| abstract | - "FARKING JEDI," Brinaj curses as he walks into Club Utinni. He's been waiting in the spaceport for a long time now. Sure, that wait had been productive - Dareus and all - but even his meeting with Dareus would result in nothing if he couldn't hop along with Johanna and Luke on their little adventure to bring in Tyy'sun. He needed Tyy'sun's head badly - either selling it to the Hutts or to Dareus would result in some big cash and lots of reputation gain. But the Jedi hadn't shown... apparently they were as vile as they are said to be. Walking into the club with his fists rolled into a ball, Brinaj makes his way over to the bar counter to order up an Abrax, his favorite alcoholic beverage, and to smoke one of his Dilnexian cigars. He needs to calm down a bit. One of the busier clubs on Tatooine; it's easy to see that many people, from spacers, slave traders and regular undesirables constantly furnish the place; even when they pass out drunk on tables. Dareus is off by the bar for a moment, cashing in some chips from the gaming machines before the cloaked figure moves over to a table that has a decent view of the doorway, and anyone around him, kicking some pirate off the chair to claim it for himself. When a waitress arrives, he orders a bottle of Corellian whiskey, before tapping on the table idly before he notices someone of new acquaintance. The Sith smiles while he looks towards him, "Sounds like just what I predicted for you, isn't it?" Dareus lets out a small laugh before his leg slides a chair out at the table, "Come have a drink, it's the great equalizer, from moron like him" He looks down to the fool on the floor who he uprooted, still sleeping "To the highest of intellectuals." Not surprisingly, the sentiment is lost on those who are near the table, but he still shrugs about it slightly before slipping the waitress a genuinely large tip as the bottle arrives. "Now that's just rude," a voice replies from behind the agitated fellow, "Is it my fault you didn't specify which docking bay? You do know there are quite a few, right?" Ah, Johanna. She has such an unsettling habit of appearing at the most inopportune moments. Though her tone is polite enough as she lights up a smoke of her own, there's something calculating in those dark eyes of hers, especially with the arrival of Dareus. "Anyway. Relax. We'll have Eson cooking on the grill before long. Not only is he vile and made it a point to serve the dark side -- " A meaningful glance is spared Dareus, " -- he has something of mine that I want back, and have wanted back for some time." Actually, that holocron belongs to Luke, but there's not much point in telling Brinaj the specifics. He only needs to know that Eson is on her beings-to-kill list. "What would you propose by way of pursuit?" As Brinaj sets himself up at the bar and orders his Abrax, he casts a glance over to his side at the man speaking to him. "Oh.... it's the Imperial Ex..." Before Brinaj can finish his sentence and expose his connection with Dareus, the man who paid him six thousand credits earlier to keep his mouth shut around Johanna and for information, Brinaj turns around on his feet at the familiar female voice that comes up behind him. It's the psychotic one. And the one Dareus warned him about. "Jedi swine... all the same..." he says, muttering under his breath. "Well, as long as we're in it together." He can't help but notice Johanna's glance at Dareus; the two knew each other after all. Perhaps Dareus is her mysterious guardian that he alluded to earlier in the space port. Well, he can't say he knows Dareus. Dareus paid him to keep his mouth shut about his involvement, afterall. Now unless Johanna pays him as well to open his mouth up, that's the way it's going to stay. As the Abrax lands on the table behind him, he reaches around, grabs the glass, and takes a sip before responding to Johanna. "Um. Well, I haven't thought it through entirely yet. I've found out he's in charge of the Resource Division in the CSA. And a little birdie told me he's in charge of Maffi... so, why not ruin his legitimate reputation first? It'll be easier to smoke him out and hunt him down that way. I doubt the Authority will be too kind to him if they find out about his criminal ties, no?" He waves the waitress back, "A few more glasses please." Giving her a quick wink, Dareus turns his attention back to the new arrivals, nodding to Johanna and obviously noting her look. Something about her arrival was unsettling, and he even felt it on the planet; too many things are new to him, it would seem. Dareus stands up and pulls a chair out for Johanna, not only was she his masters' sister, but still, there was no need to be impolite; so he pours the glasses full while he slides them across to the guests at first before he takes his seat again. "Eson cooking on a grill...now you definitely have my attention yet again Johanna..." Setting the bottle of whiskey down on the table, he leans back, clasping his hands together and setting them on the table but he also lays his own cards out plainly, "You can't quite blame him for the Dark Side...it's bred within the fibres of beings. It's called natural instinct." He waves his hand slightly, "But who am I to bring politics into it; it seems yet again, we have a common enemy that just needs to be removed." The Sith takes a quick sip of whiskey before setting the glass back down, his blue eyes moving over each of them. "I heard that," Johanna notes as an aside to Brinaj when he makes his little comment about Jedi all being the same, "And may I suggest not being quite so snippy in the future? I'm a patient woman, I have a good deal of interest in seeing Eson eradicated. But do not make the error of mistaking my patience for weakness. If you cross me, or try to cheat me out of my prize, I have no compunction about making an example of you." She shrugs when Dareus