and a nervous jog. If it hadn't been obvious before to anyone who had ever heard of Shere Cann, the gang boss clearly ruled by fear and the threat of extreme bodily harm.

Unbeknownst to both Aska and Pidge, tonight was also the scene of several gang-related murders. Shere had ordered the massacre of a rebel wing of his own gang and whoever was drinking with them at a local cantina, revoking his own longstanding 'watertruce' that there'd be no hostilities inside that particular safehouse cantina. Then there was the very same Tulo that had notified the Bounty Hunter's Guild, or rather its more seedy underworld part, that Shere Cann was actually Shere Zaa Fenn. Shere had paid two mercs handsomely to assassinate his presumptuous would-be usurper.

The three women would share a rather boring elevator ride to the penthouse floor, but as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, the weequay woman showed no intention of entering Shere Cann's penthouse. "This is as far as I go," she confirmed with a trembling voice, proving that even the mere proximity to the gang boss had her in a fit of crippling fear. Her eyes darted between the penthouse interior and the elevator panel, anxious to press the button to close the doors and go back down.

@Tulos @Kestrel

 

[Aska Ryun]

Hardly the answer Aska was hoping for but it spoke volumes in its own regard. You’ll see. She supposed she would. As the lift climbed through the tower, Aska turned her attention over towards this partner of hers. Young, but not much younger than she was herself when she was finally free. Her blue eyes portrayed a youthfulness she hadn't seen in some time. Even though they had hardly spoken in the short time they’ve known each other, Aska couldn’t help but wonder if she and Pidge shared more in common than one would suspect at face value.

”It’s a shame we have to bring the little purr monster upstairs in alive, really,” Aska commented to Pidge with a smile. ”I think both of us could pull off a Cathar fur coat pretty well, don’t you?” she added, trying to force away the anxieties that come with this line of work.

As the door finally slid open to reveal the penthouse, Aska unclipped the latch on her holster and pulled the SE-45, keeping the weapon at the ready as she scanned for dangers but for the moment there was only one variable at hand.

“This is as far as I go,”

”I’m afraid you’re right about that,” the clone would whisper in the weequay woman’s ear before her free hand came up by her throat. Pressure would be applied to the artery and seconds later, the woman would collapse unconscious if unhindered. While she didn’t want to hurt the woman any more than she clearly had been until now, Aska and Pidge couldn’t run the chance of her turning on them or for the elevator to not be around for a quick escape. Picking up the woman, the clone looked to her partner with determination. ”Stay close and keep an eye out. First we stash her somewhere safe, then we find the Zaa Fenn,”

@Kestrel @Eccles​

 

[Pidge Batana]

Before they headed in, other operative voiced what the twi’lek had been thinking. Taken aback, Pidge raised her eyebrows at Domino. If someone had asked her about her own scars seconds after meeting her, they would receive a hearty punch to the gut. Either discretion was not one of Domino’s strong suits or she didn’t care. Thankfully, the weequay took the question well and answered as any scared individual would— vaguely. Pidge’s lips pressed together. She knew what it was to be petrified. Not overtly abused, but treated like something less than sentient, only useful for how pretty she could dance that night. Not that it mattered now. No one had known about her second job after her father’s injury. This was about Shere Cann anyway. Even if he was her brother in crime, he was going to pay his dues.

Pidge used the elevator ride to check her blaster one last time and tuck it in the back of her pants, then tightened her vest.
Domino broke the apprehensive silence.

”It’s a shame we have to bring the little purr monster upstairs in alive, really. I think both of us could pull off a Cathar fur coat pretty well, don’t you?”

“I think it would work magnificently to line a hat I just bought, too,” Pidge chuckled. “Too bad I need those credits enough that all I’d dare do would be shave him.” She hadn’t been ruthless in her early years, but age and experience had lessened her distaste of justified brutality. It seemed her new partner shared the same opinion. She wouldn’t complain, especially if it meant that she could stick more to her specialty of slicing and lying rather than having to try and subdue a guy twice her size.

