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Kabal



Big. The word seemed to echo in Kabal's mind as he was, indeed, contemplating how to kill such a beast as Viron Jek. The short answer was explosives. It was a relative comparison: the bigger the bad guy, the more bombs you needed. But for Jek, who seemed the size of two men stacked on top each other, well...that'd require a lot of explosives, more than Kabal had on-hand. Solace asserted that no matter how big a threat Jek was, literally or metaphorically, his sights were set on the Empire, not on them.

Kabal inwardly scoffed at mention of the Empire. His relationship with the autocratic regime had somewhat strained in recent months, no doubt due to the nasty business back on Mos Eisley on what-would-be his first day as a Gray Mariner. To any who asked, the finer details of that day escaped him, but Kabal remembered them clear-as-crystal. He did not act without incentive, he assured himself; the Empire would find no groveling wretch in him or any Ubese. Indeed, nearly everyone aboard the Noreaster had slighted the Empire in some way or another; what made Jek so special for it?

"Get what is coming. Bigger man, harder fall." Kabal responded, butchering the old adage. It was uncertain whether his tone relayed one of confidence or simple observance of the fact. Perhaps there was a nugget of wisdom in the plainness of his words: Reavers and pirate lords going all the way back to the Old Republic had their day in the limelight, some lasting months, years, decades even. But as always, someone stronger, tougher, or just plain luckier came along and took their place.

He was about to suggest 'acquiring' an E-Web to deal with Jek when Solace stopped almost mid-sentence to respond to a buzz in her communicator. Kabal was puzzled: his helmet had a built-in comlink tuned to the Noreaster's frequency. If Piff had chewed on it again, so help him...there wouldn't be any atomic trace of Gizka left to find.

Kabal, of course, kept those thoughts to himself. Solace (and especially Requiem's) attachment to the Admiral was nothing short of baffling, which only further exacerbated Kabal's hatred for it. Sadly, the rest of the crew did not seem to share his opinion. Clu, in particular, didn't take too well to finding Kabal in his quarters under cover of darkness attempting to tamper with B-22's targeting system.

It was a ceaseless frustration, an almost perpetual miscommunication between himself and the rest of the crew. They didn't understand him or his customs, and he didn't understand them or their rituals. Even after a year, there was only the resigned acceptance that Kabal's eccentricity was a part of his nature. It was the wisdom of old spacefarers that said your crew was your family. But Kabal had a family once, now no more. What did that make the Gray Mariners?

Unwilling to answer his own question, Solace's part in a one-sided conversation with Sable brought Kabal's wayward mind back to the present. 'Subdue', 'restrain', 'negotiate a travel arrangement', the whole thing screamed 'stowaway'. Probably some alien filth trying to mooch a free ride off port. Solace didn't have to volunteer, Kabal would kill the stowaway, himself the moment he caught sight of them. There was room for only one pest onboard, and that pest was protected. That was the one thing Kabal and Five-Toes could find common ground in, albeit for different reasons. It was perhaps ironic that the only thing the two of them could agree on was what they hated more than each other.

"Stowaway like spider-roaches, best dealt with flamethrower." The metallic edge of his voice carried the slightest hint of glee at the prospect. Of all Kabal's vast and highly-illegal weaponry, his wrist-mounted flamethrower held a special place in his heart. Truth was, there really was no appropriate time to use a flamethrower, but Kabal countered that there really was no appropriate time to not use a flamethrower.

"What next move?" He asked on a final note, tensing his muscles in preparation to stand at a moment's notice. He had been itching for a bit of combat since their last mission, and to be reunited with all his gear back on the ship was an all-too-tempting idea.


Edric Beaumont



"You feel it. A calling." Edric proclaimed, even the phrasing of his words uncertain as to whether he were asking or declaring it. "And what else to do but answer?" With that, Edric slowly opened the set of doors, prompting an almost violent screech of old wood against rusted metal hinges, moss-covered stone. Inside there was only blackness, a dark cavernous maw ready to swallow up the all-too-eager and curious. But Edric, for all his eccentricity, merely stepped inside, his form soon encompassed by the darkness. Dutifully, the Wolf followed behind, wispy shape dissipating like a cloud of smoke as its vaguely translucent form turned nearly invisible.

Edric did not stop to wait for Arendal, either confidently assuming he would follow, or uncaring as to what path he chose to take. Edric would wander the ruins regardless, though a part of him couldn't help but like the idea of extra company. The first step inside the ruins was a dour, musky place; filled with the stench of rotten wood and stone, caked with dust that seemed to clog and poison the very air they breathed.

