Log:Sith Empire: Reap What You Sow
In the aftermath of the Admiral's death, Xavier sought to identify every person involved with the assassination. With intel retrieved from surviving Stormtroopers -- both direct recounts and the recordings from their helmets -- Xavier was quick to peg Kye Keraz among the throng. A mercenary currently working under the Hired Guns. Now those actions meet the expected consequences.
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Reap What You Sow
OOC Date: Septemeber 24, 2022
Location: Beggar's Canyon, Tatooine
Participants: Xavier Harcourt, Kye Keraz
--Xavier--
Beggar's Canyon cuts deep into the terrain of Tatooine. Twisting and turning as a reminder of the massive ocean that once covered the planet and now only a ghost of the streams that last flowed here untold millennia ago. It is at the mouth of this canyon that the former nest of the Missing Hand is located. A small opening leads further into the rock: providing shade and shelter from the brutal Tatooine suns.
Xavier is just outside of this opening with Kye taking point on the other side. He's wearing the clothing of a Tatooine denizen: layers of earth-coloured linen robes, a dark pair of pants, and a faded blue scarf loosely draped around his neck. "This group was practically exterminated off the surface some months ago." The man's explanation muffled by the cig stick bobbing between his lips as he checks the rounds on his slugthrower pistol. "Good samaritans and all of that, mmm? Local authorities combed this place and took anything of value. Well." A chuckle. "Anything they think had value. But I've reason to believe there's something of greater importance within."
--Kye--
"Right." Kye is looking around; he hasn't drawn his weapon yet, but this is Tatooine, and it is a wild and unpredictable place. He's clad in a robe over his Void armor, another degree of insulation since the CNG manufacturers in no way assured the users of the armor that they could actually survive desert weathers overnight in the armor. "Surprised there are authority figures in Tatooine ranging this far, to be honest. Must be some kind of Cartel deal."
He does not have a cigarette, and isn't about to start smoking as yet, but he does investigate the surroundings with some pause. Nothing has jumped out at them, yet, but the latter question has the Corellian look at Xavier in quiet, but unspoken curiosity. He doesn't voice it, though.
--Xavier--
"Authorities out of Mos Espa protecting their interests," Xavier explains to the statement which he takes as a question. "Especially when the Missing Hand started getting noticably violent. Perfect timing in tandem with a well-placed tip from an annoymous, concerned citizen." The beard, kept short, does its level best to hide the grin from Xavier's face. It fails. "Anyway, the Hand is no more. We saw to that. But their thieving empire was rather lucrative. So. We're going to sift through the ashes. I have grown certain we will find what we're looking for. Come."
Snapping the chamber of his slugthrower shut, Xavier gestures for the man to follow in behind him, rolling on his shoulder and sinking into the darkness of the small cavern. Going from blinding light and scorching heat to the shadows of the grotto causes spots to form on the eyes. Xavier grunts softly in agitation and steps to the side to allow Kye to pass. "Would've come at night, but too many creatures to contend with then. This is the ideal time."
--Kye--
"Ah, anonymous tips," Kye nods slowly at this, keeping a sidelong look at Xavier after the grin. "I suppose the right notes dropped in the right desks always ends up with that kind of outcome, doesn't it?" Rhetorical question. He certainly understands it. He is bidden to come, so he follows, taking a look around. For lighting, he'll have to punch his helmet so the flashlight works, but it does, and he's following in behind Xavier.
Allowed to pass, so he does, but he's not questioning on why this is the ideal time. "Suppose Tusken Raiders would come out here sometime as the sun is going down as well," the Corellian remarks, stopping by a wall to study it, and then going right along.
--Xavier--
"Tuskens rarely venture this close to human settlements. The denizens of Beggar's Canyon seem to operate under the same accord. As in no one attempts to cross into the other's territory and all is well. Usually. But the Hand liked to keep large beasts to guard their hoard, as it were. And if any are still alive, they'd operate more at night." Xavier slips further into the grotto, glancing around at what remains.
The place has been stampeded over, it is true. What wasn't taken by the authorities has been picked over by the vagrants of Beggar's Canyon. Nothing much remains aside from mis-matched tables and chairs, some empty flagons, and ramshackle beds. There is scrap metal, as well. Small piles here and there but already gutted of their precious metals. Xavier stop with his hands on his hips and breathes in deeply.
"The right words. The right people. It's all about setting up the board, you understand. Rather than waste my own resources running this lot out, it became a matter of nudging the pieces in the correct direction. That is how one survives, Kye. Careful, patient planning so that any battlefield you must enter is one that you control."
A sound rings into the hollow room. A crackhiss followed by a glow of red light that helps illuminate the naturally-carved space. "Or at the very least, a battlefield you are prepared for."
--Kye--
There is nothing offered in reply to the nature of Tuskens. Kye isn't fond of Tatooine and never has been, so this might be insightful, but it's still knowledge he can live without for the most part. The part about the Hand keeping beasts gives him pause and he flattens his profile to make sure he's not stepping into a Sarlacc Pit on accident, now. With the holster unattached, he can feel the magnetic pull of the XT-2.
"What are we supposed to be looking for, again?" He's only seeing devastation, scrap metal, salvage, sure. But nothing someone without a trash compactor and a lot of patience could find value in.
"So you sent one after the other, that's pretty smart. Usually has the best added value to use someone else's resources if you don't intend to keep the thing you're messing with."