mentions the dark side being within a being's fibers. "A matter of opinion, Mister Dareus," she replies before turning back to Brinaj, "And what if the Authority decides to turn a blind eye to it? I have no desire to become entangled in a diplomatic back-and-forth. Diplomacy is neither my strength nor my interest, but I do have the resources to wipe out his little criminal organization if it tickles your fancy." Brinaj shrugs innocently. "Hey, you're the boss. We split our winnings, eh? I don't want to cause any problems..." Especially not with a Jedi. He doesn't intend on betraying her; he just wants to maximize profit. He takes another sip of his Abrax before pulling out one of his coveted cigars, lights it up, and begins to smoke away, blowing some of the smoke in the Jedi's general direction. With the cigar still tucked between his lips, Brinaj continues. "Hey now. You're a Jedi. I'm a simple man. I'm just trying to play all my options here... it's just that barging into whatever hideout Tyy'sun happens to have crawled into isn't my style. That's maybe how you Jedi folk do it... but I don't have the luxuary of omniscience or that fancy lightsabers of yours." Maffi is irrelevant to him. Then again, so is Draga. If it happens to turn out that Maffi can offer him more than Draga can, he'd have nothing to hold him back from joining up. But, for now, Tyy'sun is the hottest commodity on the market, and Draga isn't the only one who wants him. "All I know is that he's your kind, and that he left Tatooine a few days ago. I saw him taking off in his shuttle... it is possible to track that shuttle if we check in with whatever semblance of port control there is on Tatooine, and maybe determine where he is hiding. Unless your Jedi powers can do that for you already." Taking a glance back to Brinaj he shrugs, "Esons legitimate connections are unimportant. Undoubtedly the CSA knows about it; they are just as corrupt as the people who work for them. It's a waste of time....valuble time, nonetheless." Dareus had his own experiences with Maffi from the inside, and also from seeing ranking Maffi members within the CSA. You needn't worry about before...Johanna and I are...old acquaintances to a certain extent." A very small extent, but still; he can tell he's quickly in above his head. He turns his attention back to Johanna quickly, still remaining rather cordial, "Of course, they're not of the greatest urgency; but still, it's a thorn in the side of everyone. There would be a few, however, that I ask be left alone- and meant to meet my own compulsions. I have some problems with them bringing certain conclusions to light somewhat ahead of schedule." Turning back to Brinaj, Dareus starts to laugh, enough to take a quick sip of whiskey and set it not so gently back on the table, "He's nothing like us...if he had any potential...he wouldn't be stuck hiding right now, and he would be on board my ship." Dareus' eyes skirt back to Johanna for a moment before he continues, "The best bet is the outlying parts of the system around Ord Mantell. He wouldn't set foot near Nar Shaddaa...although if he does hold anything with the Corporate Sector, he could be in any area controlled by them as well." Ord Mantell... perhaps a little too close to the Republic for comfort. All the more reason to wipe Eson out. "Nobody said anything about barging in," the pilot laughs, slapping Brinaj once on the shoulder for good measure, "As much as I enjoy going in with blasters blazing, it's not quite what I had in mind. I said I had resources... I wasn't implying we commence by storming a hideout and starting a firefight." Oh it WOULD be fun though! She tries not to sigh. It's been far too long since Johanna has been able to run around waving about her blasters! Again, to Brinaj, "Credits don't interest me. You can keep whatever Draga has in mind to pay, though my instinct tells me that the Twi'lek I got out of there last night will have to suffice by way of compensation. Be advised that you may not be paid for your time and troubles." Brinaj peers over at Dareus, wondering why he's risking exposing them. Especially after he paid a good 3,000 credits to keep his mouth shut around Johanna. "I don't care who he's like, really. The point is that I shoot at him with a sniper rifle and he manages to flip over it. That puts him in the same boat as you two as far as I'm concerned." So it's been pretty much confirmed that Dareus is a Jedi. Or their evil-doing counterparts. The whole philosophical nonsense is beyond him. "Well, then, your highness. What's your plan? How do we extract Tyy'sun in a bloodless manner?" Although he is concerned about a possible lack of payment, it doesn't worry him too much. Afterall, his suspicions about Azya had been reinforced - nay, confirmed - by Dareus. The slave is far more than she seemed. The secret holo transmission, the arrival of the Jedi, Azya's firm stance on keeping her mouth shut when he tried to interrogate her, and Dareus's own words all added up to finger Azya as a spy. But he doesn't say as much to Johanna. "Any plan is good enough for me, as long as we have something to go by." Dareus runs a hand across his chin, watching the pair rather intently for several long seconds that feel dragged out past what normally should occur, but he still keeps a fairly jovial tone. "Well if there's no firefight, do you just plan on buying him out, asking him to retire to Ryloth with our best wishes?" The words come out as half mocking but it doesn't last, "Don't get me wrong, this whole idea is something that I would absolutely enjoy. But even that is at a cost." He doesn't mention just what that might be yet; though anyone who knows him, would expect at least something rather amusing to leave his lips for this. The tension was almost thick enough to see, let alone feel, but Dareus never changes his tone, "He might flip over that, but he's