A Bad, Bad, Man
| A Bad, Bad, Man | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 20 December 2023 |
| Location: | |
| Synopsis: | Khalo pursues Revara into the bowels of Coruscant. |
| Cast of Characters: | 159, 251 |
- Athena (159) has posed:
It's an hour past midnight in the Lower Levels of Coruscant. And on an ordinary on the surface, the streets would be empty, with most folk having retired to their homes to sleep for the night.
Such is not the case down here. Down here is alive. Bustling. Full of lower level denizens wanting to sell spice, weapons, or any other item they might not make any credits off of legally.
And yet, the energy of the people milling about is... guarded. Rumors have been spreading that for some unknown reason, the CSF has decided to double their patrols in the Lower Levels. For many of the folk that dwell below, this does not bode well...
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Khalo is a bad, bad man.
To boot, he's looking for a bad woman who does bad things to good and bad people. Most notably, she is a traitor to everything the Mandalorians stand for. Her wearing of beskar a crime.
She must be brought to justice. Honor demands it.
His cloak work enshrouds his Beskar armor, his eyes. With CSF patrols doubled, Khalo is unlikely to experience much success out in the open. Not to mention, he's still armed to the literal teeth. Yet his eyes still search.
His ears still listen.
For ANY sign of Revara the Red Death.
- Athena (159) has posed:
While Khalo makes his way down the street, he'll suddenly notice a bit of a commotion. Yes, the people are scattering... there's two CSF patrol droids coming this way right now. He'll have to make sure he doesn't draw any attention to himself.
Across the street, he'll spot a cantina - perhaps a good place to duck into while the patrol droids pass by. However, upon closer examination, he'll see that there's wanted posters for him and Revara plastered all across the windows. Looks like the Marksmen had not taken kindly to his meddling -- the wanted posters are offering massive bounties for bringing either both or one of them in. So, actually maybe not a great place to hide.
Now, not only is he a bad, bad man, but he's a bad, bad man in a bad, bad situation.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Khalo makes his way down the street and he seems to hug the wall a little bit as he looks around hte corner. Two CSF patrol droids are coming his way. Slowly, he takes off his helmet and attaches it to his belt underneath his long cloak. Additionally, he lifts the cloak's hood over his head to help better obscure him from view. He spots the cantina.
And the wanted posters.
He grunts faintly. Yet, all the same, he starts walking towards the cantina. His eyes looking, checking the rooftops. He eliminated Revara's ability to use her jetpack effectively. But taht doesn't mean she hasn't come across other methods.
- Athena (159) has posed:
She's not on the rooftop, so at least he can expect for her to not descend from above.
But as he approaches the cantina, he'll notice two Marksmen lingering outside of it, their weapons stowed for the time being as the droid patrols pass by.
They notice him, and their eyes narrow. "You looking for trouble?" one of them calls out to him derisively.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
"Information."
Khalo remarks softly, cracking his neck audibly. "Does that come with the trouble or is the trouble all on it's own?" Khalo questions the two Marksmen. It's clear they don't recognize him at the very least, but at least he's being bold and straightforward about it. Anything else just spurs more questions.
- Athena (159) has posed:
The two Marksmen leer at Khalo. "Oh yeah? what kind? And how much sre you willing to shell out? Because its gonna cost ya," one of them sneers.
"show your face," says the other. "We dont like strangers."
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
The two marksman leer at Khalo and the Mandalorian seems to sigh softly. Why is nothing ever straightforward on this planet? Granted, on Concord Dawn it was something you had to earn, on Mandalore it was something you had to earn.
Perhaps here, Khalo had to earn that too.
"Depends on how much the information will cost. Certainly, the Marksman are a a dangerous organization...but one with knowledge. You already know where Revara was last spotted, don't you?"
- Athena (159) has posed:
One of the Marksmen scowls. "And what do you wanna know where she is for, hm?" He leans forward, in attempt to get a better look at Khalo,
"How about this," he finally suggests, "you show us your face, and we'll tell you where she is."
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
"There's a bounty. I'm a Bounty Hunter."
Though as Khalo stands there and one of the Marksmen demand to see his face, Khalo sighs. "People who see my face don't live long." He lifts his eyes to look at the Marksmen. "You two should know better than most...that discretion is important, especially with the CSF presence highly increased."