When those last words ring out, though, he doesn't turn. Not yet. The crimson red is heard in the hiss and the XT-2 jumps into his hand. When he turns and sees the lightsaber, his face is neutral.
--Xavier--
The red of the humming saber isn't the only thing flaring to life. Xavier is in the middle of taking a casual drag of his cig; the cherry burning brighter like a little laser dot in a room filled with the haze of crimson. Most of that haze coming from the exhale of smoke from Xavier's lungs. Kye's movements earn just a flick up dark brown eyes upwards. Regarding him with a measure of predatory curiosity. A slight uptick of one thick brow seems to ask 'Are you sure you want to do that?'
Xavier remains there standing between Kye and the only, small exit out of this hole. The saber held to his side pointed down and away at an angle in his right hand. "Information." An answer to Kye's question. "I deal in information, you see. A powerful, profitable commodity. One could buy lives with information. And you. You will be given that opportunity."
Another drag before Xavier glances to the side to flick the ash from the end of the stick. "I will give you a chance to buy your life with information. Or, at least, prolong it." Tap tap tap on his cig peppers the ground at his feet with tiny molecules of soot. "You knew this day was coming the moment you stepped on Thyferra. So, let's not tarry. Who paid you?"
--Kye--
The Corellian is unphased by the overall attitude. He's aware he's outclassed should he decide to shoot, but it's still important to keep some things in perspective. The XT-2 allows him some comfort in that manner, at the very least. Certainly, he knew the day was coming.
And the glare of the red lightsaber is interesting. He's seen the 'Councilor' wield theirs, after all. To deadly precision. He doesn't know who that is, that said.
"Someone with ties to the Resistance did, I suppose. I didn't know what the job was and mostly disregarded it until someone else expressed a desire to go." He considers his avenues of escape. Sure, he could, but at what cost? Bleeding out in the desert isn't the best of vacations, and to be fair, he is very far from help.
"Then they assembled all those seasoned and weathered mercenaries. Some of whom looked like Mandalorians, some didn't. But they were professionals and I wasn't asking for many names. I did my job and got out."
"The bank receipts said the money came from Yag Prime."
--Xavier--
"Who expressed desire to go? I can only assume they went with you. A name." The first is a question, no doubt. The last sounds like a request, but it is clearly not. Nothing about this is a request. More of the picture comes to him. A slight nod of his head. "What did this Mandalorian look like? Sound like? Armour colours. Male or female? Think very hard, Kye. Very, very hard."
For as casual as he is standing, a tension is rising in Xavier as the interrogation gets underway. More and more so the shorter his tobac stick becomes. As it burns away so does his resolve.
"Hiding them from me will not save them. I will find out every single name of those who were there. All you can hope for right now is to save yourself. That should be your priority. The next few minutes will decide how you are leaving this place." No amount of facial hair could mask the grin pulling at his lips now. Or the darkness overtaking his piercing gaze. Not even the glow of the saber can light his features. "If you leave this place."
He takes one more fatalistic pull from the cig, blows out the smoke, then tosses the nub away. "Yag Prime."
--Kye--
"The Mandalorians? Two males, at the least. One was a sniper." Kye, for now, suppresses the name of the person who wanted to go. "Had a droid, or a companion of some sort. I kept chatter and I didn't understand what was going on in the slightest." Whether he knows that the Greystorms are not, in fact, Mandalorians, is hard to determine at present.
"The other had a silent gun." The Corellian tilts his head to Xavier, then. "I think 'saving myself' isn't a good bargain. Or is a 20 year old girl who went on something way over her head and didn't shoot any of your officers unable to be saved? I care more about her life than mine, really."
"I can tell you what the guns were like, of those who were near me. Maybe a little about their armor. There was a woman with a droid, as well."
--Xavier--
It comes sudden and without warning.
A snap of Xavier's left arm: palm out and fingers splayed. The cave shudders. Small rocks rattle upon the ground then an wall of unseen force hits Kye with intense velocity. A bludgeoning shove capable of picking the man up and sending him careening backwards towards the stone wall behind him. There he remains for a moment more before gravity allows him to slide down towards the floor.
Xavier is already making his approach. Rotating his wrist to coerce his saber to hum a short, fatal moan. "A betrayal of blood is answered in blood, Kye. This I know very well, and this you will learn very quickly. But mind you were given a chance to answer me plainly. Now. What you refuse to tell me will be pulled from your skull. You will wish you had taken my charity."
He stops just close enough to bring the saber's blade to rest next to Kye's head, giving the man the opportunity to feel the heat of it before his deep voice is heard again. "Come. There is someone who is very interested in speaking to you."
--Kye--
Thrown back into the wall, Kye likely breaks a rib in the process. He feels the crack, at least. His eyes are half-lidded and he's still for a moment, before looking at Xavier. "What I could answer plainly, I did. Yag Prime is easy. Only one person owns that station." He falls silent after that. "And the Mandalorian spoke in a Coruscanti accent. Very odd, really. Coruscant and Mandalore. Doesn't seem to match. The other... not sure. Corellian, like me?"
Given no choice but to comply, and likely about to see someone who is going to be even worse to him than Xavier was, he rises to his feet, complying for now. Blood dribbles down the side of his face and he seems at peace with something, at least. Other than the girl's life, he's not bargaining for anyone else's. She, at least, deserves a chance at living without these troubles.