As if she had read her mind, Domino smoothly cut off their guide’s circulation. Blushing, Pidge would gently shift the weequay so that one of her feet could temporarily keep the door open and the elevator open.

”Well that was smoothly executed. If I can find a control panel, there’s a good chance I can either keep the elevator stationary and locked or try and find a closet somewhere to… dispose of her in for the moment. Let me know if you see anything.”

@Tulos
@Eccles

 

[The Storyteller]

The arrival of the elevator and the commotion -and the voices- hadn't gone unnoticed and just as Aska picked up the unconscious weequay another walked right into view. "Stella, he noticed you were gone and he's-" she stopped, frozen in movement about twenty feet from where the two mercs stood, one of them holding her close friend.

Out of view a loud growl could be heard, "Get her here, right this instant!" To Pidge this was unmistaken the voice of an angry Shere Zaa Fenn. Still, the weequay woman didn't move and she didn't give any sign of responding to the angry Cather either.

Then the growling stopped.

The two mercs stood in a short wide hallway that was just ten feet wide and opened up in what seemed to be a larger living room. To the right were two sets of sliding doors, most likely leading to two separate rooms. There wasn't much cover to be had in the hallway, but those two doors didn't seem locked and by the sound of it their target was somewhere in the living room, but who knew what other doors or floors were accessible from around the corner where Shere was?

@Tulos @Kestrel

 

[Aska Ryun]

A trio of stunned eyes would meet as Pidge, this new Weequay woman and Aska all made a less than formal introduction to one another. With her friend Steela draped over her shoulders as she slouched, the clone moved her weapon and trained it on the woman on its stun setting. She was faced with a choice. Option A; pull the trigger. This was the least ideal solution as it would immediately draw the attention of everyone else who may be present in the penthouse. Option B; drop her SE-45 and pull one of her daggers. Aska was no slouch when it came to the deftness of her hands, often wondering if she could compete with the likes of the late Preef Zaa Fenn. She could have a dagger tossed directly into the woman’s throat before she even knew she was staring the angel of Death in it’s cold eyes. But did she want to kill an innocent woman? It wouldn’t be the first time. Or option C; Pidge was in closer proximity and more suited to dealing with the situation given the circumstance, but did the clone believe she could rely on a stranger? A woman she had just met, a woman she knew nothing about?

Unfortunately for this clearly abused and frightened woman, Aska trusted no one but herself. Her SE-45 fell the short distance to the floor of the elevator, careful to ensure it didn’t clatter against the durasteel, before her fingers quickly found the hilt of one of the daggers. In the blink of an eye, serrated steel buzzed by Pidge’s cone-shaped hearing organ and implanted itself into her throat. As blood seeped from around the blade whilst she slid to the ground, the clone knew they didn’t have the time to hide either women now. Dropping her softly from her shoulder to the floor of the elevator, she would retrieve her blaster and drag the corpse into the elevator before retrieving her dagger as well.

”Seal it,” the clone hissed in a hushed tone to Pidge, leveling her blaster in the direction of the main chamber of the penthouse to cover the Twi’lek should Sheer or any other brute peak around the corner to find the two missing weequay playthings. The blood soaked dagger remained in her left hand, ready to be utilized again if the need arose. She wasn’t sure what to expect but the fact that she already had to incapacitate one woman and kill another meant that this was not going to plan. Then again, when did plans ever actually work out? If you were going to make it in this career path, you needed to be quick to pick up the pieces of a failing procedure and Aska had proven countless times she thrived in chaos.

@Eccles @Kestrel​

 

[Pidge Batana]

Pidge hadn’t been ready to come face-to-face with Shere’s second escort so quickly. It seemed the weequay was just as surprised. The twi’lek’s eyes darted quickly around, silently assessing the situation. The girl could scream any minute. Revealing she had Zaa Fenn ties might get them passage but Pidge couldn’t risk in in front of Domino. Had the weequay that met them at the door intentionally walked them into a trap? But this woman seemed hurt too… Damn this was tight.

