On the other side of the canyon, in a dark cantina, Sabine and Giz sat with drinks in hand. Giz scratched her ears under her headdress. "You got a couple of lads giving you the eye, haven't you?" She said with a nervous chuckle, taking a sip from her rum. Sabine had been a point of focus for many sitting in the bar since they walked in.
"It's the armor. Mandalorians make a good living off of bounty hunting. It must be putting those guys on edge." Sabine scoffed. She glanced around the interior of the cantina they found on the right side of the canyon. On the fourth level, it was a large open-door cantina created using the inside of a cave. Hanging lamps lined the halls and ceiling, illuminating the cave walls with a deep orange glow.
It's inhabitants were mostly quiet and kept to themselves, whispering smuggling routes and local legends over the thick wooden tables that lined the cave walls.
Sabine threw back the clear liquor and slammed the cup back down on the table, her helmet that rested there bouncing slightly from the impact. "Crest made it sound like you've had some experience in getting information from the Empire. What do you think we can get on them from here?" She asked Giz, placing a credit chip on a passing Astro-server and exchanging her empty glass with a new drink.
Giz finished off her glass also, not letting herself be one upped, she placed a credit and got a fresh drink as well. "Outposts like this always have somebody who dabbles in data, especially data that the Empire doesn't want in Republic hands. If we ask the right questions we should be able to locate somebody who knows something" She twirled her drink around, ice clattering against ice as she looked around the room. "If we're gonna come across anybody, here is the place to do it for sure, cantinas always have those unsavory types, or at least the ones who know what we're looking for. Your armor may be our ticket to that too" She smiled and giggled to herself, tapping the top of Sabine's helmet. "This is a cool piece of tech! Would love to get a look at its inner workings at some point."
"No way!" Sabine exclaimed playfully, sliding the helmet away from Giz. "Our helmet designs are clan secrets. If I showed you, I'd have to kill you." She finished with a wink.
"So where does my armor come into the plan?" Sabine continued, looking down at her multicolored armor plates. "I'm not sure how this can help us find a source. Unless you're talking about roughing up some people."
Giz shook her head laughing. "No no, not roughing anybody up. The way L-T put it, if anybody is gonna be trying to track down somebody in a bounty hunter haven it's a Mandalorian. With no 'connections' to the republic or empire you will have a much easier time convincing somebody to part with sensitive data than any of us." She sat up straight and put on a fake Imperial accent, "We need to know what they know and they sure as hell won't tell just anybody, I should know, I was 'special forces'" She giggled at her own impersonation.
Sabine laughed along with Giz and the two talked for several more minutes as they scoped out the room for a potential candidate. Giz spoke up first, nodding her head slightly to a booth just off the side of the bar. "That may be it, that Duros hasn't got up from that booth since we've been here, but three others have come and talked to him."
They both finish their drinks and get up from the table. Sabine slid her helmet back on, the visual displays blinking as they reconnected to her suit's systems. They casually walked over to the booth where the Duros sat quietly staring at the table.
Once they sat down the Duros spoke in a deep gravelly voice, as if his throat had been sliced into and then reconnected. "What brings you to Saqor? Hunting?" He said quietly, taking note of Sabine's armor.
"Yes. In fact." Replied Sabine, "My target made their way into this region and I need some information on where they ended up."
"Not from around here eh?" The Duros said, "You're in luck then, Old Teroch has been on planet for a few weeks. Heard he's been trading out contracts for favors with some of the Mandos passing through Saqor. Might be able to help you." He informed, taking a long drink from his frothy cup.
Giz frowned, looking at Sabine and tapping her on the shoulder, drawing her in close. "Didn't we hear something about this Taroch fella'? Couple days ago? That "Deijo" fella? Said he got some bad data..." she said in a hushed tone, just loud enough for the Duros to hear. "If that's best this guy has we can take our credits elsewhere." She leaned back in her chair, taking a swig of her rum, her bright green eyes flashing in the light from the wall lanterns.
The Duros rolled his deep bulbous red eyes in annoyance. "Look, if your friend got bad data that's on him." The informant grumbled, "Terochs a Mando, he'll give you some help...not without a favor of course. Besides no one else is gonna want to deal with a hunter, especially one they don't know."
Giz's ears flattened against her head under her headdress, she chuckled lightly scratching the back of her head. "Ehehe right." She shuffled a little and sipped her drink abashedly.
"Alright then. Where can I find him?" Sabine said, a little more convinced at hearing the contact was a Mandalorian. By no means did she think that guaranteed he'd be friendly, but it helped knowing she shared some of the traits of the person they would be meeting.
