Guns, Lies and Bitter Memories [Closed RP - Davan and Volar]

Volar was sitting cross-legged on a crate, Hydro-spanner in hand, tweaking one of the components of the Regal Stars' Hyperdrive unit. He noticed that his Holo-recorder was beeping and laid it out on the palm of his hand. The Hologram activated, displaying a hooded figure whose face was concealed by the shadow of his cloak.

"Volar Odias of the Galactic Trade Commission. I have an offer you simply can not refuse. In this age of heightened warfare the Republic often finds itself out gunned by the invading Empire.

We have at our disposal a line of unique weaponry, the type of weaponry that could turn the tide of war. The kind of technology that the Republic would shell out a lot of money to get its hands on.

Our problem is that we, 'we' being my associates and I, cannot be seen dealing with the Republic. It is bad for... business. Surely you understand what I mean. You and your GTC associates, however, can. And so what I offer you is this. You and your Vigo Davan Kelhur meet our associates at a secure location of our choosing. We shall sell you the goods for a modest sum. You then have exclusive control over the manufacture and sale of the weapons to a buyer of your choosing, and on your own terms. Please, make haste in contacting us. We eagerly await word of your approval."

The Hologram then turned itself off. Volar sat looking at it for a moment, then turned on his Comm.

"Davan? Could you come down to the Hangar bay? I have something here you need to see"

Davan was in the cantina, it had been a quiet day so he decided to come down and socialise with some members of the Galactic Trade Commission. It was always good to make an apperance once in a while to the lower ranked members not just the elite members of the consortiums. He had decided against against drinking as it was still early in the day.

Several of the members, most likely trying to impress one of the Vigos, were telling stories of their exploits. Davan couldn't help but smile it was good seeing all of these men and women trying to work their way up the GTC and into the Vigo's trusted circle... or as much as criminals could trust each other.

Davan's comm went off, it was one of the elite members of the Galactic Trade Commission, Volar Odias.
""Davan? Could you come down to the Hangar bay? I have something here you need to see"
"Ok Volar, I'm on my way I should be with you in a few minutes"
Davan shut off the comm and grab his coat. He turned to the GTC members at the table
"Its been a pleasure but I have to go now" He threw some credits onto the table "The next few rounds are on me, thanks for the stories"

Davan reached the hanger soon after leaving the cantina, he was eager to meet up with Volar he was interested in what Volar needed to talk about. He walked into the hanger and looked around for Volar or his ship.

Volar turned to ZR-23.

"Zar, get on the ship and make sure all systems are fully functional, I will need her to be ready for departure soon. Oh, and you might need this"

Volar passed the component he had been working on to ZR-23.

"Of course, Master. I will re-install this right away"

ZR-23 turned and walked up the loading ramp of the Regal star, soon disappearing from sight.

Volar looked across and saw Davan enter the Hangar. He waved him over.

"Check this out"

Volar handed Davan his Holo-recorder.

Davan watched the recording, his mind flashed back to when Volar had first been recruited and Davan took the newbie off to Voss for a simple business meeting, of course it had turned out to be anything but simple and forged a strong friendship between Davan and Volar after coming through it.

"The Gormak? They wore those robes when we spoke to those holo-images, and why else would they contact you and ask for me by name?" Davan thought for a moment "We are meant to be in business now, still behind the scenes of course but why hide themselves. They are secure lines. Your thoughts Volar?"

Volar thought on what Davan had said. He sure had a sharp mind to remember that one.

"Like you said, we are in business. I would imagine they are being overly-cautious. Remember, Gormak technology, particularly in communication and military hardware, is pretty damn advanced. They probably think our channels are not as secure as theirs."

Volar lifted himself off the crate and began to walk toward his ship.

"We'll both go on my ship. I have plenty of room for the cargo, and I imagine our boys would be alarmed by multiple ships arriving on the scene. Either way, we've passed their 'tests'. Hopefully this one can be a little more smooth, eh?"

Volar jogged up the loading ramp.

Davan watched Volar run up the ramp before turning towards his own ship. He walked inside to his private quarters, his armour was already laid out. He decided not to put it on yet and instead picked it up and headed back out to Volar's ship.

He walked up the loading ramp and went to the bridge to meet Volar. Even though Volar had given a good reason for whoever was on the message to hide themselves things still didn't add up for Davan. "So where are we going to meet this lot Volar?"

