Dormo's POV
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"Send the squad to docking bay 260 now. I want them to be there when those Twilek smugglers arrive," commanded Dormo in his authoritative voice.
A transmission had recently come in from Merel and Othria saying that they would be arriving very soon. That was when Dormo had called his squad of ten to him and gave them their orders. They were to go to the docks, get the shipment, and take it for free. Whether taking it involved pain, death, or just plain intimidation...he didn't care. As long as those two cheating, lying, smugglers didn't get away with this.
The squad before him stood in common clothing for spacers and armed with blasters. All of them stood at attention in a row, but the leader stood out among them. He was a man of good looks and good stature. One of his personal and favored lackeys. He held his blaster at his side and nodded to Dormo, accepting the orders. He then turned to the hired guns and told them to move out. The men, and women, who were all under his command, moved and started out of the home. Dormo remained where he was, fingers laced together in an eloquent fashion. He thought.
The time that it took for Othria and Merel to complete the mission was...promising. They could have made a very good living...if they hadn't planned on crossing him the way they had. He didn't give the orders to kill, but two Twileks would be found dead in a river somewhere if they decided to put up a fight. All he wanted was to make sure their little smuggler business was destroyed and that no crime lord would give them another job. No one took money away from Dormo. Well...with the exception of the Hutts.
Dormo was a crime boss on Nal Hutta. It was hard to be a wealthy and successful crime boss on the planet of the Hutts. Dormo was a very selfish human man with a pot belly and a bald head. He craved money and was a very greedy person. He doesn't think of anyone else, except himself and himself alone.
Dormo didn't like paying taxes. No, he most certainly did not. The Hutts on Nal Hutta, along with all their other controlled planetary systems, enforced a tax on all is residents. Being as greedy as he was, he always tried to evade having to pay and so far has gotten away with it.
Being a crime boss meant you were hard to find but known very well...A good crime boss that is. Dormo was a struggling crime lord and not nearly as successful as he would like to be. Personally, he blamed it on the Hutts because of their laws and restrictions. He supposed it was silly of him to remain on Nal Hutta with the type of business he conducted, but he continued to stay. The reason he did this was because he feared what would happen if he left the Hutt system.
Dormo didn't pay his taxes, and often broke some of the laws whether it was known or not...The Hutts didn't like him as it was and he always said he couldn't pay the taxes. Always, he had some excuse ready to fire at the Hutts. Perhaps this wasn't a wise decisions on his part, but it worked. The Hutts gave him more time to pay it up...but he never would. Only when he was certain he could make it off of Nal Hutta without them sending bounty hunters after him, would Dormo ever leave. So Dormo remained on Nal Hutta, with the Hutts being the over-Lords and true crime bosses.
It may sound like he and the Hutts knew each other well and were aware of each other, but that is not the case. The Hutts hardly know he exists...at least, according to his sources. Dormo is just very aware of them. He dodges interactions with them at any cost and they never have come looking for him, so Dormo assumed that they didn't care about one citizen out of entire systems that didn't pay their taxes.
Dormo sighed and shifted in his seat. All he wanted was more. All he wanted was those crates of weapons and having to only pay a decent price for them, not over so! He was a simple man. A simple man who happened to help organize crime.
The man looked at the time on the holo right beside him. They would be arriving soon, he thought. Very soon...
.......
Merel
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They pulled down into docking bay 260z it was a drab and darker area they were in, for it was night, but there a few lights on that allowed Merel vision to land on the ground and not on the surrounding walls.
The ship settled down in the bay pretty easily and smoothly. Once it was down, Merel turned to Othria who looked back at him with tired eyes. For the remainder of their journey, they had sat in the cockpit in a peaceful silence. It had been hard to stay awake up until now, but they had managed it.
"You alright?" Merel asked his sister. She stretched then, cracking her fingers and neck. Nodding, she replied, "Yeah I'm good." With that, she sat up from her seat and looked out the window, alarm shown on her face. Merel followed her gaze and his breath stopped short at the sight of ten people coming into the docking bay. They wore more civilian clothing and only some had armor. Men and women whom had been sent by Dormo no doubt. There was an awful lot for them just to have come to take the cargo....
"Let's go," commanded Merel, "armed and ready. Don't let your guard down." She scoffed, "Yeah, no kidding."
Ignoring her attitude, Merel started to the hangar section with the loading ramp, Othria right behind him. They walked in silence. When they reached the ramp, Othria pressed the button to lower the ramp down. As it did, the scene was revealed to them in full.
All ten men and women stood seemingly casual, and their leader stood in the front. He was a blonde haired man with dark eyes and a smug smirk that graced his lips. Merel noticed how he scanned both of them with a challenging menace, but didn't remove the smirk from his chiseled face.
Several of the men and women didn't look them in the eye like the blond man did. They mostly kept their gazes either on the Drexl or on the Twilek's weapons which were strapped to their sides. But two of the those people caught his eye...for they caught his.