This place, whatever foul thing infested it, had anticipated visitors. Edric could sense it in the air, the darkness reawoken as life once more teemed in its halls. Rubbing his hands together with the same fervency one would try and strike a flint, an orb of bright light manifested between Edric's palms, floating into the air as he outstretched an open hand to release it. The orb hovered close to his head, illuminating the room in a white glow, likely disturbing anything that dwell within. "Curse these eyes. Rely on them too much, can see everything except what's right in front of you in the dark."


Damon Tardif



There was a pause, long enough to sow somehow more tension in an already tense atmosphere. It was as if the woman were hesitating, though Damon was uncertain as to what. She had been brave enough to approach, speak to him alone; surely that fire had not faded yet. But then she spoke, renewing confidence in her voice as each word passed her lips. A missing persons case. The idea caught him by surprise, if only briefly, a quirk of the eyebrow, a twitch at the corner of his lips hidden by his concealment. In a way, he found it oddly amusing. Indeed, one could say he specialized in missing persons cases. But only insofar as what to do when the missing person was found. A rescue, that was new.

But then came the caveat, the reason the woman was desperate enough to track him down at the last hamlet of civilization before the deep, dark wilds. Taken by bandits, not seen in months. Gods above, she wasn't tracking her sister, she was chasing a memory. Part of him wanted to laugh in her face, out of inn and out of town. But the woman offered coin, and he'd sooner blast himself for a fool than refuse paying work. The woman was at least sensible enough to understand that the chances of her sister being alive were slim, and was willing to accept even a corpse, long as it meant closure - and vengeance. Damon could see as much in her eyes that seemed to glow bright in the warm orange firelight. That kind of anger was one he understood. Went beyond the civilized mind, into man's own nature. Whether it was the time he lost his favorite hound to a pack of wolves; or the hunt for a man--no, monster--who butchered and ate children in one of the nearby villages. Retribution, he understood it.

Which is why, instead of laughing, he replied as coolly and professionally as ever: "Five-hundred gold. Two-fifty up front, two-fifty when we find your sister." At that moment, Agnes returned, bearing a tankard full of mead, which she placed at the table. Dismissing her with a blunt wave of his hand, Damon once more removed the fabric covering his face, taking a deep swig from the tankard before returning it to he table. "We leave at dawn. Fresh eyes on a fresh trail. Bandit gangs are as common as rats in a sewer. But Dengores aren't. Finish any business you have tonight. Doubt it'll be a short journey ahead of us."


Kabal



The planet was cold. Not like the vast plains and rolling fields of Ubertica. The rest of the galaxy outside, it was a frigid, unwelcoming place, and Kabal despised it for that very reason. Anchorage seemed to be the poor man's Tatooine, a lawless haven for the thief, the smuggler, and the mercenary. The first and, really, only rule enforced by the enigmatic Harbormaster be that no one carry a blaster on the planet's surface. The punishment for breaking the rule was death, by those who...were allowed to carry blasters. Kabal found this rule confusing, and despite Solace's insistence, had no intention of obeying it. Indeed, the Captain was smart, and knew to lock the armory down within an hour of landing at port, keep the Ubese from hoarding any secret weapons. But even after being on the crew for a year, Kabal still had a few tricks left up his sleeve; one of them being a thermal detonator.

The Noreaster's armory was the crew's main center for whatever weapons were needed for a mission, but after invocation of the 'no explosives' rule following an incident that Kabal stubbornly insisted (and still does) was the fault of the Good Admiral Piff, he decided to make his own armory. A hollowed out floor tile in his quarters, nearly indistinct from the others, filled to the brim with high-powered weapons that would inspire awe from several of the crew-members, and several more charges of war crimes from the authorities. A TL-50 Heavy Repeater was Kabal's latest addition - and a fine addition it was - a source of pride for the weapons-obsessed Ubese.

But, indeed, Solace was smart, and even after locking down the armory demanded that Kabal relinquish all the weapons currently on his person, under the watchful eye of Five-Toes, ready to hurl his massive bulk at the poor Ubese should he resist. What followed was an at-least five-minute process of Kabal turning over any weapons, or items that could be used as weapons. Wrist rocket launcher, flamethrower, grenades, vibroknife, tuning stylus taken from the droid bay, all of it amassed in a small pile at Solace's feet. Kabal believed that his shock gloves, carefully interwoven webbing into the fabric of his gauntlets would be missed, and they were! Until Five-Toes dutifully reminded the Captain with nothing short of the biggest shit-eating grin in the galaxy. Revenge for all the times he had felt the sting of the gloves, himself. And to think Kabal had been going easy on him.