nothing, in the grand scheme. The force can overcome many obstacles, but nothing when you don't give in to it." One of Maligns' first sentences comes back to mind and goes through his head before he smirks at Johanna, "I'm sure you're already waiting to take that prize. No. You're not like that. You actually have morals." If it's an insult, it doesn't sound like it, but comes out almost as admiration, before he turns back to the acquaintance, "His weakness is like many. Money. You dangle something valuble in front of him, and he jumps; hell..." Dareus' hand waves for a moment before he takes another sip of whiskey, "Even his people value their own survival above loyalty...” She does her best not to glare at them both. What is it with men? "You'll notice I didn't say anything about the extraction being bloodless, either. Eson isn't going to retire anywhere. I have every intention of bringing him back to Draga. I'm a woman of my word. I'm also fond of enforcing justice from the cockpit of my fighter. What I have in mind is much more than simply bringing that nasty little creature's remains to a Hutt. I intend to slag his hideouts into oblivion -- save one, where we'll have our way with him. It's no small thing to thumb one's nose at the law for so long, much less try and pull a fast one on the Jedi. By the time we're done, his precious Maffi will be reduced to smoldering rubble." Her hand slaps palm-down onto the table and she leans back a little. "Of course, my idea may be too ambitious for the both of you. If you'd prefer just to hunt Eson himself, I /suppose/ we could go that route... though I know my brother longs to obliterate that organization, and the Damions are ones to hold grudges." Johanna Damion? Her file said Johanna Siri te Danaan. Who is her brother? Brinaj ponders these questions before storing them in his memory and making a note to check up on it at a later date. For now, he has to focus on Tyy'sun. "A starfighter, huh?" he says, taking a long drag from his Abrax. "I can't really fly that well. I know a little. I'm much better suited for ground combat, dear," he says, stating it as a matter of fact. "You're still going to need a grunt on the ground to help you. One X-wing won't stop him. This will have to be a team effort." How he got himself wrapped up in all this is beyond him. Just a week ago he was on Ord Mantell, low on money. Perhaps it was Sandor Woden's fate to accelerate Brinaj into the larger galactic scene... sure, it meant Sandor's demise, but a life for a life, and all that. He sighs for a brief moment but shrugs it off, "I'm equally comfortable with both of those options. Though crushing the entire little group, would be the better option." Dareus' eyes move back to Joh, "For all people involved." He rubs his temple for a moment but quickly clasps his hands on the table, "Of course, I can give you my full support, with or without your brothers' authorization." It's almost a terrifying thought; being caught between the two, but many purposes can be served, "But I have one cost....no..." He holds a finger up as if to change it, "One simple request. Nothing more." Turning back to Brinaj he nods to the man slightly, knowing his breed all too well, "If Draga won't compensate you, I can arrange it. We all have some mutual interests in this endeavor; no matter what side of the fence you play." The Sith is sincere in those words, to say the least. "Besides, who said a single X-Wing would be involved. I have 2 squadrons of Interceptors at my beckon call...and more firepower as well." She hoots derisively at the mention of a single X-Wing. "Oh, come now! Surely you don't think my resources are limited to a single fighter! It would be a sorry proposition indeed if all I had at my disposal was THAT. No, /dear/, not counting the Interceptors that Mister Dareus here can bring into the fray, I have a sizeable fleet of my own... well-supplied and well-maintained. I wasn't always a Jedi, nor are the Jedi expected to keep to their home base and remain passive." Johanna flicks the remainder of her smoke to the ground and gazes levelly at Brinaj and Dareus. "It /will/ be a team effort, and we /will/ prevail. I will not suffer petty crimelords to live if they desire to bring so much chaos to the galaxy. I have nothing against profiteering -- but crossing my friends or me is another matter entirely, and should one choose to serve the dark side, he or she will taste my retribution." A few beats pass, then, "If the matter is othewise settled, I would recommend we meet again in a week's time to refine any details that must be taken care of." Brinaj nods his head, himself flicking his own cigar to the floor just moments after Johanna. "Whatever you say. Should have told me that from the beginning. I'm going out on a limb here, you know," he says, shaking his head. "Very well, Jedi, whenever you're ready, I'm ready. Not like I have anything else to do... just don't leave me here to rot on this sand hole." Dareus raises an eyebrow, though he can't hold back the smile that crosses his face, "If Skywalker couldn't dissuade me from my path, sure as hell you can't Johanna." It's a simple fact that the Sith states, but he still nods in agreement, "I'll be around, you know very well how to find me. However many purposes are served by this endeavor, and I will see my part through to the bitter end, no matter what that will be." He sends the remainder of the bottle back towards the bar before he readies himself to leave, "I'll have everything standing by for when we need to take care of this." Dareus stands up quickly and bows his head slightly, "In the meantime, you both know where you can find me." He gives a quick wink to the waitress before stepping out of the saloon into the desert evening; a hot blast of air flying in as the doors open and close within mere moments.
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