Disclaimer; I only own my plots/characters.
Tale 4; Rapture
The Nebula Blade carefully navigated between several asteroids, before its pilot spotted his destination. A giant domed space station attached to two large astroids that also housed space stations. Rapture station.
As the old ship floated closer, two small fighter ships approached. The quickly got behind the Blade as its pilot's comlink went off. Baylar Sordano leant over and flicked it on to listen.
"Unidentified vessel, please identify yourself. Failure to do so will result with you being eliminated with extreme prejudice." The pilot paused for a second before adding. "That means we'll kill you."
"Yeah. I got that," Baylar deadpanned. "This is Agent Remulus Thorne of Mandalore's Fist." The mercenary didn't exactly want to broadcast that he was coming so he went with one of his more well known aliases.
"Oh, uh, you're cleared to land then, Agent Thorne," The pilot answered quickly as the two ships broke off. Something Bay loved about that aliases was how well known it was. And how out of proportion the stories had been twisted.
Smirking to himself, he followed the control officer's instructions to land at the nearest open port. He set down, leaving T7-B3 in charge of the ship. The little astromech was wonderful as acting security and handling all the little jobs around the ship while he was out.
As B3 whistled affirmation, Bay grabbed his pistols and stepped them to his belt, followed by the red lightsaber in his possession and snapped his comlink on. He wanted to travel a bit lighter so he forwent his rifle, armor, and his lightsaber, though the last one was partially because his current company weren't real fond of Jedi. Or Sith for that matter but they tended to give the latter a wide berth.
Walking down the ramp, he stretched, looking around. The docking bay was almost completely empty. There was a twi'lek awaiting him though by the doors of the area. She was dressed in such a manner that Bay suspected that she was a slave or indentured dancer.
His suspicions were all but confirmed as she bowed to him as he approached. "Greetings, Master Sordano. I hope your trip was a pleasant trip."
"Sordano?" Baylar lifted an eyebrow. How'd she know his real name, not his aliases?
"Ah yes, the Gamemaster said that you were to be addressed as Sordano." She said, hanging her head. The comment though explained a lot. The Gamemaster was the one running this station and he was sending Bay a message that he knew everything on his station.
"Well, then thank you for greeting me, Miss...?"
"Leeta. Leeta Tiruna." She said, still bowing her head. Baylar frowned.
"Alright, Leeta, now, I need to go see this Gamemaster. I don't suppose you can tell me where to find him?"
"Yes, he is in the center of the station, overlooking the arena."
"Thanks, I appreciate the help." He said handing her a stack of almost ten thousand credits.
"But-!" She started, looking at the credits with shock.
"Take 'em. Pay off your your debt or something," Bay shrugged before patting her shoulder and walking past her. It'd help her a lot more than it'd help him.
Besides, he needed to go see the Gamemaster.
Baylar slid through the crowd, keeping a lay profile. Though, it was fairly easy. Most of the crowd was either more suspicious than him, more of a lowlife than him, or completely enraptured in the fight commencing in the arena. It made passing through as simple as just not attracting attention through something stupid.
As he walked, he glanced down to the arena. And what he saw gave him pause.
In the arena, several large war droids circled a figure. The person seemed to be limping and panting heavily, watching the droids and keeping them in her sight. Several other broken droids, beasts and assorted other things lay in small heaps around the circular pit. The thing that drew Bay's eye though was her weapon.
A shimmering red lightsaber, held in a backhanded grip.
As he watched, one of the droids bolted forward, it's two allies covering it with blaster fire. Before he saw what happened, an aqualish bumped his shoulder and growled at him as he passed, snapping the merc out of his trance.
Shaking his head clear, he resumed his trek. Weaving in and out of the crowds, he quickly found himself outside of the heavily crowded areas. Several fancier pods, like VIP rooms for the ceiling of fights, lay before him and he made his way through them, ignoring the angered stares of the patrons.
Finally, he made it to his destination. Two guards stood on either side of a thick steel door. They raised their rifles as they approached. "What do you want?"
"Names Thorne. I'm here to see the Gamemaster." Bay said simply, waving his hands in a 'calm down' gesture. "He's expecting me."
"He's not expecting no one," The guard stated, spitting at his feet. Bay resisted the urge to point out that if he wasn't expecting no one, than wouldn't be be expecting somebody? "So shoo. Unless you wanna be today's target practice."
"What is with you people here and rude greetings?"Bay sighed, his hand falling to his side, grasping the hilt of his lightsaber. It slid free of his belt and the sinister red blade sprang to life. As he did so, both guards took a step back and tightened their trips on their guns.
"You're a sith?" One asked, swallowing.
"No." He twirled the blade, leveling it at the guard's throat. "I /killed/ a sith. Now, I believe I had an appointment?"
"Y-yeah, you had an appointment." Saber throat answered, pressing a button. The massive door slid open and the guards stepped aside. Bay nodded his thanks and returned his blade to hike belt, calmly walking through.
