Fitz fires off a powerful blast from his dragoon, striking the already wounded acolyte and sending him toppling into the other one- leaving the two zealots teetering precariously close to the edge...

Hoping that Taquib can do away with the badly wounded acolyte, Navi decides to soften up the other one instead. Not being a highly trained marks(wo)man, her aim is only adequate, but she manages to wound the acolyte nonetheless.

Heart beating rapidly, she then tries to aim properly for her next shot.

Force! She thinks to herself, I really should get proper training with blasters instead of just relying on any innate ability!

Fitz’s blast throws the wounded gran into the other, causing them to tip and lose balance Tapping into the force, both acolytes are able to have enough coordination to stay on.

—————————————-

With a sly grin, the little fella Taquib the champ sneaks up to the side of the wounded gran acolyte and stabs...

”Heeeheeehee” Taquib grins (I like writing this scoundrel)

the gran acolyte goes wide eyed before crashing onto the windshield of the speeder, smattering glass. Taquib promptly dives back into the speeder seats.

———————-

pylon 2.....

the disarmed acolyte peddles back and runs for the hanger door. Smashing a button a small doorway sized door opens up, as they plan to go in.

Meanwhile the other acolyte continues to spin his body and sword attempting to stroke at the Steel band Adept, but has no line penetrating Kurokage’s Defenses

Wes ignites his lightsaber and comes to reinforce Kurokage in his duel with the acolyte, slashing through his parade easily to hit him badly.

The Gran-Acolyte jumps from the hood into the passenger seat of the Speeder. They take a swing for K’rowk, looking to score a strike on the Chiss.

However, the Chiss is able to avoid the blow thanks for cover and his above average agility.

The sound of a WWISH breaks the air as a flexible Ancient Sword swings.

Everything moved in slow motion when Wes Proga ignited his lightsaber. The camera pans a 360 around him.

The acolyte paused for a moment and then charged at the Muun, “Yaaarrr!!” The dark disciple of Maul yelled mid charge.

Standing steady, Wes stands firms and in a single stroke cuts the acolyte down causing the back robed figure to lose all senses. The saber bit into them, with a stinging burn. Sapith......a strong energy force they had felt before during training, only one other carried a sapith gem in this day and age.

“Lord Maul...” the acolyte whispered while clutching the wound.

Not liking the blade being swung at him Kr'owk draws his blaster and lines up a shot against his assailant. The blaster takes the acolyte in the chest and while not enough to finish him is enough to stagger him slightly. "Keep the change ya filthy animal!"

The blow from Kurokage's ancient sword sent the Acolyte flying to the side. Upon thudding to the ground, the hood of the acolyte is pulled back to reveal a female Twi'lek with green skin covered with black facial tattoos. She looks up at Kurokage with blood trickling down her mouth before closing her eyes and slumping to the ground unconscious.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Gran acolyte had been looking at K'rowk when the Chiss had shot his blaster for the first time during the combat. The Gran took the bolt square in the chest which dropped him to his knees. The Gran acolyte got up slowly still clutching his ancient sword in hand. However, all three of his eyes were slowly grazing over.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The sole untouched Acolyte looked back behind him. The acolyte was of the bothan species and proficient in cunning. The bothan saw the speeder approaching. He planned to duck into the "Pylon 2 hanger" to reveal a small surprise.

Navi drops the blaster at Taquib's feet with a quick "Thanks for the loaner!" and then lunges desperately at the cannon's controls.

She shoots the last acolyte in the back (despite a fleeting thought about the ideology which she had followed in her childhood).

Lastly, she aims a glare at Wes: "Put that glow stick away before anyone else notices it! You're old enough to know better!"

While thinking: A Jedi?!? I didn't expect to find another one, let alone here of all places!

Fitz fires at the acolyte again, sending several searing bolts of plasma into his body and setting his robes ablaze. He gives the fiery zealot a swift kick for good measure, sending him flying off the hood off the speeder. He looks around. "Anyone else want to die for the glory of Maul?"

Navi startles out of "survival mode" when she hears Fitz. Her thoughts are set awhirl when she hears the name Maul. That's true, they shouted "Lord Maul" before they attacked. A name which I haven't heard in over five years, not since reading dispatches from the various fronts during the Clone Wars. It would certainly explain these messed-up Darksiders.

(Nar Shaada 15BBY, Refugee Sector)

Lurking on the rooftops Maul observed, studied, and internalized the events that had just unfolded. A group of bounty hunters had dismantled six acolytes who had been personally trained by Maul. Those acolytes had been given Form IV. Those acolytes had each been taught a force power.

Form IV….Ataru…Maul had perfected this fighting technique from It’s former master….the same master who had left It dead nearly 5 years ago. The images of Darth Sidious besting It on the planet Mandalore brought about feelings of shame…..and RAGE.

“These are no mere bounty hunters,” Maul growled to Itself. “They display a modest form of collaboration. We must ISOLATE them. We must SURPRISE them. They must not find the Ithorian before WE do.”

