Present Day (21 BBY)
Safehouse, Upper Levels, Coruscant
Broken pieces of toothpicks littered the ground by his table, most of them having been thrown there just over the last few hours. Over his career as a bounty hunter he had taken on countless jobs that others deemed impossible or too dangerous. It was what he was known for, what his mentor had been known for. He'd killed Jedi, done heist jobs for some of the galaxy's most dangerous Syndicates, captured notorious killers and so much more.
This, however, was on an entirely different level. The Jedi temple of Coruscant was a fortress. It was equipped with the most advanced security tech he'd even seen, safeguards in place to protect against any outsider from entering. Not to mention it was crawling with Jedi. Padawans, Knights, Sentinels and, of course, Jedi Masters.
The cilent wanted him to not only break in to said fortress, but also somehow make it to the most heavily guarded area, the holocron vault in the deepest part of the temple, and nick a specfic holocron. He didnt know what it did and to be honest he didn't care. It was impossible. He said as much but the client knew how to persuade him to accept the contract by calling his reputation into question.
His only solace was the fact that the client had given him a map of the temple as well as transferred the security system data to him, which he planned to, in turn, install in Todo. In addition, the client also promised to deliver him a specially modified Rouge-Class Starfighter that could fit two pilots, per Bane's request. He did love his ship, the Slight of Hand, but it wasn't fast enough for this kind of mission, nor was it particularly stealthy.
Even with all that, Cad Bane knew he was still at a serious disadvantage alone. This wasn't going to work without assistance. He had already started to form a plan in the analytical mind of his the moment he'd gotten off the holo comm. He drummed his long fingers on the table. Cado Parasitti would be easy to persuade to do this job. The changeling had never been one to really say no and she had enough experience to be a good assset to him. Not to mention her species' ability to mimic other lifeforms. His brow ridges then contracted. Vexla, on the other hand, had made it clear to the Duros before that she didn't want to do any jobs involving Jedi. He had trained her for it, even given her rocket boots similar to his own, hoping to change her mind though didn't have any luck. He had come to respect her decision and had never asked her to accompany him on jobs involving Force-users. But now, he was going to need her to make sure this job was pulled off without a hitch. He needed to convince her to accept and the best way, well the only way, was to do it face to face. Over a holo comm it would be easy for her to say no. In person, however... He wouldn't call it manipulation, per say, but he was more than aware of the fact that he had some type of hold over her and he was going to use it to his advantage.
~
Ohnaka's Hideout, Florrum, Outer Rim
"Move!" Vexla snarled as she shoved the renegade Nikto pirate forward. The man almost stumbled and fell but the woman didn't seem to care and only drew her blaster and held it to his back. "Please, I-I'll double whatever they pay you!" The man pleaded as he turned his horned head to try and look back at her. Vexla moved her blaster from his back and fired a warning shot into the ground next to his boot. "Keep talking and the next one goes through the back of your head."
After that, the man had kept quiet the rest of the way to Honda's hideout... until he caught sight of the infamous pirate lord himself waiting just outside with a large entourage of guards. Despite the cuffs on his wrists, the Nikto turned to run and a moment later he was sprawled on the ground with a blaster shot through his lower leg. His cries of pain were overshadowed by Ohnaka's sudden, exuberant laughter.
"Oh! Isn't she just fantastic!" He asked his underlings rhetorically he clapped his hands together. "Ah, you two, take him to the cells. I'll deal with him myself later... for now we drink!" The remaining pirates began hollering excitedly and faster than she would have believed, bottles of every kind of liquor and rum began appearing and glasses and mugs were being filled to their brims. "Come now, you have some time for a drink, yes? Of course you do!" Ohnaka sauntered forward and threw an arm around Vexla's shoulders and led her into the hideout. Normally she would refuse this sort of thing, but Honda was a special case and she found it easier to just go along with it... plus free drinks were always a bonus.
Vexla took a drink that was handed to her and sat next to the pirate leader at the head table. Food was being served too and there was even some entertainment. She had to admit it was quite interesting how they lived, making it always seem like a party, but she of course knew Honda and his group were more dangerous than they let on.
"Ah, my dear Vexla, I should have called you here earlier. You missed all the fun," Hondo said dramatically as he set his mug down after a long draft from it. "So here we were when a ship crash lands on my territory, yes, so naturally we go out to, uh, check on-" "Steal valuables from the ship," The woman corrected with a roll of her eyes and the pirate just smirked and shrugged. "Ah, what can I say? Anyway, you would not believe who it was, yes?" Hondo grinned at her as if wanting her to try and guess but Vexla shook her head. "I don't know... a wookie?" She offered half-heartedly before busying herself with her drink. "No, no, no! Terrible guess! It was Count Dooku, my dear, leader of the Separatists!"
