Dargo Karr

Marvel meets One Punch Man play by post!

I'm recruiting for a comic book themed play-by-post in a private Facebook thread. Looking at posting fairly often (4-5 times a week minimum, but at least once a day would be preferred, and more is always welcome). I understand that life happens, but reliability is the big thing here. So far we have a group of three, (with two others will post more once their schedules smooth out) but I will have as many as 10. Solid writing is a must. Anyone interested?

Marvel meets One Punch Man Play-by-Post!

I'm recruiting for a comic book themed play-by-post in a private Facebook thread. Looking at posting fairly often (4-5 times a week minimum, but at least once a day would be preferred, and more is always welcome). I understand that life happens, but reliability is the big thing here. So far we have a group of three, (with two others will post more once their schedules smooth out) but I will have as many as 10. Solid writing is a must. Anyone interested?

Age of Superheroes; Facebook play-by-post

I'm trying to start a comic book themed play-by-post in a private Facebook group. More story driven, no dice rolling. Looking at posting fairly often (4-5 times a week minimum, but at least once a day would be preferred). I understand that life happens, but reliability is the big thing here. So far, besides me, there are only two of my friends interested in playing, but I'm looking for a group of 4-5 minimum, but up to as many as 8. Anyone interested?

Age of Superheroes; Facebook play-by-post

I'm trying to start a comic book themed play-by-post in a private Facebook group. More story driven, no dice rolling. Looking at posting fairly often (4-5 times a week minimum, but at least once a day would be preferred). I understand that life happens, but reliability is the big thing here. So far, besides me, there are only two of my friends interested in playing, but I'm looking for a group of 4-5 minimum, but up to as many as 8. Anyone interested?

Superhero Facebook Play-by-post

I'm trying to start a comic book themed play-by-post in a private Facebook group. More story driven, no dice rolling. Looking at posting fairly often (4-5 times a week minimum, but at least once a day would be preferred). I understand that life happens, but reliability is the big thing here. So far, besides me, there are only two of my friends interested in playing, but I'm looking for a group of 4-5 minimum, but up to as many as 8. Anyone interested?

Iluin: Continent of monsters

Is this game still open? I'm interested in playing. Here is what I would be interested in playing:

Name: Amon Flowinggale
Gender: Male
Age: 153
Race: Elf
Personality: Noble, but naive. Calm and collected almost to the point of seeming cold, but wants to be an outgoing leader.
History: The youngest son of a Baron and Baroness. He had two older brothers who were killed in a battle with goblins, after which his parents become very protective and controlling. Amon fled when he could no longer handle his parents smothering because he felt he needed to learn social skills if he were ever to become a leader.
Powers/Abilities: Trained as a scout sniper. Specializes in bow and arrow combat, as well as stealth and recon.
Other: Studied under a wizard for a time after leaving his parents. Uses his familiar and the minimal set of spells he learned to enhance his martial skills.

Star Wars - The Search for Justice (Closed RP)

Alderaan – A New Approach

As Karr sat in a cell in a sub-level of the prison, his mind raced. There was entirely too much security here. He should have been taken to a drunk tank, not a high-security prison. Only one reasonable explanation: Karr’s detainment here was planned. This revelation in itself brought forth a host of possibilities, but one in particular was immensely unsettling: There was new player on the board, and they not only knew about him, but had a vested interest in keeping Karr from accomplishing his mission.

This means that this new player was someone who knew about Karr’s mission, which meant someone close to the Senator. They also have an interest in keeping Karr from retrieving the plans, which meant that they were getting a cut of the profits, which explains how the plans were stolen so easily in the first place. The answer was obviously an insider, but who? Not the Senator; he invested too much of his own personal fortune into the Safety Net, he would never be able to make enough from it’s sale to make it worth his while. Not Nason; if he wanted the sale to go through, he never would have hired someone with even slimmest chance to actually retrieve the plans. Not family; they would personally have more to gain from the Safety Net’s success than it’s theft. That means inner circle. One of the top two or three most trusted agents of the Senator. Someone who had access to the plans, but doesn’t stand to make a profit from it’s implementation.

Karr could do no more to discern the identity of the traitor while in this cell. Regardless, there was nothing he could do except carry on with his mission. The traitor would be dealt with in time. For now was the question of how long it would take Firias to get him out. There was easily ten times more security than Karr estimated during his initial assessment, but Firias was making great strides in learning to think outside the box. Karr initially estimated two days in confinement, but with the increased security, he revised his initial estimate to two and a half days before Firias would break him out. There were no clocks that he could see, but based on the rotation of the guards and his own internal clock, Karr estimated that he been incarcerated for a little over two and half-

*BANG*

A series of short screams.

