Shadow of the Crimson Turtle

"So we heading back to the Kraken now, we need to have at least some of us on the ship in case twp brains decides to bite." Drael asks, smoothing the lapels of his leather flight jacket. Looking at Sovia and Leb he pauses for a moment "Should someone stay to make sure he follows, otherwise he is in the wind."

"I've got that covered."   Vin said from the comm-link.  Vin wouldn't pretend to like all the force goings on that everyone was pushing, but he had his strengths and they had theirs.  He kept a vigil on the Cerean in the docking bay. 'Sometimes I think they forget about me.'   He thought. 'Of course that had been my intention from the start right after the notion of vacc-ing them had gone out the cargo bay. Had he changed since then?  Did he really care?'   The truth was it didn't matter.  'Once he had enough bank to get out of this arrangement, he was leaving.'   These people triggered too much of his past, and Vin just found Ceph's idealism to be too much of a liability.  He mused their current situation though,   'If he could cut down a few scum and earn a few marks of good deeds on his card in the meanwhile - all the better.'  "I'll let you know." he reported back.

"Copy that buddy, stay sharp and I'll see you back on the Kraken." Drael replies on the comm. "Ladies, shall we get back then. Vin can take care of himself and knows to get in touch if needed. Let's get going, dont want twobrains to beat us there."

Sovia nods, "Especially if he brings his friend. Remember, make no plans as to what we will do, and Leb and I will stay as hidden as we can in the force. Perhaps we should all start making plans to travel to Corea though." 

The Cerean's response to Nils's cheerful offensive is as impassive as ever. However, as the droid walks away he hears his mark make another comm. "Hi, yeah, it's me again. Can you run a background check on the Khyber Kraken ? Yeah, Khyber. That's what I thought too."

Ah. Right. Yes. That. Remaining impassive, Nils continues to walk away. Rendezvousing with his companions, he fills them in on his attempt. "With hindsight, the ship name was a bit of a giveaway. And when they run a check on it they'll see it was registered today, which probably won't fill them with confidence. So... yeah, we've probably tipped our hand. Of course they might still come sniffing around the ship to see who we are, but more likely they just go to ground. Anyone want to try tailing him, or do we just, you know, rename the ship again and leave? Maybe do that salvage job?"

“Well we do know they’re trying to head to Jedha, gotta be to meet with more of their group, maybe that’s where they’re based. The leads not dead, but maybe we do the salvage job first to throw em off our tail if they are suspicious of us.”

Sovia nods. "I think that would be wise. We see if they have bitten, if not we ease off through fear of making them worry."

Inaudible at a distance through the crowd, the Cerean concludes his comm, walking away from the gates towards the food court.

Vin keeps an eye out.  Begrudgingly getting on the move to follow the Cerean as he quickly begins to venture away from his vantage point.

The Cerean purchases a sandwich and a bottle of water and settles down on some of the seating to have a snack.

After finishing his break, the Cerean makes another call on his commpad. He shakes his head and rolls his eyes as he talks, before standing and moving to browse the departures board.

Vin follows as far behind as possible, relying on his eyes and the distance to aid him from detection.  He tried to blend with the passing crowds without disturbing them.  Most importantly, he cleared his mind of as much emotion as possible.  It was a trick of avoiding jedi.  It was a matter of focus and concentration.  Vin wasn't great at it, but he would try it anyway.

Seemingly dissatisfied with the available options on the departures board, the Cerean makes another call, before heading to a service desk to find a member of spaceport staff.

Vin paces away to a nearby vending machine out of earshot of the Cerean, but where he can still catch a glimpse.  He clicks the commlink and speaks in a hushed voice. "I don't think he's interested, Dee.  He's looking for other options.  What do you want me to do?"

"Yeah, it was always a long shot. Dont do anything to risk yourself. He might get desperate and try us anyway, if he cant get another flight. I don't see why we dont just get ready to head out. If he turns up it's a bonus otherwise we get our salvaging hats on." Drael looks over at the others while he talks, his gave indicating that this is the time to object if they want to.

"Alright then. I'm on my way." Vin says turning back to look at the Cerean.

Sovia shakes her head in slight exasperation. "What did I say. Don't imagine anything but going to Corea. That is our next destination as far as anyone is concerned. Make those calculations, tell us what you know of places to land."

Ceph shrugs, a bit deflated. But with other prospects and avenues still awaiting them, he seems content to head off and get the ship ready.

The Cerean seems to have found a staff member and is having a relatively animated conversation with the poor employee.