With what could only be described as a temper tantrum of swearing in his native language to a degree that would make his mother cry, Kabal stormed off to be on his own until the crew finally landed. Feeling more naked than he ever had before, Kabal was forced to think on his feet, carry light, enough that if something happened on Anchorage, he'd be able to do more than run and hide. Hiding wasn't particularly in his nature, especially when he had access to his equipment. But Solace had put him in a rough spot, and, as usual, it was up to him to clean up the mess. A thermal detonator up his sleeve, a flashbang under the folds of his clothing, and a DL-44 in his boot. It certainly wasn't an optimal loadout, but it made Kabal feel a tad less vulnerable.

Meticulously replacing the floor tile with not a seam out of place, Kabal stayed hidden inside his quarters until an audible lurch signaled that the ship had landed at port. Volunteering to follow Solace, Clu, and a few choice other crew-members out into the icy armpit of the galaxy, it was a brisk, unpleasant walk to get to the Last Resort Cantina. Despite conditions, Kabal didn't utter a single complaint or even a shiver, as it seemed. The Ubese were a strong, splintered people, having endured not only near-decimation, but complete galactic erasure. Yet every time, they rose from the ashes stronger than ever. To complain about the cold was an admittance of weakness - and Kabal refused to be beaten by the weather.

The entrance to the Last Resort was guarded by a hulking Aqualish who served as bouncer, apathetically looking each visitor up-and-down for any visible contraband before letting them through. As the Mariner and her crew approached, there was an odd glint in the creature's eye that hinted making Solace an exception to his no pat-down routine, but nothing came of it. Respect, or maybe just a lick of good-old common sense.

As they walked past, Kabal turned his helmeted head back to stare the bouncer in the face, prompting a growl from the brutish creature; to which Kabal growled back in kind. The inside of the cantina was a crowded, dimly-lit haven for Outer Rim Scum, free from the near-omnipresent eye of the Empire. Kabal couldn't help but grin madly behind his expressionless mask. Cramped, poor visibility, one exit; one flashbang going off is all it would take to start a massacre, and Kabal was prepared to do just that should things get out-of-hand.

But Captain Solace may as well have been in her home element. The Mariner's identity was one cultivated through years of dropped whispers, half-baked rumors, and a nudge to the underground by none other than the Fixer. But the woman, herself, dangerous as she was, favored little more than a strong drink, and a man or woman - or both - to drunkenly take back to her private quarters. Kabal didn't understand the appeal of a lot of it, but it made the Captain happy; and when the Captain was happy, the crew was happy. When the Captain wasn't happy, well, then that usually meant Airus was in 'charge,' and that didn't make Kabal happy.

Inside, it didn't take long for the first physical conflict to start. Some cockeyed smuggler with a smirk that reflexively made Kabal want to knock out a few teeth decided to pick a fight with a nearby KX-droid minding its own business. Didn't take a broker's bet to figure out how that fight would go. The smuggler immediately found himself picked up off the ground with the same ease that one would lift a glass to their lips, throttled and thrown full-force into a wall, a scream and the shattering of bone interrupting the music and ambience for only a brief moment. This was the Outer Rim, and the unwritten creed of "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes" was something of a golden rule.

After that minor distraction, Kabal turned to look back at who Solace was speaking to: a jittery Rodian who clearly seemed out of his depth. Kabal was thankful for the helmet hiding the disgust painted clearly on his features: the bulbous eyes, flapping snout, sucker-tipped fingers, and the stench. Kabal couldn't, or wouldn't, suppress a minor insult in his native tongue, knowing full-well that the Rodian wouldn't understand him. It was bad enough to be on a crew full of aliens, but at least there he could hide away in his quarters.

What was important, however, was mention of Viron Jek. Solace was unimpressed, her confidence something of a morale-booster, if only a bit. Clu, however, wasn't having any of it. Placing down a holocom with a rather distinct wanted poster, Clu started explaining in-depth the reputation that Viron Jek had accumulated over the years as a pirate-lord willing to spit in the Empire's face. Kabal found this boring. But he did take interest in the holoprojector shifting images, finally landing on a rather grisly scene taken from the holonet by reporters. Kabal stared intently at the image, his expression unreadable through the dual-visor of his helmet.

"Big." Was all he said, a word processed through what must-have-been half-a-dozen filters and speech scramblers, creating an unsettling metallic tone that was equal parts grating and off-putting, shifting in pitch from a high chirp to an almost gravelly raspiness, all tinted by that steely edge.