The door slid shut behind him as he looked around. The room was plush. Red and silver carpets and furniture pervaded the area. The lighting was dim, almost annoyingly so. One wall was actually a massive window, giving an unchallenged veins of the arena below. Despite the lavish furnishings, it was quiet, save a gentle melody drifting from an unseen speaker.
In front of the window sat an enormous desk, housing the only figure in the room.
"Mister Sordano. You're late." He stated, a tired lilt tinting his voice.
"Sorry, your goons slowed me down." Baylar snorted, walking over to the window. "What do you want?"
The Gamemaster smiled. He'd known that Sordano was always to the point. And predictable, he'd been easy enough to lure here. Some people, or certain groups for that matter, simply acted in a perfectly set pattern. "It's quite simple," The man said, leaning forward. "I have a job for you."
Baylar looked out the window. The sith had dispatched two droids and was working on the third. "Impressive," he murmured, before looking back at the man. "I do a lot of jobs. Why would I do one for you?"
"Because I know you, Mister Sordano. I've done my homework." The Gamemaster commented lazily, taking a sip of a drink that sat on his desk. "You'll be interested in my offer."
"Unlikely." Bay had turned back to the window. "You don't know me."
"I disagree. Your aliases include Remulus Thorne, Ibius Munk, and Aconm. You are responsible for the Shadowshot job. Your main contractor is an Enforcer on Nar Shaddaa." He paused, as Bay ignored him. Then sighed and continued. "You were raised by a Wookiee named Geynik and a Twi'lek named Zii. You've spent the past while helping the Jedi on Rhen Var. You had a serious spice addiction during and undercover mission. You-"
"I get it." Baylar tensed. "I'm not interested though."
"Hear me out. All I need you to do is take care of an Imperial by the Name of Rasin Veran." The Gamemaster stated. "He's a slaver, a Sith, a spice trader. The kind of person you hate."
"Sounds like you. Why do you want him dead?"
"He's encroaching on my territory. And before you ask, I need you to do it because I want it to be clear that I am not to be crossed." The Gamemaster pressed a button, letting two Ackalays into the arena below.
"Fine. But in return, I want two things. First, my usual pay."
"Done. The second?"
"I want you to release the slave currently in the arena to my care." Bay said simply. Something about the figure...and it would tick off the Gamemaster.
"No. She is entertaining to view." The Gamemaster denied instantly. Then calmly took another sip of his drink as if he wasn't discussing the life of another person. Or just didn't care.
"Then how about a wager?" Bay offered after a second, watching the Sith barely avoid being impaled by one of the Ackalays.
"I'm listening."
"If she dies this round, I'll do the job for free. Kriff, I'll throw in the thirty thousand credits worth of Spice I have on the Blade." Bay proposed.
"And if she lives?"
"I'll still give the Spice and throw in some credits as payment for the slave."
"..." The Gamemaster was silent for several long seconds, watching as the sith was backed into a corner. Finally, he smiled. "Deal."
Baylar tossed a stack of credits on the desk as he felt a ripple in the air. Glancing at the Arena, he watched the Sith counter. She seemed to snap, tearing forward and slicing the first Ackalay into ribbons before roaring, roaring!, at the other and then treated it the same as its brethren. Baylar sighed in relief.
"The Spice'll be in Bay 46. Send some men in two hours for the trade." Bay smirked as he walked out.
Two hours later, Baylar declined against a wall. His foot rested on the Spice crate and he twirled his blaster in his right hand. He would twirl it before snapping it into his palm then repeating. Finally, the doors to the docking bay opened.
Two of Rapture's guards walked in, escorting an Echani. She was beaten, several cuts and bruises permeating her features and walked with a slight limp. Her hair was in disarray, hanging over her eyes. Both arms were bound behind her in thick full forearm binding shackles. A shock collar was fastened firmly to her neck.
"Got enough restraints?" Bay taunted, kicking the spice box over to the guards.
"No." One said, checking the contents of the box. "We had two more when we left."
"Oh," Bay arched an eyebrow. He walked over to the Echani, taking a softer tone. "Hey, I'm-"
He never finished. Before he could react, she kicked him in the chest, spun, and brought her fists down on his head. As he fell to one knee, he heard her shock collar go off and her yell. Panting heavily he got to his feet.
"Here. You'll need it." One of the guards tossed him the control for her collar. "And good luck."
"Yeah, yeah. I probably should have expected that," Bay grumbled, catching the small device and rubbing his head. He looked at it. Normally, he hated the things but he might be maimed if he loosed the Echani now.
He met her eyes for a second, shocked by their fierce pink hue. She didn't attack this time, just waited.
"What have I gotten myself into?" The merc grumbled, pocketing the key. He looked at her, once more. "So, what's your name?"
"Reaine." Reaine growled.
"Baylar." He replied, looking her over. "Alright, now let's get you cleaned up, no?"
Author's Note; Just something that's been cooking in my head. I had the station in mind and the Reiane/Bay meeting cropped in so I thought it'd be fun to right. It all just kinda fit perfectly into place.