- Athena (159) has posed:
They laugh at him. "Wanna make a bet?"
"I think you're not getting it," he replies. "We. Don't. Like. Strangers," he enunciates. With the CSF droid patrols now gone, the two Marksmen draw their weapons.
Khalo may realize that these men don't know where she is. They are lying - if they'd known where she is, she wouldn't still have a bounty on her head.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
They don't know where she is.
"No."
In regards to making a bet. Though as the two Marksmen ready their weapons, Khalo seems to turn. "You two know nothing." and he disregards them as if they weren't important or valuable. He turns on his heel. It's highly likey someone inside the cantina is aware or at least have some information.
- Athena (159) has posed:
"Hey!" one of the Marksmen yells at him as he turns away and starts heading inside the cantina. "Who told you, you can just walk away!? Get back here!"
Once inside the cantina, he'll notice the bartender putting up more of those posters with his and Revara's face on them on the wall.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Khalo isn't interested in small fish. It'd be too easy to kill them. No challenge in it. Yet, as Khalo walks inside of the cantina, he ignores the calls for him to return, his eyes shifting to rest upon the bartender. His eyes seem to narrow for a moment underneath that hood as he approaches the bar itself.
"I'll take a Corellian ale."
He stares at the bartender, keeping him firmly in his sights.
- Athena (159) has posed:
The bartender hesitates. "Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes," the Toydarian comments, noticing that Khalo's cloak probably looks like he's been around the block in a bad way -- twice.
He pours Khalo a cold one and slides it over to the Mandalorian, brows furrowing. "You got somethin' on yer mind?"
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Oh it does. In some places, the cloak has blaster holes in it.
"Likewise, friend."
Not really his friend, though a cold one for Khalo is poured before the drink is slid his way, a hand catching it before a simple sip is taken. "Plenty. Don't suppose you've heard through the vine where Revara the Red happens to have been sighted?"
- Athena (159) has posed:
The Toydarian sighs heavily. "You're the twentieth person today to have asked," he says, shaking his head.
"Look, I can't, in good conscience, tell you. I owe her plenty, even if the Marksmen, in the end, did end up markin' my spot as part of their territory."
He scoffs. "All these folks, just after the creds. I wish that for once, someone would do right by her, y'know. I hope you can respect that, at least."
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Khalo looks at the Toydarian and he settles one hand over the other. A deep breath taken.
"I understand. Honor has it's demands." Khalo remarks to her. "Regardless of how the deck had fallen. But, I suppose that means you know /exactly/ where she is." Khalo remarks softly to the Toydarian. He keeps his hands in front of him.
"I will be honest with you if you will be honest with me." He tries to offer that deal. "I have no desire to kill her. If I was able to have my way, I would have her sworn back to the Creed, slay those who wronged her, and position her as my right hand." Khalo remarks to the Toydarian. "But if she does not...she is Dar'manda and she pays Mandalorian law."
- Athena (159) has posed:
"I don't," The Toydarian replies. "But I do know her hangout spots, and where she goes when she's in a bad way."
His brows go up when Khalo says that he'd slay those who wronged her and position her as his right hand. He gasps quietly when it becomes apparent that Khalo is the other Mandalorian with a bounty on his head. He then motions for Khalo to come into the kitchen behind the counter...
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
The Toydarian doesn't know where Revara is in particular. Though he /does/ know where the Mandalorian woman goes to lick her wounds. "Hmm...I understand." He meets the Toydarian's eyes. There's no lie in his words. Out of all the Mandalorians he'd ever fought, only Revara had come so close to killing him. That is not someone you kill. That is someone you empower.
Indeed, Khalo is the other Mandalorian, though as he's gestured to follow the Toydarian into the kitchen, Khalo slowly rises and walks around the counter, wary...but confident in his own ability to fight his way out should this be a trap.
- Athena (159) has posed:
The Toydarian ushers the tall Mandalorian into the kitchen. "Are you nuts? You can't just be walking around Marksmen territory like this! Not with that massive bounty on your head..."
He sighs. "Alright...There's a repurposed warehouse down on fifteenth, on the corner. It's a food pantry and shelter of sorts, run by a couple Anzellans. She hangs around there sometimes. But it's Lightwell territory, and a trek from here. Just.. be careful, alright?"