...days.

The blast door to the cell block opened and a tall shadowy figure walked through the haze of a smoke bomb. Firias came to stand before the door of Karr’s cell. His hand still resting on his chin, Karr glanced at Firias.

“Well it’s about time isn’t it?” says Karr nonchalantly.

---

Two days later, and Karr was driving a “borrowed” speeder to a house far removed from the city. After some friendly banter with Firias on the way out of the prison, Karr had checked his datapad to find that Raynor had actually landed the day after he was locked up. Figures. But now, Firias had once again gone off on his own unknowable business, while Karr drove to Malcolm Raynor’s private residence to attempt to recruit a pilot.

Raynor’s house was set in a very idyllic setting. Open fields of green with mountains in the distance and crisp, fresh air carried by a pleasant breeze. Karr suddenly thought that he might perhaps have difficulty recruiting Raynor for no greater reason than that even he would have found it difficult to abandon such a beautiful landscape to charge into certain danger.

Regardless, Karr’s team needed a pilot, so he had to try. The house itself was very open, with no doors or shutters that Karr could see. Interesting design choice, he thought. Karr got out of the speeder and walked to the house, then knocked loudly on the wall.

---

As Karr drove back to the starport to meet with Firias, the vacancy of the passenger’s seat of the speeder only served to haunt him. Raynor had all the qualifications and experience that would have made him ideal for this mission. Although Raynor had been grateful for Karr’s assistance in steering Neeska the Hutt’s goons away from his trail, he was understandably hesitant about not only revealing himself so soon, but doing so for the sake of what was practically a suicide mission. Karr couldn’t begrudge him his choice. Were their situations reversed, Karr probably would have said the same thing.

The open top of the speeder allowed the crisp, clean Alderaan air to rush by, helping to clear Karr’s head as he analyzed the situation. The plans for the Safety Net were stolen almost two months ago. Assuming a week for the thief to deliver the plans, two to three weeks to reprogram the Safety Net to produce war droids, depending on the quality of the slicer, another two to three days to error check the new programming, another week to run test programs, and at least a month to perform the initial testing required to ensure the ‘War Net’ will work properly before it goes up for sale, and the time table for retrieving the plans before they were sold was rapidly running out. By now the final testing would already be well underway, and once it was completed potential buyers would be contacted, bidding wars would take place, and arrangements for delivery would have to be made. By Karr’s estimates, he had three weeks at worst, and a month at best, in order to assemble the rest of him team and retrieve the plans before they changed hands. They had to retrieve the plans before the buyer had a chance to activate the War Net. Once the War Net was activated, and the first batch of self-replicating droids were produced, it would be almost impossible to stop. There was also the matter of the traitor to deal with.

Time was running out, and Karr needed a new approach.

Karr pulled into a garage in the capital city of Alderaan and abandoned the speeder. He made his way to a cantina next to the starport were Firias’ ship was docked. He pulled out his datapad and pulled up his list of potential recruits, now painfully thin. Karr didn’t have the luxury of time to continue meeting with each recruit one at a time. He assessed his options. At minimum, he would need a dedicated pilot and a slicer in order to retrieve the plans. Raynor’s rejection had exhausted his primary list of pilots, so Karr brought up his back-up list. There were only four pilots to choose from before Karr would have to revisit his profiles and take another look at the pilots that he had previously disregarded. Karr looked at the short list of names: Jack Harkness, Antarys Vane, Drake Rhazinkarias, and Richard Nightson. According to the data profiles, Vane and Nightson were fortunately both located on Tython, so he would start there.

Of greater concern, however, was finding a hacker. Slicers were, by nature, not given to working well with others. Most of them had an almost fanatic loyalty to their personal agendas; destroying the ‘oppressive’ government, distributing secrets and information, humbling and embarrassing the famous or wealthy, proving their own electronic superiority, or sowing anarchy just for the sheer entertainment. In all his research, Karr had only encountered two possible candidates: Allast Prime and a slicer known only as ‘Argent Knight’. Allast Prime was last known to be on Ord Mantell, which was closer to Tython than Argent Knight’s last known location.