Vin knew he couldn't let the emotions out.  It too much of a risk. He became cold, insular , calculating; just watching. Security was sparse aside from the guards at the cargo bay entrances.  His luck there wasn't much chance of making it through there.  Vin smirked, he had just said how important it was not to put the ship at risk. And how we couldn't let him go.  Nothing changed that.  His republic bounty hunting IDs were probably way out of date, but the only way to legally get away with it.  He could bring up the terrorist angle, that might help.  And he had told Drael that had he known about in the Café he would have handled it already.  Now was the time to put his money where his mouth was.  He wouldn't endanger the ship though.  Not over his crusade. He tossed the commlink in the dumpster; he didn't want it tracing back somehow to Drael. He pictured a Vuptex in his head.  It was a relaxing creature, he tried to keep calm. But that would be its own problem.  Positive emotion was still that, and Jedi could sense that.  No, he had to be devoid of it.  He decided and he focused. Vin walked over to the vendor offering up a chit scan to pay for one of the local dishes - a large pizza.  It smelt appetizing, but that was not its purpose.  The box was big enough to hide his tilted blaster as we walked.  It blended with his coat.  He avoided a couple walking arm in arm toward another venue.  He passed a table, no alarm.  He closed to 30 meters.  Nothing.  The Cerean was dealing with an annoying Chadra-fan who he managed to shew off as Vin closed within 10 meters. Calm. Calm.  The Jedi was right there, and it didn't matter. Vin had him.  The terrorist had pulled his last job.  A shot rang in the food court.  Vin glanced at the Cerean; watching his handiwork for a moment. His emotional control waned. It was good work, satisfying.  People were scattering, but the jedi collapsed to the ground a hole in his side: dying.  He wanted to run, but no.  'This was righteous.'   And he didn't want to risk someone save this bastard. 'If it's worth doing, see it done,' The pizza dumped to the floor, its hot cheese and toppings slathering over the man and the floor.  He pointed the pistol at his head, and pulled the trigger once more.  And then stood putting the safety on the blaster and tossing it to the ground and reaching into his pocket for his ID.  He could hear security already rushing forward even among the people screaming.  Now how was Vin gonna get out of this?  Something for later.  He had his wallet ID flipped to his Republic BHCVID.  It was old, but it was probably his only way out of making it alive.  Besides, he was guilty of nothing.  'Terrorists,' he reminded himself, 'don't have rights.'

The crowd of travellers in the spaceport terminal erupts in screams at the sound of the first blaster bolt. Civilians rush for the exits, scattering in all directions, even as the security forces struggle to advance through the stampede towards the source of the disturbance. "Freeze!" The first of the security forces yells a moment after Vin secures his kill. "Put your hands on your head and get down on your knees!" The two security officers from the exit gate are the first to reach Vin. Before long he is surrounded by no less than six, all training blasters on him.

Vin already hands up, smirks at the comment.  'Bloody amateurs.' The solider gets down on his knees, hands still up, wallet out.  "Bounty... bounty."   Vin repeats slowly and calmly as security come in closer.  "Blasters already on the ground. Knife sheath on my right ankle.  I have nothing more to declare until I speak to your supervisor."   Vin had heard these kinds of stories before from other hunters.  He normally preferred to bring in live quarries, but when they die, sometimes that was just how it was.  There incessant yelling was mildly irritating.  'Did they expect him to resist?'  He had to be by-the-book if he expected to sell his surprise if none of the credentials panned out.  He was confident Bakura would honor even out of date cards.  They were after all a damn hutt-scab backwater. The only question was how to call it with the chit being on him.  He could explain it away, he could probably steal Ceph's crock of being an agent if Vin read the room well.  He just wished he didn't have to talk his way out of this.  He wished Drael was there.

The officers close in warily. One kicks Vin's blaster away from him, while another snatches the wallet to inspect it and a third quickly closes binders around the old soldier's wrists. While two of the men keep hands on Vin's shoulders to prevent any attempt at escape, another two inspect the ID, speaking with on another in hushed whispers. "Where's your bounty?" One demands, brusquely.

As they walk back in the direction of the ship Drael wonders about Vin, hoping the old fellas is ok, and hasn't gotten too close to his quarry. He debates calling him on the commlink, initially doesn't but then quietly speaks into his link. " Vin, all good? " Silence is all he gets in reply, and the pilot raises an eyebrow, but then think Vin may not be free to talk but otherwise fine and continues along, planning to check back in with him shortly.