Vexla spit out her drink all over the table, getting some of it on every pirate within a close radius, though most were so drunk they hardly noticed. The woman coughed a few times and Hondo reached to pat her on the back, still grinning and obviously pleased by her reaction. "Yes, yes, I know! But that's not even the best part! We contacted the Jedi to ransom him and they sent their own little team to negotiate... Obi Wan Kenobi and the young Skywalker. Ah... it was so much fun, my dear, we drugged them and captured them too!"
Vexla wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve then gave Hondo and incredulous look. "Are you just messing with me?" She demanded of the pirate and the latter dramatically put his hand over where she assumed his heart was, looking offended. "Hondo Ohnaka would never lie to a pretty lady! Especially not a murderous bounty hunting one, yes? No, no... we had them! Of course they escaped, but we did have them at one point and that is what matters!" The pirate nodded as he snapped his fingers impatiently to get both of their drinks re-filled. Vexla immediately snatched her's up and downed the whole thing. She was going to need a lot more of it sitting here and listening to him.
"So, speaking of murderous bounty hunters, where is your, uh, friend?" Honda then asked casually as he leaned in closer to the woman. She knew immediately whom he was talking about and what he was implying and she made a face. "How should I know where Bane is all the time? He's one of my associates, Ohnaka. Nothing more." The Weequay scoffed at that and shook his head. "Ah, my dear, how naïve do you think I am? Do you not remember the last time you two did a job for me? Because I surely do," he told her with a shit-eating grin on his face that almost made Vexla want to punch him. The woman instead clinched her hand into a fist before forcing herself to take a deep breath to calm herself.
"Listen to me, Ohnaka. There is nothing, NOTHING, between he and I. He was my mentor and we occasionally run jobs together. That's all," Her voice was becoming cold and the pirate simply held up his hands. "Just calling it like I see it, my dear Vexla," he said simply before taking up his drink again. The woman started to say something more but her eyes were drawn down to her holo communicator that was blinking. She set it on the table and pressed the button before cursing loudly as Cad Bane's image appeared. Hondo roared with laughter, slamming his mug against the table, it's amber-coloured contents sloshing out everywhere. She briefly looked over as the pirate fell right out of his chair with a loud thump and she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"What the kriff is goin' on?" Bane was clearly irritated already. "I'm on Florrum." "I can see that, darlin'. If the drunk pirates didn' already give it away, Ohnaka sure as kriff did. Get to yer ship. I ain't talkin' to ya while he's there." Vexla pressed the button on the device to end the transmission then stood from the table and headed out, but not before grabbing her payment of credits out of Ohnaka's coat while he was still laughing on the ground.
~
Once she was back on the ship she reactivated her holo communicator and a moment later Bane had reappeared. "Runnin' a job for Ohnaka, huh?" The male grunted, he still seemed irritated but Vexla chalked it up to Honda being present. Bane couldn't stand him and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. "He pays well and the job was relatively easy." "Hmph... was? Yer finished with it then?" Vexla nodded and the Duros grunted again. "Good. I need ya to get to Coruscant as fast as that kriffin' ship of yers can." "I'm in the outer rim, it'll take time for me to get there." Vexla frowned as his demeanor. "What's wrong?" "Nothin' wrong, woman. We've got a job. Can't tell ya about it over this-" He gestured to the holo communicator. "Gotta be in person." Vexla's eyes narrowed at that, finding it strange that he wouldn't at least tell her the gist of it first. However, she did trust him more than any other she'd ever met, so she obliged. "I'll leave for Coruscant now," she promised him before pressing the button to end the call. As she set in the coordinates to his hideout on the Core planet, she had a strange feeling start gnawing at her but she couldn't place it. The woman shook her head, trying to clear her mind as she readied her ship for takeoff.
~
Safehouse, Upper Levels, Coruscant
Bane pushed the holo communicator away then stood and sauntered over to the door. "Master Bane, where are you going?" Todo chirped as he floated onto the room, staring at the Duros with curious optics. The bounty hunter's lips curled back over his fanged teeth into a terrifying smile. This was one thing he had been looking forward too. "She ain't gonna be here for a while. In order for this plan to work, we're gonna need a Jedi." "But we do not have a cell to hold one here," The Droid responded before hovering a little further backwards as Bane turned to look at him. "Oh I didn't say we were gonna need him alive."
