Five Finger Discount (Meira)

[Dire Wolf]

As it tuned out, Mal's second near death experience within the narrow span of a month jostled him from a deep pit of self pity and loathing. Which was fortunate, as soon after his recovery he received orders for yet another mission. This one with less of a high profile, but easily as important as the last. Some idiot decided that it would be a good idea to steal from Mandalore, and his pick was something far from mundane.

Mal couldn't remember the exact name or nature of the item, only that it was extremely important. Trinari Velos had been sent to assist him in the recovery, though it would be more precise to say that he was assisting her. His vode was a genius engineer, one that had served with him during the raid to acquire the Basilisk droids, and after seeing what she could do he almost thought she would be fine on her own. Almost. Though a little extra muscle never hurt, and muscle was certainly Mal's forte.

Remembering where he was, the man gently shook his great head and sauntered down their ship's ramp. Commenor's arid sun beat down on his armored shoulders fiercely, but he paid it no mind. A little heat wouldn't stop him from completing his mission. The bounty hunter that stole from the Mando'ade would soon be his. After a few questions were asked and the tech's location was made certain, the man's skull would be crushed to dust beneath Mal's iron grip.

A little smile creased the mammoth's lips.

[Meira]

Trin didn't know her companion all that well. They'd been on that one mission together, and had been in the periphery of each others lives since then. It was hard not to be, what with them both being Spec Ops. The two had even found themselves severely injured after the reclamation of Shogun. After that, however, Trin had gone off on the mission to Togoria and well, those memories lacked a lot of details after she'd had to detonate a transport to cover her vodes retreat when they'd been ambushed.

When she'd woken up in that hospital, it was as if the entire event hadn't even taken place. But this was a temporary solace. They came back, and they weren't pretty. She'd been taken out of commission for a while because of it. It was stupid, really. But the nightmares messed with her focus and made her unreliable. That's what had hurt the most... feeling like a failure. This thought pushed her to recover, but she could only do that so quickly. Time became tedious and daunting. With a mundane routine peppered with brain scans and tests to judge her "mental stability", she felt like her recovery was driving her insane.

It didn't help that Itani had left. Sure, he'd told her why and had warned her that he'd be going. Sure, he assured her that he'd be back. But the flat fact was that he was gone. Trin hated the thought, but she felt more alone then than she had probably ever felt.

But that was done. Done and gone. she told herself. She'd made it through her "recovery" and had been cleared for missions once again. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long for one to come down the pike. Orders came in to secure a package that had been stolen from Mandalore. From what she was allowed to know, it was information, data. That was the main reason she was being sent. Apparently she was the most trusted to secure this data and bring it home. But just in case, they were sending Mal with her.

Trin didn't know him well, but there was something about having a literal giant at her back that gave her a sense of security as she moved down the ramp onto the landing platform. Commenor. The last time she stood on a landing platform on this planet, she had only just learned the truth about her parents and what she was. Commenor had been her home for as long as she could remember, but now it almost seemed alien. It took her a moment to realize it, but she was actually standing on the same platform now as when she left.

Yes... when she focused, she could remember. She was smack dab in the middle of what had once been her home turf. For years, she'd had the run of this place with Rett and her boys. The thought brought a nostalgic smile to her face, even if a touch of sadness lingered in her eyes. She'd never see Rett again.

...But maybe some of the boys were still around.

"C'mon." she said to the behemoth at her side. "I've got an idea of where we can start."

[Dire Wolf]

(not really sure what you have in mind)

Mal almost looked like a larger than life statue beneath his wickedly thick beskar suit. Even as he moved, the leviathan could have been a statue made of steel and stone. His rifle was slung across a barrel chest so that he could shoulder it the instant that trouble cropped up. Though he doubted that it was necessary. Few people were dumb enough to challenge him in the mandalorian community, and if people that weren't trained-from-birth warriors did so then they deserved to die.

"After you, Velos," Malak waited for a moment, taking in the view behind that polarized visor before stepping off after his partner. Blue eyes moved from the dusty port to the people within, every being was scrutinized. Mal hoped that one of the myriads of creatures developed the testicular fortitude to attack. He prayed.

[Meira]

She moved a bit slowly at first. It was taking her mind some time to remember everything. She had to pause as they exited the space port area and moved into the actual streets. Intersections had her second guessing herself when certain shops no longer seemed to occupy their former corners. Slowly, however, it was coming back to her and it wasn't long before her feet were moving at a more confident pace.

Sure enough, her memory didn't fail her. Trin had managed to find her way back to a familiar haunt of hers. The cantina looked exactly the same on the outside. The rundown sign was barely lit, but the wording was clear enough. Vep's. Trin and the boys had spent countless hours inside this establishment, even before they'd been of legal drinking age. It might as well have been their clubhouse. Here they would gather before heading out to scavenge and steal parts from visiting ships, and here they'd retreat when they needed to lay low for a while. Vep had never really given them much fuss about it. They were pretty good at shaking any followers off before ducking into the cantina, so trouble rarely followed them inside.

In exchange for providing the youngsters with a safe haven, Vep often used Trin and the boys as his eyes and ears around the streets of Commenor. Like many cantina owners, Vep dealt in more than just drinks. His customers also paid well for information.