"In front of you,"  Vin quizzically answers, as the binders go around his hands. "...and I have proof to substantiate my claim, but I need to speak your commanding officer.  It is of a sensitive nature."   Vin says firmly.   As the guards hesitate, he reminds them,   "I have complied with all of your orders, and will continue to do so, but I cannot answer your questions in such an open forum." 

The security officers continue to mutter amongst themselves and Vin is soon after dragged away to the central security station for the spaceport, while a clean-up crew is brought in to take away the Cerean's corpse. Vin is cuffed to a durasteel table in an empty interrogation room with a broad mirror along one wall. It's hard to tell how long he's been held for by the time the door opens again, revealing a grey-haired, uniformed human carrying a datapad. "Quite a scene you caused," he notes, taking a seat opposite Vin. "Vincent Ryder. Ex-Imperial military turned bounty hunter," the man states, flipping through the information on his datapad. "The man you murdered was Chicri Qui-Xot. Apparently , you claim to be pursuing a bounty on his head, but no supporting documentation was found on you and we have nothing in our system to indicate that the victim was a person of interest." The officer pauses for a moment, watching Vin carefully for his reaction. "So. Why don't you start from the beginning?"

Drael continues to not get any form of reply from Vin and as the mi ites tick 9very the little pilot starts to grow concerned. "This can't be good. We've no reason to suspect he got made, but what the heck has happened to him? I k ow him well enough that I'm sure he wouldn't get too close, but maybe we misjudged the power that Cerean has, or maybe Vin did something, that big doublebrain did seem to freak him out a bit, got right under his skin if I'm any judge." He looks at the others travelling along with him. "Well, are we going back? Are some of us going to check it out? It's not like we are going to leave him. But maybe one of us should go back to the ship, in case he broke his comm and is heading back now." Having stopped whilst he got into his little speech Drael stands with his hands on his hips waiting for some sort of response.

Sovia sits in calm meditation, looking forward into the future to see who will be approaching the ship over the next few hours. "The future is tough to see, but with some careful training and thought, the secrets can come to you." Her brow furrows a little in concentration before she finds the peace in her mind and a sigh of relief as the force becomes a more tangible thing for her momentarily.  " Peace and passion. Serenity and Strength. Power and Harmony. Balance and the Force."

Vin had been thinking on the best of approach as they walked toward to the security offices.  Rapid dominance, seemed fitting but he would have to back it up.  Not everyone had his same predilection for Jedi or terrorists.  He thought hard on what had happened at the cafe.  And what Drael and Ceph had disclosed from their information.  It would all be important play.  He might even risk 'borrowing' Ceph's identity for a minute or two... 'but that would be... problematic.' Vin wasn't intimidated about his situation, as he said, he had to convince them what he had done was the spirit of the law - despite not being the letter.  He had enough evidence to give them reasonable doubt anyway.  'Work with what you got.'   He thought as he was sat in front officer. 'Chicri Qui-Xot? So that was its name.'  The war veteran decided to treat this like a debriefing instead of a trial. "I suppose that's best."   Vin was level-headed and treating this as secretive. "Five standard days ago a ship called the Covenant landed on Bakura."   Vin really wished he knew the dock number, but Nils had left that part out.   "Of its passengers Qui-Xot was one of them.  Less than a day later, the ship departed for Endor.  The occupants of the ship caused direct sabotage to Endor station causing several explosions before the J-Droid attack." He considered adding something about signalling a J-Droid attack, but surely, the officer knew that much and could add that to his worries instead.  "Six hours ago, the Cerean  Qui-Xot and his accomplice were present at Halecene's , a local cafe in the upper district.  There I monitored 'em; feintin' as a tourist.  They claimed responsibility as Grey Dawn operatives for the attack, and were planning to move off planet after the next attack."    He had meant to say for, but didn't correct himself.  "There are plenty of cams at the starport and the cafe to corroborate.  I just don't have access to them."   Vin looks around trying to read the room.  "Oy, did you find Qui-Xot's bloody lightsaber?  It's one of the reasons I couldn't go through the normal channels on this."  It wasn't a lie, he expected the Jedi to have a lightsaber, and the word carried enough punch anyway.  He decided to hit them with all of the fear-mongering he could muster.  "I still ain't got an ID on the second terrorist from the Cafe."   Vin made it sound like he was asking implied question with that.  He wasn't guilty after all, didn't feel it either.  It gave him confidence to be working like this again. His Imperial accent leaked through.  They knew he was ex-Imp, and he wasn't gonna cover it. Vin let them soak the information in.