~
It took him the better part of two days to find a suitable target. A Skrilling Jedi that seemed to frequently leave the safety of the Jedi temple at night and make his way down to the seedy underworld. The bounty hunter had no issue tracking him as he went about his business. Bane already knew the Jedi order was full of hypocrisy, but watching this Jedi walk right into a club that doubled as a brothel was stupifying.
"Todo... did Vexla give any updates on her status?" He asked quietly into his wrist comm an hour later while he sat on the ledge of a building overlooking the club. "Yes, sir! Miss Vexla is entering the Core soon and should be landing sometime later tonight." Rather than respond with words, the Duros merely grunted and then ended the comm. He was going to need to kill the Jedi quickly and stealthily then bring him back to the hideout. Part of him wished he could meet the Jedi out in the open for a fight, but he couldn't risk the temple getting wind of it.
Ord Enisence came out of the club a while later, stumbling a little as he went off down the darkened street. He smelled heavily of alcohol and somewhat of cheap perfume. In this state he probably wouldn't have even noticed if a sith lord appeared next to him. Nevertheless, he slowly made his way to a sketchy looking motel where he could sleep off the drinks before returning to the Jedi temple the next morning.
Cad Bane had leapt from the edge of the building and used his rocket boots to slow his decent to the ground, cutting them off when he was just a few meters above it. He kept a brisk pace, his duster flowing behind him as he followed after Enisence. He let the Jedi get within sight of the motel before raising his right arm. A grappling cable shot out of his gauntlet and attached itself to the lightsaber dangling from the Jedi's belt. One good yank and it came free and was thrown off to the side.
"What...kriffin'" Enisence's voice was slurred as he turned, unsteady, on his heels to the direction he had thought the attack had come. A hard blow landed in the small of his back and he hit the ground hard, his nose breaking instantly from the impact. Ord felt two slender but strong hands grip either side of his face and he started to yell. His head was jerked to the side, there was a loud crack and everything went black.
~
"Oh my!" Todo exclaimed as Bane re-entered the safe house, hauling a rather large form with him. The Duros unceremoniously dumped the dead Jedi on the ground in a corner of the main room in the apartment and then dusted himself off. "Is he... he's dead, right?" Todo asked as he floated over and used one of his tiny appendages to poke the carcass in the face. Bane scoffed then he pulled the lightsaber he'd taken from the scene and set it aside on a table. "He ain't waking up, Todo. Stop pokin' him and go do somethin' useful." The Droid made an offended noise then floated off towards the kitchen area, grumbling about rudeness.
Cad Bane checked for any messages from his fellow bounty hunter before deciding to use what little time he had left before her arrival to use the refresher and wash the grime off of himself from the latest job. He was out only half an hour later and had donned a somewhat clean set of armorweave base armor, but decided to forgo his duster and the rest of his attire. Vexla had seen him in far less more times than he could count, so it didn't matter.
He spent the rest of the time cleaning his one-of-a-kind LL-30 blasters. His red eyes flickered to the door when he heard it being unlocked. She was the only other one that knew the codes so he remained seated. A moment later the woman had entered the room and her eyes found Bane and she inclined her head to him. "I'm here. Now what is- dank farrik! Is that a Jedi?!" Vexla asked loudly, clearly taken aback, as she'd looked past the Duros and spotted Ord laying motionless on the floor. Bane stood and crossed the room with a few strides of his long legs, slammed the door shut behind the woman and put his other hand over her mouth. "Quiet," he hissed. "Yes, it's a Jedi." Vexla's eyes widened and she let out a muffled steam of curse words and the Duros rolled his eyes but kept his hand over her mouth. "Darlin', calm down and listen to me," He ordered and he watched her eyes narrow before she gave a slight nod of her head. Bane removed his hand then he took her by the wrist, led her to his chair and pushed her down into it.
He took his holo communicator and placed it in front of her, deciding it would be best to play back the conversation he'd recorded with the client. He pressed the button then moved to stand behind the chair, his slender fingers resting on her shoulders to keep her stationary as it played out. Vexla's eyes locked onto the recording but still she couldn't believe what she was hearing. This client, whoever he was, wanted Bane to break into the Jedi remple? It was practically suicide! The woman rapidly shook her head and knocked the communicator from the table once it was finished out it apparent anger. "Bane, you're out of your kriffin mind!" She hissed as she stood and turned around to face the Duros, whos expression was impassive. "I've already accepted the contract, darlin'." "You're going to get yourself killed! No one- and I mean no one- can pull off this heist!"
