Lucid Truth[Kailani]

[Jace]

The stars raced by as the small passenger frigate bounded ever closer to its destination. There were all sorts of people present on the civilian vessel. Merchants, traders, engineers, off-duty soldiers, and even bounty hunters. Vincens Rainer happened to represent the latter. There was one thing common among all these varied people, none of them were tourists. People did not usually come to Hutt controlled territory for a vacation because they made terrible holiday spots. Who wanted to spend their honeymoon on a planet governed by an overgrown slug with delusions of grandeur? Vincens sure as hell did not but there were some weird people in the galaxy. He had come to the Rim for one reason and one reason only; a bounty.

In truth he had not come this far out since the war had started. It had become increasingly difficult to travel freely with the Republic and Sith Empire going at it. Of course as a bounty hunter he probably had it easier than others. His profession was known for only having loyalties to the highest bidder. The Republic was hesitant about hiring his 'kind' but the Empire had no such scruples. Vincens had grown up under the umbrella of the Republic but didn't really care for it. He just wanted to go about his business and the allegiance of whatever planet he was on made little difference as long it didn't interfere with his fun.

A voice came over the comm announcing that they would landing in Peace City, the capital of Ylesia, in ten minutes. He had always found the name to be rather amusing considering the Hutts' reputation for violence. Of course most people were smart enough to know not to mess with them. They had an army of guards at their disposal and probably had half the galaxy's bounty hunters on their payroll. Vincens had worked for a Hutt or two over the years and it had been a decidedly unpleasant experience. They had money to spare but constantly sought to scam you out of payment. One had to be extra convincing when collecting their payment, not to mention extra careful.

As the ship touched down, Vincens made his way towards the exit ramp. He had brought little else with him except what was on his person. The bounty hunter had no intention of staying on this backwater planet for long. One day he would take a nice long vacation on Zeltros or some similar planet surrounded by his own by-the-hour harem. Part of him knew that he would only find such an excursion enjoyable for so long. Vincens didn't like to sit idle and was rather restless.

It was late in the afternoon by the time the bounty hunter made his way into the city. His bounty was a particular interesting one this time round and he had no intention of sitting around. Some extremely rich Corellian had lost his daughter and was paying a great deal to get her back. She also happened to be quite the looker which made this job all the better. Of course Vincens had done a bit of research and apparently his bounty was not some simple runaway. The woman had a gained quite a reputation with her various escapades as a pirate; this only served to pique the bounty hunter's curiosity.

He had also learned that she was quite the drinker. Vincens was beginning to think that he should just marry his bounty instead of taking her back.

And here we are, Vincens noted to himself.

Vincens figured he might as well start at the largest and most famous cantina in the city, the Spiced Garden. As he entered he was met by loud chatter, music, and yelling. The bounty hunter was a bit surprised to find the place this packed still relatively early in the day but he guessed there was nothing better to do in this town. No doubt there would be gambling going on in separate areas. The Hutts also made a great deal of credits from establishments like this. Vincens wondered if the slugs were actually smart or just lucky.

Time for a drink, thought the bounty hunter with no small amount of joy.

There was a rather large circular bar right in the middle of the cantina. He paused a few times on his way there to stop and look at the various attractive females that passed by him. Vinens stopped in front of one of the dancers and simply got lost in her swaying hips. A bump on his shoulder brought him back to reality and reminded him he had a job to do. If he did this job right then he would have enough credits to get more than a few private dances. Eventually he found himself at the bar and took a seat. He ordered a drink as his green eyes scanned his current surrounding. If half the things he had heard about this bounty were true, she would not be easy to miss.

[Moonfire]

Kailani Quix had tried her share of spice, there was no doubt about this. She was an outlaw, a person who danced and fought and ran on the edge of civil society; a fringer... It came with the territory. Her days with Drake Hellion had been filled with intense parties, binge drinking, brawling and spice, but those days had come and passed. The Drake Hellion years ended with a slug right between the eyes while the one and only was out mind on deathsticks.

Kailani didn't dabble with spice anymore after that, no, not often. Some Crash n' Burn from time to time, for a really kickin' party, but other than that the blonde brawler didn't stray far from her blessed alcohol. It was better that way, having only a handful of mildly dangerous vices, than a single all consuming addiction.