The officer says nothing, but Vin can tell that from the look on his face that, yes, Qui-Xot was indeed carrying a lightsaber. "Quite a story," he remarks. It seems that he's trying to sound blasé, but it comes across rather more subdued. "I'm afraid I'll have to verify your claims. I'm sure you won't mind waiting?" The officer rises to leave, but pauses, as though expecting Vin to contradict him.

"By all means," Vin said.  Vin sat back thinking. He had been flagged as a possible conspirator back in his service.  Imperial Intelligence had an agent and inquisitor torture and grilled him for days, they had nearly broken him, but he had no secrets to give them.  When the truth of his mistake had been realized, the inquisitor killed the agent and let him free.  'This in comparison was a fuckin' dinner party.'   The one good thing out of that whole ordeal is it had strengthened his resolve.  He learned to harden his body for the next time, but it never came serving the empire.

Nils nods slowly, hoping he isn't the only one unable to understand Sovia's cryptic advice. "Mm. Yes. So, Sovia is going to meditate for a bit then? And I'd better stay here too, the Cerean knows my face so if there is trouble I might give away the rest of you. But if you want to go looking we can let you know if he shows up here?"

Once again, Vin is left waiting for a substantial period of time. When the interrogator finally returns he eyes his captive with distaste. "The RBS bounty on members of the Grey Dawn is legitimate, and spaceport records confirm that Chicri Qui-Xot was a passenger aboard the Covenant. Surveillance footage from Halecene's also supports your assertion that he and Vash Duey were in league with this organisation." The officer reaches forwards and uncuffs Vin from the table. "You're free to go. However, you will have to pay an administrative fee of 500 credits if you wish to secure the release of the body."

Sovia opens her eyes. "You have nothing to fear. Rarely is the future so clear to me. Vin will return unharmed shortly. You should remain, I suggest we prepare for takeoff."

"Of course, I'll definitely be able to oblige."   Vin offers up the cred chip to pay the admin fee.  "I'm not sure how Bakura handles bounty affects;  every place handles it a bit differently, but I'll also need the lightsaber at the very least.  I assume that will be no issue."    'That would easily cover that admin fee tenfold.' he thought to himself. 

"You will be provided with a box containing his possessions," the officer adds wearily. He seems uncomfortable with the entire situation, but resigned. "If, in the future, you ever again find yourself pursuing a bounty in Salis D'aar, please register with the authorities beforehand. You'll find that it can help avoid unpleasant encounters like this." Not long later, Vin is released and provided with a long durasteel container floating on small repulsors, along with a small plasteel box of the Cerean's possessions.

"So you can see the future, but you cant make people do whatever you want by wiggling your fingers, seems suspiciously like you dont want me to know you can change what people are thinking, but then you could just stop me thinking this in that case so..." Drael tries and fails to get to grips with the concepts of the force and shrugs, moving into the ship to do as Sovia suggests. He has been trying to contact Vin for most of the trip back and although he doesn't make a fuss it is clearly concerning him.

Vin nods to the officer, fighting a smile and trying to show some decorum.  "Sure thing."   Vin considered asking about the other terrorist - Vash, but quickly decides to quit while he's ahead.  'Was this the gambling thing that Drael always talked about?' Vin shook the arrogance out of his head, he had taken a few risks, but he had known he was in the right - even if it hadn't been through normal channels.  The soldier quickly gleams over the contents of the affects, noticing his blaster and the lightsaber.  He quickly replaces the blaster back in its naked holster after checking its charge.  Vin pockets the lightsaber to secure inner pocket in his coat.  Part of him wanted to brag about it; part of him wanted to see what color it was; part of him wanted it for a trophy, but most of all Vin wanted it for a back up plan. Vin begins to proceeds cautiously back to the Khyber Kraken, periodically checking behind himself for attention or a tail.  He briefly considers going back for the commlink in the food court, but realizes in the few hours that has passed it is likely to already have be recycled into a compactor.  'Wanted a secure one anyway.' he thinks to himself.