"It's an old, private hangar for a private tower used by senators on Coruscant before the sacking. Now it is all abandoned, the perfect type of place to do this kind of deal. We have a few days yet before the actual meeting takes place. I've gone ahead and booked accommodation nearby for us to use until the time comes"

Volar began tapping into the console, which pulled up the loading ramp. The engines then lit up, and the Regal Star slowly lifted off, and navigated out of the hangar. Soon the ship was shooting its way through the atmosphere of Nar Shadaa and into space. Volar tapped away at the console again and the ship powered up to make the jump to lightspeed.



"Well..." Volar turned to look at Davan. "Lets hope this goes better than last time!"

On being reminded of the previous run in with the Gormak Davan rubbed his cheek. He remembered the moment his face had been smashed into that wall, completely breaking his cheekbone and one of most severe pains he had ever experienced. Made ever worse by the fact he had to wait a couple of days for proper medical treatment was worse, just basic things like eating and talking caused pain.


"If we have a few days we could set up a few sercurity measures, just in case. Do you have anything we could use on board? If not we can easily get stuff from one of our contacts on Coruscant"

With a flick of a switch, the Regal Star jumped to lightspeed. Volar slumped back and thought about Davans suggestion for a few moments.

"We'll see. Since the meeting is a place of their choosing, odds are they will have security personnel there, which will make setting up our own perimeter pretty hard beyond our own residence. Nothing is stopping us from scouting this place out, however."

"In terms of equipment, all I have on board are a couple of blasters, spare clothes, food and medical supplies and some spare ship parts. And this rust-heap of a droid here"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Master"

"If you can find use for any of that then, by all means help yourself. If not we'd be better off picking up equipment on Coruscant."

"Well with that stuff if i had a few days I could create a super weapon to get on the Republic and the Empire" Davan winked at Volar. "Its probably best we wait until we reach our destination then."

Davan settled into the co-pilots chair and got as cozy as he could "Well I feel I may need some sleep before this mission, who knows what could happen with the Gormak, wake me up if you need anything Volar" Davan closed his eyes, seeing images of the fight back on Voss until he dozed off.

Volar turned to see Davan was still asleep. He swiveled back and forward in his chair for a while. He turned to ZR-23.

"Zar"

The droid activated, pulling its head up and light once again appearing from its eyes.

"Yes, Master?"

"We're going to need you to stay on the ship. We will be landing at a star port a small distance way from our intended destination. If I activate this emergency transponder, fly to my position"

"But Master, Co-Pilot Dania told me I'm not supposed to-"

"I own the ship, not Dania. Be ready for my signal"

"Of course, Master"

ZR-23 shut himself down.

Davan was back in the arena, it was odd he couldn't remember how he got here. He was looking at the man on the floor, he couldn't take his eyes away until he suddenly floated towards the wall. His felt his face slam into the wall but then he didn't feel it and once again his face went into the wall. No pain. It must be the adrenaline.
He was falling all over the place, there was no focus, he swung his arm at a shadowy figure over and over but to no avail. Once again he seemed to be floating through the air. All he could see now was a massive head pierced with a spike heading towards him. Confusion gripped Davan, this didn't make any sense. The spike came through the head splitting it in half and hurtled towards Davan.


Davan woke quickly, he was sweating. He looked around and saw he was in the cockpit of The Regal Star, Volar Odias's ship. He couldn't remember what he had been dreaming about that would cause such a reaction.

Volar observed Davan as he shook and began to sweat in his sleep. Clearly he was having some kind of Nightmare. Not the best experience to have right before a contract that may require them to have their wits fully with them.

"Zar, go prepare a drink for him, preferably something that will calm his nerves"

Volar saw that Davan was waking up.

"Welcome back to the living Chief. We are about to drop out of hyperspace"

ZR-23 re-entered the cockpit and presented a drink to Davan.

Davan took the drink and thanked the droid, he must have still been sleepy, he never thanked droids. Must of the time they were annoying either beeping or metallic voices. They also seemed to be very good at getting in the way.

"Good to know, I am eager to get a look around this meeting place so we have options of what to do... this incase things don't go to plan."

Davan strecthed his muscles before sitting back up straight in his chair.

"OK, preparing deceleration."

Volar tapped at some of the controls. The Regal Star dropped out of hyperspace above the city-planet of Coruscant.

"Home, Sweet Home"

ZR-23 stood back in to the corner and found itself the most secure position for standing. The droid had suffered many 'incidents' during Volars more 'exciting' landings. The ship began to pull down into the atmosphere. The hull of the ship cut through the clouds until out of the other side appeared a top-down view of the City, with Skyscrapers reaching out towards the sky, and criss-cross of transports all in line across the entire city, as far as they eye could see and beyond.