But such personal convictions didn't keep Kailani away from Ylesia, the planet known for its mines and spice refining. It wasn't a secret despite its illegality in most of the galaxy, hell the sleezy dive she found herself in now relished in the local trade, The Spice Garden. And Kailani was there for a piece of the metaphorical pie.

"Whaddya mean no ones lookin' for a pilot?" Kailani said to the Rodian barkeep, brow furrowed.

"Sorry, toots. No ones lookin'. Find somewhere else." The bar-tender said with a shrug.

"Don't you frellin' lie to me Wrex, my guy told me someone here was askin' about a pilot, now where the hell is the job?" Her voice rising, slamming her empty mug onto the bar top with bang, audible even over the hypnotic thumping of the music and dancers. The relatively short woman lunged over the counter, grabbing the man by his thin white shirt, fist poised to strike.

"Hey- Cool your jets, Quix! I don't know nothin' about nobody wantin' a pilot for spice runnin', ya hear?" The Rodian said, holding his arms up as the petite woman scowled and snarled before letting him free, sliding back to the floor.

"Yeah, yeah. I'mma have to have a stern talkin' to with my guy. Sorry 'bout that, Wrex. You know how it is." Kailani shrugged, adjusting the tight corset she wore that evening before turning to grin at the bartender. "Ah well, won't let the whole night go to waste..." A shrug of her shoulders and she was gone, prowling the rest of the bar.

And soon a target was acquired. A taller man, human by the looks of it with dark hair and defined arms, someone who seemed out of place and yet at home. A man who'd probably by her a drink if she asked real nice, though Kailani wasn't one for asking.

With a wide smile across her pretty face the woman slide up to Vincens at the bar, leaning back against it as she regarded him for a long moment, green eyes flicking over his form before meeting his own, mischief in the air.

"Hey there, sweetheart." She started pleasantly enough. "Mind if I have this seat?"

Without waiting for permission or acknowledgement she moved, a smile wide across her face as Kailani sat herself directly into his lap in a single smooth motion. Short skirt clad legs swung sideways across his own as a single hand rested against his chest, fingers toying with the thin fabric.

"My name's Kai, I'll be having a tequila and some rum." She smiled again, not a request but a demand, an expectation. "What's yours?"

[Jace]

The bounty hunter did not have to wait long to find his charge. In fact he didn't even had to get up from his seat. He was slightly surprised as the woman appeared right next to him wearing an expression that was likely to get him in some trouble. Vincens took a solid minute to 'assess' his target from head to toe and the bounty hunter liked what he saw. The color of her eyes were reminiscent of his own but that was where the similarities seemed to end. One of Vincens' old buddies back on Alderaan would say that Kailani was 'gifted'. He shook his head in mild amusement at the whole situation.

His bounty had literally fallen into his lap and she was a fine thing indeed. One might say that Vincens was quite conflicted about how to proceed. He could probably just grab the girl now and get himself a hefty bunch of creds. The more primal side of the bounty hunter wanted to do no such thing. Vincens loved money but he'd be damned if he was going to pass this opportunity up. He could always grab her later. The bounty hunter would figure something out, hopefully. He had every intention of his living his life to the fullest.

"The name's Vincens," the bounty hunter said in response to Kailani's question with a half-smile.

"Tequila and rum? Guess you know yer way 'round a bottle," he noted with amusement.

Up to this point, his right hand had been on his blaster. His actual blaster. He had been around one too many pretty girls who were good with a blade. Vincens read Kailani's rap sheet and the woman had stacked up quite a body count. The bounty hunter was all for some fun but he couldn't be sure if the woman was just looking for a free drink. He moved his hand slowly from the weapon and raised it to call the bartender over. Wasn't there a saying about dying in the arms of a pretty woman?

"Get the woman what she wants, and a whiskey for me," he said to the bartender as the man walked over. The man did not seem to fond of Vincens' nonchalant tone but simply shrugged it off, he was used to dealing with scoundrels.

"So Kai, what's a pretty little thing like yourself doin on some slug-infested backwater planet like this?"

Now if Vincens was drunker or stupider, he would have probably been 'all hands on-deck' by this point. Luckily for him there was a small part in his brain that kept constantly reminding him that this woman sitting on his lap was dangerous. Then again, all woman are dangerous, the bounty hunter thought with a smirk. Of course he knew that as the day turned to night, that small voice would become a whisper and eventually nothing. He just needed to make sure that she had no reason to suspect him.

Time to turn on that famous Rainer charm...