The four dark steel wardroids stalked around the corner, weapons inside their arms at ready. It would only take a quarter of a second to open fire on their target. His armor was a deep blue and bulky all over; the different weighted parts meant to give momentum to the warrior wearing it and accentuate his, or even her, strength. The helmet was one that spread down into a partial cowl over his shoulders and a black, downward and triangle viewport was what he saw out of. A massive chain-blaster rifle lay inert on his back. The thing held enough firepower to level a building if he unleashed it's fury.
In the backstreets of the desert moon known as Taboon, Kor, an ex-Mandalorian warrior, had received a coded message for a rendezvous here. He hadn't waited long as a small, all-black, hooded figure walked from around the long-end of the building, whose steps could hardly be heard, even with his helmet amplifying the sound.
"So I'm here…" he said sauntering past his throng of dangerous droids, "Who's my gracious host?"
Then she pulled her hood back and the blaster flew from Kor's leg; three shots towards the small gnat of a Sith. The small Sith's coat made of frills flared and a gauntleted hand sprang forth, knocking the first crimson shot away with the back of the spiked menace. The next ricocheted off of an errant blade closer to her elbow and she palmed the last, bits of now harmless photon splashing against her and illuminating her face just enough to confirm the Mandalore's hasty accusation. The shadows around the small figure writhed, spun and twisted into two masked figures on either side of her. The Twins.
"Nels… You're the reason my Guild was blown up!" His altered voice yelled from his tank of armor. The Lady Tenim was favored among the Sith, by many Sith in fact, so when she was captured it was the second in the Empire, The Dark Lord's wife, that came with a squadron of troops to free her from Kor's hold. All this while a cruiser hovered over the planet whose battalion of turbo lasers made the once proud Guild nothing but bits all over the Taboon. Though instead of a Guild it had turned into a crime lord's center for operation; many citizens on Taboon were happy to see it go.
"Technically it was your fault Kor…" her small, and sweet, sounding voice replied. Like that of a beautiful, but dangerous, harpy. "I was far too valuable as a student to be held by a mercenary like you." Her voice spat venom for a second before smoothing over, "It's too bad, for you, that I wasn't killed in that explosion." It'd been a considerable amount of time since his Guild was decimated and another started by an 'honest' Falleen; long enough for her to grow invincible to normal, blaster drawing, bounty hunters.
Kor's gloved fist curled into itself and the droids blaster arms came to bear; eight invisible targets on The Lady's chest. Too bad it still wouldn't be enough. Her two servants gripped the blades at their waist and waited with abated passion.
"I'm not here to fight you Mandalore…" her voice whispered, overly audible in the darkness that loomed overhead, "I have gifts for you." She quipped sweetly, "Do with them what you please but accept them." The droids lowered their weapons but Kor, wholly untrustworthy of nearly anyone, left his small blaster to bear. The black, hide, bag was tossed by the living shadow that stood next to her, sliding at Kor's feet. Bending down, the hand of his powered armor gripped the back and peered inside.
A lightsaber, and enough credits to buy all of the alcohol from the local Bistro. Attatching them with a small bit of twine at his side there was a metallic sniff before he continued speaking,
"Why now?" She shrugged and the shadows melted away,
"Repayment for your Guild." She said with the hint of a smirk on her face. Inside she was laughing outright as she worked the imaginary strings above his head. He'd do exactly what she wanted and would think it his idea the entire time.
"Good luck Kor." She said before she turned, replacing her hood, and edging around the corner. Kicking up dirt it was only a moment before Kor slid around the same corner,
"Wait!" His altered voice yelled down the empty hallway, walls some twenty feet up. Where did she disappear to? His arms fell at his side, exasperated,
"Damn Sith."
The next morning Kor deposited all of his credits, a few hundred thousand, into a private account and drew the card that he would swipe. The lightsaber anchored at his side, the armored Kor entered the "Red Shadow Bistro" off of the main street of Taboon Moon. He wouldn't need the droids for some time and before he launched his attack it'd be important to enjoy his newly found wealth.