Yeah, Trin and her boys had spent a good deal of quality time inside this bar. And walking through the door felt like coming home. Inside, it was dark and a bit smokey, causing a newcomer to pause a moment to allow their eyes to adjust. But Trin was no newcomer. She didn't need to see to know where to go. She led her hulking companion toward the bar. The man standing behind the bar was like a blast from the past.

Zen didn't seem to have changed a bit. The yellow skin Twi'lek looked just like Trin remembered. Like in the old days, just the sight of the man was enough to bring a smile to her face. When she reached the bar, Trin removed her helmet and set it down, just as Zen turned to acknowledge her. The man did a double take, nearly dropping the glass he was cleaning.

"I'll be a hutt's uncle. Is that really who I think it is?" Zen said as he moved over to get a closer look. "Trin? How are you? Where you been?"

Trin's smile widened as Zen approached. The two shook hands as she answered. "Hey Zen. I've been good. Finding my way, you know? How about you?"

"Oh, can't complain. Did you know the place is mine now? Vep retired if you can believe it." Zen's eyes kept glancing at Mal as he spoke. "Who's your friend?" He finally asked.

[Dire Wolf]

Malak lumbered off with Velos, the pneumatic pistons of the ship's ramp hissing and whining as they slowly closed the ramp of the great beskar beast. As he followed her through the city, he mildly wondered just how the woman knew where she was going, or if she knew where she was going. He surely hoped so, because the big man was quick to forget which direction he came from, and spending a few hours looking for his ship didn't sound very appealing. Just as Mal opened his mouth to say something on the subject, they turned into a moderately run down cantina with a barely lit sign that read, "Veps."

Interesting. The inside of the cantina was just as poorly lit as the sign outside, but Trin hadn't stopped upon entering and neither would he. Granted, the man had a small FLIR camera internally mounted just above his visor, so maneuvering wasn't terribly difficult. When the woman stopped, he did the same and crossed his arms. The man's primarily green armor looked nearly black in the darkness, and added to the intimidating effect that he had been simply radiating outwards. Mal listened silently as they spoke, and only opened his mouth once he had been addressed. "Malak," the big man said with a gruff voice through his helmet's comm unit.

Velos obviously knew this man, so there wasn't too much point in speaking more.

[Meira]

"A pleasure." Zen replied to Mal before turning back to Trin. "He always this talkative?"

"Just about." Trin answered, sending Mal a kidding glance. When she turned back to Zen, however, her face had turned to a more businesslike neutral. Zen recognized the look and started to pour the two some drinks as he spoke.

"So, found your way to your parent's people?" When Trin's eyes widened slightly and she looked like she was going to blast him with questions, he quickly shook his head to stop her. "It was a guess. I remember your parents had stopped in once, however long ago that was. I didn't think much of it until you walked in here in that armor. Spittin' image I'd say..." he glanced at Mal as he pushed their drinks across the bar. "but I don't think your dad was quite so... tall."

Trin wanted to ask him more about her parents, but Zen continued. "It's funny really. They came in so long ago, now you're here, and just yesterday I heard tell of a job someone pulled on a Mandalorian. Or was it Mandalore? Is there a difference?"

"What did you hear?" Trin asked, setting down the glass she was about to drink from. Zen smiled at her obvious interest.

"Is there something in it for me?" he asked, crossing his arms and giving her a challenging look.

"How about that warm fuzzy feeling you get from helping out a friend?"

"You're lucky I always liked you." Zen replied with a chuckle as he produced a datapad from under the counter. A couple of taps and an image of a male zeltron appeared on the screen. "His name is Cato. All I know is that he knows something about something to do with something that happened to some Mandalorians." Trin arched her eyebrow at him. "Hey, I know it ain't much, but it's what I've got." he said defensively. "You can find him at a club called Pulse most nights."

"Thanks Zen." Trin said as she downed her drink and set the empty glass back on the counter. "It was good seeing you." Trin dropped a few credits for the drinks on the counter, then gave Mal a nod before turning to leave. As the two Mandos were walking through the door, Zen called out to them.

"I wouldn't show up dressed like that."

[Dire Wolf]

"My thoughts exactly," the large man responded to the much smaller one's suggestion fairly quickly. He had made it a point to ignore the little exchange about Trin's parents. Though the phrase 'did his best' would be far more applicable.' Malak found it slightly amusing that a man who would so quickly call her a friend would charge her for a simple morsel of information. Yet he said nothing. This operation was far more valuable to Mandalore than a paltry sum of credits and a slimy information broker.

After a few moments, the man turned his head to the smaller woman, and motioned towards the door with his great head. Mal waited until after the woman understood before turning his back on the man, and heading out of the little dive. He headed back to the ship so that he could change out of his very mandalorian attire. Seeing as his rifle was the size of an adult human male, and a tall one at that, he left it behind in favor of a simple yet large heavy blaster pistol.

Once he was finished, the man hid the pistol beneath his jacket and gave Trin a quick glance. "Lets go," his scratchy voice seemed to resound off of the walls for a moment before he stepped off and began a slow walk to the club. "When we find him we can't just tackle him to the ground. We'll need to lure him somewhere. Bathroom... back alley..." Mal paused for a moment, "I mean that you should lure him. If you're good at that thing."

It didn't take long to reach the club, and once they did Mal split off from Trin and posted up at the nearest exit, just in case things went south. Mal kept an eye on the smallish woman as she walked about the club. If anyone gave her trouble, he would be there to correct the issue with a single bat of a lash.