Altered Legacies

2 years prior to The Force Awakens...
A persistent and interactive galaxy set shortly before the events of Episode VII

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Halomek
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Re: Altered Legacies

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A general rule of thumb on Nar Shaddaa was that it best to mind your own business. Sticking your neck out for anybody here was a good way to get it cut off, but Tav had a hard time following that advice. Despite his chosen profession, he had come from a loving family and had a sense of morality that was generally at odds with living on the Smuggler's Moon. More often than not, it got him into trouble he could have easily avoided.

So when he heard the sound of a woman being assaulted, he couldn't turn a blind eye to it. With some regret, he kissed the hand of the Zeltron waitress he had been wooing before releasing it and got up to look around for the source of the commotion. It didn't take him long to find it. Some hulking sub-humanoid and his two friends were harassing a girl with sandy blond hair at the bar. She looked to be about his age and seemed oddly familiar to him.

With a start he realized it was Isis Sinclair, the daughter of Isaac Sinclair. Tav knew the man well, or rather his exploits; he was a national hero. Tav had even voted for him in the election. He remembered seeing Isis by her father's side in the celebration holos that had been taken afterwards. He waited a moment for the bodyguards Isis no doubt had nearby to intervene, but when no one seemed to rush to help her, Tav knew something was wrong.

Without hesitation, Tav drew his blaster and pegged the big man in the shoulder with a blaster bolt from behind. The brute yelled in pain and released Isis as the three spun around to face him, drawing their own weapons. The big one seemed more annoyed than anything about the smoking wound in his shoulder. No doubt he was on some kind of narcotic. The band was experienced enough to keep playing, but several other bar patrons got quiet and moved their hands to their weapons as they waited to see how this was going to play out.

“Who dares?!” the man demanded as he narrowed his eyes in Tav's direction.

“I dares,” Tav replied mockingly as he kept his blaster leveled at them. He then waved with his free hand. “Hi, how are ya? This might be hard to get through that thick skull of yours, but the lady wasn't interested. Why don't you leave now before things get out of hand?”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis' mind was racing. Obviously she wasn't strong enough to break out of this guy's grasp on her own and as she looked up into his eyes it become much clearer that him and his two friends were on something. Some kind of drug, or whatever, but whatever it was also made them practically immune to pain. Her foot was starting to get sore from kicking him so much but the giant man barely seemed to feel any of it. He might, though, eventually when he comes down from his high but that wasn't going to help her in the interim. That was when a blaster bolt suddenly rang out and struck the big lug in the back of his shoulder. He immediately dropped her and she fell to her knees then him and his two friends turned to face their attacker. Isis followed their gaze as well and much to her surprise she found her mark standing up on top of a table, blaster in hand.

"Oh things are about to get out of hand," the big lug hissed at Tav from across the room.

With a start Isis realized these three lummoxes were going to kill her one chance to have an audience with Dorval and desperately she began looking for something, anything to stop it from happening. That's when she noticed the light right above the hulking behemoth's head. Without any hesitation she was on her feet and using the bar stool as a stair she hopped up on top of the bar and jumped towards the light. She grabbed onto the stem securing it to the ceiling and with a jerk she broke it free, though truth be told her own body weight did most of the work. She fell onto the floor with splinters of wood and plaster falling on top of her then she quickly stood and stomped on the hooded light until the cable came loose.

By now the four men were trading blaster bolts back and forth as bar patrons dove to the side for cover. Tav had flipped over a bar table to shield himself from his three opponents but with three guns trained on him he was thoroughly out matched. Fortunately that meant the three lummoxes were all distracted, so Isis snuck up behind the biggest one, the one who had held her previously, and stuck the live wire directly into his back. The lights throughout the rest of the bar flickered violently for several seconds before going completely out. The huge brute in front of her screamed in pain but the shock treatment seemed to do the trick as he slowly toppled over onto his face. Isis stepped forward to check for a pulse and satisfied she didn't kill him she dropped the wire. A short while later the lights started gradually coming back on and the brute's two friends turned to look at her.

Isis had her blaster out and trained on them and gradually the two men realized she had them dead to rights. With their guns trained on Tav there was no way they could turn and fire before she had taken them both out. "Like the man said it's time to leave, and take this trash with you," she said, kicking the brute in his ribs.

The two traded looks before finally holstering their blasters. Then each of them lifted one of their friend's arms over the shoulder and half carried, half dragged him out of the bar. Isis turned to look back at the bartender who was staring up at the hole in his ceiling with a pained expression. "Sorry," she said simply and then she tossed him another couple of cred chits, these with an amount that would be more than enough to repair the damage and then some.
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“Well that was unexpected,” Tav said as he holstered his weapon and walked over to Isis. “I just shot the guy to put their attention on me so you could escape. I didn't think you'd use it as an opportunity to fry the oaf. I guess those stories about your father sending you to Beruss were true.”

Isis looked startled that he knew who she was. “How did you-”

Tav grinned as he interrupted her. “I pay attention to what's going on back home,” he said with a wink before he introduced himself in a more subdued tone to discourage any eavesdropping: “Tav Garvin. What do you say we make tracks before everyone else realizes who you are? There are a lot of folks around here who wouldn't think twice about trying to hold a senator's daughter for ransom.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis was both surprised and annoyed at how easy this all was. Grendi had promised her a hard bounty but the mark practically just walked up to her and turned himself in. "Um, yeah sure," she whispered back in a subdued voice, one that almost sounded like disappointment, "I just have to do one thing," she added.

Tav looked perplexed, "What's that?"

"This," she said and before he could even react she slapped a binder cuff on him. Then with a twist of his arm she made him reactively turn in response to relieve the pressure. That's when she slapped the binder cuff on his other wrist and relieved him of his weapon. "I can't believe this," she muttered mostly to herself but loud enough for Tav to hear, "Grendi had said this would be hard. This is practically embarrassing."

When she was done securing him she nudged him forward towards the exit of the bar. "Really sorry about this, Ace. You're a stand up guy and I appreciate the help back there but this is business and my friend's in trouble. Now where's your ship?"

"My what," he asked, feigning ignorance.

Isis just rolled her eyes and let out an explosive sigh. "Look, the contract was explicit. I need you and your ship, now where is it?"
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“It's on one of the docking-pads nearby,” Tav said to her nonchalantly. “Just testing to make sure you're the real deal.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Isis Sinclair: bounty hunter. Huh! Gotta admit I didn't see that one coming.”

She nudged him again. “Just get moving and don't try anything.”

He shrugged like it was no big deal and started walking. “Well, if I had to get caught, I'd rather it was you instead of some other bounty hunter.” He chuckled. “What a story this is going to make! All those near misses, and it's Isis Sinclair of all people who finally nabs me!”

“You're taking this entirely too well,” Isis said to him, suspicion dripping from her voice. “Aren't you mad you finally got caught?”

Tav led them up a pedestrian overpass that crossed over a busy road. He then turned to face her as he casually leaned against the guardrail. “Well, I guess you could say I'm a little starstruck. I had a bit of a crush on you when I was younger. I mean, what Corellian boy wouldn't?”

Tav saw his words had the intended effect even though Isis hid it well. It didn't matter what those words meant to her, the real purpose was to distract her. He took that opportunity to scan the speeders in the oncoming lane behind her and made a quick mental calculation.

“I don't need your life story!” she snapped as she motioned for him to keep walking. “Let's just get this over with!”

Tav stood back up as he took a step or two forward. “Another reason I'm not mad? I know the terms of that bounty by heart. Dorval made it explicitly clear that I'm not to be harmed in any way. Makes it pretty tough to stop me when I do something like THIS!”

He then twisted his body and fell over the overpass guardrail. For a brief second he saw a startled Isis try to reach out and grab him, but she was too late. Tav landed on the back of a cargo drone and rolled with the impact, tucking his legs in as he did so in order to slip his manacled wrists under his feet and back to the front where they belonged.

He almost rolled too far and had to catch himself on a small sensor dish to keep from falling off. Tav allowed himself a brief sigh of relief before he reached into his front jacket pocket, pulling out a tiny pick to put between his teeth to work on the lock. After a few minutes there was a satisfying click as the binders disengaged and freed him.

Tav nodded in triumph as he rubbed his wrists and glanced behind him. He almost did a doubletake when he saw Isis was on the back of another cargo drone a few vehicle lengths trailing his. He had to grin despite himself; she was a lot more persistent than he thought she'd be. This day was getting more and more interesting. Tav chuckled to himself before purposely looking in Isis' direction and making sure he had her attention before he casually tossed the binders to the sidewalk.

The message was clear: you'll have to do better than that if you want to catch me.

Tav then pulled out his comlink. “Quex, fire up the Sled. I'm going to need a pick-up...”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis didn't waste a second, after Tav had dumped himself over the guard rail she went after him. She didn't need to make the same calculation he did, though, she just got lucky and landed on a cargo drone as it was flying past. Tav was a couple of car lengths ahead of her and she desperately needed to close the distance. Up ahead she could see him taking off his binder cuffs and then waving them at her to taunt her. "Why that little...," She started, making a face at him, "I'll make him regret he did that." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a magnetic grappling hook. Tav was just about out of reach but if she could close the distance, even just a little...