The Duros didn't respond to Sabine's question. Instead he just silently held his hand across the table, palm open. Sabine reached behind her, carefully, not wanting to have anyone think she was pulling out a blaster. She grabbed a few credit chips out of the pouch at her waist and dropped them into the informant's hand.
The Duros happily tucked away the credits, "You can find him on level two, behind Hojun's drink stall."
"Ooh more drinks!" Giz perked back up at the thought, smiling toothily at the alien across from her. "Thanks mister! Sure, hope this works out, getting tired of running around like crazy people..." she said, more as an aside to Sabine. She stood up, dropped the last of what she owed and an empty glass on the nearest waiting droid and waved to the Duros.
Giz and Sabine walked out of the cantina and back into the natural light of the canyon. The sky was burnished a deep orange-red color from it's sun, slowly beginning to set. Sabine and Giz stopped briefly outside of the cantina entrance, activating their communicator.
"Lieutenant, I think we might have a lead with a contact on Saqor. We're about to head to that area now, have you found anything yet?" Sabine asked into the comm.
Lindmon's voice crackled through. "10-4, we've learned there is a contact here who dabbles in Imperial traffic data which could help us track the Chimaera or where it got to. No name or other information. Be aware, some unsavory types may be hanging around the hanger, I have a feeling we're being followed, we're enroute to the bird now."
"That's great!" Sabine exclaimed excitedly, happy that there was finally some solid lead in the search. "Giz and I will go check out our contact now. We'll meet you back at the shuttle." She finished hurriedly. She twisted the bottom of the comm cylinder, shutting it off, and tucked it back in the pouch on her belt.
Taking off towards the market stalls of the second level, Giz had to pick up the pace to keep up. Sabine had very nearly started to run down the rickety suspension bridges that weaved through Saqor. She quickly searched the market for any sign of Hojin's drink stall. The crowds of the city were starting to thin at that time of day, everyone retreating to their sleeping quarters for the few days they were at Saqor, or having already left the planet to pursue the contracts found earlier in the day.
Giz skipped behind Sabine as they made their way down the narrow corridors. "So, what's the plan when we find this guy? Not sure I'm gonna be a lot of help in this particular conversation." She said hurriedly. Glancing around her to see if anybody was watching them. Fortunately, most of the people left on the street at this hour were paying no heed to the pair rushing through their streets.
"You want to head back? I can take it from here, Mandalorians can be a bit wary of outsiders, especially older ones." Sabine said warily as she spotted Hojin's drink stall. A pale orange Aqualish sat beside his stall on a rusty tin keg, his aging eyes cloudy and white. Behind the stall embedded into the canyon wall of Saqor was a nondescript metal door.
"Only if you think I should" Giz responded hesitantly, eyeing the large metal door nervously. "Every Mandalorian I've met has been mean and scary...except you! Of course..." she added, catching herself. "I mean, I can wait outside if you think that's best. Keep an eye out ya know?" She scratched her arm, looking around the desolate street.
Sabine sighed at Giz, not wanting her to be left outside in the dark. "Come on, I'm sure they won't be that scary." She said reassuringly.
The Aqualish watched as the two women approached with his cloudy white eyes. "Are you Hojin? We're looking to meet with an Old Teroch." Sabine asked the aging alien. He coughed and wheezed in response, pulling out a small remote from his coat pocket. Hojin grumbled into the comm and then a few moments later the metal door slid open with a hiss.
Sabine turned back to Giz as she walked into the hallway, bright light spilling out into the darkening canyon cityscape. "Come on!" She said nodding her head in the direction of the private enclave.
Giz waved nervously at Hojin as they walked past, the older alien grumbled to himself and shifted in his seat. The brightly lit hall, lined with fluorescent lights buzzing overhead, seemed still as they made their way down. At the end was another large metal door, a slit in the top slid open as they approached, and a disgruntled pair of eyes gazed out at them.
"What do you want, we're closed, if you want gear come back tomorow." He said. Giz's eyes darted back to the entry door anxiously.
"Cuyir gar Teroch? Ni cuy' Sabine aliit Wren." Sabine responded to the man behind the door, speaking in her native language to whom she suspected shared her heritage.
The small flap slapped closed and the durasteel enforced door creaked open. They stepped in to a large center room, the fruity smell of tihaar and crushed warra'se nuts wafting in the air. The room looked as if a small bar had been taken over by a military group, cases of armor pieces and heavy blaster rifles had been pushed up against the walls. Illicit data spikes lay strewn about the lone table off to the left side next to a set of Mandalorian armor, neatly hung on a rack. Brightly lit compared to the rest of the room, the bar was installed on the back wall and was stocked with all manner of taps and liquor bottles. Polished glasses lay neatly tucked away in the cabinets, the bar clearly closed up for the night.
