Log:BHG: This Complicates Things

Captain Andan and Dailo deal with a hostage situation.

OOC Date: June 4, 2021
Location: Rings of Kafrene
Participants: Andan Qorbin, Dailo Fett, Bounty Hunters' Guild

The Eight Legged Lady was hardly the tourist destination for Kafrene; hell none of Kafrene was a spot for tourists. Being a mining colony meant the place was filled to the brim with working class sentients who worked /hard/ for their creds. There were no shortage of bars, cantinas, and general entertainment districts that involved some of the more scantily dressed type venue, but the deeper one got into the station, the darker it got. That's where you find the Eight Legged Lady. How dark was it?

"Alright folks, you're next line of product is coming up now. Went younger with this block, late teenage with young backs. Certainly not lookers, if you know what I mean, but a benefit to any labor project.." The announcer said as a group of slaves were marched out to the stage and given a platform to be examined for their worth. The act of slavery, the notion of it even, did not sit well with Dailo. Thankfully, the sanctity of her helmet harbored any discontent that might have shown in her expression, were it visible. Instead, all they had to go off of was the neutral visor and common knowledge that she looked on and said nothing.

The Lady served other purposes too, though. Such as meeting the contact she was instructed to find and negotiate a price for. Energy sources for large ships were rare to find; most were plucked up from derelicts, or old wrecks where they miraculously survived.

Dailo took a seat at one of the booths and waited patiently. Their seller was running late, and Dailo held out hope that they were still coming.

The crew had mostly taken to Dailo well enough, though when it was revealed she was a Mandalorian it caused some eyebrows to raise. Mandos are known for a wide variety of things, often trouble too. But they'd played along with it as the job had the air of being a lucrative one.

Andan had left the crew at the ship, they were not fighters or street savvys they were hard workers like the people of this colony. He'd gone with Dailo, moving along her side through the throngs of people on the streets. His heavy jacket on now, it conceals the blaster he has on his thigh partially, though the holster still shows off that he's armed at least.

Once inside the club, he just lets his eyes wander over it. "Lovely." He says to Dailo with a sincere sarcasm dripping from the single word. They are soon to find their place to sit and the Captain settles in, his hands down near his thighs, keep one close to that gun at all times...

<"Not my first selection for venue.."> Dailo comments, safely within their alcove and more readily able to speak without the worry of ears picking up the content of their conversation. An impatient habit of hers has her looking to her wrist for the time, then shaking her head. After an annoyed sigh, Dailo glances over. <"In your experience, what does it mean when a seller is late?">

In her gut, she felt like something was wrong. This was supposed to be simple. They had it arranged and everything was supposed to go without a hitch. Now it felt like the perfect scenario was crumbling before her eyes. A soft vibrating buzz came from her hip and she pulls up her datapad to look, taking a moment to pull her glove off so she could tap the screen.

"Yeah, I wouldn't think it would be." Andan says about the venue being not Dailo's flavor. His eyes scan around their immediate area, up to the slaves being paraded around on the stage, and then back to glance over at her in her fancy armor. Her question has him consider it for a moment.

"Ah..." He raises his left hand up to rub a finger at the side of his face, then across his browline before he drops it back to his lap. "Depends on their personality. He starts, once more roaming his eyes around the place, not wanting them to linger anywhere very long.

"Sometimes its just a way to get us off balance, make us sweat a bit, make us..." He nods ahead of them. "Soak in the atmosphere of the place and put us off our game a little." He looks over at her, staring at the design of her armor more than her within it. "Sometimes it means they're compromised, maybe even dead." He mutters those last few words and takes his eyes off of the Mando, putting them back up toward the stage. The stage is where most people are looking after all, so it helps one blend in.

"Place like this though, they could just be real busy." He does add in that somber voice of his.

<"All seem valid,"> Dailo intones, her head tilted down and not really aware that she's fallen under the scrutiny of his gaze. The message that reads across the screen is not one she expected to see, and it sets her on edge. <"The meet is changed.. they want me to go to a private hangar. It says, come alone, but that was not the agreement." She sighs again and rises from the seat, waving off one of the serving girls and any notion she might serve them.

