Family Business

Koskian will now start us off...take it away and enjoy the ride

Koskian sat quietly, staring at the obese, yellow and greenish blob with eyes that sat across the table from him. Dressed in simple clothing, slacks and a white shirt with a brown vest, the Obelisk did not look at all like a Dark Jedi, which was for the best in a time where Jedi were being hunted by extra-galactic aliens. Sitting to his side was Talos, the newest recruit to the Tana Consortium, here on his first dealing to observe the Baron. Before them was the Hutt crimelord, Upchukka the Hutt. The two d'Tana were trying to broker a new deal on a shipment of slaves, to bring up production in one of the mining facilities they had hidden away.

“Bo shuda?”

Glancing over, Koskian could see the confusion on Talos' face.

“No, the price of 200 credits per slave is not acceptable.”

“Upchukka no bargain!” roared the gelatinous blob of talking fat.

“You will bargain if you want our business in the future...”

“Ho ho ho...200, no less.”

“I see this isn't going anywhere, we'll be taking our leave now...” the Baron was cut off as the sound of an explosion tore down the corridor outside the conference room.

The Primarch cursed as he kicked the table over, pulling Talos down with him as the door blew in and flames tore into the room. A roar of pain could be heard from the other side of the table, and Kosk peeked his head out to look, seeing a burnt mass of fat where Upchukka the Hutt had once sat.

“Well, looks like we won't be doing business with this one again, come Talos, we need to get back to the Galerian Fire before her guards think we have something to do with this.”

Talos nodded, dressed in his armor, the younger d'Tana had not been introduced to Upchukka or her underlings, and had been assumed a bodyguard. Koskian took stock of their situation, pulling his lightsaber hilt from it's hiding place and heading for the door. He knew his brother Alex waited on board the ship, as well as the head of external security, Rho. But who knew what they were dealing with. Taking a deep breath, he vaulted the upturned table and headed for the door, and promptly ducked back in as blaster fire erupted towards him.

“Looks like it's the hard way....” he muttered, pulling his pistol from it's holster.

Talos sensed the danger a second before he was yanked down by his Baron and the conference table being kicked over to protect the two Obelisks. Crouching behind the temporary cover, Talos slid out of his black overcloak, revealing his custom made Shadow armor, his only relic from his time as a Shadowtrooper. From his belt he withdrew his lightsaber and saw that Koskian had done the same with the addition of his lightsaber. "Alright...on my mark, move left and run like hell towards where we just came from. Talos nodded and watched his Baron and when he nodded, the Knight lept over the table and withdrew his Repeater and let a flurry of bolts fly as three Trandoshan bodyguards emerged from a side door and returned fire. Two went down and the third met his end as a blaster bolt was batted back from Koskian's lightsaber.

The two Dark Jedi barged through another door, leading out into the crisp night air and went back-to-back as five Weequay's surronded them. Moving as one, streaks of red and orange bit through the night and the five Weequay fell before them, but not before one fired at Talos, the bolts riddling his armor, but the underlayers keeping him alive. Koskian flipped backwards and finished off the last Weequay and helped his newest recruit rise and get to the incoming Galerian Fire. The ship set down on its repulsor lifts and the boarding ramp opened and Rho Ozrei d'Tana ran down the ramp and helped the injured d'Tana on board.

Later

Talos, his right shoulder healed all for an ugly black scar, was examining his armorweave robes that he had just purchased from a black market dealer. Stepping into a refresher, he donned the robes and was quite satisified with their fit. Making his way back towards the Galerian Fire, the youngest d'Tana walked on board to see Koskian, the Baron, with his brother, Alex, and Talos's own former Master, Rho, gathered around a holo-table, examining the holo-vids of the explosion that had ruined the deal and killed Upchukka. "Anything?" asked Talos. "Not yet" replied Alex as Talos joined the trio at the table.

Koskian sighed as they looked over the footage again, wondering why there had been an explosion.

“Could be a rival Hutt lord, we were probably in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said his brother, Alex.

“We do dealings with a lot of Hutts, Alex, most of them would recognize us and wouldn't want to jeopardize the arrangements we have,' replied Rho.

“Well now....we knew Upchukka wasn't well liked, but I sensed nothing when that bomb went off, which suggests it was timed. Somebody knew Upchukka was going to be in there,” stated Koskian.

“Yeah, but...” started Talos, before a twittering over the intercom system cut him off.

Jumping from his seat, Koskian sprinted towards the cockpit of his ship. A quick glance at the sensors showed a dozen or more Headhunter fighters in pursuit of them. No comm activity showed on any of the systems, which Kosk took as an immediate sign of hostility.

The lead Headhunter opened up, firing scarlet bursts at the freighter, the shields easily absorbing and deflecting the blasts. Growling, the d'Tana Baron settled into the pilot seat and switched on the intercom.

“This is your Captain speaking....some fools in a squadron of outdated fighters have decided to try and take the Fire down. Apparently they don't know were Dark Jedi....Rho if you'd be kind enough to take the upper turret control, Talos the lower. Alex secure the scotch so as to insure none of it's damaged in this little spat, thank you.”

Smiling to himself, Koskian brought his ship around and informed his R4 not to engage it's targeting. His boys could use the fun and target practice. Modulating the shields, the Primarch switched manual control over of the dual laser turrets to the turret bays.

“Fire when ready lads!”