Karr considered his options and found them to be terribly short. He decided that he would have to risk a gamble. He placed his trust Firias’s ability to reason. Karr would venture to Tython to speak with the pilots, and he would have Firias go to Ord Mantell and try to find and persuade the slicer. Karr was naturally concerned about sending Firias to negotiate, but Firias was developing his capacity for subtlety at an incredible rate, and, what’s more, Karr sensed a deeper change occurring within the Sith. Karr knew that Firias had come to view Karr as a mentor, if not a friend, so Karr would extend a hand. He would place his trust in Firias.

His broad plan in place, Karr returned to Firias’s ship to work out the details.

Star Wars - The Search for Justice (Closed RP)

Alderaan – Killing Time
Dargo Karr was beginning to get frustrated. He was accustomed to waiting, patience was, after all, a virtue for a tactician, but more than a week on Alderaan and Malcolm Raynor had yet to arrive. Checking his datapad, he saw that Raynor’s ship had made planetfall on two more worlds. He was still on the run. Of course, Raynor had no way of knowing that Karr had changed the transponder codes of the Dawnchaser in Neeska the Hutt’s database, and therefore had made his planet-jumping meaningless, but still, Karr had thought that Raynor would have shown up by now. Karr began to wonder if perhaps he had made a miscalculation, but pushed it away. For a strategist, doubt and second-guessing yourself was tantamount to failure. Karr put his datapad away, and took a long drink from his mug of ale.

He had set himself up in a cantina next to the docking bays of Alderaan’s largest spaceport. If Raynor wanted to come to Alderaan discreetly, his best bet would be to get lost in the crowd of this spaceport. Karr’s datapad was programmed to alert him when Raynor’s ship broke atmo, and Karr would be waiting for him outside the docking bays.

Karr returned his attention to the game board in front of him. The Coynite Senator had done well providing Karr what he requested for this mission, but even so, since their mission was off the books until it was over, their funds were limited. So Karr decided that since he was waiting for Raynor anyway, he would earn some creds gambling at the game tables. Although it could hardly be called gambling; his opponents never stood a chance. He made his last move, and then grabbed the stack of creds while his pieces destroyed his opponents self-worth.

The rodian man was trying to figure out how he lost so poorly. Karr could see it in his eyes once his ego kicked in. Karr could almost hear his thought process:

This isn’t possible. I’m too good. I never lose. I’m better than this. I can’t lose to some thug in a bar. Something must be wrong. He must have tricked me somehow.

Karr tried to steer him away before he got too carried away with his thoughts, so Karr said

“Take this loss and learn from it. Walk away now and try again later.”

But it was too late. He made up his mind, and outrage began to grow on his expression. He slammed his fist on the game table.

“You cheated!”

Karr knew where this was going. He had danced to this tune many times, and he knew all the moves. He surveyed the room. Firias currently sat in a corner; he came and went as he pleased, doing whatever it was he did in his downtime. At a table next to the wall, the rodian’s friends had taken notice of the ruckus and were about to stand, no doubt to move to their friend’s aide. The rodian before Karr was wiry and, regardless of the adrenaline and heated emotion, was in no way prepared to attack. He wasn’t a fighter, and he would go down easily enough. The rodian’s friends, however, were another matter.

The one on the right was fat. Anyone else probably would have written him off as not much of a concern. Karr, however, noticed faint scars across his knuckles. He may not be a warrior, but he had been in more than a few scraps, and probably knew how to throw a punch. The one in the middle had a little bit of meat on him, but not much. The way he grabbed the bottle on the table and pulled back his shoulder said that when the action started, he would throw it at Karr’s head. The one on the left though, he was the muscle of the group. He was stocky, but not much fat, and he was already reaching in his pocket, probably for a knuckle-duster. He hadn’t even gotten fully out of his chair and he was already squaring his feet and shoulders. He was likely a boxer.

Unfortunately, they weren’t the only problems. To the left, at a standing table, were two humans, brothers most likely, given the similarities in height, build, and facial structure. The one on the left was moving to put himself between the possible threat and his brother. Karr felt bad for him. He was going to be drawn into this just because he wanted to protect his family.

There were several people at the bar, but two in particular were drunk and angry. When the fight started, they would start swinging at whoever was close to them. It wouldn’t matter why…

And then, there were the Gammoreans… Why they were at a cantina on Alderaan instead of Tattooine was unusual, but it didn’t matter. There were six of them around a table off to the west side, and when the swinging started, they would jump in. They didn’t even need to be drunk, and once they were involved, they would make sure that everyone else was too. Whether they wanted to be or not.

Karr sighed inwardly… Why can no one be civil anymore?