The man closed the door behind the women and walked slowly around them to the table, gently leaning against it. He crossed his thick arms around his chest and looked at the pair disapprovingly. "Ni draar vaabir koor ti adate ni ganar draar kar'taylir." Teroch said in a gruff voice. He was an older man by Mandalorian standards, starting his early fifties, the gray hairs were interspersed with his thick brown beard. He wore simple clothes instead of the traditional Mandalorian armor, letting his deep leathery skin breath out in the open air.
"Te jatne ara at kar'taylir cuyir adol akaanir!" Sabine shouted at him. She grabbed a long metal fighting staff from one of the cases and threw it across the room at Teroch. His large hand snatched it out of the air with a small smirk.
Sabine walked up next to Giz and handed her a metal fighting rod. She looked at Giz's confused face and realized she had been talking in Mando'a to Teroch. They had been speaking the language without a second thought. "He doesn't know us so he's reluctant to help." Sabine gripped her own metal sparring staff tightly, "We just have to introduce ourselves in a way Mandalorians understand."
Giz looked from the staff in her hand to Sabine and then to Teroch, confused, her brain scrambled for a moment at the sudden situation before her. After a moment she darted forward, hurling the pole at the large man, and grabbed the tail of her headdress ripping it off in one fluid moment, the hairs on her head bristle and her ears flattened against her head as she flung herself foreword wrapping the ends of the silk around her hands and pulling the fabric taut between them. The larger man lunged with his pole, aiming center mass, while the agile Cathar slid to the side and wrapped the cloth around the end of the pole, pulling it to one side.
"Zo eta kar re chast a' ztrivo eta, vysa!" She growled in catharese, ducking under a follow up jab.
Sabine joined the fray with a shout, sliding her grip near the bottom of the metal staff and slashing at Teroch from a long distance. Teroch wrenched his staff from the twisted headscarf and slapped Sabine's vicious attacks, their metal rods clanging loudly as they met.
Giz pivoted her body as she crouched, moving around Teroch as he focused on parrying the whirl of attacks. She lunged up, throwing a hard elbow strike aimed at the old man's kidney and it connected fully with a dense smack. He groaned slightly, the blow had startled him if nothing else.
Teroch's thick boot planted itself square in Giz's chest, his reverse snap kick an immediate response to her attack. The force drove her upward and sent her tumbling across the room. "You are tenacious, aruetii!" Teroch shouted as Giz scrambled to catch her breath.
Sabine spun the staff about, bringing it down with force towards Teroch's shoulder, his own staff kicked up quickly to parry, as the staves were about to make contact Sabine rapidly switched the direction of the spin and brought the pole up under his arm, hitting him square in the ribs.
Giz gasped for air, smacking her chest. She turned and ran towards the nearby wall, jumping onto and then off of it, sailing over the dueling pair's heads. Her head scarf wrapped around Teroch's head, and as Giz landed she pulled down sharply. Sabine continued her flurry of strikes, but everything seemed to stop in one moment.
As the large Mandalorian fell foreword, he planted his foot sharply on the ground in front of him, throwing Giz off balance as he pushed sharply up on the headscarf, with Sabine's staff whizzing towards his opposite shoulder, he swiftly raised his hand and caught the end of the pole with a sickening smack.
Lifting up quickly with the scarf, Teroch threw Giz off balance. She stumbled towards the Mandalorian, struggling to regain her footing and wrench him to the ground, or at least immobilize him. His experienced eyes caught her faltering and he lashed out with his metal rod, striking her leg and her forearm and rupturing the capillaries underneath the skin with a sharp 'thwap thwap'! Teroch shifted his position and Giz tumbled past, catching her by the neck with his staff hand and twisting her body around. After she spun, Giz quickly regained her footing but as the older man had released her, he passed the metal rod swiftly across her throat. The implication was clear. Had this been a true engagement, she would have died in that moment.
Now momentarily free of entrapment, Teroch followed through from his blows against Giz and slammed the metal fighting staff into Sabine's torso repeatedly. Her armor the only protection against the rib shattering strikes. She coughed and sputtered before falling to her knees.
"Your form is good ad'ika, but your heart is not with you." Teroch released Sabine's staff and it clattered to the floor. "You fight like you have an illness."
That comment was ill received by Sabine, the notion of being weak, especially in a fight is an extreme offense for a Mandalorian. She snatched up the staff from the floor and whirled it around her body in a flourish.