"Crew of the Regal Star, please state your intentions."

"This is Volar Odias, captain of the Regal Star. We are here on a business meeting, with accommodation prepared for us in D quadrant."

"Roger that Captain Odias, please set course for Hangar Bay CX-1"

Volar set the ship into deceleration and maneuvered it into the Hangar Bay. With a low thud the ship set down, and the loading ramp lowered. ZR-23 picked up it's custom blaster rifle and set itself to follow Volar and Davan at a distance of 5 metres. Volar walked down the loading ramp and walked over to the edge of the hangar and looked out on the City.

"When people think of Coruscant, they think of pompous Jedi, corrupt politicians, nightlife and dangerous criminals. In the day it is almost an entirely different world."

Volar took a step towards the edge and looked over.

"It seems as though you can almost see the bottom."

Davan looked over Coruscant as the ship desended into the atmosphere and Volar started his approach for landing. He now spent most of his time between here, Nar Shaddaa or The Corruption. Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa just a city covering the whole surface. Even though Coruscant had many areas where they encouraged nature it just wasn't the same as being back in Alderaan where it was true nature.

He knew he didn't like cities compared to the open landscapes but Coruscant had its advantages. Get into a fire fight there was plenty of places to take cover, on Alderaan it was just fields for miles around so your only hope was finding some long grass. This was also where the money was and in Davan's mind that eventually made Coruscant the greatest place in the galaxy. Even a petty criminal had enough pockets to pick on this planet to make a very good living.

After the ship landed Davan followed Volar down the ramp of The Regal Star. He was fond of his home planet so Davan decide against making a reply to Volar's comment about Coruscant. He contiuned to follow Volar to the edge of the platform.
"I am sure I could make some form of pulley system and lower you down to see how far it is if you want?" Davan smiled at Volar.

"Ha, ha, no thank you. The meeting place is not far from here. We'll check it out then head over to our accommodation."

Volar made his way out of the Hangar Bay. Their meeting place was at another nearby bay, so that the shipment would be easier to get back to the ship. This one was larger than the one they had just landed in. Upon entry Volar tried to observe as much as he could to try and remember at the time of the deal, in case things went south.

The first obvious note was that the Regal Star was within reasonable distance for a quick getaway. Upon failing that, there was an air-taxi booth on the other side of the platform that led to this hangar. There were plenty of large stacked crates, and at present there were a lot of workers shifting crates and loading or unloading docked ships. Volar guessed this would not be the case by the time of the meeting the day after tomorrow. Above them were several metal walkways leading from one side of the Hangar to the other, and at the edges were balconies, behind which were the Hangar Operator offices and various technical centres.

"Hmm... Not a bad place to set up an ambush..."

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Alexei sat back in his recliner on the observation deck of his ship, facing out towards the vast, empty void as his ship traveled through hyperspace. In his hand was a custom rifle he had obtained on Voss. It was one of many, stored in numerous crates on the ship, ready to sell to his smuggler contact when they reached Coruscant. He sat there dis-assembling it, observing each individual part, then re-assembling it again.

"Fascinating. Truly Fascinating"

His Twi'Lek bodyguard entered the room and handed him a datapad.

"The wonders of modern technology eh? So these are the schematics?"

Alexei tapped into the Datapad and brought up the structural schematics of the Hangar where the deal would take place. He observed it quietly for a few moments.

"Hmm...Not a bad place to set up an ambush..."

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Mikhail Kantev strolled casually along the rooftop where he had set up his equipment. He looked out and observed the city of Coruscant.

"All those busy little people. They would think there wasn't even a war. Hiding behind their peace treaty they think they are safe from the Empire. How wrong they are"

He could feel his Holo-recorder beeping. He pulled it out of his sachet and opened it up.

"I assume you have made it?"

"Yes, Lord Andul, the Republic capital is not as safe and secure as they would like to believe."

Mikhail opened his case, revealing a custom built sniper rifle, a silenced pistol, and various other gadgets.

"I have also received the gear. It all appears present and correct. I will get the others into position and we will be out of here in a couple of days, long before anyone knew we were even here"

"Good. I have received word that the arrangement will be taking place in a large hangar in D quadrant. Remember your orders. Alexei and his Gormak must die. The populace of Voss will not stand for the murder of their Kin on Republic ground. Do what you must"

"Of course, Lord Andul, I shall not fail you"

The projection powered off. Mikhail placed the recorder back in his sachet and pulled out his scope. Looking down it, he observed the structure of the Hangar Bay.