One, was a male of some sort. He had blazing orange-red hair and sharp green eyes. A scar crossed over his left eye and made the handsome man look mean and intimidating. The other was a woman. She had dark black hair put up in a braided pony tail and dagger-like blue eyes. They were like crystals imbedded in human skin. They were a dark blue and held a calculating look...He didn't want to fight those two people out of all of Dormo's men. They appeared the most deadly.
The bowl-like landing bay had a few storage crates that were shoved against the dusty walls. Merel didn't see a docking merchant anywhere at the terminal by the doors which he thought was odd. He causally let his arms hang down near his weapons. Othria did the same, placing her hands on hips as they came to a stop on the ground.
The blond man, whom Merel had turned his attention to, crossed his arms and spoke, his voice echoing through the docking bay, "You've arrived! Good to know you didn't attract any Imperial attention?" Merel nodded curtly and looked over to his sister. "Indeed," she started, her voice taking on a silk-like tone, "we have the cargo. Forty-two crates of weapons locked in steel. They're Dormo's if he can pay up." The blond haired man nodded, seeming to accommodate. He strode up to them then, and held out a chip. "A third paid up front. Over 8,400 out of 21,000 credits. We will pay you the rest once we unload all the crates. Proper business." Othria took the chip from him then checked it to make sure it was authentic. It was, according to her scanner. So she nodded and the blond gave orders to go unload the crates.
Othria looked to Merel who nodded and went to go show them to the cargo hold while she stayed watch.
Merel led nine men and women,who were most likely hired guns, into their ship and into the cargo hold. He showed them the crates and they got to work. They began the hard process of unloading.
Merel went over and stood across from one of the women in the troop. The one with the deep-sea eyes. She looked up at him and nodded. They had a silent communication and he helped her lift the crate off the ground. Slowly and painfully, they made their way out of the ship and placed the crate on the ground.
When the purple Twilek looked up at the woman, sweat beaded on his brow, she didn't even appear winded. She just looked at him with a calm gaze and tilted her head to the side. Her brow furrowed in silent question. I'm good," he said. That was all he needed to say apparently, for she just shrugged and made her way up the ramp again. He followed.
Once they finished unloading all the crates, Merel walked to his sister's side. They both stood in front of their ship, facing the man and his workers. A thick tension now filled the air, and silence coated it all. Merel could hear his pounding heart as he scanned the group in front of them. His dark gaze looking for threats and trying to anticipate what was to happen now.
It was uncomfortable to say the least, and it was like a staring contest. Who would break first?
As the pilot scanned the group of most likely, hired guns, he locked eyes with one. It was the woman with the cold gaze. She looked directly at him and didn't break eye contact. He watched as her hand moved down to her waist where two pistols were holstered to a belt that slung low across her waist. Her dark, spacer style clothing didn't hide her tense muscles as she placed now both hands on either weapon. She nodded at him. A silent message.
Suddenly, Othria broke the silence. "So, are you going to give us the rest of our payment, or what?" The man chuckled, causing Merel to move his gaze to him. The blond haired man shook his head with a small smirk on his face, chuckling. "I'm so sorry my dear, but that simply isn't the case."
Merel and Othria exchanged looks. When his sister turned to look back at the man, her words came out in a dangerous manner, "Excuse me?" The man glared at her in the eye and Merel did his best not to attack him right then and there. He said, "What you have is what you will get. Dormo doesn't want to pay you anymore than that." "But that's not what we-" He cut her off. "I'm afraid your going to have to accept the reality of the situation. That, or we will fight. And i don't know if you want that."
Anger flooded through his veins. They should have seen this coming. They should have been more prepared. They should have just gone with the original bargain!
"Give us what we earned," spoke Merel, his voice taking on a commanding edge. The man glared at him now. He said, "No. so back down or we will-" Suddenly a blaster shot rang throughout the docking bay, startling every person.
Merel looked in shock as he watched the man's face pale, and body still. A blaster shot had gone straight through the man's head, leaving him in mid-sentence. He fell to his knees then collapsed completely on the floor. Once he did, that cleared the way for Merel to see where the shot came from.
It came from a shadowy figure who aimed a sniper rifle. He laid flat on his stomach on the shelf of the docking bay where crates were stored. He reloaded his blaster and took aim again. That next shot caused havoc to ensue.
He didn't know what was happening, just that Othria had grabbed his hand and hid behind a crate. The two panicked Twileks fell to the ground behind one. And as he looked into his sister's eyes, he could tell that she was alarmed. She was afraid. "What in all space is happening!" Exclaimed Othria as she tried to peer around the crate.
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Othria's POV
She hadn't a clue what was happening. Just that there was blaster fire and people, Dormo's people, were dying. They were fighting each other? No that couldn't be...
The purple Twilek looked around the crate and at the battle. There was a man, one she could hardly see due to shadows and darkness, on the top of the docking bay's shelf. And there were two people in the fray of the battle who appeared to also be fighting against the men and women. She couldn't believe her eyes.
One of the two was a man with blazing red hair and a scar across his face. He held a large blaster and shot at the men, taking down three or four. The other was the woman whom she had pin pointed as a threat earlier. She held a pistol in one hand and a blade in the other. It was amazing to watch as she multitasked and took out the rest of them.