Threat response: Wiry rodian is closest, easy target. Immediate blow to the head will incapacitate. Boxer is biggest threat, move on him before he puts on knuckles. Avoid bottle thrown by lean rodian. Avoid boxer’s preliminary jab, strike back of the knees, redirect haymaker. Heavy rodian will attack from behind. Redirect force of charge into downed boxer. Break for roundhouse kick to lean rodian: incapacitated. Flip table onto heavy rodian and boxer, followed by kick to heavy rodian’s face: incapacitated. Boxer will have to move out from under heavy rodian and table to continue. Have to cull Gammoreans before they upset entire cantina. Have to move around brothers. Lefty will interpret sudden movement as hostile and attack. Will have to be put down. Lefty favoring right leg. Will strike with lunging haymaker. Duck, strike solar plexus, jumping knee to the face: incapacitated. Unfortunate. Brother will attempt to retaliate after shock passes. Move on, Gammoreans priority. They will be moving towards bar to attack patrons after the two drunks start swinging. Intercept pack. Gammoreans have naturally weak lung capacity due to short and heavy stature. Liberally distribute throat jabs and stomach kicks. Gammoreans: incapacitated. Patrons at bar dealing with drunks. Minor squabbles erupt on east end of bar. Will sort themselves out. Next priority. Brother has recovered from shock and wants payback. Will charge, angry and unfocused, attempt body charge. Feint right, trip, pin to ground, nerve pinch. Brother: incapacitated. Boxer has regained footing and put knuckle-dusters on hands. Will move to attack, but won’t charge. Move within arms reach. Boxer favors right, will lead with right jab. Avoid jab, counter with uppercut. Target elbow before the arm is pulled back. Sprain elbow and hyperextend tendons. Press advantage. Deliver second kick to back of knees. Patella dislocated, knee swollen, tendons torn: won’t stand again tonight. Won’t walk again for three days with bacta treatment. Block left arm uppercut to midsection, grab back of head and introduce to knee… three times: nose broken, jaw dislocated, multiple gashes and abrasions to face. Finish with elbow strike to nerve cluster in neck. Boxer: incapacitated.

Final Assessment: Four rodians, six gammoreans, four humans down. Bar patrons subdued drunks. Minor fights end, some end unpleasantly. Bartender has already called for security. Cantina next to largest spaceport on Alderaan, security response time: three minutes. Time elapsed: two minutes, thirty seconds. Charges: Assault, battery, disturbing the peace, destruction of property. Sentence: minimum five years, ten thousand credit fine, incarceration without bail until court date. Trump card: Firias. Actual Estimated Incarceration Time: Two days.

Karr finished his mug of ale. Oh well, he needed to vent some frustration anyway. He set down his mug, and lunged.

Karr thought he must be losing his touch… It took two minutes and forty seconds. He dropped to his knees before the security forces had even come through the door. His hands were already on his head when they came in a few seconds later. He offered no resistance, and said nothing as the restraints were put on him. The only action he took was to offer Firias a quick wink on his way out. Firias would surely enjoy the diversion of breaking him out of jail…

Star Wars - The Search for Justice (Closed RP)

Nar Shadaa – Lessons Begin
Things were not going according to plan, but that wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Despite the rough start, things were now looking to swing in Karr’s favor. He had arrived in Nar Shadaa to try to meet with a former Republic Pilot turned smuggler named Malcolm Raynor, only to discover after he arrived that Raynor had fled just a short while before after a run-in with a gangster named Neeska the Hutt.

Although he wasn’t able to meet with Raynor, Karr had arranged to meet with the Sith that had been stalking him, and actually managed to turn him to his side. Karr played to his ego and convinced him that if he joined Karr’s Task Force, then Karr would be able to instruct him in the ways of tactics and three-dimensional thinking. While that was true, Karr also had an ulterior motive. Karr hoped for a measure of redemption from this mission, and all the better if he would be able to drag Darth Firias along with him. It would be challenging, to be sure, but there was also more depth to Firias than the average Sith.

But now, Karr was focused on Malcolm Raynor. Karr knew that Raynor had a brief shootout with Neeska the Hutt’s thugs before getting away. If the Hutt wanted him that badly, then he was probably searching for Raynor’s ship, the Dawnchaser. Which meant that if Karr wanted to find Raynor, he would have to talk to Neeska’s goons.

“I don’t see why we need to talk to them. I could get the information we seek much more quickly.” Firias said to Karr.