Giz stumbled backwards, landing herself in a chair next to the table, stunned. She put a hand to her throat and rubbed her arm as the pair swung wildly at each other, the finesse and prowess of the two was astounding. Growing up she had always tussled with her siblings, and after joining the rebellion she had taken plenty of combat lessons, but the two in front of her were so substantially different, raised in life and death. After a moment catching her breath she stood and shook herself, picking up her original pole from where it had landed, her headscarf having been thrown to the other side of the room by Teroch after his near final blow on her. She watched the two continue their dance, staff clanging against staff, the renewed vigor in Sabine's stride was obvious, as was her furry at the large man's jibes. As Giz skirted around the combat looking for a solid opening, Sabine swirled her staff around her and brought it solidly into Teroch's shin, who let out a grunt as the shockwave rattled up his leg.
A loud clang rang out as Teroch countered with a solid horizontal strike to Sabine's helmet, using both his hands to drive the staff into her forehead. Her head snapped back and she stumbled backwards. Recovering quickly Sabine ducked low, whipping the metal staff in a crescent arc in an attempt to sweep the older Mandalorian's legs. His boot intercepted the rod and pushed it into the ground. "Focus!" Teroch shouted rapping his own rod against her helmet. "Where is your mind if not in this fight?" He scolded, swinging the staff upwards, connecting hard at the base of the chin and sending her clattering across the floor.
"Damn it!" Sabine pounded the floor in frustration. Her vision was blurry, and the edges of her sight were blacking out from the repeated head strikes.
Giz growled low, flinging the pole once more, aiming past the man's head, her claws emerged from their hiding place and her eyes turned to tiny slits, she pounced on the Mandalorian's back, sinking her claws deep into his tough skin, he grunted as he twisted and threw her off him, kicking upwards towards her stomach as she landed on all fours. The blow made contact, and as he retracted his leg back to a stable position he found himself tangled in the headdress once more, Giz hissed as she yanked fiercely upwards, causing him to topple backwards.
Sabine shook her head, regaining her composure and seeing the opening that Giz provided. She jumped up and slammed the hilt of her pole into Teroch's chin, forcing him to complete the fall he had been trying to pull himself out of.
The older man slammed onto the floor after the teeth clattering blow lifted him off his feet. Sabine and Giz stood ready, waiting for the old man's counter strike to come. Instead he let out a booming laugh. Wiping the blood from the split in his lip as he pushed himself up from the floor. "Haha! Jate, jate." He said mirthfully, panting and sweating after the intense fight. He tossed the sparring staff back to its corner of the room. "Now...I know you. Come, have some drinks with Old Teroch."
Sabine slipped her helmet off with an exhausted sigh, showing the ferocity of the pair's attacks on each other. Blood had sprayed from her mouth, splattering against the inside of her helmet and smeared across her cheek. It must have happened when Teroch's uppercut had exploded across her chin. Her eye was bruised purple, trailing back to her left temple. With sweat dripping down from her violet hair, leaving trails across her face. Without the heavy armor for protection the damage would have been unheard of for a simple sparring session.
Giz and Sabine limped over to the small bar and slumped into two of the four chairs that lined the counter section of Teroch's hidden enclave. He pushed two icy, frothy drinks towards the women and set a small bowl of warra'se in between them. The small crunchy nuts had a powerful aroma and concealed a spicy powder inside their shell. The trio drank for a long moment, refreshing and quenching after the sparring match.
"Now...Tell me what troubles you so, ad'ika." Teroch asked, the gruffness of a few minutes ago cast away and replaced with all the kindness of a warm-hearted uncle. Giz realized he must be, now at least. The intensity of the blood shared in combat had a strong feeling of camaraderie along with it.
Certainly Sabine felt this as she began to tell the older man all about her reasons for being on Saqor. Teroch listened intently at the bar, wiping off a dusty glass as she spoke. Giz was shocked at the emotional state of her companion as she spoke of her past. Her adrenaline allowing her expressions to flow out of her as she described her relationship with this Jedi they had been hunting for the past few months. She explained with reminiscing fondness of how they grew up together on the same ship, always fighting against the Empire together, building an inseparable partnership. To unmistakable sadness as she explained his sacrifice, and how he had been trapped somewhere or evading capture all these years.
"Ni cuy' echoy'la aikiyc ba'vodu Teroch. Gedet'ye. " Sabine implores, "I need some way to get access to an Imperial comm station but we have no good nav data out here."