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Khalo nods softly to the Toydarian as he lowers his hood, revealing his features. Grizzled, a few scars here and there, but his features are straightforward. Relaxed. His eyes are softa nd he seems to be in a friendly mood. "Yes." To being nuts. "No guts, no glory. I cannot attain information if I'm unwilling to take risks." Khalo suggests to the Toydarian, though he looks upon the informant and he gives a slow nod.
"I understand." Khalo remarks to him as his hand lifts to bring his hood up over his head. "I will be careful. I will return someday. But you will learn of my success." Khalo remarks to him, giving him a nod. "Thank you, friend. There is honor in you I haven't seen in many." Khalo remarks softly to the Toydarian as he turns on his heel...unless stopped.
- Athena (159) has posed:
The Toydarian scoffs. "Alright, then," he says. He seems skeptical of Khalo's brazen confidence, but doesn't make any insulting remarks. "Good luck," he says softly as the Mandalorian leaves. "You'll need it."
He lets Khalo out the backdoor, so that he isn't seen by the gangsters out front.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
No doubt the Marksmen talk.
No doubt the gangsters are gathering and waiting, no doubt they're asking questions. No doubt that since the CSF patrols left, the scum are coming back out to play. Khalo is thankful for being let out the backdoor, a small nod given to the Toydarian. "I don't believe in luck." Khalo remarks to the Toydarian. "But thank you." He remarks....and then he takes that back door exit.
His feet carry him softly through the paths then, making his way towards the warehouse on fifteenth...where it's supposedly run by Anzellans. Khalo didn't have too much knowledge of the Coruscantii gang life, but one thing they all havae in common?
They're in the way.
- Athena (159) has posed:
When Khalo arrives at the warehouse, he'll find that it looks...abandoned. But perhaps it's supposed to look like that.
But as he inspects the vicinity, he'll discover that the back of the warehouse is open. And upon inching nearer, he'll be able to hear voices, and the sound of someone... crying?
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Investigation is warrented here. For a moment, Khalo's hands hover near his weapons. Yet, as he draws nearer, his eyes take notice of several things. One, it's silent as the grave at first. Second, it looks completely abandoned. But looks are always deceiving.
Nothing is ever as it seems.
But then he hears voices as he draws nearer then...somebody crying? Khalo makes certain he is armed, his hand reaching for his beskar helmet to slide it over his head. And in one smooth motion? He tries to enter the building quietly.
- Athena (159) has posed:
Khalo might be surprised upon witnessing the sight he's stumbled upon.
The person he'd heard crying is Revara.
She's sitting on a worn metal bench, hot tears streaming down her cheeks, green eyes bloodshot. Next to her is a diminutive Anzellan, offering her a mug of hot tea. The aroma of it is familiar, the smell of steeped of Cassius leaves is distinct, and sweet. How the Anzellan might have acquired this particular kind of tea, will have to remain a mystery for now. Seated across from her is the young Nikto boy he'd met before, and next to him, another even younger Nikto boy, who couldn't have been older than 7.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Revara?
Crying?
For a moment, Khalo is uncertain of what to do. But he knows that scent. Cassius leaves. It's meant to be a tea, meant to help calm the body and aid in the healing process. Was Revara in pain? What was she doing? In all of his years, the only time Khalo had seen a Mandalorian cry is when he was a boy and the training was hard and difficult. Sometimes it broke people. But Khalo never broke.
For a moment, he stays his hand. He takes a knee...and he listens.
He watches.
He notices that Nikto boy...and one younger than him, no older than seven standard years.
- Athena (159) has posed:
But they aren't talking. Revara is bawling her eyes out, while the other three aliens watch her silently. Either they don't know what to say, or find that now is not the time to offer words.
The older Nikto boy, however, is keen. He seems to sense that something is off. Perhaps Khalo had unknowingly made some noise, or the Nikto boy had simply found quiet moments like these to be too rare to always be treated without suspicion.
He starts to scan the area, his brows furrowing.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Khalo keeps his attention on what was happening. The silence as Revara was balling her eyes out. He didn't underfstand if this was an actual response to pain, trauma, or history of emotional damage, or if she felt genuinely guilty/upset about what had happened before. He watches, trying to crouch. Though as the Nikto boy had begun to scan the premesis....