“Undoubtedly. And you would also throw up quite a large smoke signal. Have you ever wondered how I always prepared things to hinder you? How I always knew you were coming? It’s because screams and dead bodies tend to attract attention, and gives people a chance to tip-off the target. If Raynor goes to ground, he could disappear. We need to get to him before he knows we are coming.”

Firias did not like the slow approach, but he said nothing more. These lessons were, after all, the reason he had chosen to follow Karr in the first place.

The pair made their way to an establishment, the polite term would be “Gentleman’s Club,” on the west side of the area. This was part of Neeska’s territory, so the odds were good that they would be able to find someone here with connections to Neeska’s organization. Karr hoped he could get the information he needed soon; he would rather not have to deal directly with the Hutt.

As they approached the entrance to the ironically named “Pillow Talk,” Karr wondered to himself how many secrets had been leaked or stolen over the years in places like this. Coming to a stop before the establishment, the bouncer, a rather large barabel wearing some wicked-looking shock-boxing gloves, barred their path. Karr had expected this, so he led off with his carefully prepared witty banter:

“Hey Suzie. How’s the trim tonight?”

An electrical current passed between the prongs of the shock gloves as the Barabel clenched his fist. Otherwise, he looked completely calm.

“Warm, tender, flexible, and off-limits to trash. Now get lost. Members only.”

Karr reached into his pocket and removed a stack of creds.

“But we are members. See, I have my membership card right here.” Karr said as he slid the creds into the bouncers vest.

The Barabel never moved. He looked at Karr and said,

“Thanks for the tip. Now here’s one for you: Scram.”

This wasn’t going to end well.

“Come on, let me in. I’m getting tired of going to your mother’s place.”

The bouncer ground his teeth and clenched his fists, electricity surging across the gloves. His tone held a note of malice in it.

“Last chance. Get lost before something bad happens.”

Karr sighed. “Why can no one just be civilized anymore?”

Karr looked back at Firias.

“This guy is a bouncer for a shady establishment. Trouble isn’t just likely, its expected. Any incidents won’t be over-analyzed. But just to be safe, no weapons or anything ‘extra.’ I’m sure you wouldn’t mind the challenge.”

Karr turned and walked right past the bouncer. The Barabel reached for him, but the black-clad hand of Darth Firias caught his wrist, and Karr strode into the building.

There were men scattered around, in various stages of depravity, and they were still out-numbered by the selection of women available. Women of multiple different species stood or sat around in the main area, which had been decorated to look something like a courtyard, complete with a small fountain in the center of the room, except that everything was awash in soft crimson light. The ambiance of this place could have made it a very appealing bar, if it had the good fortune to have been built in a better area.

Most of the “employees” who were currently unoccupied turned to see who had walked in, and more than a few eyed Karr with what might be called “professional interest,” and perhaps even a surprising bit of enthusiasm.

A few walked over quickly, anxious to stake their claim on him. A few whispered things in his ear that left him thinking “Uh. Um. I know I came here to do… something.” When one particularly attractive woman offered her services on the house, Karr decided he needed to find one of Neeska’s guys quickly, before his capacity for self-expression was reduced to monosyllables and grunting.

“I’m looking for a man.”

The girls looked very deflated. Most walked away. A few decided they would try to change his opinion. Karr looked at the girls who remained and asked them

“Which of you has been here the longest?”

One of the girls brightened a bit, while the others looked at her jealously. Karr put a strong arm around her and the other girls walked away pouting. Karr pulled her close and whispered in her ear

“I need a man who can help me find someone.”

Comprehension dawned on the woman’s face.

“Oh. You’re one of those.”

Her face suddenly became cold and uncaring. Karr subtly slipped a Genosion pearl into her hand. He had arranged for a small stash of precious gems for more ‘discreet’ pay-offs. She glanced at it without moving her head. She gestured to a small bar to the west side of the room.

“Fine. Wait here.”

Karr strolled over to the bar and had a seat. The bartender, an attractive woman who was probably one of the other working girls when she wasn’t serving drinks, offered Karr any number of liquors. No drinks from bottles or any other sealed containers, Karr noted, and then he realized the red glow served purposes other than atmosphere. The crimson lights could hide any number of drugs, aphrodisiacs, or even poisons that could be easily seen in normal lighting. Karr ordered a glass of local wine, but did not attempt to drink it. The bartender offered friendly conversation, obviously glad to be behind the bar rather than working the rooms. Karr waited quite a while, but no one tried to talk to him besides the bartender. Not unexpected. It was a simple psychological dominance game. Whoever Karr was going to meet wanted to show him that he had more important things to do, and he would not be rushed or interrupted.

