Log:Old Dogs, New Tricks
King and Sumi go on an adventure!
OOC Date: October 24, 2020
Location: Nar Shaddaa
Participants: King, Sumi Kora
[King]
For the patrons of Trader's Way, or Nar Shaddaa in general, fistfights in dark alleyways are no cause for concern. They land right there under 'business as usual', or 'just another day at the office' depending.
It's what happens after the protracted donnybrook that has some people looking that way; a gunshot. Not the sound of blaster fire, but the report of something far more antiquated and mean.
A curosry look around finds The Man Named King standing over the protrate corpse of a Rodian man, the former sliding a rag from his duster pocket and beginning the meticulous process of getting gross green blood off of his 'Enforcer'.
[Sumi Kora]
Gunshots in proximity to the Bounty Hunters Guild was cause for concern. Sumi took the initiative to investigate and emerged from a side entrance, stepping out casually and into view. A light on her helm clicks on and its beam cuts left, then right and settles on the figure that remains standing; from Sumi's perspective it appears that the deed is done, and all that this man is doing is cleaning up.
Having no indication or clue as to who the gunman is, Sumi announces herself. <"Did they deserve it?"> A cold question, but it matters on a moon like this where law was for those who could make it for themselves. A lot of people died around here for revenge. This is the way.
[King]
Isn't a terribly hard man to pick out of a crowd between his handsome moustache and the fact that wide-brimmed hats haven't been in style since the Clone Wars. His hat, lost in the kerfuffle is plucked up off of the ground after he slides his revolver back into place. Knocking the dirt off of it, it's pulled down over his head and he turns towards the voice. A little out of breath, he responds, "That ever stop you?"
[Sumi Kora]
<"Depends,"> Sumi says, drawing closer at a casual step. <"I have a soft spot for the pretty ones."> A glance down at the Rodian and she laughs. <"This one seems justified."> They were ugly! Her arms rise to cross over her chest. <"Close quarters with a slugthrower.. that's messy. You trying to paint murals on the walls out here..?"> A gesture is made to the adjacent wall where a good spray of blood has decorated otherwise dull features.
[King]
"Trying to send a message," King answers back to her, sliding a pack of tabac sticks from a pocket and shaking one loose to grab with his teeth. The pack is held out towards Sumi for a moment before he imagines the futility of smoking with a Mando helmet on. Moving to sit atop a trash can, he strikes his lighter and holds the flame to his smoke until he gets an even burn going. The lighter's clinked closed and deposited away. "Zoolgu Bondanovic," King says, popping the cigarette out of his mouth and using it to gesture towards his erstwhile opponent.
"Part of a...cadre of organ harvesters based out around Kafrene," he says, lifting his stick for a long drag. "Got word from a family round here there daughter'd gone missin'..." A deep sniff is sucked in and a moutful of snot, spit, and blood is hocked onto the already filthy ground. "Followed her trail right to him," he says, a frown setting in.
[Sumi Kora]
Sumi waves off the smokes politely and alters her look to angle down toward the body. Zoolgu's ID was being matched by the face-scan software of her HUD. It was an idle program that runned autonomously, leaving Sumi to read the results while she dragged the body over to the wall and propped it up.
She starts patting the dead guy down, separating him from weapons found, and checking pockets. <"Did you find the girl?"> Sumi asked, her tone even but not yet cold. Her helmet did a poor job of conveying much in the way of tone. When she had a wallet with various cards and stuff, she rose up slowly, showing her age, and carried her findings to King to sort out.
<"Can't say I enjoy organ harvesters. I'm no stranger to blood and guts but it doesn't shake the creepiness factor much.">
[King]
"Parts of her," King says, lifting his minutely shaking hand for another drag. Smoke trails out of the corners of his mouth and he shakes his head a bit. "Broke the news to the family, then they sent me some extra credits. Wanted some more things done for 'em," he says. King points a finger-gun at the dead Rodian and clicks his teeth.
Taking the offered wallet, King will begin to dig through it. Don't need to see the ID, he's been looking at Zoolgu's picture for days. A handful of credits are pocketted, and a punchcard with nine out of ten marks from the Twi'Lick is held out to Sumi. "Still got a couple more of his ilk to track down."
[Sumi Kora]
<"Shame,"> Sumi says about the girl. Sumi takes the punch card and chuckles. <"My lucky day."> She feeds the card into a bandolier pouch that hangs diagonally across her torso. <"Want an extra gunhand?"> Her helmeted head lifts to look at him, the reflective visor showing King himself in her 'gaze.' <"Or do you still prefer to work alone?">
[King]
"Figured you'd get more use out of that than I ever would," King says, sliding off of the trash can and back down onto his feet and walking over to her as she asks her question. He'll take a moment or two to straighten his hat, tuck his hair back behind his ears, and futz with his lapels a little bit in the reflection of Sumi's visor before he'll reach out and give her a faux-punch in the armored boob. "Depends. You know any worth a damn?" he asks, grinning and apparently having shaken off whatever had him shook.