"I'll have everything on this side of the menu." The waitress gaped,
"But sir, that will be nearly four thousand credits and enough food for six men." The emotionless helmet turned slowly and simply stared; the waitress placed his order.
As he sat, there were a good handful of customers, Humans mostly, that sat at a collection of tables across the restaurant; only two or three of them carried weapons however. It'd been a few minutes before Kor removed his helmet, his short hair showcasing his overly blue eyes; and the scares on his marred face.
"Where's my food?!" He hollered slamming a tightly gloved hand on the table, shaking and spilling a portion of the water filled glass on his table. A few customers left just then, knowing better than to stay at the Bistro when someone, anyone, began yelling; especially one dressed in full armor.
"I'm deeply sorry sir…" The Human woman began looking from him to the head tailed red and white Togrutan cook behind the bar. "It'll only be a few more minutes." Kor nodded as he began to stare at the most dangerous fellow across the way; a tall Human with a single, heavy, blaster resting at his waist. He returned the glare but only for a second before he looked back to his Rodian friend and continued speaking in his native language.
Only a few more minutes and the table was covered with plates of all manner of meat, vegetable, noodle and soup combination on the menu resting just barely on the edges of the old and wooden table.
Chiima Ke watched as the brute started eating; all the while her stomach turning upside down as more customers left her restaurant. She started to get nervous as an equally uncomfortable waitress walked past her to pick up more drinks. She hadn't enough money to hire any bodyguard to avoid incidents like she knew was coming. So she had to deal with it. Just the previous night a Human mercenary caused a fight that cost more to her in repairs than her entire night's business. This planet was a nightmare most of the time and she'd hoped to have moved to Corellia by now. But with things the way they were, she'd have to start anew.
He piled bite after bite into his mouth, drinking several greedy gulps of his beverage only to break down the food enough to swallow. He'd gotten half-way through the entire meal when he suddenly stopped, spitting onto an empty plate.
"What is that?!" He cried looking over his shoulder with a deep animosity for the cook, for Chiima. "It looks like a rat tail!" With a loud clang and racket he swept half of the table clean, save for one plate. Moving the offender of plates in front of him, he pointed to something that looked more like a long piece of meat than the actual back end of a rodent.
"I assure you sir, there's no tail in your-" He cut her off standing, knocking more plates down and spinning the chair to the floor.
Chiima's eyes widened and she brought a long nailed hand to her mouth to cover the shock. It was happening again.
"I'm not paying for this; in fact, I expect some kind of repayment for this awful meal." He demanded in his booming voice. As his hand reached for the attractive waitress, the Human and Rodian stood, drawing their blasters and each firing, not even waiting for further provocation before letting their shots out. To prevent a lethal blow Kor brought his forearm over his face and the shots felt harmless against his armor. Then came his wicked smile, this was what he was really waiting for.
"You're next…" he said eyeing the cook of the Red Shadow Bistro and she flinched immediately, tears beginning to fill her eyes. Another shot and Kor drew his lightsaber, flicking it on and drawing his blaster with his left hand. More shots and from pure luck one bounced from the saber back towards the Rodian, burning his leg. He cried in a bug-like tone before two more shots landed in his chest, spilling him onto the floor.
He then rushed, saber held with both hands as his blaster skidded away from him. There were three cuts, one on the Human's leg, then stomach, then neck to topple him to the floor.
Chiima screamed and the waitress dropped the glass she was holding. It was horrible, where did a mercenary get a lightsaber from? How could he use it in the first place? But that's when she noticed, it didn't cut like the ones the Jedi had. The man was unconscious; the three 'cuts' nothing more than burns on his skin.
Kor noticed this as well; baffled at the pseudo nature of the weapon, he turned picking up his blaster, replacing the saber at his hip.
"The lightsaber is real…" He emphasized the point by brandishing a blaster at Chiima, "And if I hear otherwise I'll be coming back to shoot everyone here." He threatened, a crazed look on his face that made the white and brown lined scars on his face that much more menacing. Sobbing, Chiima simply slid down the other side of the bar. She would be ruined if this didn't stop, but furthermore she might not have to worry if he did shoot them all. Wiping the flowing tears from her face she listened as the Mandalorian's heavy steps walked towards the door, a squeak and he was gone.