A flicker of annoyance appeared in the Duros' eyes and he grabbed her by her arms and held her tightly, ensuring she couldn't move away. "No one alone can do it. I know that, Vex, but that's why I asked ya here. I know how much ya hate the Jedi and I respect why ya don't wanna go near them. But this is a kriffin war and ya ain't gonna be able to avoid them forever no matter how much ya try. Sooner or later they're gonna find out about ya and what ya are," He growled as he yanked her closer so that they were quite literally face to face. "I need you for this, Izrin," His tone became calmer, "Ya know I wouldn't have asked ya here if I had another choice. Ya need to trust me."
Vexla exhaled as her gaze shifted to the side, unable to look him in the eyes any longer. Instead, she settled on the Jedi in the corner and she then shook her head. "Bane, I-I can't... I'd do anything you would ask of me, you know that. But this? It's suicidal. We can't get past that many Jedi. It's not...not-" She broke off as Bane took her chin between one of his thumbs and index finger and guided her to look back into his eyes. "I can't force ya, Izrin, but I'm goin' through with it regardless. I ain't gonna walk away from a contract."
A faint blush creeped across Vexla's cheeks and despite the gravity of the conversation, she felt a warm feeling spreading throughout her body. It might have been the closeness, it might have been the way he was looking at her, she didn't know. Perhaps Ohnaka did have a point. No, no, no. This wasn't that... it couldn't be. "Vex..." Bane's voice reverberated through her and brought her attention back to him. She couldn't help herself. She knew she should refuse, but now it seemed impossible for her to even want to deny him. "If you're dead set on doing it anyway... I'll- I'll help you," She finally agreed as she rested one of her hands on his chest to try and put a bit more space between them, only hoping to make that damn feeling go away but it was in vain.
Unbeknownst to her, Bane was going through nearly the exact same thing. His eyes raked over her face, lingering on her full lips and in that moment he wanted to hold her and kiss her. They had kissed many times before, but it had always been driven by lust and self gratification. Neither of which was behind his desire to kiss her now. The Duros closed his eyes momentarily then he somewhat reluctantly let her go and stepped away. "Right then, Izrin, if you're in then we've got some planning to do."
~
By the next night, everything was ready... or as ready as it was going to be. Bane had installed the security system data in Todo, Cato Parasitti had arrived and been informed of her role of posing as Enisence and agreed to it, Vexla and Bane had made sure their gear and weapons were all primed and fully functional. They were going to begin early the next morning. Cato had retreated back to her ship for the night and Todo was currently in the kitchen recharging, leaving Bane and Vexla more or less alone in the safehouse.
Vexla rolled over on her back in the only bedroom and stared up at the ceiling. She'd been laying there for hours but sleep seemed to be evading her. She was nervous, she couldn't deny that, but that strange feeling had come back to her. It had to be something to do with the Force, but she couldn't pinpoint just what it meant. The woman let out a frustrated noise, grabbed a pillow and pulled it over her head. It was times like these she wished she had some Jedi training. It drove her crazy that she couldn't control it or make it stop. "Suffocating yerself ain't gonna help ya go to sleep," Bane joked dryly from the doorway as he stood there, his arms crossed and staring down at the lump of sheets and blankets on the bed. Vexla let out a muffled groan then she threw the pillow at the sound of his voice. Bane caught it with ease and strode over to the bed. "Yer not havin' one of those Force vision things again, are ya?" He then asked bluntly, fully able to keep the concern he felt out of his voice.
"No... it's not that. Well, not a vision at least, but... it's just more like a weird feeling. I don't know what it means," Vexla admitted as she pressed a hand over her eyes. The Duros grunted once then tossed the pillow back onto the bed. "Ya need to get some sleep, darlin'. I need ya to be at the top of yer game tomorrow." A small huff emitted from the woman's larynx and she moved her hand and gave him a look. Bane pressed his lips together, quietly observing the woman for a few moments.
"Yer afraid." It wasn't a question.
Vexla pushed herself into a sitting position, her eyes narrowed. "I'm not afraid!" She snapped, her temper flaring up, though it was, without a doubt, a lie. She had always been afraid of Jedi, ever since she was a small child. Her parents hated Jedi. It was the only thing she could remember about them. She used to fear they would come for her and take her to the temple on Coruscant. Now that she was grown, the fear took on a different form.
He could tell she was lying, but ultimately decided not to push it. "Just make sure yer awake on time and ready to go," Bane said gruffly. With that, he simply turned and left the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.