The woman's blade crossed with another and there was a stalemate between the two humans until she pulled up her gun and pulled the trigger. The stalemate was broken.
The man with the red hair stood on top of a crate and blasted at the guys until all his opponents were dead or severely wounded. And suddenly, silence was brought over the battle field, or the docking bay, rather.
Othria watched from behind her and Merel's protection as the woman and man sheathed their weapons. As they did so, the man in the shadows hopped down and hit the floor of the docking bay, causing dirt and dust to spray around him.
When the figure emerged from the shadows, for there was some light casted from a nearby bulb, her mouth dropped. He had no face it seemed.
The man wore a black mask to cover his features. His rifle was strapped to his back now and he wore a white shirt, and long brown pants with a belt. To complete his menacing ensemble, he wore a long brown cloak and a hat which hid his dark mask in more shadow.
The shady figure walked directly over to the man and woman then, who in turn, greeted him. "Nice shootin' Timbo," spoke the man with the red hair. Timbo as his name was, silently nodded then pointed to the crate. Right at Othria.
Alarmed, the young Twilek took her head back behind the crate, but realized it was too late. Footsteps crunched against the dry ground. She immediately looked to her left, where her brother sat, weapons out. She gulped then nodded and silently pulled out her own pistol.
Once they each had there weapons out and were watching either side of the crate, the footsteps came to a standstill...Othria could feel her heart pounding in her chest. It was like a beating drum and it was so loud, she feared everyone all the way to Naboo could hear it.
"Hey, hey, hey," started a male voice. He had a slight twang in his voice that gave him an accent. It reminded her of some farming boy she had met years ago...but this man's voice was a lot deeper. More menacing. "Come on out now, we ain't gonna hurt ya'. We saw you two hidin'. Come out to play now," he baited. Othria refused to move.
What shocked her now though, was the sound of a hard thunk which reminded her of a slap. "Shut it Blaze. If I were hiding and heard you, I wouldn't come out either," stated a female voice. This voice was very stern, no accent, and commanding. She was the leader then, Othria assumed. The leader continued, "Hey, Twileks. We ARE friendly. We are enemies of Dormo, hired bounty hunters. Get out here and don't make me drag you out," she said. Silence followed, then..."Oh yeah, real nice. I would listen to a bounty hunter when she said she was friendly," said the man, Blaze. Another thunk.
Before anyone could say anything else, Othria stood and walked out from her hiding place. Merel didn't even have the chance to stop her for once.
As she emerged, she said, "At least she didn't sound like a killer." She was met with a small smirk from the dark haired woman, and a frown from the man. The other however, the man in shadow, remained stoic. Because
of the mask that hid his face, Othria couldn't see where he was looking...It was unsettling.
After a few moments, Othria heard Merel come out then take a stand beside his sister. She didn't make eye contact with him, but was aware of every one of his movements. "Hello," Merel said to them. That was when the woman seemed to take on a darker look. It was time for business.
"My name is Olympia. At least, that's what it is according to you," the bounty hunter began. She then jabbed a finger to the two behind her. "Red hair one with the big mouth is Blaze. Man with the mask, that's Timbo. You two are coming with us," she said. Though the statement was clearly a demand, Othria protested. "Why should we come with you?" She asked, her own voice firm. The Hunter, Olympia as it was, gave her a look full of daggers and steel. "You will come with us. You have no choice. Dormo will be placing a bounty on your heads by the time he hears of this and soon every under paid hunter will be after you. With us, you'll be safe and besides, you really don't have much choice." Blaze, for emphasis, gave an evil smirk and tapped the hilt of the vibro knife on his hip. Needless to say, Othria did not wish to be on the cutting end of that blade.
The purple Twilek glanced nervously at her brother. She needed his consent before they made a decision. Merel looked back at her, then away. His voice was hard, cold...and authoritative as he inquired, "Go with bounty hunters to escape bounty hunters? Enlighten me why wouldn't you turn us in yourselves." He made a good case...though she wasn't sure if a "good case" would help them at the moment.
Olympia sighed and rolled her eyes. Placing a hand on her hip, she responded, "We already have a contract. It's to hunt down Dormo and put an end to his criminal enterprise...The Hutts aren't a real big fan of him. He's cloggin' up business. So they hired us to take him out...and what the Hutts can pay is far more than what a small town crime lord can ever hope to make." Othria bit her lip and Merel clenched his jaw.
Her eyes then glanced at the weapons of the hunters...compared to their own, they wouldn't stand a fighting chance. And so, both Twileks glanced at each other once more and made a silent decision. Othria then spoke, "Fine. We will go with you, but...what exactly do you want from us?" Olympia grinned. A feral, cold, and predatorily like grin. "Why," she began, "I want you two to help us catch little Dormo. We need someone to play bait, don't we?"
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YOU ARE READING
Starwars- The Edge
Science FictionTwo smugglers with big dreams accept a job but have much difficulty completing it. It all starts because the employer doesn't like the prices he would be paying the pair...