She screwed the grappling bolt into her blaster pistol then moved to the back of the drone. Bracing herself to make a running start she ran towards the front of the drone as fast as she could and jumped off. The distance to the next car was too great, but then she wasn't aiming for the next car. Instead she landed on another cargo hauler just below her and rolled with the impact managing to maintain her forward momentum as she came up on her feet and then began running the length of the hauler. She still had eyes on Tav's cargo drone just above her and when she was close enough she jumped off the cargo hauler, took aim and fired at Tav's drone. The magnetic bolt clamped onto the bottom of the drone with a soft thunk and then began reeling her in.

meanwhile, the drone continued speeding through the infrastructure of Nar Shaddaa with Isis hanging several feet beneath it. Above her she could see Tav looking down from the top of the drone. The two locked eyes for a moment then Tav Garvin began desperately looking for another way out...
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Re: Altered Legacies

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There were a lot of things Tav could do, but most of them would likely either hurt or kill Isis and he wasn't eager to do that. Aside from being the daughter of a man he actually admired, Isis seemed like a decent person herself. That line about having a crush on her back in the day might also have had an element of truth to it....

So extreme options were out. What did that leave him? He had no grapple gun of his own, so he couldn't pull the same trick she had. However Tav was willing to bet he knew the ins and outs of Nar Shaddaa a lot better than Isis did. He could probably lose her with a foot chase through the city if he jumped to one of the platforms he knew would be coming up.

But did he really want to?

That was an interesting question he hadn't expected to ask himself. What was it she had said back at the Soul Diamond? She was after him because her friend was in trouble? He was pretty sure he didn't know anybody connected to the Sinclairs, so why was she so intent on capturing him?

“Quex is going to kill me,” he muttered to himself before he pulled out his comlink again. “Quex, we're going to have company. Give her a non-lethal greeting.”

He shut off the comlink before Quex could yell at him for doing something reckless. Tav then looked over the side and saw that Isis had managed to climb the cable and was slowly working her way up the side of the cargo drone using some kind of handheld magnetic grapplers.

“Do you need a hand?” he asked loudly, so that his voice carried over the wind.

“Shut up!” she growled back as she continued to inch her way up the side.

Tav feigned a shrug. “Have it your way.” Then he felt the comlink in his pocket buzz. “It's been fun, but my stop is coming up. Maybe the next time we meet, we can share a drink instead of playing in traffic.”

He left the side before Isis could ask him what he meant. They were well and truly over the cavernous abysses of the city now. Traffic patterns being what they were, the slow cargo drone was all the way on the far lane, which made it a perfect platform for the Starlight Sled to approach. The YT-2000 came from underneath the cargo drone and kept pace with the bulky vehicle.

It was a bit of providence that Isis had chosen to climb the opposite side. She managed to to finally ascend to the top just as Tav turned to give her a jaunty salute with his index and middle finger together before he stepped off of the cargo drone and landed on top of the Starlight Sled. The top hatch was already open, so he rushed towards it. He didn't need to look behind him to guess that Isis was still in pursuit. Anybody who would leap into traffic after him wouldn't let the appearance of a starship scare them off.

Tav practically jumped down the stairwell into the ship. He was barely out of the stairwell before he felt himself get tackled from behind. Isis was already forcing his arm behind his back when Quex rolled in to see what was going on. The droid looked like a standard R2-unit with white and gray paneling, but he was anything but standard.

Isis looked up at him for a brief moment before one of Quex's panels popped open to reveal a hidden blaster. Tav could feel Isis tense in surprise, but that was all she got the chance to do as Quex shot her with a stun blast a split second later. She collapsed on top of him in a heap. Tav rolled her off and stood up, stretching the arm Isis had forced behind his back.

“That was a little closer than I was expecting,” he said with a laugh. “I didn't think she'd be that fast.”

“And now there's an unconscious woman on the floor,” Quex griped as he rolled over to her. “I don't suppose you feel like explaining any of this to me?”

“I'm still figuring that out myself, buddy,” Tav promised as he knelt down and retrieved his blaster before relieving Isis of hers. “Can you use your scanners to see if she has any other weapons on her?”

“Several,” Quex answered.

“Great,” Tav said with a sigh. “I feel really skeevy about this, but I need you to tell me where she's hiding them and then get some rope. We need to keep her tied up until I get some answers.”

***

By the time Isis woke up, she was securely tied to one of the passenger chairs in the lounge. One might even say there was an excessive amount of rope used to keep her in place. Tav sat across from her, blaster in hand. When he noticed that she was waking up, he leveled the weapon at her. It was set to stun and there was no way he'd miss at such a range.

Isis tried to move at first before looking down to see her predicament. She looked up at Tav with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, I know,” he answered the silent question. “I don't have a whole lot of experience taking people captive and you're a bit too dangerous for me to consider doing anything less.”

She tried to move around again experimentally, but the rope was tight, binding, and everywhere. “What are you going to do to me?”

“I'm going to ask you some questions,” Tav said to her. “Now, depending on your answers, I'll either untie you and let you go, or stun you again and drop you off somewhere out of my way.”

“Wouldn't untying me be taking a chance?”

“Maybe,” he agreed. “I'm betting on you having a sense of honor though. We'll see how it all goes once we're done talking.” Tav adjusted himself slightly to get a bit more comfortable. “Now, you say you're after the bounty Dorval placed on me. I want to know why. What does capturing me have to do with helping your friend?”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis was not amused, this was a serious blow to her ego. She was supposed to be the captor not that captive. If word got out about this she could forget about her career as a bounty hunter. No client would ever take her seriously again. In frustration she struggled against her bonds one more time trying desperately to force something loose. She had escaped from being tied up before but this was the first time she'd been practically mummified by rope. No amount of moving or dislocating her joints was going to help her out of this one. Finally she gave up and just glared at the man that had potentially ended her career.

"First of all," she began in an icy tone, "I don't see why I have to explain myself to you and secondly...,"

She stopped then when she realized that she didn't have anything to add for a 'secondly'. "Look, I just don't have to explain myself to you, alright," she finished sheepishly and in a vain attempt to regain some dignity she immediately tried to change the subject, "And what's the deal with that R2 unit, huh? Who gives an R2 a blaster?"
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“I've got a better question,” Tav said to her. “Why do you think so many other bounty hunters have failed to collect on me? I'm a decent shot and a decent fighter, but I'm pretty sure everyone who has come after me, yourself included, could beat me in a straight fight.”

“I didn't really think about it,” Isis admitted.

Tav rolled his eyes. “That's your problem right there, Isis! All of your skills mean nothing if you just charge blindly into every situation. I had you beat the moment you slapped those cuffs on me. It told me that you were impulsive and I knew I could use that against you.” He grinned ruefully. “The funny thing is that if you had been a little more patient you probably could have sweet-talked me into going to Dorval willingly. You know... not once has anyone actually tried asking me.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis leveled a glare at him. That remark about being impulsive hit a little too close to home. "Fine," she said curtly, "then I'm asking."

"Not until you tell me why," he insisted, "Why is it so important?"

Isis was silent for a long time then she let out an explosive sigh. "Look, even if I tell you you're not going to understand it. Hell, I was there and I barely understand it!"

Tav just shrugged, "Well, as a Famous Corellian once said, 'You never know until you try.'"

"Really," Isis asked him pointedly, "A famous Corellian? Which one?"

"I--well...," he started, choking on his own words, "Look, someone probably said it. Just tell me what's going on."

Isis sighed and rolled her eyes before looking away. "There's a planet not far from here called Juoi," she began, "A week ago my friend received a message that her father, whom she's never met, was being held in a detention center there. It was the first solid lead we've had on Habas' location in four years so we sort of hijacked my father's yacht and flew out there."

"Wait, Habas," Tav interrupted, his eyes wide in surprise, "As in Habas Molariou? The famous assassin? Your friend is his daughter?!"

Isis was a bit put off by his shock and also sort of regretting mentioning Habas by name. She didn't know anything about this man or whether she could truly trust him so letting that slip was a major error on her part. "Um, yes," she said simply, "Anyway, when we got there we found out it was all a trap. Someone was using Habas' capture to lure Hirai out of hiding. We're not sure why or for what and we don't really know who, but more and more it's starting to look like Juoi's government is behind this. Their leader is--,"

"Jaska the Hutt, I've heard," Tav interrupted and Isis made a face at him because of it.

"Well, did you also hear he was once part of the Trinivii Kajidic," she asked him, "That's how this whole thing started. I came here looking for information on Jaska so I tried to set up a meeting with Dorval but I needed to 'prove' myself first. That's when they gave me this stupid bounty. Like I said, it's not personal but I will do anything to protect Hirai. She's like family to me."
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Tav was thoughtful for a moment before he looked behind Isis. “What do you think, Quex? Should we trust her?”

The droid was not hesitant to reply. “No.”

Isis looked shocked as she tried to crane her neck to see the droid, but wasn't able to since he was directly behind her. Clearly she'd had no idea the little droid had been behind her this whole time. She looked back at Tav. “He can talk too?”

“All droids can talk,” he replied with a shrug. “The only difference is that Quex isn't relegated to Droidspeak like other R2 units. He's one of a kind.”

“Clearly,” she grumbled as she struggled with the ropes again. “Well, can you tell him not to worry? If you're coming with me, then I've got no reason to fight you any longer.”

“I've got your word on that?”

She nodded. “You have my word.”

Tav considered it for a moment. “Alright, I'll go. I suppose helping your friend out is as good a reason to put an end to this bounty as I'm going to find. Cut her loose, Quex.”

“For the record, I still don't trust you,” Quex said to her resentfully before a panel opened and he started cutting through the ropes with a small saw blade.

Tav smiled before standing and holstered his blaster. “Congratulations, Isis. You've just made Dorval one very happy Hutt.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Quex made a few cuts with his saw blade and eventually the ropes loosened and then fell to the floor. Isis was grateful to finally be able to stand and immediately started stretching out her sore limbs and wrists. When Tav congratulated her on a successful hunt she just made a face. "I honestly really don't care if Dorval is happy or not. My contract was to catch you and your ship and bring you back. If you show up and say no to his offer then that's not my fault. Capturing you just gets me through the door. Hell, I'll even help you escape if the pay is right," she added with a wry smile. Though truth be told she'd probably do it even if he wasn't paying.