Something flew by Pidge’s head. She flinched just as the knife hit its mark. Domino had skill and the death would be almost instantaneous. But… that hadn’t been the plan. The merc looked back at her partner, eyes wide and dark. Clearly the human didn’t trust her to control the situation, but they were hardly in a better place now. Did Domino expect Pidge to trust her after that?

”Seal it.”

Pidge sneered. If she hadn’t been a professional, the ex-dancer-turned-con would have given Domino a lesson in tone. Instead, she nodded tersely.

“Cover me,” she mouthed. Personal differences mattered little at the moment. Her life was in Domino’s hands and vice versa. Hopefully experience and skill could cover what trust couldn’t.

An adopted last name wouldn’t save the twi’lek from being torn to ribbons by the father in the living room, so Pidge would opt for the sliding door on the right to shelter behind until they could regroup. Who knew, maybe Shere kept a stash of poison darts of something in there. She would try to open the door with a combination of stealth and speed, then, if the room seemed clear at a glance, would raise her own blaster in perpetration to cover Domino.

@Eccles @Tulos

 

[The Storyteller]

The knife lodged itself into the weequay's throat as her death rattle started. A weequay's skin was thick leather compared to that of a human and the knife hadn't quite severed any arteries, yet the death-rattle of blood constricting the poor woman's breathing was unmistakeble as she panicked from the pain and collapsed to the floor where she quickly lost consciousness. She'd be dead within the minute, for sure.

A loud wail pierced the silence then, "Risa!" a desperate yet angry voice boomed through the penthouse apartment.

When Aska reached the dying woman to retrieve her knife and drag the body to the elevator she'd get a proper look into the living room. In the center of the room was a lowered couch filled with cushions that seemed to be designed in typical Catharese lounging style, but it seemed to be empty aside from empty stim packages and a HoloNews bulletin suggesting Preef Callo had returned from the dead.

At the far end of the living room was an alcove with another durasteel door, open this time, that seemed to lead to a kitchen. In the far right was an open staircase that turned to the left and disappeared from view.

The surprise had been ruined. It had all the sings that Shere Zaa Fenn knew that assassins had just breached his penthouse and murdered his weequay companion mates. He didn't know that his life was protected by the Bounty Hunter's Guild and these two only sought his arrest, while his own gang, after the orders he had given, would no doubt want him dead.



@Tulos @Kestrel

 

[Aska Ryun]

Aska gritted her teeth as she took in what she could see from the hall. It bore every resemblance to a dormant drug den she had seen in the past, two of its inhabitants either dead or incapacitated in the elevator. Where any others may yet reside was hard to determine but from where she stood, there were few options. Either straight ahead and into the kitchens or to the right to go up the stairs. Then, of course, there was the possibility that someone may well have been hiding from her line of sight on the other side of the hall.

She had to think like a cornered predator if she wanted to predict Shere’s movements, given that he now knew his penthouse had been infiltrated. If it were her, if she was at home where she believed she could relax, her first concern would be finding a weapon which the kitchen could provide. Of course, this was a Cathar she was hunting. A killing machine designed by evolution. What kitchen knife could do what a Cathar’s claws couldn’t? And who was to say there wasn’t a blaster of sorts stashed upstairs?

With the elevator locked and the immediate escape route taken out of service, Aska would instead decide to slid through one of the doors into a room adjacent to the hallway, scanning for any signs of danger from behind the door before entering fully. Being so high in the tower, it was safe to assume most of the windows would be unlocked but Aska checked carefully for any sort of triggers or tension lines. Assuming the windows weren’t bugged, she could crawl through and utilize her jetboots to ascend to the next floor, the panes of glass above undoubtedly being enough to muffle the sounds they would create and allow her a chance to observe for Shere’s presence.

Spoiler

Unsure if Kestrel also still plans on posting so I went ahead with acting as though Aska is alone. Again, sorry for the long wait, Ecc!

@Eccles @Kestrel​