<"Nothing is ever easy,"> She laments and begins to leave. <"Private Hangar Z2">

Either Dailo felt like there would be trouble, or she was simply planning ahead, but she adjusted her belt to bring her knife and blaster to the fore-front and within quick reach. She stepped with more purpose, preparing her mindset for the likelihood of betrayal, and recalling what her father taught her on the subject.

No one betrays a Fett.

Truth is, Andan had never seen a Mandalorian up close before so he'd been impressed by the armor design. But ultimately he kept that to himself, even as the topic was shifting toward a bit of... tension toward this whole situation?

"Right..." He says softly with an exhale, watching her stand up. "Alone?" He questions, standing up as well, his jacket falling around his thighs again. "A change of plans means they were watching." He says quietly, just toward her helmeted head. "But if you've done everything they've asked, what point would--" He cduts himself off as they pass by some rowdy onlookers at the slave auction.

Once they get in to a quieter place he looks at her again. "Are you wanted by anyone?" He asks. "What kind of enemies do you have?" He asks, implying all of this may have been an elaborate trap for the Mandlorian woman.

<"No, but I think this must be the nature of this purchase. Like I mentioned, these sorts of things are not common on open markets. With the up-tick in piracy, and war.. something could have happened."> Dailo shrugs. She pauses in the corridor a moment to look up at the signs posted, then follows it toward the private hangar she was supposed to go to.

<"Something tells me this is an ambush. I can just feel it. What I am after requires that I follow this trail."> Stopping outside the hangar entrance, which is sealed at the moment, she turns to face Andan. <"You do not have to follow me in here. Just know if you do.. I intend to take this to where ever it takes me.. and.."> She raises a hand as if to make a valid point;

<"Your payment will reflect.">

Andan moves along with her, his eyes looking around at the others in the area as they reach the hangar. He doesn't seem terribly pleased about what is happening with this job so far, but he's still there, which says a lot.

At her suggesting he doesn't have to go in, he just tilts his head and smirks back at her. "They're breaking the deal, not us. Changing what was planned is a great way to not get what you want. We'll be fine, we just have to be smart about our words." He nods once to the hangar then and reaches up to loosen the collar of his shirt a little, his nerves are up some, which is to be expected.

All the same though the smuggler follows along at her side and a step or two behind her, his eyes scanning casually around, his hands at his sides, still near to his gun.

<"Thanks."> Loyalty was hard to buy, but Andan seemed the type to want to see something through and that relieved Dailo enough to take the next step.

Through the hangar hatch and down a small corridor, they arrive at a place intended for a few ships, yet only two occupy any of the berths.

A crew of people are on their knees under duress from a group of pirates numbering seven (7) with a single leader who steps out in front of Andan and Dailo alike. He tosses a bloody bag toward them, the squishy sound inside told Dailo all she needed to know about her seller.

They were dead, and this was their head.

"The guild thinks it's so smart. Stealing from our fleet, then.. expecting the black market to deliver on parts we /knew/ that ship needed before it was stolen from us." The leader says, his hands occupied with themselves, clasped with thumbs circling idly.

Dailo is quiet, caught off guard by this display.

"Quiet? Good.. that means you're listening. My old Captain used to say that you start a negotiation off by killing a hostage. It shows you're serious."

PCOWWWWWWW!

One of the hostages slumps forward, wordlessly and dead before they even struck the ground. Dailo flinches, her temper rising slightly. <"You have my attention. What do you want?">

"We want our vessel back, and you're going to tell us where it is. Every time you don't, someone dies."

Andan is on edge, how could you not be, and it only gets worse when they see the crew inside the hangar being held captive.

'Oh great.' He tells himself as the Pirate leader comes over to address Dailo. His eyes drop down to the bag that squished on the ground which makes him upturn his lip a bit in disgust.

The exchange between the two is heard and Andan reaches his left hand up a bit holding the palm out. "Lets just... settle down a bit here, shall we?" He asks everyone involved. "I don't see any reason people should die over what's going on here. We're all adults here, right? We should try acting like it. Civilized, that's how we all profit, right?"

Does this angle work on people like this? Probably not, but he's trying to think of a solution that won't get them all in bags like that!

The pirate raises his hand after Andan spoke to motion another execution, but Dailo stops him by saying, <"Wait! I want a fair trade. I tell you where the vessel is, you let them go."> After a second, <"All of them."> The pirate motions his hand and another blaster goes off killing a crew member instantly. They slump to the ground and Dailo flinches again. This is going so poorly! AHH!