Tav Garvin was not the sort of gentleman she typically hunted and she had a few mixed feelings about leaving him to fend for himself with a Hutt. Well, that and his admission of a crush may have influenced her as well. "Anyway, what can you tell me about Dorval before we go in?" She continued, "I don't know very much about him other than what casinos he owns."
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“I've only done a few jobs for him in the past, but Dorval seems relatively honest for a Hutt,” Tav said to Isis. “Do the job and he'll pay you what he promises. He seems more interested in building up his criminal empire through respect rather than fear.” He held up a cautioning hand. “That said, Dorval is as sneaky and manipulative as they come. He loves credits. If you're not careful, he will take you for everything you own.”

“Do you get along with him?” she asked Tav. “The bounty he has on you doesn't seem to worry you at all.”

“Well enough,” Tav said as he made his way to the cockpit. Isis followed. “I'm not worried because I know Dorval can be negotiated with and my skills are a commodity he desperately wants working for him. I've got all the leverage.”

“You're that good?”

Tav plopped into the pilot's seat rather casually and smiled, half to himself and half for her benefit, as he started working the controls. “I live to fly and I fly to live.”

A moment later the comscreen lit up as Tav got into contact with Grendi. The other man couldn't quite hide his shock as he saw Isis and Tav together. He ended up coughing by inhaling too much smoke from his cigarra before he put put it out in annoyance. “You actually caught him?”

Isis adapted quickly and nodded. “I told you I could do it. Tell me where you want him and then get Dorval on the line.”

“The job is to get Tav and his ship to Dorval,” Grendi said to her. “It's not over until both are in Dorval's possession. I'll send you coordinates to meet with him. Good luck. Not a lot of hunters have managed to get this far.”

After Grendi signed off, Isis looked at Tav. “What did he mean by that?”

Tav shrugged as he entered the coordinates into the computer. “A few of the more skilled bounty hunters that came after me managed to trap me on my ship.” He patted the console fondly. “But they don't know the Sled like I do. She's got a few surprises in her for unwelcome guests.” He looked back at her. “Anyway, strap yourself in. I've got the inertial damper dialed back a bit so I can get a better feel for how my baby handles when we're flying. You'll get thrown off your feet if you're not prepared for it.”

Isis took the co-pilot's seat and secured herself as requested. “Okay, Ace. Impress me.”

Tav grinned as he gripped the controls. “Gladly.”

Faster than should have been possible for a light freighter, the Starlight Sled accelerated to top speed as it went from hovering to blasting through the busy traffic of Nar Shaddaa. The YT-2000 was surprisingly nimble as Tav weaved up through traffic and around buildings without slowing down as he made for orbit. He also hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said that the inertial damper had been lowered. The g-forces were noticeable inside the cockpit, but they were only a faction of the real stresses being put on them and the ship.

And then they were out. A trip that would have taken half an hour for a cautious pilot had only been about five minutes. It didn't take long before they were on the edge of the moon's gravity well and Tav activated the hyperdrive motivator to send them shooting off into the blue tunnel of the other dimension.

Tav checked the controls as the inertial damper recompensated to completely nullify the stresses of hyperspace. “We should arrive at Dorval's location in about thirty standard minutes.” He glanced back at her. “Was that impressive enough for you?”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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"It was--adequate," Isis said, trying her best to hide her surprise. Truth was Tav's skill at flying was very impressive but Isis wasn't about to tell him that. When he gave her a look she just shrugged. "What? I'm Corellian too, you're going to have to try a lot harder."

Of course having said that she more or less issued him a challenge, one she fully expected him to accept but at the moment there were more important matters. "So what exactly is your angle here, anyway," she interrupted him before he could respond. "You spend all that time ducking Dorval then I come along with a sob story about how my friend's in danger and suddenly you decide to stop running? Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the sacrifice you're about to make on my behalf I just have to know. Why?"

**********

Hirai had long ago given up any hope of falling asleep. Her mind kept wandering back to her mother and the possibility of her death not being an illness. With nothing else better to do she snuck out of the house and out into the fields. She had her swords with her and at the moment she was practicing. It was something she did to take her mind of anything that was bothering her. Her skill with a blade was formidable but not nearly as practiced as Tulsar. His movements were more measured and precise. Hirai had speed and training but lacked experience. After seeing his earlier display of battle prowess Hirai had no desire to try and one up him. She knew she couldn't do it even though the desire was there. Instead she ran through several kata to remind herself of the basics. Her movements were deliberate and slow and the cut of her blade quick and fierce. With each swing there was a crackle of energy as a bot of lightning coursed through the blade lighting up the night. So absorbed was she in what she was doing that she had lost all thought of time and place. Instead she let her mind wander, that was when she was suddenly struck by an image that had appeared in her mind of a woman in pain and a dark shadow looming over her. It was her mother.

Her concentration broke and she immediately staggered after losing her balance. The sword she held in her hand fell free of her grasp and clattered to the ground. Hirai fell afterwards, backwards into the dirt. She propped herself up onto her hands and glanced over at her discarded sword. Great, even my imagination is getting the better of me, she grumbled to herself...
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Re: Altered Legacies

Post by Halomek »

“What did you see?”

Hirai looked around, startled, until she saw Tulsar approaching from nearby.

“How long have you been there?” she demanded.

“Long enough to recognize that something disrupted your training,” he said to her. “Since it wasn't anything external, it must have been something going on in your head.” Tulsar reached down to pick up her sword, appearing to admire it again even in the dim evening light. “You know, I used to have a mental block that prevented me from fully realizing my potential in the Force unless I was engaged in combat in some way.”

He twirled it around in his hand once with expert precision before he turned the handle towards Hirai for her to grab. “I had to develop a form of meditation that went hand-in-hand with using a blade, so that when I practiced with my lightsaber I could meditate at the same time. Everyone has their own way of connecting with the Force. Most beings in the galaxy do it subconsciously in some form or another, but the ones with the real potential to be true Force-users; Jedi and Sith; are what the galaxy at large refers to as Force-sensitive.”

“I don't know what your potential will end up being, Hirai, but I do know you have forged a bond with these blades of yours,” Tulsar said to her. “That's an important first step that you've already unknowingly mastered. When you use them I can sense that you are more receptive to the Force than at any other time.”

***

“You had the right story,” Tav said to Isis. “It's the same reason I came to help you back at the bar: I saw someone in trouble who could probably use my help. I don't like to turn a blind eye to other people's misfortunes. Life in this galaxy is already hard enough without everyone stepping on the little guy.”

“How noble,” Isis quipped. “Are you part of the Resistance too?”

Tav laughed. “Well, I've got my limits, same as anyone. I'm not that noble, but I figure it's better to try helping out someone who needs it instead of thinking about myself all the time. All those other bounty hunters that came after me... all they cared about was cashing in on the bounty. You're the only one to come after me with a legitimately decent reason.”

“Maybe I've been lying to you this whole time.”

“Maybe, I mean you are the daughter of a senator.” He glanced back at her with a playful smirk. “I doubt it though. You don't seem the type. If you really wanted to deceive me you wouldn't have tried to immediately capture me after the firefight in the Soul Diamond.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Hirai stared at the handle a moment before finally taking the sword from him. She still didn't know what to make of all this Force stuff but she wasn't about to argue with an avid believer. Not when her own doubts were wavering. All her life she had convinced herself that the only things that were real were things she could see, touch and feel. The Force was--well, it wasn't quantifiable in her mind. It couldn't be explained with either logic nor reason it was just 'magic'.

With a sigh she lowered the blade to her side and turned away, walking over to where she had left her scabbard and other sword. "It was my mother," she said quietly as she bent over to pick up her scabbard, "That's what I saw."

She quickly sheathed the sword then lowered herself onto the ground, legs crossed at the ankles and her arms around her knees. "I came out here to get my mind off of--well, everything but I just can't shake this feeling that somehow I'm responsible. Not just for my mother but for this, for everything. Because I have this ability I've put people I care about in danger and I don't even know why. I mean what do these people even want with me?"

She looked up into his eyes imploring him for answers all the while knowing he had none to give...

**********

"Hey, that was just one time," Isis said defensively, "I'll have you know I can lie like the best of them if I really wanted to."

That was a lie and one that Tav was easily able to pick up on. "Uh huh," he said with a knowing grin.

"Really, I can," she insisted.

"Sure," Tav replied with that same annoying grin.

Isis ground her teeth but finally let it go. It was easily apparent that flying wasn't the only skill Tav had mastered. He had an eye for people too and he had correctly assessed her the moment they first met. Isis found that to be irksome but what was even more frustrating was the fact that he was right. She was definitely not the type for deception, she just didn't have the stomach for it. Even when she was playing pranks on her drill sergeant back at Beruss she never tried to hide the fact that it was her. She didn't care about getting caught she only cared about getting her way and in her mind the shortest distance between herself and getting what she wanted was a closed fist.

"Alright look, let's just focus on this Dorval thing. What are you going to do when we get there? Are you actually going to take the job?"

There was a hint of guilt in her tone. She was very particular about the bounties she took and the only reason she took this one was out of necessity. Still, necessary as it was she still didn't like the idea of making someone do something they obviously didn't want to do, especially if that someone was a decent person like Tav.
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“The bounty was only to get me to Dorval,” Tav said to her. “Negotiating a job is going to be up to him. Dorval knows my preferences and, well, if he tries to get me to do a job I'm not comfortable with, I'll find a way out of it.”

“How can you be sure he'll be so accommodating?”