Waiting two days Kor let rumors spread of his lightsaber wielding prowess. He was already a threat here on Taboon in the way he romped about with his war droids, but now he was truly intimidating. He didn't need credits, but scaring the local populace into paying him credits not to storm their building was a joy, and so much easier with a lightsaber, even of the fake variety.
The Falleen race was an interesting one. On their home planet there was very little actual battle as far as fists, blasters and chairs. Theirs was one was credits and wealth, who had the most extravagant palace, servants and ships was deemed the most powerful. Their skin was naturally a green tint with areas of scales decorating in delicate patterns across their body. Their blood was cold and they had the ability to emit a kind of pheromone that could attract members of the opposite sex; mostly in a hypnotic manner. Furthermore they're skin could change from a neutral green to orange, red and darker shades edging towards black for different emotions. So they lived comfortably on their planet signing purchase agreements and enjoying the life they'd set before them without cause for alarm.
So it was an interesting thing when Rad Tetragenes showed himself on Taboon those few years ago; climbing through the ranks of local crimelords and doing odd jobs for private information dealers and even hiring himself out to the Republic. He was a tall creature, nearly six and a half feet with enough well toned muscle to balance his frame evenly. His green eyes matched his skin's native state of color. And the long tri-set of braids that ran down his back to his legs made up for his always-smooth face. The armor he wore was a tempered permasteel that consisted of a chemical mix that made it soft, able to absorb intense heat well for a limited amount of time and made him nearly invulnerable to standard blunt forces. It'd been a fortune not only to find the plans for the armor, but to convince the armor smith to make it for him.
S-9 model blasters were holstered in the small of his back and another on his right thigh; blasters that were just above average power. Then the two standard vibroblades he stored rested across his spine and his waist. His entire setup for weapons was for a specific style of combat he'd tuned to take on Force Users and other very talented swordsman.
Steepled, the claws at the ends of his fingers knocked against each other as he swam in thought; financial troubles had struck the Guild. At first the business was thriving, he could barely hire enough Hunters to do the jobs he had on queue. It had seemed though, as desperate as they were, that the latest war on Arkania was something they wanted no part of; especially after the Sith war beasts showed their ugly, horned faces. They were worse than the Republic's siege vehicles, all teeth and tough armor, fast and reliable in the snow and steeped in the hatred of their masters. Rad stretched, several bones popping as he did so, and looked over his office.
It was extravagant; behind glass on either side of the room along the entire wall were plants native to his home world; all purples, greens and yellows. His desk and chair were equally expensive and the deep ebony brown walkway, that paved the thirty feet from the entrance to his desk, was immodest as well.
But all that was put in when there was ample credits to throw about; he hadn't expected a war to be bad for business. Even though his Guild would survive, he felt irritated that worry even touched his emotions. So it was that he sat at his desk, anger slowly churning under his well defined, and confined, composure.
On each of his forearms were gems, each taking up most of his forearm, that were actually built-in data pads and communication links for his Guild to himself. One of these was what Jyn's, his personal secretary and computer slicer, beautiful voice came through,
"Guildmaster? We need you at the front desk." A claw tapped the gem a few times as he sent an inaudible confirmation. The doors to his personal office slid open together and he entered the long hallway that led to his training chambers and the regular member's sleeping quarters. Everything was a light blue from the lights on the wall to the walls themselves.
"Yes?" he asked emerging from the hallway to the waiting chamber; chairs on either side and an intricately designed pathway led to the large wraparound desk that Jyn worked at; seven monitors active at once. Her hair was a bright blonde tied back, perfect face, and she wore snug fitting shined white and purple armor. Tapping at the monitors and bringing up several different reports, Jyn began talking about the story with the Mandalorian Kor and his new found 'power'. How he'd bashed up the Red Shadow Bistro and how he'd been mostly on a rampage over the moon.
"For five days now?" Rad started, his leaf green eyes reflecting in the dark monitor, "Well I suppose he'll be coming here soon." He said and began walking back towards his office. Jyn didn't argue, he was the Guildmaster.