Karr didn’t mind. The bartender was actually quite pleasant, although he noticed that she had to hide a frown or grimace whenever she talked about her job. She seemed like a genuinely good person, so he asked her

“Do you like your job?”

The question had caught her off guard, and she hesitated, afraid to answer. Karr tried to reassure her by telling her

“It’s alright. I’m not going to turn you over. I just want to know how you really feel.”

A moment of sadness crossed her face, but she quickly covered it up with a fake smile.

“Pouring drinks is actually kind of fun, but I only do that a few times a month. As for the rest… well, I meet some nice people…” her voice trailed off “…sometimes.”

Karr looked into her eyes.

“You know, with your attitude and spirit, you could be a bartender at one of the nicer places on Corusant. Probably even make more than you do now.”

She looked back at him, somewhat stunned.

“Probably. Most of us here don’t actually make that much. We work here for the protection. Most of what we make goes to just getting by. There is no way we could afford to go off-world, much less get by on a new world while we try to get a better job. We are dependent on the gangs here, and that is the way they like it.”

Karr reached out and offered his hand.

“I’m Dargo.”

She reached over and shook it.

“I’m Raina.”

As they let go, Karr slipped a very valuable Corellian Ruby into her palm, knowing that the crimson glow of the room would hide the act. She gasped when she looked at it, but before she could react and give herself away, he leaned closer.

“Okay Raina, get a shuttle to Corusant, tonight. When you arrive, you will see a Coynite man in official clothes, goes by the name of Nason. Tell him Dargo sent you, and he will help you get settled until you find a job.”

She couldn’t speak. A strange man had just walked in and given her a way out. She tried to speak, but he beat her to it.

“You should keep working, or else you might give yourself away.”

She tried to busy herself, but her face was a storm of conflicting emotions. But life of Nar Shadaa breeds no small amount of skepticism. After a few minutes with her thoughts, she looked at him with suspicion on her face.

“Why?”

Karr smiled gently.

“Because some people need to be saved from the dark.”

She suddenly narrowed her eyes in anger.

“My life may not be glamorous, but I’m not helpless, and I don’t need to be saved.”

Karr made a soft, somewhat sorrowful, chuckle.

“I wasn’t talking about you.”

As she began to understand, her face lost the anger it held. Perhaps she was about to say something more, but he would never know. She glanced over his shoulder and, without a word, she began to make a drink. It was time.

Karr turned around. The man walking towards him walked at an unhurried gait. He wasn’t much to look at, lean and well-dressed and cleaned up. Well, ‘clean’ for a gangster on Nar Shadaa, anyway. He sat next to Karr and placed a datapad on the bar-top. Raina placed the drink she made in front of him and moved away quietly. The man looked at Karr, sized him up, and Karr grinned a bit when the man nodded non-chalantly, and two guards appeared at the other side of the room. He took a slow drink from his glass before deigning to speak to Karr.

“I understand that you are looking for someone. What makes you think that I care about this person? For that matter, why should I care about you?”

Karr didn’t like this man. But that was alright. He saw how things would play out.

Karr said “If you give me a moment of your time, I’m sure that you will find my offer very compelling,” as he slid a stack of credits towards the man. He looked at the credits, took them, and said “My name is Niclaf, and you have ten minutes.”

The guards returned to wherever they had been waiting. The introduction was clearly some kind of signal. Time for Karr to dangle the worm.

“I have an offer that will be very beneficial to both of us. I seek the whereabouts of Malcolm Raynor.”

Niclaf was surprised for a moment, but quickly regained his composure.

“Tell me more.”

Karr grinned, He’d taken the bait. Karr had him.

“Our wayward Mr. Raynor owes my employer quite a bit of money. I understand that your boss would like to settle a few matters with him as well. I tracked Raynor here, only to find that he was already gone. I don’t have any leads as to where he has fled to, but a man with the resources of your organization might. I understand that your employer cares more about sending a message, whereas mine only cares about getting his money. If you help me find him, I will capture him. I will take his ship back to my employer to settle his debt, and I will give Raynor to you so that you may deliver him to Neeska. You see? We both win.”

Niclaf was practically salivating. This would surely advance him in Neeska’s organization. By the time Niclaf was finished thinking, he was practically thrusting his datapad into Karr’s hands.

“We’ve identified his ship as making port on Tattooine, but left again shortly after. We haven’t seen him re-surface yet, but when he does, we will know it.”