“Because he's not the only Hutt that wants to hire me,” he explained. “Dorval is no fool. He knows that if he alienates me, then the competition will be quick to use that against him to hire me instead. It doesn't hurt to be a little fish if you know how to play the big fish against each other. Frankly, you should be more worried about yourself.”

“Me? Why?!”

Tav swiveled his seat to look at her directly. “You're planning to ask Dorval about his father. Hutts can get pretty touchy when it comes to their family ties. Even though you'll start out on Dorval's good side by bringing me to him, if you're not careful with how you approach this, you could offend him and there's no telling what he'd do then. He might have you killed on the spot, enslaved, or maybe even sent to Crucible to fight in the games.”

***

“I don't know for sure,” Tulsar answered Hirai. “All we can say right now is that they've gone to a considerable effort to bring you here. That means you need to be ready to face them, because sooner or later they will come after you.”

He reached down to his belt and grabbed a lightsaber. A second later Tulsar held it before him as a brilliant blue blade sprang forth with a persistent hum. He then took up a ready stance.

“When they do come only one question will really matter: are you strong enough to protect those you care about?” Tulsar gave her a hard look. “What will your answer be?”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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"His--what?" The full impact of Tav's words failed to register in Isis' mind at first but gradually her eyes began to widen. She knew they were part of the same kajidic but she had never suspected they had a familial connection. Isis knew only a little about Hutts but enough to know that they could be temperamental under the right circumstances and accusing Dorval's father of some kind of nefarious scheme might very well fit those circumstances.

"Fething hell," she cursed, "I had no idea..."

Her mind raced for a moment as she considered her options. There were other Hutts in the Trinivii Kajidic, she could try talking to one of them but back out of a deal with Dorval right now especially after she had gotten so far... Conversely, as his son Dorval would be privy to more personal information about Jaska so passing up this opportunity seemed too foolish to consider. Finally, she looked back up at Tav. "Alright, if you were me how would you approach it," she asked, recognizing that her usual way of doing things was most likely to get her killed in this situation.

**********

Hirai looked up at Tulsar then down at her twin swords. He was right, eventually someone was going to come for her, someone powerful, and she could either sit around and feel sorry for herself or she could fight back. It wasn't even a choice. All she had to do was think of Isis and her mind was made up. Finally she stood and grasping the scabbard of her sword in one hand and the hilt in the other she slowly drew the blade and then lowered herself into a ready stance.

"I choose to fight," she said simply, a look of determination in her eyes.
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Tulsar nodded. “Good. I expect you to come at me with everything you have, because I won't be going easy on you. I've devised an accelerated training regimen for you that'll make your time at Beruss seem like playful roughhousing. Now, let's begin...”

***

“You were going to talk to Dorval and you didn't even...” Tav started to say in amazement, but trailed off as he thought better of it. He was still learning about Isis, but one thing was abundantly clear: knowing that Jaska was Dorval's father wouldn't have stopped her from taking the exact same actions as before. For better or worse, she was not a woman who was easily intimidated.

He held his hands up to his sides as he gathered his thoughts. Tav couldn't really fault her impulsiveness, not when he was guilty of the same thing too. At least she wasn't blindly charging in there now that she knew more of the situation. “Okay. It's fine. We've got some time. The first thing you need to know about Hutts is that they love it when you play to their egos. Make your questions as respectful as possible and-”

Tav was suddenly interrupted by a collision alarm. He spun his chair back around and widened his eyes in surprise. “We're coming up fast on a gravity shadow,” he said to her as he started flipping switches. “If I work fast, I can drop us out of hyperspace before the safety overrides kick in.”

True to his word, Tav was able to bring the Starlight Sled out of hyperspace before they were forcefully jarred out of it by the gravity shadow. Surprisingly there was no planet or rogue asteroid in their path as one might expect. Instead there was a distant shape amongst the starfield. After working some more controls, Tav was able to enhance the image on the viewscreen.

He nodded in understanding at a grainy image of a wedge-shaped starship with four bulbous spheres jutting out on either side of its hull. “It's an old Immobilizer 418 cruiser,” he identified it out loud for Isis' benefit. “The Empire would use them to draw starships out of hyperspace, but they were discontinued soon after the Battle of Yavin because of certain vulnerabilities.”

“What's an Imperial relic doing out in the middle of nowhere in this day and age?” Isis demanded, seemingly less interested in its capabilities and more concerned with the fact that it was hampering their progress.

“My bet? That's Dorval,” Tav guessed. “It certainly seems like something he'd do: give us coordinates to meet him and then ambush us at the real destination before we have a chance to get ready for arrival. That, and he has a habit of traveling around in warships.”

Tav's guess was confirmed a second later as they received a notice of an incoming message. A moment later the face of a green and yellow Hutt appeared on the screen. “Impressive as always, Tav. Most people are stuck well within the gravity well when I come to meet them. I'm surprised that bounty hunter let you fly your ship and that you didn't find a way to get rid of her.”

Tav smiled cordially. “Lord Dorval, always a pleasure. She's still here and eager to meet you.”

“Interesting...” Dorval said thoughtfully. “I'm eager to meet her as well and see what kind of person it takes to finally catch you. The Aurodium Nova is ready to receive you. Don't try anything clever or I'll have you blasted out of the sky. Understood?”

“I wouldn't dream of it,” Tav said, acutely aware that the Nova's starfighters were swarming towards them. They were Z-95's and Starhoppers mostly, nothing he and the Sled couldn't handle – probably – but he wasn't eager to find out.

Dorval cut the transmission as the Immobilizer grew steadily larger from the cockpit. “Well, if we weren't before, we're committed now,” Tav said to Isis. “Even if I wanted to run, we're fully inside the gravity well now. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not something I want to put the Sled through.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis just stared at him, arms crossed over her chest. "'Eager' was a bit of a stretch," she said accusingly.

Tav shrugged as he guided the Sled into the Nova's hangar and set her down, "Remember what I said about Hutt's and respect?"

"I remember not caring too much," she answered back, "Anyway, Dorval thinks he's got the upper hand but there are a few things he hasn't accounted for. One, he doesn't know me and two, I bet there are some things about you he doesn't know either," she said, eyeing Quex thoughtfully. "Worst case scenario we blast our way out. You said this ship was discontinued because of its vulnerabilities, right? I'm guessing you know what they are?"

"Well yeah, but...,"

"Good, then let's get going," Isis interrupted him before standing and heading towards the exit, "Dorval didn't give us any time to prepare so we shouldn't give him any, either."
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Tav stopped Isis by placing a hand on her shoulder. “Isis, wait for a minute and think about the situation. Dorval is not a common thug or a gang member you can just overpower on your own. Look at where we are. He's successfully running a fully operational warship without the support of the usual government military budget. That should tell you a few things: he's intelligent, he's got extensive resources, and he's not afraid to wield his power.”

“If you go up to Dorval with the idea that you've got the upper hand because 'he doesn't know you' then you've already lost,” he further cautioned. “For one thing, you're wrong about that. I'd bet the Sled that Dorval already knows all about you. It wouldn't be hard. You're the daughter of a senator and I'm a high profile target for him. I'll tell you exactly how this worked: after you got the job from Grendi, he told Dorval who was coming after me, and then Dorval used his resources to pull up everything about you. If nothing else, I'm sure that the Bounty Hunter's Guild was more than happy to share what they had about you with such a wealthy and well-connected client like Dorval.”

Tav dropped his hand to his side. “Look, I've got nothing against being impulsive and doing the unexpected, but luck and skill will only get you so far. Remember what I said about Dorval being manipulative? I can see you already falling into one of his traps because he didn't mention you by name. It made you think you were an unknown quantity to him, so you got overconfident and arrived at false assumptions. Really, the truth is the other way around. He knows everything about you and you know next to nothing about him.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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"First of all," Isis began in a patient tone, "everything I need to know about Dorval you just told me and secondly you're wrong. He doesn't know everything about me. So just relax, Ace, this isn't the first big fish I've had to fry... Second, actually, but that's not the point," she added sheepishly, then she thought about it, "Well, third if you count MUIR which I kind of do."

Tav raised an eyebrow at the mention of MUIR so Isis shrugged. "We had a disagreement over Senator Aarik. Asha Koontir wanted to kill him because that's apparently MUIR's brand of justice. My brand of justice the bad guys go to jail. I'm not exactly saying I won the fight, but Senator Aarik is still alive so I'm totally saying I won the fight." Of course the timely arrival of CorSec helped out immensely with that part, courtesy of Hirai and Adrian, but Isis decided to neglect mentioning that for now.

Now he was just confused. "Wait," he interrupted her, "Senator Aarik? I thought he was arrested by Republic officials for misappropriation of federal funds."

"Yeah, that little part of my life was covered up by the New Republic," she told him with a scowl on her face, "Truth is he was using those funds to run a private smuggling ring that sold weapons and machines to the First Order. The same smuggling ring that I broke up. That's not something the Bounty Hunter's Guild is going to be able to tell him. Unless you're saying he has contacts inside SIS."

The idea that Dorval had connections within the Republic Strategic Information Service was a preposterous one, but then it wasn't that long ago that Isis would have said the same about the idea of a Republic Senator selling weapons to the enemy. So it wasn't exactly something she could honestly dismiss. "Anyway," she continued, "point is I'm not someone to be underestimated and if worse comes to worse I still have my ace in the hole."

Tav just gave her a dubious look. "Do I even want to know what that is?"