"Hmm...Not a bad place to set up an ambush..."

"I think you are right Volar"

Davan studied the area around him in the new hanger bay, he tried to absorb every detail of the building. Which walkways were connected. Where the workers went to and from. How many crates there were. He needed to know the place of everything from this quick observation. Davan could memorise a map in a couple of hours, he wouldn't have a chance to memorise all of this location in the time he had here before the meeting but it was important to get as much as anything. Davan stood in silence for a while to make sure he knew what he wanted to know.

"Ok, i am familiar with it for now, don't think we should stick around for too long. We could already be being watched, lets go to the accommdation if you are ready"

"Indeed. Perhaps it is for the best"

Volar turned with Davan and began to walk out of the hangar. ZR-23 remained for a few more seconds to finish scanning the area before following. They had just gotten outside when Volar turned to the droid.

"I thought I told you to stay with the ship?"

"Contradiction in Protocol: Miss Dania programmed me to stay with you whenever you organised a business meeting with known hostile parties. I cannot by any means go against my own programming, Master"

Volar sighed.

"Alright then"

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Mikhail looked down his scope and spotted something he did not expect.

"Is that...Odias?"

He zoomed in. He observed the smuggler leaving the hangar with a business companion and a droid.

He turned on his holo-Recorder.

"My Lord. We have an unexpected turn of events. I have the smuggler in my sights."

The hologram flickered.

"Volar Odias? Hmmm. This is interesting. You are aware of the bounty I placed on his head?"

"Yes My Lord Andul"

"Perhaps this is your chance to get rich, and my chance to remove two enemies from the field in one move. Don't give away your position just yet. Get both of our targets in the firing line before you take action. the mission must not be compromised"

Mikhail sighed.

"Yes, My Lord"

He put away his equipment and moved towards the walkways. He intended to follow the target to his place of residence.

Davan examined the apartment they had to use over the next couple of days, just like the hanger he tried to take in every detail. Once explored the small apartment he spoke to Volar.
"When we didn't have much equitment and found out where we would be staying I contacted one of the top GTC contacts here. Works for us in a freelance case, Melrax Torin is his name, have you heard of him?" Davan didn't wait for a reply before continuing. "He should be here in a few minutes with some equitment, if we want anything bigger he will have holo diagrams of them though I doubt we will need that."

At that moment Davan's comm beeped "See, he is never late" Davan first checked the security feed near the door to check it was Melrax, seeing that it was he opened the door.
"Mr. Kelhur, thank you for contacting me, i have plenty of new products for me"
"I hope you were not followed Torin, we don;t really want the attention right now" Melrax face changed to an expression of feigned hurt.
"Mr. Kelhur as always I have followed your instructions to the letter, although I must say an honest businessman like myself shouldn't have to sneak round like this" Davan gave out a small laugh before inviting Melrax into the apartment.
"This is one of the fine smugglers who is employeed by the GTC" As he introduced Volar to Melrax he didn't give the smugglers name, it was always his smugglers choice if they disclosed that information unless Davan felt it necessary.

"Volar Odias is the name. A pleasure to meet you"

Volar turned, noticing his droid with its weapon raised.

"Zar, stand down, he is not a threat"

The Droid did as instructed and moved over to the window where it stood facing inwards, towards the group.

"So, Mr Torin, what have you got to offer?"

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Mikhail moved in to a new position in a tactical line of sight of the Smugglers' residence. If he could line up a couple of shots on the pair, he could take them down silently. It would take weeks for anyone to realise the residents of that apartment were dead. By that time he would have also finished up with Alexei and the Gormak and be half way to Dromund Kaas.

He picked up his scope and looked down it into the apartment window.

"They have picked up a third man. I doubt he is one of them, maybe freelance. It'd be best to wait until he leaves before I make the shots"

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Alexei stretched as he stepped off of his ship. Around him in the hangar were various Gormak and hired mercenaries setting up for the deal.

"Two seconds have I been on this planet, and already I grow weary of its foul stench. Soon we will get this meeting over with and we can take our leave. The sooner the better."

Alexei made his way to his living quarters along with his armed escort.