Karr pretended to browse the datapad with professional interest, but actually he was waiting for the bug he had attached to do its work. The bug was currently changing all the files concerning Raynor’s ship in Neeska’s system. Specifically, it was changing the transponder code. After this, if any of Neeska’s men tried to capture the “Dawnchaser,” they would find themselves face to face with a Republic warship. He was also sending the Dawnchaser’s real transponder codes to his own datapad. When the program finished running, Karr smiled, palmed the bug, and returned the datapad.

“I have what I need. I’ll be in touch.”

Karr nodded and shook the man’s hand. Niclaf was shaking, no doubt anticipating his imminent promotion.

It was almost too bad that when Neeska eventually discovered that the change in their systems had come from his datapad, Neeska would kill him.

Karr walked back out and glanced down. The bouncer lay in a crumpled heap. Firias stood a short walk away. When he approached, he saw the Sith had a large red mark on the side of his face that was beginning to purple. Karr approached him.

“Been waiting long?”

Karr caught a mischievous glint in his eye. Firias smirked.

“Not really. I kept the crowd entertained for a while. So what did you find out?”

Karr pulled out his datapad and began searching through the Republic military personnel files.

“He was here, he was ambushed by Neeska’s people, and he ran. His ship was registered making port in Tattooine, and leaving again shortly after.”

Firias reviewed the information in his head, looking at the available options. Finally, he said

“He’s running. He wants to stay on the move. If his travel is random, then our only options are to follow him planet to planet until he stops long enough to catch up to him, or wait for the transponder code to pop up on a planet we could reach quickly.”

Karr nodded his approval.

“Very good. And what if his travel isn’t random?”

Firias thought for a moment.

“then you try to discover a pattern, and intercept the target at their next destination.”

Karr nodded again. He paused when his datapad brought up the file he needed.

“Exactly. Now think about his state of mind. He’s running. Where do you go when you are scared and need to go to ground?”

Firias’s eyes narrowed, his voice threatening.

“I do not feel fear.”

Dargo spared him a glance.

“And that hinders you more than you know. Being able to put yourself in an adversaries head; to think how he thinks, and feel how he feels, is absolutely necessary in being able to predict how they will react to different situations.”

Karr continued to browse his datapad while Firias pondered this. Karr let him think for a few more minutes before offering his advice.

“Our target just had a group of people try to kill him. He needs security. Where would you go when you need to feel safe?”

Firias looked up, like the answer was written on his brain, and he just needed to see it.

“I suppose I would return to Korriban.”

Karr smiled as he found the information he was looking for. It wasn’t public information, so he didn’t need to fear Neeska’s goons finding him. He nodded his approval to Firias before saying

“Exactly. You go home. Let’s get ready for take-off: we’re going to Alderaan.”

Star Wars - The Search for Justice (Closed RP)

Nar Shadaa – The Confrontation

No more running.

Darth Firias stood in the street and observed the lone entrance to the cantina. Karr had given him a good chase, but he had reached the end of his road. Karr was inside. But something was wrong. This was a popular cantina in a populated area. There should be obnoxious music coming from inside, and a steady stream of people coming and going, but there was nothing. Firias thought it odd that there was no sound of rabble wasting their lives, but there was nothing. It was quiet, and not a single soul had come or gone in the time since he had arrived. For a moment, Firias thought that perhaps his information had been wrong, but he immediately pushed the thought from his mind. No. His information was good. The trail of soulless husks that he had left drooling on themselves had made sure of that. Karr was here. Firias pushed away his doubts and embraced the passion of the hunt.

Firias casually opened the door, not wanting to alert his prey and give him a chance to escape. He was completely unprepared for the scene that awaited him.

The cantina was empty. There were no bartenders, no barmaids, no customers, and no music. It was silent as the grave. Even most of the lights were off. Only a single overhead lamp, and the soft glow of a game table in the back of the cantina, broke the darkness.

Even more surprising was the fact that sitting there, completely at ease, was Dargo Karr.

Karr had an open bottle of high-end alcohol in front of him. Across the table was an empty chair and another bottle of the same liquor, this one unopened and sealed.

Karr was alone, unarmed… and entirely unshaken.

He tipped his bottle toward the empty chair, and looked Firias right in the eyes.

“Please, join me. It’s about time we talked.”

Firias was doubly surprised that not only was the place devoid of lesser beings, but that his quarry sat there looking for all the galaxy like he had invited Firias there.

“Either you are very powerful, or vastly idiotic. I sense no others present, yet you know exactly what I am.”