"Just a friend," she assured him, "A man I met on Juoi who happens to be best buds with Dorval's dad. Chances are probably pretty good that he knows the son too, maybe I can use that--and," she added with a bit of emphasis as she pulled out her communicator, "I happen to have him on speed dial."
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Tav wasn't convinced, there was a lot more to Dorval than what he had mentioned, but he could see that trying to argue with Isis about it further wouldn't accomplish anything. “Just try to be careful, okay? Hutts like Dorval have their fingers in a lot of different ventures. I know how to talk to him, so just follow my lead.”

After storing his blaster in a compartment (he was technically a prisoner) Tav walked over to the boarding ramp and lowered it. Outside were several armed Vodrans, the preferred servant species used by the Trinivii kajidic, waiting for them. The lead Vodran approached them while two others stood back with hands resting on blasters. “Either leave your weapons on the ship or turn them over to us. Otherwise we will confiscate them by force.”

Isis, not surprisingly, objected, but at least she gave a good reason. “This is my prisoner. I need my weapon to make sure he doesn't escape.”

“No exceptions,” the Vodran insisted. “The prisoner is now our responsibility. If you make an issue out of it, you won't get paid and you'll be held prisoner as well until Lord Dorval decides what to do with you.”

“Remember, you're here to make nice with Dorval,” Tav said to Isis under his breath in an attempt to forestall a confrontation. “Fighting his guards won't help you do that.”

“I know that,” Isis replied back in the same tone, though a little more irritated. In a more audible volume, she addressed the Vodran. “Fine, take them, but I expect them back before I leave or I'm taking it out of your hide.”

The lead Vodran didn't seem intimidated as his signaled for two other guards to relieve Isis of her visible weapons and take custody of Tav. Satisfied, he motioned for them to start walking.

As they left, more Vodrans entered the Starlight Sled. It wasn't hard for Tav to guess what they were up to. They'd find Quex and put a restraining bolt on him, then they'd attempt to lock down the Sled so that it wouldn't fly until authorized by Dorval. Tav was technically considered Dorval's property now that Isis had “captured” him and that extended to everything he owned. However, Isis was right about one thing earlier, Dorval didn't know everything about Quex or the Sled. Tav was confident that nothing the Vodrans tried would be that effective if he really did needed to make a quick exit out of here. Quex was not a standard R2-unit, so restraining bolts wouldn't work on him, and the same thing could be said for the Sled. It was definitely not a stock YT-2000 anymore.

Hopefully it wouldn't come to that though.

They were led through the ship until they were brought to a large briefing room that had been converted into an audience chamber befitting of a powerful Hutt like Dorval. Guards lined the walls while species of all shapes and sizes conversed in a subdued tone in the seating areas.

Dorval was at the center of it all. He was a large Hutt although not quite yet at the corpulent stage of the Hutt lifecycle. Tav knew from prior experience that Dorval was more than capable of moving under his own power and seemed to even prefer it. On each of his wrists, Dorval wore a solid aurodium bracer. Both were inscribed with images of his past triumphs. Unlike many Hutts, Dorval also chose to arm himself. A blaster was conspicuously strapped across his upper body and modified so that the Hutt could easily draw it and fire it without any problems.

“Tav!” Dorval said with a wide grin as he saw them approach. “So good to see you in the flesh again. It's been far too long. We'll discuss our business later, but for now please take a seat while I speak to your captor.”

Tav did as he was bidden, grabbing a seat in the front. A guard stayed by his side, but he didn't stop Tav from motioning to a bartending droid to make its way over to him so he could get a drink. Tav was interested in seeing how well Isis handled herself. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't have high hopes for how well it went, but if there was one thing he'd learned about Isis, it was that she was full of surprises. Still, he was ready to speak up if he felt it was needed.

Dorval beckoned for Isis to step forward. “You wanted my attention and you got it. The bounty amount will be transferred to your account before you leave, but first I'd like to know a little more about how you caught the elusive Mr. Garvin over there. How is it that you succeeded in doing what nobody else could and in such a record amount of time?”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis flashed him a cool, confident smile. "It was simple," she said, "All I had to do was say please."

Then she looked around at the converted briefing room. "I've gotta say," she continued, "Your interior decorator really knows his stuff if he can transform this old junker into, well that," she said, pointing at an odd sculpture off to one side of the room, "Whatever that is. Oh, and may I say that your skin is a lovely shade of puke."

"Isis," Tav whispered sharply at her.

"What," she whispered back, "I'm trying!"

Then she turned back to look at Dorval. "Alright, I'm going to level with you. I have a disability, I don't like Hutts. i'm seeing a doctor for it and he's got me on this pill but I don't think it's working and I'm thinking about getting a second opinion but I don't know if I can afford it... No? Falling flat? You guys are a rough crowd," she said after noticing the shift in Dorval's expression and the whine of several blasters powering up. "I told that joke at my friend's birthday party and--you know, come to think of it they didn't like it either. Maybe I'm just bad at telling jokes."

"Maybe, you should get to the point," Dorval told her, giving her a meaningful look, "and be very careful about what you say next."

Looking around the room it became painfully obvious that Dorval's guards had moved closer and were now surrounding Isis. Most people would probably be intimidated by that but Isis was not most people. Even as the danger continued to mount she still had that cool, confident look about her as though she were still in control of the situation even when she clearly wasn't. "Alright, let's talk about Juoi," she said, switching gears, "Someone I think you know is there. Retired from a life of crime to become a politician and is very well liked, surprisingly. All I'm looking for here is just some information, on him, his buddy Qan Kisa--if that is his actual name. Funny story, go back just a few years and it's like he doesn't even exist. Oh, and if you know of any nefarious plots brewing on Juoi involving a very good friend of mine that would be helpful too."

There were blasters physically aimed at her now, not from everyone but from a few individuals. Isis looked at them but still appeared to be unphased by the very real danger surrounding her. "Would it help if I said please," she added after a moment.
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Dorval was silent for a moment before he uttered a single command: “Clear the room.”

A moment later his guards were ushering out everyone who wasn't a part of Dorval's security force. This almost included Tav until a gesture from Dorval told the guard to keep him where he was. Before long the room was empty except for Dorval, Isis, Tav, and the security guards. Even the droids had been evacuated.

Several of the guards still had blasters trained on Isis. Dorval nodded towards the guard next to Tav and before he knew it he was being pinned to a table with a blaster shoved next to his temple.

“Hey, what did I do?!” Tav demanded. He tried to struggle a bit, but the Vodran was a professional and didn't budge.

“It would be in your best interests to stay quiet, Tav,” Dorval said to him. “As loathe as I am to destroy such a talented pilot, it's clear to me that she never captured you. You've been working with her for some reason and you brought her here. For what reason, I'm not sure, but your life is now in her hands. If she doesn't provide answers I'm happy with, I'll have you both killed. You first. Then her.”

Dorval shifted his attention back to Isis. She seemed startled at Dorval's sudden vicious turn and was doing her best to not let it show. “In point of fact, you're not very good at telling jokes, Ms. Sinclair, so I suggest you cut the act now. I'll do you the same courtesy and let you know that I'm not telling any jokes either. You've insulted me, you've insulted my people, and then you demanded information from me about my father?! You would be dead already if not for sheer curiosity on my part. Start explaining and it had better be worth my time.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis watched them pin Tav to the table, a look of concern clearly in her eyes despite her best efforts to hide it. Dorval's sudden shift in tone only punctuated the severity of the situation, a situation she deliberately caused. "I guess that means negotiations aren't going well," she muttered under her breath. Maybe I shouldn't have tried so hard to piss him off.

"Let's face it," she said, turning back to look at Dorval, "I had about zero percent chance to come in here and not insult you. I insulted your father too when I first met him, it's a curse. I also insulted my drill sergeant and my own father so it's not like I play favorites and I'm pretty sure I insulted him too," she added, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at Tav, "Still, if half the things Tav here told me about you are true then just asking about your father would have been enough to get me shot so why waste time with empty platitudes?"

Dorval raised his hand to order his man to shoot Tav but Isis stopped him by speaking louder. "As for why I'm here, well that's because there is a nefarious plot brewing on Juoi and it may or may not involve your father. Honestly, I don't know. What I do know for sure is that whomever is behind it is very influential, someone in a position with enough pull to move mountains. Someone who went through an awful lot of trouble to lure a close personal friend of mine to Juoi. For what purpose I don't know, but it started with the capture of Habas Molariou."

Dorval narrowed his eyes at her. "An interesting theory," he said, "I had not heard Habas had been captured."

"No one has," Isis admitted, "Juoi hasn't released an official statement on it yet except for the one they planted in my father's office to lure my friend to the detention center where they're keeping him."

"And why go through so much trouble for your friend?"

"Because she's his daughter," Isis said simply and when Dorval gave her a dubious look she just shrugged, "Hey, I'm being perfectly honest with you. Believe me, I would have rather left that detail out. Anyway, I'm afraid that's only just the beginning of some larger plot. My gut's telling me that whomever is behind this didn't go through all this trouble just to get their hands on Hirai, but I don't know what it is they're planning and I would rather not find out. Now up until about two minutes ago I had planned to walk in here and straight up tell you that I suspect it's your father behind this, you know before I found out he was your father. Which brings us back to that zero percent chance thing that I mentioned earlier, but honestly can you really blame me here? The guy made a living off of deceiving and manipulating people, that's not exactly 'honest' work, and he is in a position to move mountains to make things happen. However," she added, holding up her hands to forestall any possible objection, "I am not above admitting I might be wrong and if Jaska truly is reformed then someone within his administration is playing a very dangerous game and your father could be in danger. A very likely culprit could be Qan Kisa, his lack of a history before Juoi is certainly suspicious."