[Sumi Kora]
Sumi doesn't react. She's used to vulgar mannerisms and perverts, so a faux-punch to her armored boob is barely worth a peaked brow. (Which didn't matter considering he couldn't see it.) <"Ha!-- No, they're all dead."> She recognized he had recovered from his heavy breathing; smokes always did the trick. She knew from experience. Her arms stay crossed for now, her hip jutting a bit, showing her 'youthful' Morellian age.
[King]
"Well, you'll have to do, then. Partner back there spilled the beans on their their little Nar Shaddaa hideout. Pay a visit with me?"" he asks, pinching the cherry out of his cigarette and tamping it out with his foot before he tucks the butt behind his ear. Waste not, want not.
[Sumi Kora]
<"Sure. Let's do it."> Sumi uncrosses her arms briefly and presses a button on the wrist of her gauntlet. This switched her status from inactive to hunting (not for the Guild, but for her clan.) It activated her tracker in the event she required help on the fly. <"Lead the way, old man.">
[King]
Loaded up into the Lonesome, the two of them made their way to the Gearhead District, Nar Shaddaa's beating heart of industry. With plenty of factories, alleys, and other dark, unmonitored places for tons of nefarious dealings.
The Razor Crest Patrol Craft lights away from the district's landing pads near a nexus of seemingly anonymous warehouses. "Thirty sixth one on the rightside row," King says, making his way down the ramp of the small ship and gesturing to a building not far off from where they landed.
"Least that's what the fella told me. Could be a trap, but...well, I dunno. Wasn't payin' close enough attention," he says, spurs clinking as he walks along the mostly-empty street towards the den.
[Sumi Kora]
<"Traps are an occupational hazard,"> Sumi adds while following the ancient gunslinger. She's got a fancy Sonn-Blas F-11S sniper rifle clamped against the magnetic storage strip on her back. Sumi is also double-checking her GLIE-44, though as they draw closer, she holsters the weapon and brushes her cape over it. <"Are we keeping any alive?">
Sumi is slightly shorter than King, but her steps sound heavier with the bulky plates of beskar and durasteel. She cycles through optics to find an ideal setting and glances toward King, expectant of an answer.
[King]
"Not per the contract, even as informal as it may be. They paid the money, they get what they want," King says. It's a twisted sort of honor, but it's honor nonetheless. He's dressed for urban play, at present; his duster's been left on the ship for fear of it getting hung up on anything, and he's wearing the chest piece and heavy boots of his Cinnigar armor. And the hat. Always the hat. Slung across his back and bouncing as he walks is another piece of antiquated weaponry; a scatter gun with plenty of aftermarket pieces bolted onto it.
King leads the way down the small path between the warehouses and stacks up against the door. He reaches up and taps the side of his head, looking at Sumi. "That thing see through walls?"
[Sumi Kora]
<"I wish, I wouldn't have to go to the strip club then."> Sumi replies, her tone carrying humor despite the weight of impending combat. <"I can see in the dark though. There a power box to trip? A gonk droid maybe?"> She casts one side of her cape back, freeing a baton that extends to a much larger and deadlier baton. A winding twist of the weapon sees it charged with sparking voltage and it humms and vibrates with the most intensity around its deadlier end. That end is shaped like a medieval mace, with serrated edges, designed and intended to shatter plasteel and part durasteel. If struck bareskin, it'd send them airborne and away from the striker by several painful meters.
[King] "Hmm. Gross," King says, swinging his shotgun up and moving in front of the door. "You think I can see in the dark just because you can, kid?" he asks, before he takes a step forward, hefts up a leg, and kicks the ever-lovin' sin out of the door in front of him. Rended from its hinges, the thin metal is buckled inwards and sails into the dark room before it's halted by a meaty thump.
That meaty thump was an Ithorian gangster on the other side getting ready to step outside to relieve himself. That's not a problem for him, anymore.
Along with the Ithorian, there's a mean-looking trio of other lowlifes, standing around an operating table, cutting into a Zabrak hanging on by a thread. That thread being the complex life support system he's hooked into.
[Sumi Kora]
<"Didn't seem to matter when you thought I could see through walls, hahaha,"> Sumi says, giggling. She raises her weapon into a ready stance, and instead of stacking to one side, she stood away from the door and threshold, but oriented toward it.
The hatch is down, and inside is a stunned Ithorian. Sumi had no knowledge they intended to relieve themself, but their wish would be granted when she stepped through and swung full force with her weapon. Not only did she hit them in the head, she ejected a voltage spike so powerful it threw the heavy Ithorian backward and into a wall where the wall cratered inward as if cupping the body to hold it in place. The Ithorian's blood spattered behind and out of its large mouth along what passed for its neck, spitting out a violet-blue substance and choking all the same. It died, thus, relieved.
Sumi was still giggling as she moved further in. She was intercepted by Slugg Monassis, who raised a weapon toward King, but failed to squeeze off a round. Sumi struck him in the arm immediately breaking it with a sickening crack. The subsequent blow was across the face, splitting their head horizontally and violently. The blow was announced by Sumi's <"AHHH!">, and concluded when slug spewed blood and brains across the floor amidst spinning and sprawling to the deck dead before he'd hit the ground.
<"Two down!"> Yelled the Mando, exhilarated and hungry for more fighting!