The leader yawns, "I'd say I could do this all day, but if you do not tell me where it is, then I'll kill everyone in here and start my work on you." He pointed at Dailo then, his tone dark and striking home for her. Dailo was raised to take every threat as a challenge, and for this leader, it signed his death warrant. It was different when she was speaking with a dead man.

Dailo's tone changed a moment and she protectively stepped in front of Andan, acknowledging that she was putting him in danger. <"I am not asking again. Let them go and in trade, I tell you where the ship is."> This time, Dailo's tone seemed to ring truer than before and the pirate leader turned to regard his leverage. "No. I don't like it."

Andan's muscles all twitch when he sees the next crew member get shot. It makes him think of his own people, it makes him raise his left hand up to rub at the back of his neck uncomfortably and it makes him pace a step to the left as well. Dailo steps between him and the Pirate Captain which makes Andan sigh softly.

This isn't going well, this isn't as simple of a run as he'd sold it to his crew as.

Was there much he could do? He wasn't a mediator. "Listen to what she has to say." He tells the Pirate Captain over the shoulder of the Mando woman. "Your issues are with her, not these people." He says of the ship crew being used as bargaining chips.

While behind Dailo though, he's drawn his blaster pistol and has it held pointed down at the ground...

The leader turned away from them allowing a few things to occur: Captain Andan had used the opportunity to draw his weapon (since she blocked the view with her body in an act of seeming protective of him), lastly, she lunged forward in a sudden act of violence. A brief flash of a knife saw brought to bear against the leader. He is aware of her movement, but not prepared to be up close and personal. He cries out in surprise, avoiding the blade.

Dailo was persistent, a product of her upbringing; that much was shown when she twisted and spun in the direction he avoided her swing, which lined him up with her subsequent attack. The knife sank deep in his leg where she twisted it to keep the wound open. He reached for a weapon and she cut upward, disabling his hand, reminiscent of her father's tutelage, 'Your enemy can't use a weapon if their hand is rendered useless.'

She held the leader in a restraining hold, using pain as a catalyst to drive compliance, and her bloody knife rests against his neck threatening to saw across it to sever the arteries with the serrated, laser-sharpened edge.

<"I propose a new arrangement, one where your life is the wager. They shoot, you die. Another person harmed? You die. You fail to do /exactly/ what I tell you to do.. you guessed..">

<"You die.">

The pirates holding the others hostage seem at an impasse. This was not part of the plan.

Andan wasn't much of a fighter himself. He had weapons training but not a ton of heated experience using it in combat. He's been firing a blaster since he was a teen though, so when Dailo makes her move, he raises his blaster up and trains it on the other pirates that were holding the hostages, hostage.

Out of the corner of his eye he catches Dailo's savagery with that knife, it makes him shift his weight on his spacer boots some as he adjusts his grip on his blaster pistol. Scary. She's scary. It isn't just the armor, it's training too.

His brown eyes go back to the pirates though and he aims down sights at them, backing Dailo up. "We had a deal here. I'd suggest someone return to it, or my friend here might get more... stabby."

"You.. have my attention," The pirate echoes her earlier words.

<"Good boy, now tell your crew to drop their weapons."> Dailo's knife presses against his neck, the serrated edge beginning to cut the skin and leaving a thin line of red. <"Now!"> She insists, kicking his injured leg with her armored knee and making him cry out in sudden discomfort. "You heard her.. drop your kriffing weapons! DROP THEM!"

One weapon clatters.. then another, and another.. soon they were all set down. <"Now tell them to back up. DO IT!">

Another kick makes the pirate leader's voice crack comically. "DO IT.. BACK UP!" More hesitation, but the crew backs away from the weapons.

The hostages, who were not bound begin to move. The leader who was in Dailo's grasp begins to struggle, not wanting the hostages to leave. <"TAKE THE WEAPONS.. KILL THE PIRATES!"> Dailo commands, and the hostages each take hold of the weapons and turn them on their former captors. Two of the pirates (the ones who killed their hostages) dive for their weapons and manage to get them, rising back up to engage the group as a whole.