"Now I have a bit of truth telling. I wasn't really joking when I said that I don't like Hutts," she continued, "but the reason I don't like Hutts is because of your reputation which you have to admit is not very flattering and from what I hear even you are trying to do things differently. Building up your empire through respect rather than fear and all that. If that's true then I feel guilty for insulting you because I actually like that about you and if your father is truly legit then I feel motivated to help him because I believe in second chances, even if he is a Hutt and a former crime boss." Then she shrugged. "And I have a reputation for toppling powerful regimes," she added, "So what's one more?"

"If such a reputation truly exists," Dorval replied. Nothing in the official records he acquired about her suggested anything of the sort.

"It does," she said firmly, "There is a Republic Senator sitting in an SIS jail now because of me, but you won't read about that in the tabloids since the New Republic covered it up. You could try asking MUIR about it, though. I tangled with one of their agents and probably pissed off their entire organization which I suppose makes you the second most powerful person I've pissed off in as many weeks. If nothing else I seem to have a knack for making powerful enemies, but maybe you and I can be allies instead."

Dorval was not convinced. "I doubt it, but do humor me."

Isis cast a quick glance back over her shoulder at Tav. "If there's one thing I've learned chasing him it's that you would go to any length to acquire great talent. Well I have great talent," she told him, turning back to look at him, "I'm someone you want on your side, you just don't know it yet. Time and time again the odds have been stacked against me and I've come out on top. I've fought against the New Republic and survived, I fought against MUIR and survived, I even fought against the First Order but again you won't hear about it because of a certain cover up, but the point is I survived it all and I'll survive you, if I have to. But there's an easier way. An exchange. I do a job for you, you pay me with the information I desire. You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain and if I should happen to die in the process then would that really be any different from me dying here now? It's a win-win for you either way and it doesn't cost you anything more than a few words of wisdom and the low low price of not killing me when I'm done."
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“Claiming great deeds and then saying they've been covered up gives you zero credibility, Ms. Sinclair,” Dorval said to her. “Even your capture of Tav was a farce. As far as I'm concerned, these skills you profess to have amount to little more than hot air. Letting you go to do a job to prove yourself would in fact be a detriment to me at this point. The most likely scenarios I see are either that you would attempt to deceive me again or you would take the chance to run. No, I would derive far more satisfaction in seeing you dead right here and now.”

“Considering you linked my fate to Isis, can I say something now?” Tav piped up. It was a risk for him to speak after Dorval expressly forbade him from doing so, but Tav could see that Isis was digging herself into a deeper and deeper hole with Dorval despite herself. An angry Hutt was not an easy obstacle to get around. Isis was on the correct track, but she lacked the right tact to make it work.

Dorval considered the request for a moment before nodding. “Apologizing for her will do you little good at this point, Tav, but I'm willing to grant you some last words.”

The guard let Tav take an upright position again, but the blaster was still unerringly pointed at him, just waiting for Dorval's command to fire. Tav knew he had to make this count and the only way he could see the two of them getting out of this alive was to hit Dorval with something the Hutt cared about more than family.

“Mighty Dorval,” Tav said to the Hutt respectfully, “I know it can be easy to forget in the midst of her impertinence, but Isis is the daughter of Senator Isaac Sinclair. He's one of the most influential men on Corellia right now. I know this won't necessarily stop you from killing her, but to do so would be to squander a very lucrative business opportunity to spread Trinivii's influence to the Corellian sector. She's trying to bargain for information about your esteemed father. Why not use that as a way to get an in with her father?”

As Tav had hoped, his words did give Dorval pause. “An interesting proposition,” the Hutt finally admitted. “One that rests entirely on how cooperative her father would be to working with a Hutt crimelord. Isaac Sinclair does not strike me as a man who would compromise himself by doing that.”

“Surely the Trinivii kajidic has several legitimate businesses that would be agreeable to Senator Sinclair,” Tav suggested. He knew for a fact that they did. Part of Dorval's success was how well divested his business concerns were. Really, the big problem would be one that Dorval had already stated: Isaac Sinclair was a man of principles. “Even a simple contract job from CEC would net you a substantial profit.”

Dorval rubbed the fat folds that constituted his chin in contemplation. He then looked back at Isis. “How about it, Ms. Sinclair? Could you make that happen with your father? Breaking into the Corellian market would go a long way towards forgiving your transgressions.”

Tav looked over at Isis hopefully. The odds were long that this would work, but sometimes that's all a Corellian needed...
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis glared at Tav, there was no way her father would go for that and she knew it. If he agreed he'd only be agreeing to save her life and that was not a position she was willing to put him in. Still at this moment in time what else could she do? She had two choices, to shoot her way out or agree to this crazy plan and one of those seemed a lot more appealing than the other. "I'm sure there's some other arrangement we could...," she started as she looked back at Dorval but the Hutt interrupted her.

"Think carefully about your next words, Ms. Sinclair. This may be your only chance."

Isis ground her teeth together in frustration. "If you know who I am then you know I was trained at the prestigious Beruss Academy on Corellia. I am the best marksman this side of the galaxy and if you give me a chance to prove it--."

"More hot air, I'm afraid. Now you have one last chance to make me happy or I kill you both right now."

"Look, running away from you gets me nothing. You have information I need...," she tried to say but Dorval's voice cut through her words.

"Decide now, Ms. Sinclair."

Isis just stared at him, her arms crossed over her chest as the seconds ticked down. Nearby Tav was watching her nervously. Since making his pitch he had expected the hard part to be convincing Isis' father. He had not expected the struggle to actually be convincing her. "Isis," he whispered sharply, "you're not seriously going to let him kill us?"

"Have you ever had to ask your father for something that didn't come with strings attached," Isis shot back at him and only Tav's silence answered her, "That's what I thought. I bet this guy gets it," she added, jerking her thumb at Dorval.

Tav said nothing but his eyes silently pleaded with her and finally she gave up, throwing her arms up in the air. "Damn it, Ace," she swore, her anger causing her to break her cool demeanor. "Fine! I'll speak to my father, but just so you know I am this close to letting him kill us."
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Tav was fine with Isis being mad at him. It meant they were both still alive for her to be mad in the first place. Even if this idea with her father didn't work out, it still bought them some time. Perhaps distracting Dorval with thoughts of business might even reduce his anger enough that Tav could try and talk some sense into him if Isis' father proved to be as obstinate as his daughter.

“Just think positive, Tav,” he tried to mentally console himself. “Isaac Sinclair is a senator, so that must mean he's used to doing negotiations with people he doesn't like. Surely he can work something out.”

While Tav was preoccupied with thoughts of staying alive, Dorval had one of the guards hand Isis a datapad. “Use that to contact your father,” the Hutt said to her. “Don't get any ideas of trying something clever. The signal is heavily encrypted and designed to throw off tracking programs.” He held up a datapad of his own. “These are linked. I'll see and hear everything you do. If I suspect you're trying something, I'll cut your feed and have you dealt with.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis stared at the datapad but didn't immediately take it. "So wait, I don't get any privacy," she asked and Dorval gave her a hard look. Reluctantly she took the datapad before sitting down in a nearby chair and calling her father's personal communicator. All the while silently grumbling to herself in frustration. After a moment the call connected and Isaac's face appeared on the datapad.

"Isis," he said, "where is my yacht?"

Isis was shocked. "You get a call from your daughter on a heavily encrypted line from a communicator that's not my own and that's really the first question you want to ask me," she snapped at him.

"Is there another question I should be asking?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe, 'why are you calling me from this line? Where are you? What's going on?' But no, you'd rather ask about the stupid yacht."

His face hardened. "Where's the yacht, Isis?"

"It's on Nar Shaddaa, okay? And it's fine! At least last I checked."

"Nar Shaddaa," he asked, his eyes widening, "Why the hell are you even there?"

"Well, technically I'm not there," she said sheepishly and it took a moment for Isaac to try and compose himself.

"You left my yacht on the Smuggler's Moon and you're not even on the planet," he asked icily, "Then where the hell are you?"

"I'm with Dorval the Hutt," she said, "and I may have caused a slight, you know, major situation."

Isis had a flair for the understatement but as soon as Isaac heard the name Dorval the Hutt he instantly understood the gravity of the situation. "Isis, what did you do?"

"Well...," she began and then she quickly recounted the whole situation for him, starting from the beginning and being careful not to repeat the same insults that happened to get her into this mess in the first place. The entire time she was speaking Isaac was pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed in frustration and when she was done it took him a full minute to respond.

"I can't believe this," he started, "This is just like that business with Senator Aarik."

"Which I handled, by the way," Isis interrupted.

"Barely, Isis, you nearly got yourself killed or at the very least turned into a fugitive. You were this close to completely discrediting your family name and driving our business into the ground. You're entirely out of control, just like you were ten years ago when your mother died. There's a reason I sent you to Beruss, Isis, I was trying to reign you in!"

"Do you really want to have that conversation right now," Isis complained, keenly aware that there were other people present and that they could hear the whole thing. "You're embarrassing me in front of the Hutt."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before insulting him."

"Are you going to take the deal or not, dad," she asked exasperatedly.

"I'll take the deal, but on one condition," he said, "After it's done I want you to come home."

"Dad...," she started but he was having none of it.

"I mean it, Isis. I want you and Hirai back here where it's safe and, and," he repeated louder when Isis had tried to interrupt him, "I want you to take over the family business."

"Seriously, this again," Isis said.

"It's a hell of a lot safer than gallivanting around the galaxy thinking you're invincible."

"I got a D in science, dad, I don't know the first thing about artificial intelligence or R&D."

"You don't need to be a rocket scientist to run a company, dear," Isaac said patiently.

"No, apparently all you need is a stick up your butt," she muttered under her breath.

Isaac heard her but decided to ignore it. "I want to hear you say it, Isis," he persisted, "I'm not making this deal until I hear you say it."