[King]
Rushing in behind Sumi, King's scatter gun is cocked and leveled in the general direction of the bad guys. The trigger is pulled and razor sharp metal filings go sailing through the air towards Thrunge, but only manage to dig a series of holes in the wall behind him as he leaps out of the way.
"Who are these blasted people!?" bellows their Bessalisk leader, one Mr. Imagon B. Smooshin. All four of his arms reach for blasters and he begins firing wildly at the Mandalorian while the horizontal Thrunge, a Devaronian catches King in the leg.
[Sumi Kora]
Blaster shots spark overhead, showering bits of debris from above as Sumi runs by like a madwoman. Screaming when she came in range of Imagon, she struck one arm with enough force to break it and alter the aim of a weapon. Her second swing is not so fortunate, and she's left dancing off balance to one side while he dodges to get away. That's when she plunges the voltage layered mace against his back for a solid and painful blow.
Sumi didn't wait to withdraw it, she was brutal and violent about the action, eager to draw out the fight and cause more pain.
[King]
"Watch the patient, kid! Might not be too far gone!" King says, a hissing quality to his voice as he deals with the sting of the blaster burn on his thigh. Mantleing over a counter-top, King grabs Thrunge by the lapels and slings him into the wall, his follow-up punch just digging out a chunk of it as Thrunge slip-slides away. He attempts to press his gun into King's gut and fire off a shot, but the Morellian man slaps it away just in time, the bolt sailing off to spark against the cieling.
Meanwhile, the might Bessalisk is down one arm, but the other three are still trying to keep the Mando at bay long enough to shoot her down. A flurry of blaster bolts sail through the air, none of them finding their mark.
[Sumi Kora]
Sumi ducks as a shot intended for her is discharged by the ear of her helmet, the flash reflecting off the blue tint of her armor. She strikes down the respective arm aiming the weapon, breaking it, and in a spin for momentum catches his knee too, buckling the leg and bringing him down to a kneel before her. Sumi plants her feet, twisting to face him, and in the fashion one brings an ax down to chop wood, she splits Imagon's head in two, kicking his corpse to fall in a thundering collection of heavy thuds, to the floor. <"Big boy's gone; looking to the patient now. I'm drek at doctoring though..">
[King]
Driving a fist into Thrunge's shoulder that's accompanied by the sound of broken bones, King straightens the Devaronian up, steadies his head by grabbing ahold of one of his horns, and drives a haymaker into his jaw, leaving the devil to slump down to the floor. He's still kicking, but he's down for now.
King's fingers flex in and out of a fist as he turns to walk back towards Sumi and the incapacitated Zabrak, the older man sparing a look towards the work she did on the Bessalisk. "Making me feel old the way you move around, Sumi," he says, chuckling breathlessly.
Blue eyes flick back to the Zabrak who's sustained only by the tubes running in and out of his body. His innards have been bared for all to see and there's plenty missing. King frowns.
[Sumi Kora]
<"Close quarters is exhilarating for me,"> Sumi admits, lifting the cooler lid nearby to peer inside. <"So.. question."> She walks over to the patient now and observes he's missing quite a few organs. She was no doctor, and judging from King's frown, perhaps he felt the same. <"Why go through the trouble of keeping them alive if you're going to pull them apart?"> She collects the cooler and sets it down beside the Zabrak. <"Well.. what are we gonna do, doc?"> Her visor lifts to study the older man's face a moment.
[King]
"They hook 'em up to these little stabilizer thingies as soon as they pull 'em out," King explains, gesturing to a stack of boxes on one of the nearby counters. "Keeps 'em...active? I guess? Working like they're still in a body, so they don't shut down or something. I dunno. Zuulgo was talking a mile a minute when he thought it'd save him." King sucks his teeth and begins a look around, as if that's instantly going to give him a degree in saving this poor soul's life.
Deciding that there's not a whole lot that either of them can do, King runs a hand down his face and looks over to the woman. "I guess we make tracks, and call in an anonymous tip. Hope they send somebody with more sense than us to clean this up."
[Sumi Kora]
<"I guess that makes sense.."> Sumi says, clearly not in her arena here. She closes the lid to the cooler and leaves it there. <"I can send word out to the guild to send someone. Maybe it will save a life.."> She deactivates her weapon and collaspes the baton, hooking it back to her belt. <"You good to head out?">
[King]
"You gotta save lives where you can in this profession," King says, his hand lifting to rest on the Zabrak's arm. He'll either live to see another day not knowing the names of his saviors, or somebody else will cut off his life support.
A wheezing, tired groan escapes the lips of the Devaronian that's folded over in the corner and King slides one of his big irons out of his holster, thumbs back the hammer, and sends chunks of the alien's head all over the place. "I am, now," he answers Sumi, his gun deposited quickly and without flash back to its home. He rounds the table and grips Sumi by the shoulder, "Thanks for...y'know...helpin', kid. Would've been in a bad way if I didn't have you backin' me up."
[Sumi Kora]
<"No problem, old man."> Sumi adds, walking out with him casually. As they go out the door, the Ithorian unpeels from the wall and splatters to the floor. Had Sumi heard, she might have giggled.