After sending the acolytes to find Tobar Ka-Teen, Maul realized that the mission was to important for the underlings to partake unsupervised. Thus, Maul had traveled to Nar Shaddaa almost immediately after the acolytes did. Leaving Dathomir was a risk. Sidious was watching…the Master was always watching. However, the reward was to great. An opportunity to obtain a Sith Holocron and unlock the power that came from within. Most importantly, the Sith holocron was the key to locating and killing Kenobi…..then….peace from this constant madness could come at last...

“Interesting…one possess a lightsaber.” Maul whispered with delight upon seeing Wes Proga wield the weapon. Even from here Maul could feel the energy of the Sapith crystal. A crystal that could cleave a speeder right in half. A crystal Maul was very familiar with. “An apprentice? Ooooooo. A new apprentice from this group of bounty hunters? Heeeee! How delightful! There might be more than one….”

Maul still had three other acolytes. Now, they were mere Ghhhk pieces to be toyed with on the dejarik board. The bounty hunters had shown to much strength. The acolytes would be sacrificed to ensure ultimate victory. The acolytes had become disposable.

The bare-chested Maul wrapped It’s frail tattooed body with tattered Nightbrother heavy clothing. Thumbing It’s onyx handled light saber, Maul tapped into the force and leaped to an adjacent rooftop….repeating this movement until It reached a secondary haven. The entire time Maul kept smiling at the thought of slain bounty hunters…

Walking into the Pylon 2 hangar - after Fitz so deftly opened the door(s) - Navi looks around and says "I have a bad feeling about this place, but I can't tell if it's because of something that is here, or something that was here. Or happened."

As much as she'd like to check out the swoop bikes in the hangar, she instead paces uneasily around inside the hangar, trying to figure out the source of her unease. Finally, not able to pin-point the cause, she gives up and instead lends a hand to K'rowk (who's already busy examining the swoop bikes).

After defeating his opponent, Kurokage ties her up, then drags her into the building, and into a secure location where he can safely interrogate her.

"I suggest we get her onto the ship," he says to his nearest companion. "That way, she's less likely to be eliminated before we can question her."

Fitz Deckard is able to access the computer terminal and discovers holo-graphic logs from one of the acolytes. Accessing them, brings up log dates and an image of a Gran wearing a black robe. The Grans eyes are slightly red during the first message, but by the third message they are almost blood shot red.

Here are the logs.

( 4 days ago)

“Making contact on Nar Shaddaa has been easy enough. Finding the Ithorian has been another story. We face a lot of pressure from Maul. Only one of us can be his apprentice. We are all jockeying for this position. I trust no one.

We’ve split off into groups of three. My group will be stationed here to setup a base of operations. There was a Chandra-Fan who was spying on us when we made contact with a local informant at the Orange Lady. We followed him back to here easy enough. Hopefully within a few days we’ll have that little rodent by the ears.”

(3 day ago)

“The other acolytes have been tracking down informants over the past few days. They managed to find a Toydarian who was useful. Was is the key. Hehehe. The Toydarian had the location of Vasar Sother’s mechanic shop. Somewhere in the Old Duros Sector.”

(2 days ago)

“The Ithorian’s shop is heavily guarded by Gank Hunters, and their nexu pets. Apparently the old Ithorian has brokered an alliance with them. It will be impossible for us to get in. We have to find a way to get the Ithorian out, or for one of us to get in somehow……one of the T’wileks has an idea.”

After listening to the message the female T'wilek acolyte that Kurokage managed to subdue slowly begins to stir awake... " Uhhhhhh." She groans softly.

"Ooo, vehicles," Kr'owk is immediately distracted by the potential of new play things. "I'll check out the speeders, guys!" Kr'owk heads over to the speeder bikes running his hand along their carapace and pulls a tool from his belt with the other hand. The pilot starts to tinker with what he has found and is oblivious to the activities of his comrades.

He checks the storage compartments for anything interesting and finds the registration datapads for the speeders. "I wonder..." The chiss quickly flicks through the information and realises that there is now name as to the owner. "There is now," he grins putting in his own name. Doing so he notices a strange vial with a few drops of green liquid. Pocketing the datapads he inspects the vial in more detail. "This is nothing to do with vehicles..."

He uncorks the vial and gives is a deep sniff...

Detective Sergeant Fitz Deckard gains access to the hangar with a few deft movements of his picks... Nope. They took your badge. Just Fitz.

Badge or no, he has a criminal den to investigate, and if his nose is right, a crime scene as well... sure enough, three decomposing bodies in storage. His throat clenches. Didn't miss this part of the job.

After determining the approximate timing and methods of their demise, Fitz opens up the holo-log the Gran had been keeping. As the log concludes, he turns to the stirring captive. "I hope, for your sake, that you're the Twi'lek with an idea?"

1 minute ago, Edgehawk said:

Detective Sergeant Fitz Deckard gains access to the hangar with a few deft movements of his picks... Nope. They took your badge. Just Fitz.

Badge or no, he has a criminal den to investigate, and if his nose is right, a crime scene as well... sure enough, three decomposing bodies in storage. His throat clenches. Didn't miss this part of the job.