Khalo seems to widen his eyes ever so slightly behind that T-visor helmet.
<Shit.> He curses internally in Mando'a
- Athena (159) has posed:
The young Nikto boy knocks aside the large metal canister Khalo had been crouching behind.
When he sees who it is, he immediately pulls out the knife stashed in his belt and presses the tip into Khalo's neck, just below his chin.
His gaze has a fierceness about it, and despite the fact that the boy has little to no chance of winning against him, there isn't an ounce of cowardice in his body language. The Nikto boy is ready to defend those he cares about, even to the death.
Perhaps Khalo will find it admirable.
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
*THOOOM!*
Khalo knows when he's caught, though he remains crouched as the Nikto boy knocks aside the large container, his T-visor helmet allowing his eyes to look deep into the boy's own as a knife is held against his throat. Though the tip is pressed against his neck, Khalo doesn't move. Nor does he show anything related to fear.
"Hm. Admirable. I'm not here to hurt her."
At least, not yet. Though in a blink of an eye, he attempts to disarm the boy of his knife with his bare hands in a deft move, trying to clap the blade in front of him, one hand pushing the blade away from him, the other pushing the blade against the boy's thumb for a hopefully smooth disarmament....and the knife in his hands.
- Athena (159) has posed:
The young Nikto resists, but in the end, he's just too weak to resist Khalo and the knife clatters from his hand.
He stumbles sideways, falling.
This seems to have destroyed Revara's moment of vulnerability. In a moment, she's up on her feet. She draws her blasters, opening fire on Khalo...
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
Disarmed!
Easily.
"Relax, child. I'm not here for you." Khalo tries to tell the kid, but as soon as Revara gets up and brandishes her blasters? Khalo immediately pushes the child out of the way in case any stray blaster bolts strike at him, and instead, Khalo's armor is taking each brunt of the hit! He dodges a few blaster bolts, but a few score against beskar, the metal ringing in the air after diffusing the energy output.
"I am not here to fight you..."
He pulls out his blaster and takes careful aim at Revara. "But I will if you push me."
- Athena (159) has posed:
The young Nikto boy cries out as he's pushed aside. Although whether it's in protest against being shoved, or at Revara vehemently attacking Khalo though he isn't here to fight, or both, will remain a mystery.
Revara does not speak. She holsters her weapons, and engages the single thruster on her jetpack, charging Khalo.
But her attempt to ram him with full force won't quite succeed. And the blow further damages the thruster, causing her to spiral wildly out of control. She jettisons straight into a cordoned off area, one that houses a dilapidated structure that's teetering on the edge of collapse, juxtaposed to the edge of the underworld portal which leads to the abyss of Coruscant's many lower levels.
When she hits the building, there's a terrible groan, and that entire section of the level they are standing upon, which supports the building, starts to crumble. Moments later, it's falling away, plummeting downward even deeper into Coruscant's bowels, and suddenly, the ground that Khalo is standing on is no longer stable...
- Khalo Fett (251) has posed:
The boy is safe and out of the way. Though as Revara lowers her blasters, so too does Khalo. But before he can say anything, she's charging him! A single thruster is perhaps all she could need to charge him at all, but Khalo was built different.
As he's fully Tackled, Khalo holds on tight as his feet dig into the ground, his knife swiftly drawn to slice across the vital point of her pack, causing her to take off into the sky spiraling out of control!
Yet, when they finally manage to come to a stop? The building is coming apart! Or at least, the section of where they had been standing. Yet as the level starts to fall towards that dark abyss, the ground beneath Khalo's feet starting to give way!
He could run...
But instead he LEAPS off of the edge and dives after Revara. His body narrows itself like a pencil, his eyes forward, narrowed.
Always another step.
- Athena (159) has posed:
But controlling his fall will prove much more difficult than anticipated. There's traffic, transports, speeders, even private shuttles traversing the underworld lanes. He'll find himself buffeted, scraped, and sideswiped before finally landing on the plummeting section of steel and permacrete.
And yet, just as he lands on it, it impacts the ground, somewhere. And Khalo will immediately be jolted from his perch. He'll find himself falling again, this time from the top of the broken structure, followed by several steel ceiling struts which will land on him when he finally hits rock bottom.
Through it all, hell be able to hear the distant sound of sirens drawing nearer, and nearer...