Simply saying the word left a bad taste in Kabal's mouth. Even after the years spent learning and speaking Basic, he detested it. The language was not his own, its words not his own. For a time, he outright refused to speak it, but the few translator units he could get his hands on were never up-to-snuff. Might be time to broaden the search, see what spare credits he could get his hands on that didn't require asking Clu for a loan. Kabal found the idea of prostrating himself before the Muun revolting, an affront to his dignity; however-sparse the rest of the crew believed it to be.

Saying nothing else, Kabal leaned back in his seat, resisting the urge to take out his hidden grenade and begin tinkering with it. Such work was simple, brought him at least a little amount of peace, but no, Kabal would save that for the ship. Instead, he kept watching the KX-droid in something of admiration. Perhaps that was one thing he and Clu shared.


Edric Beaumont



"Empty? Yess. Uninhabited...? Not likely. Brevyon tried to destroy magic, or maybe suppress it. But it exists in all who live - and all who've died. Things may yet dwell here." Edric's tone trailed off, as though he were wanting to say more but lost the words.

A distant clap of thunder seemed to finally draw Edric's attention, eyes flicking towards the heavens, confirming the suspicion of his ears. "If it's shelter you seek, this place'll do. Some of the roofs have only a few holes." Edric emphasized with a vague wave of his arm, motioning to the ruins around him.

"Inside will keep you dry, but there's no telling what--who's there. Maybe nothing, probably something. Can't you feel it in the air? The energy? It gets stronger..." Edric trailed off once more, moving towards one of the more-structurally sound ruins, this one distinguished by a set of heavy oak doors. "Here. The people here, they feel it too. General unease, an odd feeling in the belly. The ghost stories they tell children reflect that. Superstition is merely that echo. Find the source, ease the people, and see what treasures lay within. Reach out for it, my Elven friend, tell me if you can feel it." Edric now looked intently at Arendal, imploring him to to close his eyes and listen.


Damon Tardif



Glares bored into the back of his skull, Damon could feel them sharp as any dagger. In his earlier years, it was an agonizing sensation, the feeling of ostracizing from one's own tribe, community. Old friends, neighbors, even family members saw him as a disgrace, a traitor. But now, after years of enduring such looks whenever he returned, Damon only saw it with spite. A glare stung a hell of a lot less than a knife in the gut, and he had weathered both without complaint.

Taking a seat at one of the few empty tables left in the tavern, Damon made no sound other than the ominous creak of the old wooden stool. It was usually a comforting sound, the sound of one's dwelling in the tavern. For Myrna, it meant coins in her coffer; for travelers, it usually meant another wayward hero to entertain them with tall tales and stories. But with Damon, it signified presence, the weight of his armor and weapons denoting the danger of his profession.

With a hand half-raised, Damon spoke only one word: "Agnes." Through the tense, quieter atmosphere of the tavern, he didn't have to raise his voice, yet it still carried deliberation, intent, as though prompting others to stop and listen. The individual in question was a young woman, slender and stringy-haired, frozen-in-place as if she'd been caught where she wasn't supposed to be.

He'd been sweet on her once - half the men in town were at one point or another. They'd known each other as teens, when Damon reserved his blade for the denizens of the forests. The traits that he found so attractive in her then; her sweet demeanor and doe-eyed expression, now filled him with nothing but resentment now. Those were the attributes of prey, existing to chew on plants until something smarter, stronger brought it down. Born to die so the hunter could live.

Slowly, she approached, wavering with every step, like moving towards a viper waiting to strike at exposed flesh. Turning his head to meet her gaze, Damon pulled down the covering that masked the lower half of his face, revealing features hard as bone, blanketed with a layer of scruff. "Been awhile. I'll have mead. Fresh, if you will." With meek answer of "Yes, m'ilord" the girl turned tail and scampered off towards the kitchen, eager to leave his imposing stature, even while seated.

Returning the cloth to once more cover his face, Damon sat quietly, adjusting the fit of his gauntlet with fist clenched, or examining his dagger for any stains of blood or chips in the metal.

Looking up caught the same woman from earlier, now approaching his table. That was new. She had the look of a traveler, albeit a tired one, one who likely hadn't had a restful night's sleep in weeks. Her gait and stature was like that of a man, trained for battle. A mercenary, maybe? Soldier of fortune? Damon supposed he'd figure out soon enough, assuming the woman was looking for conversation.

Sheathing his dagger with one deft motion, Damon tilted his head slightly to the side as he engaged the woman, looking up at her. "Is there something I can do for you?" His tone was blunt, but not rude, like a tradesman wanting to get straight to business, avoiding the niceties and ceremony that a more enterprising businessman would perform.
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