Teroch furrowed his brow in thought, "Nav data is worth more than jewels out here in the Unknown. Smugglers have been known to kill their partners for the chance to steal their navigational computer." He sighed and moved into the back room of the bar, where all manner of secret data was kept. Teroch came out with a small holo card in hand. "I have the location of a few Imperial comm stations that have come up in the last decade or so. I can't guarantee that they'll still be around, but I'm sure you can make use of something left behind in the scraps."
He placed the holo card on the bar tabletop and activated it. "But to give you that kind of info I need you to do something for me in return." A blue image of a Rodian was projected up from the holo card. "I have a good relationship with the Blood Raptors, one of the local mercenary groups around this sector. This one, Gripp Jippeek, murdered one of their senior mercenaries and took off. Fled the region. Last word was that he went to the Outer Rim, making for Nar Shadaa." Teroch said, pointing at the Rodian. The large scar behind his ear the only definitive identifier from other Rodians. "He needs to find his way into the hands of the Blood Raptors or end up dead. Do that for me, and you get the location of one of those comm stations." The old Mandalorian finished.
Giz picked up the holo tape, studying the face intently. "I'm sure that's something we could do, although I'm not entirely sure if we have authorization to move out into the outer rim to find a bandit... that would be something for L-T to decide. Is there a way for us to get in contact with you at distance? Or would we need to return here to get the data on the comm stations?" She said, setting the holo tape back down on the table and taking a small handful of nuts, tossing one into her mouth.
"You can contact me with the information in that holo card. I am soon to leave this planet, but it will send your call to my ship." Teroch responded, "I give you this contract because I know you. If you leave this room with it, it will be on your honor to complete it. Republic or no Republic, understand?" Teroch warned. "I have a good relationship with the Blood Raptors, I would like to keep it that way."
Sabine snatched the holo card off the table, "We'll make sure it gets done ba'vodu." The only sure lead she'd found in over five years. There's no way she would let this slip through her fingers.
Sabine pushed herself off the stool and winced against the sharp pain in her side. Now that the adrenaline was fading the pulsating throb of her injuries were starting to grow. Giz helped Sabine balance herself, looping her arm over her shoulders.
"Aruetii." Teroch said softly to Giz, "You do not need to look outside for comparison, you are a sweet girl, and a fine warrior."
As they limped away Giz wondered just how connected the Mandalorians could really get to others through combat. How intimate the sparring sessions could be, and how strong the bonds were that are forged on the battlefield.
Old Teroch bid them farewell with a simple "K'oyacyi!" The Mandalorian way of saying goodbye, translated literally it meant 'Don't die'.
Lindmon sat on a crate just inside the hangar door, his blaster set out on his lap. He tapped on his wrist mounted device and checked the time. It had been nearly an hour since the last communication from Sabine and Giz, and he was starting to get worried.
Sulahaan tinkered away at the compressor on the underside of the crescent wing, the area around it was blackened from soot.
"Ssir, I don't think there is much we are going to be able to do about thisss compressor. Thing's shot worsse than a Bantha with a target painted on it."
Lindmon looked over at his pilot and sighed. "Alright then, at the very least give us a warning when we're coming out of hyperspace, maybe que in a tone for when we begin deceleration. Last thing we need is to be unprepared when she kicks next time."
Sulahaan popped out a quick salute and headed back up the ramp, passing Ashoka as he went. he bowed his head to her in respect and she returned the gesture as she made her way down to where the Lieutenant was waiting.
"You seem nervous Lieutenant. Are you worried about the rest of your crew?" Ahsoka asked calmly. The response of course was obvious, it was the fifth time he had checked the clock in a standard hour and nighttime had completely overtaken this side of Saqor. It's large native hookbats fluttering out of their caves looking for anything larger than a womprat to sink their teeth into.
"No not at all, I'm completely confident in their ability to take care of themselves." He said honestly, that didn't change the goosebumps on the back of his neck or the tap of his boot on the durasteel plated floor. A small crash followed by a series of choice curse words in a growling language and the squeal of a droid came from inside the ship, R3 rolled out with a coil of wire wrapped around his leg, screaming as Sulahaan chased behind him with a wrench and his fist raised. Shouting in Dat-an as he circled around the leg of the ship.
"Hey be nice to Reed!" Came a familiar shout from outside the hangar. Lindmon jumped to his feet as Sabine and Giz limped into the bay, both with huge smiles on their blood soaked faces.
"What in the hell happened to the two of you!" Lindmon shouted as they approached. The pair shared a look and broke out laughing. Sabine held up a holotape and waved it about.
Sabine smiled broadly at Lindmon, her teeth still red with blood, "Got a lead! We had to beat an old man with a stick to get it!" The two laughed raucously as they made their way up into the shuttle to wipe the blood of their faces and get some well placed bacta patches.