Karr looked at Firias evenly.

“Of course. I have been aware of you for weeks. Who did you think it was that left the bread crumbs that allowed you to find your way to this exact place, at this exact time, and arranged to make sure that we would not be disturbed?”

Karr gestured again to the empty seat.

“Please, sit.”

Firias returned Karr’s gaze.

“Your words may ring with truth. Yet what is preventing me from destroying you now? Or have you brilliantly engineered your own death?”

“Simple analysis of the facts. If you prefer the challenge and the thrill of the chase, then you would be willing to fight me unarmed. If you care only about the completion of your mission, then there is nothing I can do to stop you anyway. So until this little episode reaches its conclusion, there is no reason we can’t talk and share a drink.”

Karr gestured to the game board.

“Do you play?”

Firias regarded the man before him in new light. There was no fear in this man. Only calm, despite his obvious bluff about hand to hand combat, Firias thought. Absurd.

“For the very reason that you intrigue me do I not crush you where you sit.”

He seemed at war with himself, but finally Firias sat in the offered chair and looked thoughtfully at the game board illuminated before him.

“And no,” he said at last “I do not.”

“Very well. I am given to understand that the Force gives you some guidance provided you understand the idea.”

Karr explained the rules briefly and simply, then raised his bottle to his opponent.

“May the Force be with you.”

And then Karr made the first move.

Something clicked in the back of Firias’s mind. A side of his consciousness long buried. This game could not be won by power and tyranny of will alone. It would take true cunning. Now that his curiosity was piqued, Firias threw himself into the game. For the Force did indeed give a small glimmer of insight and clarity. Not as much as his anger and rage could drive fear in an individual, but close.

Firias looked at Karr and said “This game is a very accurate verisimilitude to our previous game of cat and mouse it would seem.”

Karr answered calmly “Of course, on the surface, parallels could be made to our own recent history. But, of course, you learn more of your opponent by looking beyond the surface.”

Karr began to shift his stratagem, moving pieces in the back outwards, while he continued to speak.

“But, of course, despite that, there is always more to find in the big picture than the depth of any single action. Take our short association, for example. Given what you know of me, and what you have experienced, what would your assessment be?”

Firias took a moment before answering.

“That you calculated the risk in allowing me to find you so vulnerable, but for what purpose I wonder? Do you believe you can hold sway over me? Or that I will find you to be a source of wisdom? That is what you hope is it not?”

Karr seemed to shift his tactics yet again, seeming to favor a more aggressive center charge.

“Partially. You have gleaned much from the depths of a single action, and yet the bigger picture remains shrouded. Shall I tell you what I have learned by your actions?”

Firias arranged his pieces in an array before him that would provide maximum defense and chance for a counterattack.

“Do tell.”

Karr slowed the pace of his attack, while also moving the back pieces further out and away from the combat.

“You have great power. Too much raw power in fact. In your race to find me you encountered a series of obstacles. Some could have been easily detected or avoided, and, in so doing, would have brought you here much sooner than tonight. But you didn’t. You destroyed every obstacle before you, because you could.”

Karr gestured to the relatively straight-forward defensive line of his opponent, and continued.

“You favor the straight-forward path. This tells me that you are confident and proud of your power, and this in itself tells me that you crave more.”

Karr began to pull back from his aggressive center charge and re-group, while moving the outer pieces into a cone-like formation.

“But there is a downside to having too much power…”

Firias said “Oh? What makes you think so?”

As emphasis, a few of the tables and chairs in the room began to float. As Firias moved his pieces to flank and counter the deviant cones, the tables and chairs were crushed into splinters and twisted metal.

“I’ve beaten you with power.”

Karr was calm and unmoved by the display, and delivered his answer.

“An over-abundance of power makes you think uni-laterally.”

The cone formations swarmed around the back through the now open gap in his defensive line. The regrouped center force charged once more. His opponents forces were wiped out in a devastating pincer attack. As emphasis, in one swift move, Karr shattered his bottle and surged forward to place it at Firias’s throat.

“Power is all well and good, but it is a poor teacher in the ways of tact and patience.”

Karr lowered his hand and sat back down.

“If you would like to play again, I have a proposition for you.”

A smile played at the edges of Firias’s lips. Then a chuckle emerged, followed by true laughter.

“You are the first man to surprise me in over twenty years, let alone the first to be so bold and brutally honest!”

His laughter died as his eyes burned with fury nearly unrestrained.

“Again” and he arranged his pieces once more before Dargo Karr.