Confident that he was clear of any tail, Vin takes a moment in one of the quieter areas near the hanger bays to check through common locations that tracers could be easily placed.  Perhaps he was a bit paranoid, but this had been too easy.  He could have pushed it through a cargo scanner, but he didn't want to explain his life story to a perfect stranger.  'Shit' Vin realized his only mistake in this ordeal.  They had ran his ID.  There was plenty of ways that the ping could be picked up by certain former employers.  And that would lead them... "Bloody hell."  Vin started pushed the repulsorsled with urgency back towards the docking bays.  Obviously the two or three hours would not be long enough for Obrim to get assets to this hole-in-the-wall, but it could be long enough to get a local flag out.  He wouldn't go through legitimate channels, but that didn't mean a crooked security guard couldn't get involved.  For a moment, Vin considered finding someplace to scan the affects, but that would take time to find and he didn't have any contacts for that line of work here.  It might be better to get the rest of the crew involved, but he didn't have a commlink anymore.  He shouldn't risk bringing it on board.  But at this point, if Obrim was on their trail again, they had to start moving.  'We can jettison it if we have to.'   Vin thought.  He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.  The day had been long, and Vin was glad to see the familiar sight of the Kraken.

Leb is waiting outside the ship, distracted with the small socorran tailring that accompanied her while the others prepare the ship for take-off as soon as Vin comes back. 

As they wait for Vin, Nils pulls out his datapad again, and starts running a more thorough scan through the patch code he got from the cleaning droid. He still wasn't sure why the J would spend time and effort encouraging revolutionary droids - if it was to weaken the J's opponents from within, a cleaning droid seemed like a pretty poor place to start (and for that matter, how had it got on the cleaning droid in the first place?). The droid had seemed pretty intent on spreading the virus to mining droids, which would definitely cause some disruption, but it seemed fairly incapable of doing so on its own, making it a poor transmission vector. Maybe it was exactly what it appeared to be on the surface, but he'd like to know for sure. Besides, he had nothing better to do whilst they waited for Vin to show up from wherever he was. As he mulls over the mystery, an idea occurs to him. "Back in a sec," he calls as he passes Leb at the entrance to the Kraken. Leaving their docking bay, he looks up and down the concourse until he finds another cleaning droid. Reasoning the same ruse he'd used before ought to work on this one, he calls out to it, "Hey, droid, there's a mess back there that needs cleaning up urgently - can you follow me?"

The little cleaning droid beeps merrily and rolls off after Nils.

As the cleaning droid follows him into the Kraken 's hanger bay, Nils pulls out his multitool and sets the electrical probe to its highest output voltage. "Just over there, by the docking clamp," he tells the droid, gesturing towards the ship. The droid obligingly rolls past him, and, feeling very guilty at his exploitation of the simple machine's gullibility, stabs it in the data port. As expected, the droid's logic circuits are instantly overloaded and it grinds to a halt as it powers down. "Sorry," Nils whispers to the insensate machine as he picks it up and walks back towards the boarding ramp with it. "But I could use a droid and I don't have any credits." Looking around, he puts it down near the entrance to the ship - close enough he could grab it and bring it onboard when they left, but not actually onboard so they could feign ignorance in the (unlikely, he felt) case someone came looking for it.

Ceph seems rather calm as they make their way back to the ship, likely just ready to get on with their next moves. “Whatcha got there? New friend?” He asks Nils, but the reappearance of Vin seems to catch more of his attention. “Hey! You bout ready to get outta here?”

"Something like that!" , he replies to Ceph with a smile. He's about to elaborate when Vin appears, looking tired. "Ah, Vin! No sign of the Cerean I'm afraid, I guess he didn't take the bait. Shame. I'm sure he'll turn up again though."

"Oy.  Now, it's funny you should say that, Nils."   Vin's imperial accent is thick as he pushes the hoversled toward the ramp.  "Why don't you move your li'tle pet there so we can get aboard," he looks at the cleaning droid, "and I will show you my little surprise."  With a smile, Vin adds, "You're gonna love this one, Ceph."

Ceph perks up at this, and he moves to come closer to the hoversled. “Oh yeah? What, did you manage to get some more intel on our guy?” He asks with excited curiosity.

"His personal effects." Vin passes over the smaller box that was sitting on top of the sled.  As he pushes the sled to the top of the ramp, he adds, "and a body for autopsy, should you be inclined."

Leaning into the room, Drael stays quiet for a moment before sighing and turning back into the cockpit. "Back then are we?  Don't worry nobody was trying to get you on the comm the whole damn time, nobody was concerned, not like you could have died" the little pilot pops back into sight " For the hell of it, why dont you tell me what possessed you to do that!" He is shouting now and pointing at the sled. " Why not tell me? I though we were a team Vin. And you go rogue and risk getting 'sabered up on your own without even telling us what you were planning. You could have died, you could have been arrested! " He stops, clearly thinking "How the hell did you get away with him in that thing? No, you know what, I dont care right now, I'm too mad at you." He storms off back into the cockpit the door closing somehow sounding pissed off as well.