Melrax Torin walked over to one of the tables in the room and placed the two large cases he was carrying on top. Although a slender man he should no strain carrying them over.
Melrax opened the cases after placing his thumbs on a special disc at the top of each case, the lids lifted up automatically with a hissing noise. Once fully opened it was a beautiful sight, it was amazing how much could be packed in a case. He was certainly a salesman who liked showing off his goods in style.

"So Mr. Kelhur, which do you want me to start with?"

Davan was looking at the contents while Melrax asked the question. The first case was full of weaponary, they made his blasters look old and worn out but he would always trust them more then anything he could buy. The grenades could be useful though...
He then observed the second case, now this one would be much better for what they were doing. It was full of gadgets.

"It will have to be the gadgets, I am happy with my blasters."
"Very well then" Melrax picked up a small metallic ball and placed it in Davan's hand "The newest addition to my collection, much better than comms, stick that in your ear and it will be near invisible to anyone not looking directly into your ear. It is both a microphone and speaker, but it will only be heard by you due to vibrations and other technical stuff, try it"

Davan placed the bead in his ear and pushed it down, it was uncomfortable at first but after a few seconds he barely noticed it. Davan walked off towards an ajoining room.

"If you wouldn't mind testing it before I buy" Davan walked into the room and the sliding door closed behind him.
There was a small crackle sound in his ear before he heard Melrax's voice "No need to test, I promise it works perfectly" He was right it did work perfectly, Melrax voice came through loud and clear. Davan opened the door and join Melrax and Volar back in the room.

"We will take them Melrax, just one question, is there a limit to range?"
"For it to be clear about 300 metres"
"Hmm that should be fine, if this works well you may get a big order"
"I do hope so" Melrax handed Volar an idential bead "And you Mr. Odias, anything you like the look of?

Mikhail aimed down his sniper scope. He could see everything in the room, but his comms could only pick up slight murmurs. He zoomed in on Volar, then Davan, then their 'associate'.

"I wonder what they are up to. Dealing? No, they are here for Alexei. Who is this?"

He focused on the mans face. He did not recognise him.

"How odd. He must not be from around here."

He heard some static on his comm, then was alarmed by the voice following.

"This is Coruscant security. We know you are there. Put the rifle down and wait for further instructions"

Mikhail swore loudly as he fired a round out of shock, before briskly making his way away from the scene.

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Volar nodded.

"They will do nicely. These are not simple tech. I imagine they are quite... pricey?"

A small whiplash sound could be heard from outside, followed by a sudden crash, as a bullet passed through the window and in to the back of ZR-23. With a small whine of static the droid collapsed, and shouting could be heard from within the building.

Davan was shocked when he heard the noise from the droid, he turned to it and saw a few sparks flying. His eyes moved to the window to see a small entry hole. He quickly moved towards the front wall away from the window.

"Lucky for us, not a very good shot"
"That or he doesn't want you two dead... yet anyway" countered Melrax.
"I think I prefer my theory"

He looked at the monitor by the door, checking the cameras. It was the security force. There were 8 regulars headed towards them, 4 from each direction. It wouldn't be long until they were upon them.

"Why shoot through the damn window to hit a droid and then send up police? It doesn't make sense, shoot us all on sight then send up the police makes sense. Melrax! What have you got to deal with this? No killing, I don't want this covering the holonet news."
"Hmm, I don't know"
"Businessman to the end I see. I will pay you double what they are worth."
"Then I have just the thing" Davan glared when Melrax threw over two small blasters. " They carry one charge each. Anyone in their field will be paralyzed for a minute or two. They we can get away"

Melrax closed his cases and picked them up. Davan turned to Volar and threw one of the paralyzing blasters to Volar. Then he typed in a command to double lock the apartment doors.

"It shouldn't take long for them to crack that lock and get in, Volar when they open it and you see one fire that blaster, Any left standing I will fire this one, then we charge out the door."

Davan moved to behind a sofa, ready for the security forces to come in, he listened to their shouting for them to come out. Not likely, he thought to himself.

Volar caught the blaster and shuffled over to a small alcove in the wall that provided ample shelter from anything heading into the room through the door, trying his best not to trip over Melrax as he passed. As they waited for the eventual break-through, Volar glanced out of the window. He could see that the security forces were raiding the opposite building aswell. Clearly the security forces had no idea what had just happened, they were just out to stop anything further from happening.

Still, GTC business is something you don't casually share in an interrogation chamber.

The thudding on the door stopped. There was a brief moment of silence before blaster shots entered through the lock mechanism, and the door was kicked open. Immediately Volar braced himself and swung out of cover, firing a couple of shots into the melee.