After determining the approximate timing and methods of their demise, Fitz opens up the holo-log the Gran had been keeping. As the log concludes, he turns to the stirring captive. "I hope, for your sake, that you're the Twi'lek with an idea?"

"I'll let you handle the interrogation," Kurokage says, greeting the detective. "I'll stand guard and keep watch, if you need anything."

Fitz punches in a connection on his comlink he has not tried in a long time. "Hey Hihkhic, Fitz Deckard here. Word is you're looking to get back into the mix, private sector. I could use another set of eyes on this scene I've stumbled into over here at the Pylon 2 hangar. Sending coordinates now."

"Look, I know what it's like to lose a badge. This? Well, it's not the force, but it's something, right? Anyway, could use your help. Hope to see you soon." Guy was a natural, when he had his head screwed on straight...

The T'wilek acolyte looks up at Fitz Deckard. Her head still concussed from the blows she took from Wes Proga and Kurokage. She wanted to respond with a snide comment but dizziness and a migraine was all she could focus on.

Taquib the Champ sulked in the corner with his vibroknife and heavy blaster. "Bleeping Deckard...Bleeping K'rowk. Bleeing Toots...bleeping ninja guy. Bleeping Wes Proga...Wes is alright. Blow up my apartment. Grumble...Grumble."

Kr'owk sniffs the strange liquid trying to piece together where he could know it from. But nothing... He pockets it and quickly forgets about it when he hears his name.

"Taquib! How is it going friend?"

Taquib the Champ looks up to see Kr'owk approach. An image of a giant hole in the wall of his 'apartment' unit at the courtesy of the Chiss brought a feeling of frustration upon the little Chandra-Fan. Was Kr'owk grinning apart of that image? Kr'owk always had a 'bleep' eating grin on his face, so probably yes. There was a point in time where Taquib had known Fitzy prior to the Bounty Hunting gig. However, since becoming a bounty hunter, Fitz had been 'running' with Kr'owk and Corr. Fitzy was a terrible Pazzak player. Kr'owk and Corr had some skill...or maybe it was some luck? Either way, credits usually switched hands over to Kr'owk while they were playing cards. Taquib also had to admit...Kr'owk was one **** of a driver. Maybe Taquib should stop betting AGAINST Kr'owk in the swoop races.

"Oh great. Kr'owk." Taquib never one to pretend to be cordial. "Cough...Cough...You Drekheads owe me an apartment! Cough...Cough."

"Nah, that's what insurance is for," says the Chiss dismissively. "You need anything from the place?"

"Squeeek...Squeeeek. If there is any death-sticks or spice laying around, I'll take a hit. Cough...cough...good for the cough. If the Tw'ilek isn't able to help you drekkers, I might be able to. I dropped some credits to a gank a few nights ago, cause I figured the syndicate still had heat with them after the last bounty hunter group the Ragnar sent to Nar Shaddaa blew up some speeders that belonged to the Ganks. Cough...Cough. I can't help with taking down the Ithorian, but I can get you an audience with the ganks if you guys want to talk your way through them. I'm not sure if you've ever went toe to toe with a group of ganks but their individually customed blaster rifles ain't something to play with...cough...cough....Still a roll of the dice though. I've seen Deckard talk his way through a lot of situations, but I've also seen him start gang wars just by being there...if ye' catch my drift. Heh. Cough...cough."

A while after Fitz sent his message out, Hihkhic begun to stir from the floor that he had slept on. With a low grunt his looks around from where he was sprawled. Well, looks like he made it back home at least, that was something. Well, it wasn't exactly home, was it. It was the scabby room of a cheap motel that he had been living in since Cella had left. After all, on his own he hadn't really been able to afford it any more. This place was cheap, and the staff didn't complain about the noise or the drinking. They probably couldn't, because then they would have to answer questions about the vermin he shared the room with.

Staggering to his feet he would begin to search for a shirt as he tries to remember the night before. He started at the local, but that was about all that came back to him. As he goes he catches a look at himself in the mirror. He'd really let himself go, even by his old standards. His gut hung over his trousers, the hair on the top of his head had begun to recede and the once impressive beard under his chin had grown ratted and greasy. Sighing he manages to get himself dressed in a shirt with minimal stains and then begins the next search for his commlink.

He was genuinely surprised to find a message for him there, and his heart raced as he hoped it may be Cella. It wasn't of course, it was Fitz. Still woozy from the night before, Hihkhic racks his brains to remember the name, and finally it comes to him. He had been someone in law enforcement, had they worked on a job in the past? Maybe, he would have to think of that later. Right now he was being offered a job, and his tabs for the bar were coming up.

With a heavy sigh, Hihkhic begins to gather together his kit, including his beloved pistol, and make the long walk towards the pylon hangers. The 'fresh' air would do him some good. Eventually he would reach the site, glancing around for a moment. Had there been a fight? Possibly, or mayb this is how this place always looked. It wasn't important to him. Stomping towards the pylon hanger he would go to slap a hand onto the console to open it up, and move inside. Glancing around again he would see Fitz, and more memories begin to trickle back. "Ah, so this is it. I was sure I got lost on the way here. What's with this lot then?" His voice sounded like gravel, as if he'd been smoking too much.