Isis closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, perfectly mirroring her father when he was doing the same just moments before.

"Isis," he said louder when she didn't respond.

"Fine," she exploded, "I'll come home, alright? Are you happy now?"

Isaac gave her a stern look. "Good, now patch me through to Dorval. I assume he'll want to negotiate terms."

Dorval pressed a few keys then on his datapad and took over the call from there while Isis set her head down in her lap in embarrassment. "Thanks a lot, Ace. Now I'm seriously starting to regret not letting him kill me," she said in a muffled voice through the space between her legs. Then without lifting her head she pointed off to the side where one of the Vodran had been chuckling at her. "And if that guy doesn't stop laughing at me I swear I'll punch him!"
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“Don't you dare,” Tav warned her. “It's because of you that we're in this mess in the first place. All you had to do was make nice with Dorval and things would have gone smoothly. You could have gotten the information you wanted and been on your merry way. No confrontations or deals with your dad required.”

“I'm never going to live this down,” Isis said to him with a groan.

“At least you'll be alive to regret it,” Tav said with a sigh. “Look, if you want to get killed, do it on your own time. I happen to like breathing quite a bit. I'll take a little humiliation over being put in the grave any day.”

Isis turned away from him, he had a point. “You're right, Ace. I'm... I'm sorry. That's just how I am.”

“I don't believe that for a second.”

"And I suppose you're an expert," she snapped at him.

Tav hurriedly gestured for Isis to quiet down. The last thing they needed was to get on Dorval's nerves by speaking over his meeting with Isaac. “That's not what I meant. What I was trying to say is that you're more than capable of changing.”

“My father, my teachers, and my friends would all disagree with you on that,” Isis said sardonically.

“And I'm sure you've said it to yourself long enough that you actually believe it,” Tav guessed.

She gave him an irritable look. "Are you trying to sound like my father right now? Because you're doing a pretty damn good job."

“Look, Isis, I've seen others like you on the streets of Nar Shaddaa; so proud of their skills and talents that they've let it go to their heads. Then they pick a fight with the wrong person and discover just how little any of that means before they're killed.” Tav made a gesture with his thumb and forefinger so that the two were almost touching. “We were this close to joining all of those fools. Personally, I think you're smarter than that, but if you don't start believing it yourself then I guarantee that you're headed to an early grave. That's not something I want to see happen to you.”

There was a brief silence before Tav cleared his throat and awkwardly averted his eyes.
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis just stared at him wide eyed in wonder. Just why does he care so much, she asked herself quietly, and for that matter why do I care about him? Her whole plan fell apart the minute they threw Tav up against that table and put a gun up to his head. That Dorval would destroy the one thing he wanted simply because of slight from her was something she couldn't predict. With a sigh she leaned back in her chair, her thumb idly stroking the belt buckle she wore at her waist. There was no point in activating the personal shield hidden within, not with that Vodran still pointing that gun at Tav. The blue shimmering would be a dead give away and Tav would be dead long before she could get to him and if she tried to make a move to rescue Tav before activating it then she would be dead.

"In point of fact, Ace, I do believe it. That's the problem. I guess I just wasn't smart enough," she said quietly.

"Smart enough to take my advice and just be respectful," he asked, still averting his eyes.

"That's--," she stopped herself from going any further, one misstep and she could alert Dorval's men to the fact that she was still armed. "Never mind," she finished, turning away from him. Five weapons hidden on my person and these idiots missed four of them, she muttered to herself. Truth was she half expected them to find the knife in her boot, smart people always check there. Still it was rather annoying. I thought I had control of this situation. Where the hell did it go wrong?

What she didn't tell Tav was that she never intended to negotiate fairly with Dorval. The slimeball's a Hutt and she wasn't about to give him an opportunity to lie to her, not like his father did back an Juoi. She didn't believe for a second that Dorval would be any different despite Tav's assurances and hearing that Jaska was Dorval's father only reinforced that assertion. She looked around the room, her mind still working the problem. It all seemed so simple, twelve guys with guns, maybe six more outside. Not the best odds, probably, but the shield afforded her some protection. Enough to get a blaster and get to cover and from there she could systematically blast all the door controls. She'd lock herself in with the Hutt and buy herself some time to strong arm the information she wanted out of him, she wasn't going to let him manipulate her like his father.

Then she saw the barrel of that blaster against Tav's head and all of her bravado went right out the proverbial window. Dorval zeroed in on the one thing she hadn't accounted for and she wasn't even sure if it was just bad luck or if he had known it from the start. She looked back at Tav and remembered something he said earlier about Dorval checking into her history. Was it possible he was manipulating her from the start? She shook her head. Don't be stupid, no one's that smart. Still, she couldn't shake this feeling that maybe she wasn't in as much control as she had thought. Why else would he threaten to kill Tav first and not her? Why kill Tav at all? It didn't make any sense, he wanted Tav to work for him.

Isis didn't have long to ponder her failure, though, before Dorval and Isaac finished up their negotiations. Much to Dorval's surprise Isaac proved a shrewd businessman. Even while negotiating for his daughter's life he understood that his position came with more power simply because he had something worth far more to Dorval than the simple joy of killing his daughter and there was only one way that he could get it. Of course he didn't abuse the position too much but he did make sure to make a few stipulations. One, it had to be a legitimate business deal and one that couldn't easily be traced back to Dorval himself. As a businessman it wouldn't have made a difference, but as a politician he couldn't be seen working with a Hutt crime cartel. Not if he were to have any chance of being reelected once his term was up and to ensure Dorval would be amicable to his terms he reminded him that it would be much easier for their mutual business venture to continue to be profitable for him if he was reelected. Lastly, he made it clear that this business arrangement would only be available to him so long as his daughter was allowed to leave unharmed.

"One last thing, Lord Dorval," Isaac was saying, "I may not be a general anymore but I am still a well respected individual within the Republic military. If there is a chance you are still considering doing harm to my daughter then you would do well to remember that. Otherwise I fear Senator Organa will not be the only general to abscond with a sizable portion of our navy. While I personally would not wish to make war with the Hutt cartel my daughter has forced my hand and I will fight any battle I have to to avenge my own, as I'm sure you would do as well. This business venture between us will remain on the table only so long as my daughter is allowed to leave your ship unspoiled. Now, do we have an agreement?"

The Hutts had lost much of their power over the years following the fall of the Empire. While Dorval had managed to carve out a significant enterprise the overall Hutt cartel was not as strong as it once was. Much of their influence had faded causing them to lose control of the Nikto, among other things. What little remained, however, was still a sizable danger to the Republic and not one that Isaac would engage lightly. He was unforgiving, though, when it came to those who threatened harm to his family and he was the type of man who definitely made good on his threats.
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“I have no wish to go to war with you either, senator,” Dorval assured him. “I guarantee, with this deal struck, your daughter's transgressions have been forgiven. I'll send some people to finalize the paperwork and I'll even place your yacht on Nar Shaddaa under my protection until such time as arrangements can be made for you to retrieve it. It's been a pleasure doing business with you.”

Isaac nodded. “I look forward to a mutually beneficial business arrangement, Lord Dorval,” he said diplomatically before signing off.

With the business concluded, Dorval shut off the datapad and looked at Tav and Isis. “Now, with that matter settled, perhaps we can conclude our business without any further incidents.” He signaled to his guards, who reholstered their weapons but still kept a hand nearby in case they needed to be used again.

“What other business do we have?” Tav asked, genuinely curious. “You just got a very lucrative business deal with Isaac Sinclair.”

“Tav, Tav, Tav...” Dorval admonished him with a cluck of his tongue. “You should know me better than that. The success of that deal only means that I'm not going to kill you two for the way Ms. Sinclair acted earlier. We still have unfinished business of our own regarding Juoi and my father.”

“You promised to let me go!” Isis reminded him. “You heard what my father said!”

“That depends entirely on you, Ms. Sinclair,” Dorval said to her. “If you persist in being disrespectful, I'll gladly let the deal I struck with your father become null and void. While I don't look forward to fighting him, I also do not overly fear it. A man like your father has many enemies, including the First Order. If he goes rogue and comes after me to avenge you, it will be troublesome, but he'll also be leaving the protection of the New Republic to do it. A clever Hutt with the right connections could take advantage of that if he was forced to do so.”

Isis seemed on the verge of testing Dorval's resolve, but a glance over at Tav and the guard who still remained in close proximity to him kept her in check. “What do you want?” she forced through gritted teeth.

“I'll tell you everything I know about my father's time on Juoi,” Dorval said to her. “All you have to do is answer two questions for me first.”

A look of surprise crossed her face at the odd request, but she nodded. “Name them.”

“Did you actually meet with my father?”

Isis nodded.

Dorval seemed to expect that answer, which made his second question a little more chilling in light of everything that had just gone down. “Were you as disrespectful to him as you were to me?”

Tav tensed up when he heard the question because he was pretty sure he already knew what Isis' answer would be.

Sure enough, Isis didn't shy away from answering Dorval's second question. “Maybe not quite as disrespectful, but yeah, I acted the same way.”

“Well, it's been a fun ride,” Tav thought to himself as he braced himself for Dorval's inevitable anger to burst forth. “Quex, buddy, I hope you make it back to dad in one piece.”

Instead, however, Dorval was contemplative at her answer. “I was afraid of that.”

“You're not going to kill us?” Tav asked in hopeful surprise.

“No,” Dorval confirmed, “I'm not. The Jaska I knew would not have been nearly as lenient with Ms. Sinclair's insults as I am. The fact that she's here at all implies that he's changed quite a bit from the feared underworld figure I idolized. Since I don't believe she's lying, that means something happened to fundamentally change the way he thinks.”

