"I don't get paid enough for this," Turel muttered to himself as he stood squished between two durasteel crates under a dull gray plastisynth poncho. The past few hours waiting for his target had felt like days under the relentless Kaminoan rainstorm. Everything not covered by the poncho was soaking wet, including the insides of his boots. Much of what was covered felt damp from sweat and condensation. He was wet, he was miserable, and he wanted this blasted job over with.
Turel had crept between the two crates to get a good vantage point on the adjacent platform which, according to intelligence, would be where his target, a Bothan named Rel Sol, would land. Rel had been peddling Kaminoan cloning tech across Brotherhood space to the highest bidder and several Clans had already taken contracts out against him. The Bothan's employer remained a mystery, but the Jedi was here to solve it. He just had to catch the sneaky little fuzzball first so he could ask him a few questions. "Asking a few questions" usually involved an aggressive mental probe through the Force. Fun times.
"Oh thank Ashala and Bogan!" Turel exclaimed as he pulled up his trusty Karpaki Fifty to get a closer look at an incoming shuttle through the scope. The unmarked, stereotypically bone colored, Lambda-class shuttle hovered over the landing pad, folded its wings into the landing position and gently floated down like an Corellian banshee bird settling into its nest. A streak of lighting peeled across the sky and lit up Turel's hiding place, momentarily blinding him as the accompanying crack of thunder shook his carefully aimed scope up and down. Steadying himself with the Force, the Jedi reacquired his sight picture and resumed his vigil over the platform.
"Come on," He whispered to no one in particular as the shuttle's ramp slowly descended; his hopes of a warm bed and dry clothes riding on the identity of the disembarking passengers. The Human's patience paid off as a Bothan with dark fur and an eyepatch, matching the target description, scurried down the ramp flanked by two Trandoshan bodyguards. This would be a blue milk run, all Turel had to do was intercept the target before he entered the facility. The bodyguards could be subdued quietly and he'd be offworld with Rel Sol before they were the wiser.
Just as Turel was preparing to leave his overwatch position to pursue the target, he felt the distinct presence of another Force user nearby. Alarmed, the Jedi began to scan his surroundings through the scope. It had to be a rival clan, he just knew it. Feeling them try to hide their presence he could tell they were at least somewhat skilled, whoever they were. Turel continued visually sweeping the area until he spotted a humanoid male leaning up against a wall under a relatively dry awning of the pod shaped facility. The Jedi adjusted the scope, focusing in on this newcomer.
"Is that Terran? You have got to be kidding me!" The Jedi noted with exasperation. The Kiffar and the Human had only met a few times in the Arcona Citadel, which was just enough for both of them to get a negative impression of the other. Celevon had opined that the reason they rubbed each other the wrong way was due to their similarity in personality. But what did he know anyway? He is only Terran's Quaestor and Turel's former lover.
The Jedi didn't actually hold any murderous intent toward the former Jensaarai; he just was not about to lose out on a job to a rival.
A flash of inspiration struck Turel with one of his bad ideas. He took aim at Terran's feet and waited for the next bolt of lighting. When the flash of light came he tightened his finger around the trigger, steadied himself and held his breath waiting for the thunder crack. The Guardian counted off three beats in his head, before the thunder drowned out all other sounds, and pulled the trigger. The storm's noise concealed the shot from the Bothan target, but not from Terran's Force senses, who scrambled for cover.
"Ha!" Turel exclaimed with satisfaction. "Try to hone in on my job will ya." He watched through the scope as Terran peaked out from behind a crate on the walkway. The Kiffar was closer to the target and there was no way the Human could reach him or the Bothan in time. It was not clear whether the Arconan was here to capture or kill Rel Sol, but Turel could not afford to take that chance. He blinked to relax his eyes and intentionally slowed his breathing down.
The Jedi reacquired his sight picture and noticed Terran was still behind the crate, sneaking peeks directly in Turel's direction. "Well he's on to me." The Bothan was nearly inside the facility already and the Human made a snap decision to keep his rival suppressed and try to catch the target on the way out. That would give him enough time to deal with the Kiffar, one way or another. Outright killing was out of the question, besides, it would be more satisfying to humiliate his opponent somehow. Turel squeezed off another round during a burst of thunder. "Yeah stay down!"
Rel Sol entered the facility, the doors sealing behind him with a buzz of electronics. Turel suddenly wished he had a slicing droid or two with him. Without a viable way to enter the facility without raising the alarm, he would have to be patient. The Bothan had to come back to his shuttle at some point, which meant more waiting in the rain. He cursed Terran under his breath for interfering and foiling his plans. Without sufficient ammo on hand to take pot shots at the Arconan all day, a closer confrontation was inevitable so the Odanite took one last look at the Kiffar standing behind cover and slung his rifle over his shoulder, taking off across the landing platform toward the facility.
Turel made it halfway up the walkway connecting the platform to the main building when he felt a ping in the Force - danger.. The Human dove to floor of the walkway, landing right into the flowing water from the rain as a blaster bolt zoomed by overhead. "Yeah he's definitely on to me." He remarked, anger now bubbling to the surface much like the water he was in. Laying flat on his stomach, Turel raised his left hand into the air as high as he could, definitely displaying his middle finger in a universally obscene gesture. A second blaster bolt passed by, nearly taking his hand off. The Jedi quickly ducked back into a prone position, satisfied in the knowledge that his message had been well received.
Sorenn unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and shifted it to his left hand while keep as low to the ground as possible. A third blaster bolt whizzed by, just a bit too close for comfort. He took a deep breath to steady himself and leapt up igniting his saber. Calling on the Force to aid, the Guardian sprinted toward the facility as fast as he could, deflecting the occasional blaster bolt as he ran. He quickly put his back against the wall when he reached the covered walkway of the facility. The curvature of the building obscured his opponent from view, but not for long. Once they got close enough to each other the confrontation would resume in earnest.
Turel rushed along the walkway with his saber at the ready, keeping as close to the wall as he could without sacrificing speed. He didn’t know if Terran had a means of entering the facility, but he did not intend on giving him that chance. He felt the Kiffar’s presence just around the corner as he approached the facility entrance. The Human calmly strut into the open with his saber held in front of him, just in time to catch the Arconan fiddling with the door controls.
Terran produced two blaster pistols and had them aimed at Turel before the Human knew what was happening. “Shooting at me, rude gestures, that’s not very Jedi-like of you,” The Arconan quipped.
The Odanite shrugged. “What can I say, you bring out the worst in people, Terran.” He took a few steps forward but froze when his opponent’s arms tensed, blasters ready to discharge. “I would have had that little fuzzball if you hadn’t crashed the party. I’m surprised Arcona sent a two-bit amateur like you on a job like this.”
The Kiffar flashed a smirk. “Two-bit amaetuer? That ain’t what your sister said last night.”
“Oh real great comeback there, did you learn that one in Jensaarai preschool? You know, she’d probably kick your ass for saying that. In fact I might just tell her you said that and save myself the trouble,” Turel quipped with as much sass as he could muster. “Look, I know you’re here to add that Bothan to your little traveling fur enthusiast road show and what you do on your ship with your companions is your business, but why don’t you leave this one to the professional okay? Never send an off-brand Jedi to do a Jedi’s job.”