Dailo gets into a struggle with the leader. He cries out each time she intends him harm, but her final stroke ends him. She slams the blade deep into his chest and twists before kicking him away from her to squirm and die on the ground. <"Kill them. Kill them all!">

Dailo Fett stalks forward into the fray, eager to help their new allies fight the pirates.

Lots of bodies, lots of bodies with blasters, and knives, and whatever else they have. Andan feels the heat of the moment and the tension rising, he knows what that means, a blaster fight.

Great. Just great...

The ones who go for their weapons are the ones who garner his attention foremost. He turns his blaster to them and starts to fire. The stock sights are a bit ... terrible, and his first two shots zip wide, but the last lands target and as he starts to back up to look for some cover to get behind, he feels it his his arm.

ZAP!

Andan winces, take a few steps back he gets behind some cover in the hangar to put his back up against it, his jacket smoking from where he took the blaster shot!

It's a war zone. Blaster fire is going every which way, and pirates are falling to it. The smell of burned ozone filled the gap, leaving little to the senses save the extreme violence. It seemed the hostages were just as blood thirsty and wanting to exact their vengeance for the deaths caused by these criminals. Almost all of the unarmed pirates are shot down, leaving the two that managed to grab weapons. Both intended to attack the Captain with Dailo, but the Captain proved the quicker shot persuading one away from the fight (only to be gunned down by the hostages).

The other takes up the cause, sending a bolt into Andan's arm! Dailo intercepts, striking down the extended arm holding the blaster. The pain is enough that the pirate drops his blaster, which goes spiraling across the decking toward Andan, its barrel still smoking as it came to a slow stop.

Dailo slammed her helmet into the pirate's face, an old fashioned, cringing Keldabe Kiss just before taking him to the ground after slamming her knife into their chest.

All of the pirates were down, dying or otherwise, but the crew Andan and Dailo had managed to rescue stand tall and gather the wounded to hold them at gun point.

<"Everyone alright?"> Dailo asks after appending her knife from the fresh carrion she leaves on the ground. Its blade is wiped off on their clothing, casual.

"No!" Andan's voice says out from behind the cover he'd taken. He peers out to see the fight was down and done though, which has him stepping out from the cover, his blaster still held in his right hand aimed upward.

He looks over at his shoulder seeing the jacket smoking and the wound already starting to hurt good and bad. He groans as he walks toward the others and looks around.

"But so long as they're all ... handled, then I'll probably live." He grumbles as he lowers his blaster and shoves it back in to the holster on his thigh. "Who were those Nuff Rutters?" The smuggler Captain asks then, looking around at the crew that they just saved before his eyes go back to Dailo.

"Ailyn Vel?" One of the former hostages ask.

Dailo was looking at Andan's wound, but her visor is oriented to the hostage who addressed her. <"I am.">

"Those guys were pirates retaliating for something that happened with the Bounty Hunters Guild; something about a large ship." They answered Andan, then addressed Dailo. -- "Your crystals were taken from here. They forced us to load them into a separate ship before you arrived. He had no intention of giving you what you desired; they were going to kill us all." Dailo straightens a bit, not feeling as bad about having the hostages gun down their captors.

<"Any idea where they went?">

"Yes.. something about the crystals being used as a high stakes wager for a game on The Wheel. They're trying to get a new ship.. and judging from what they said.. they have someone on the inside that's going to rig the games in their favor. New ship, a ton of power sources.."

Dailo shakes her head. <"We'll head that way.">

"Do not worry about paying us. Saving us, and giving us a chance to avenge our fallen..-- we'll call it square."

Andan is listening to the rundown on what's what with the pirates and Dailo's shipment she hired him to haul. He winces when he feels the wound to his shoulder flare up a bit, but when it subsides again he eases up his expression and looks over to the Mandalorian.

He exhales and turns to walk with her when they're ready to go. On their way out he nods back to the crew, then waits for some space before he looks to the Mandalorian.

"We're going to need more guns." He tells her. "My crew aren't soldiers, they'll want more credits if we're putting them in a fight, and... well... I'm a bit strapped." He says all of this while reaching over to touch his shoulder. Which, of course makes him wince again.

"The Wheel..." He murmers on the way back the direction they'd come. "Nicer than this place, but still filled with trouble if you know where to look for it." He looks over to Dailo then. "And I'm guessin' you know where to look."