Tav didn't want to push their luck, but curiosity got the better of him again. “Couldn't he have just changed his way of thinking naturally over time?”

“It's possible, but I doubt it,” Dorval said to him. “Even when my father went into more legitimate businesses, he kept his ruthless streak. He was just more clever about how his enemies met their ends. Juoi is a jewel that the Hutts have wanted to get their hands on for a long time. Every Hutt, including myself, thought that Jaska was playing a long con to eventually open up Juoi's defenses and leave it ripe for exploitation by the kajidics. The fact that Ms. Sinclair insulted him, then attempted to pry into his business, and faced no recriminations for either speaks to something else going on.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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"I also do not overly fear it," Dorval's words echoed in her mind. That's only because you don't know my father, she thought, he doesn't need the Republic's protection and he doesn't make idle threats. Isaac was as ruthless and cunning as they come but that was a part of himself he didn't like to indulge in. Not many people remember the man he used to be. What they see now is the man he became, a man desperately trying to atone for his past sins, but Isis remembered. She saw it first hand. Make him angry enough, perhaps by threatening the lives of his family, and it was almost like he became someone else. If a "lucrative business deal" was the only thing Dorval managed to get out of this arrangement then he should count himself lucky.

As she listened to Dorval describe his father her blood started to boil. She knew there was something not right with that Hutt and Dorval pretty much confirmed it. Once a Hutt always a Hutt, even Dorval didn't believe he could change so easily. Something that fundamentally changed the way he thinks... Fundamentally changed... "Wait, you're not seriously suggesting he was brainwashed," she said aloud, "Why? By whom? And is that even possible?"
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Re: Altered Legacies

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“Perhaps by this Qan Kisa person you're so suspicious of,” Dorval said to her as he brought up his datapad again and started running a search. His eyes scanned the information that scrolled across it, but all it did was cause him to frown. “It appears I don't have a lot of information on him either, or at least not anything before his time on Juoi. That might not mean anything. He was never a person of interest to me before, but I'll have my sources do a more exhaustive search on him to be sure.”

He set the datapad down again. “Regardless, whoever is behind it would have to be extremely skilled and knowledgeable. Hutt minds are are some of the most resilient in the universe; they aren't easy to change through external forces. Not even Jedi Mind Tricks are effective against them. My father's mind was one of the most dangerous in all of Trinivii. Even my grandfather, the esteemed Mortrassa, is not his equal in cunning or sheer force of will.”

Tav was not thrilled with what he was hearing. Just what was Isis planning on returning to on Juoi? Assuming Jaska really had been affected in some way, what chance did she or anyone else have in resisting the same forces? While she didn't seem to know that much about Hutts, Tav did, and nothing Dorval had said about them was untrue. There was a reason why a bunch of barely mobile slugs had been able to carve out an intergalactic empire for themselves and it wasn't due to their charming personalities.

“Tell me something, Isis,” Dorval said to her, finally dropping the formality of referring to her by her last name. “Just how dedicated are you to finding out what's going on with Juoi and my father? I suspect you won't be returning to Corellia once we're done here, like your father requested.”
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Dedicated enough to walk in here and try to take you head on, she thought to herself but kept those words to herself. Tav was out of immediate danger but that Vodran was still close enough to stick a blaster in his back if he had to. Given how easily Isis had taken Tav down aboard his own ship she wasn't sure if the other Corellian could handle himself in a close up fight like this and setting off Dorval again would only get him killed. Isis might survive for awhile longer but without knowing the vulnerabilities of the Interdictor starship she wasn't likely to get very far.

"You heard my father," she said with a shrug, "He wants me and Hirai back on Corellia and right now Hirai's on Juoi. Guess I'll just have to go back, daddy's orders."
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Dorval smiled at her answer. It seemed clear to Tav that the Hutt was devising a plan and that all of his questions now were just perfunctory talking points to lead to his end goal. Typical Dorval, but Tav had a bad feeling that he knew where things were going and he didn't like it at all.

“I've tried for years to send people to Juoi to uncover the truth of what's been happening on that planet with my father, but to no avail,” Dorval said to Isis. “The security force on that planet always seems to be a step ahead of me and has successfully uncovered them all. It's uncanny. I've even tried a few as bait to attempt to root out a potential leak within my organization, but no, however they're doing it, it seems to be something Juoi is doing.”

Dorval gestured to Isis. “However you have no connections to me that anyone would know about. You're barely even known within underworld circles except as the daughter of Isaac Sinclair. You also have a valid reason to be there, so you would make the perfect agent to send, especially if you're as skilled as you claim.”

“To put it simply, I'm offering to hire you to discover what has happened to my father,” he summed up. “If you accept and you succeed, your payout will be substantial. I will even personally recommend your services to other clients for future jobs. You may not like Hutts, Isis, but I assure you that my word carries enormous weight in many bounty hunting circles. You would be able to take virtually any job you wanted afterward.”

Tav glanced over at Isis, genuinely curious what her response would be. It was actually an amazing deal. The flipside to Hutts being so touchy about their families was that they could also be quite generous if you helped one of their own. The real question was if Isis was going to take him up on it given her anti-Hutt bias.

It was also true that she had promised her dad that she would return to Corellia after Juoi, but Isaac Sinclair had inadvertently given his daughter an out when he made her abide by it. He had never said to come straight home after Juoi, which meant Isis could conceivably use that missing adjective to return to Corellia eventually. Either that or go back to Corellia, drop off Hirai, and then leave again to eventually take over the family business some day.

Dorval knew it, Tav knew it, and Isis likely knew it. There was nothing stopping her from taking Dorval's offer except herself.
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Re: Altered Legacies

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Isis stared at Dorval as she mulled over his offer. He had a fair point, he and many of the other Hutts made frequent use of the Bounty Hunter's guild and he could conceivably help her win her credibility back but at what price? Working for a Hutt was the least of her concerns, she had technically already made that sacrifice trying to track down Tav. No, she wasn't at all concerned about that. She was more concerned about something that hit a little closer to home, something she had been given all her life and never earned.

"Sorry, but pass," she said finally and Tav just stared at her mouth agape. Whether or not Dorval was surprised was more difficult to tell but before he could say anything or order his men to kill her she decided to clarify. "Don't get me wrong, the offer is tempting and it's not because it's you that I'm turning it down. Ace here could have the same influence and make me the same offer and I'd still say no."

"Isis, think about--," Tav started but she cut him off.

"Sorry, Ace, but I've already made up my mind. I'm going back to Juoi and I'm going to stop whatever is happening and I'm not doing it for a paycheck or a free ride. I'm doing it because my family's in danger."
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Halomek
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Re: Altered Legacies

Post by Halomek »

Tav scratched his head in confusion. “Maybe it's because I don't come from money, but I don't get it. Yeah, honor and family is important, but if you can get paid to do something you were going to do for free otherwise, then why not take the credits as a bonus? Hell, I'd jump at the kind of opportunity Dorval is offering you.”

“Then why not take it yourself?” Dorval suggested to him unexpectedly.

Tav almost did a double-take as he looked back at the Hutt. “Me?! Lord Dorval, with all due respect, I'm no merc. I'm just a simple pilot. If even half the things I've heard about Juoi are true, I would be massively unqualified to go there and do what you're asking.”

“A pilot, yes,” Dorval agreed at first, “Simple? Hardly. Somehow you were able to outsmart, outfight, or just outmatch every bounty hunter who came after you. Even now, the only reason you're here at all was because for some reason you decided to bring Isis Sinclair to me. She didn't capture you. You do yourself too little credit, Tav. Did you believe I had the bounty on you simply because of your piloting skills?”

Tav was at a loss. He was still reeling from Dorval's offer. It was hard to imagine that just a few minutes ago the Hutt had been ready to kill him. “Yes?”

Dorval laughed with typical booming Huttese amusement. “I have an eye for talent, Tav. With your skills and cunning, you could be so much more than a mere pilot. I wanted you brought to me because I've seen your vast untouched potential. A person like you would go far in my organization with the right guidance.”

Tav held up his hands in some kind of attempt to get control of the conversation. “I'm honored, Lord Dorval, truly I am, but my only wish is to travel the stars. What you're offering is way more responsibility than I'm looking for.”

“I'm disappointed to hear that, Tav,” Dorval said to him, “but perhaps the time isn't right to make you that kind of offer. Tell me this then: with all your freelance charter jobs, have they ever given you a chance to see the inside of the Hapes Cluster or visit the restricted worlds of the Corporate Sector? Maybe even the throneworlds of the Tapani?”

Tav's mouth felt dry. Dorval was listing some of the things he had only dared to dream about, but they had always seemed impossible to him. Sort of like meeting the daughter of Isaac Sinclair...

“You could make that happen?” Tav asked cautiously.

Dorval smiled. “My business interests run far and wide. Nothing is out of my reach if I truly set my mind towards obtaining it. If you do this job for me, Tav, I will supply you with the proper travel permits for anywhere you wish to go and I'll even include a monetary reward large enough that you'll be able to visit these places in style.”

Tav did his best not to get blinded by the offer as he tried to think of a downside. The danger he'd be in on Juoi was obvious, but if he succeeded... Oh, if he succeeded! The idea was too tempting to let go. He might never have an opportunity to visit these places again! He had to take it!

He glanced over at Isis, almost as if to apologize for what he was about to say, before he looked back at Dorval. “I'll do it.”
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Pryde
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Re: Altered Legacies

Post by Pryde »

Isis looked back at Tav but said nothing. Tav would have thought that'd be the end of it but something about the look she gave him suggested they'd be talking about it later. Finally she glanced over at Dorval.

"Now that that's settled can we go now," she asked.
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