Rex to Riches

Posted on Mon Feb 17th, 2020 @ 10:05pm by Kalen "Rex" Vickers & Mentis

2,720 words; about a 14 minute read

Chapter: Chapter VI: The Last Bastion
Location: Theed, Naboo
Timeline: 25:30 (local time), Early Week Three (After "My Name is Axion")

The soft flow of water along the narrow stone canal set a sense of calm in the night air of Theed as Kalen "Rex" Vickers walked quickly, but quietly along the water's edge. The warm glow of the lamp lights tinged the water below and consumed the faint twinkles of the stars above that might otherwise have been visible upon its surface. He spotted Mentis leaning against one of the lampposts in a small courtyard further along. In contrast with the peaceful night air, the Rattataki appeared agitated, which was not an uncommon state for Vickers' Force-sensitive friend to exhibit, as far as the Human had observed.

As he drew closer, he caught sight of the statue in the courtyard he had asked Mentis to meet him by. It was a yellow-tinged but well preserved statue, seemingly made of the same beige stone much of Theed was constructed from, carved in the likeness of an ancient King of Naboo, Ars Veruna, or, as Rex had described it to Mentis: 'the statue of the bald Human with the big ears'.

Mentis had obviously sensed his approach as he began to speak, "This isn't quite the venture I had in mind, Rex," came his careful voice, "Skulking about after dark seems too much like the life I am trying to leave behind. Please tell me this job of yours is something Bomoor would approve of."

"Mantis!" Rex replied cheerfully. He adopted an expression of mock dismay, and threw a hand towards himself in an exaggerated fashion. "I am hurt you could ever think so little of me. Me. Kalen 'Nice-Guy Rex' Vickers, gambler and philanthropist extraordinaire. I assure you, not a single thought crosses my little grey cells without me first asking; 'Would Captain Barkbeard find this morally acceptable, or is this too ethically ambiguous for a law-breakin', Sith-enablin' treasure hunter?'"

Although his clothing was still typically 'spacer', the Human being adorned with his usual assortment of braces and buckles, Rex's shirt was atypically dark and form-fitting, and he was even wearing a pair of tight but movable gloves. His arm had also appeared to have mostly healed. Whilst Rex still showed signs of favouring it with the occasional movement, it was no longer in a cast, and he was using it almost as freely as he used to. The healed limb seemed to have brought with it some restoration of his usual character, too - something that had been amiss since their (mis)adventure to Korriban.

Or, possibly, tonight's plans had played some role in that apparent reversal/return of character.

Mentis seemed to roll his eyes, but not particularly seriously, "All right, 'Nice-Guy'. I'm not pretending I'm some beacon of moral aptitude either, but I just don't want to rock the boat too much with the former Jedi. I can't be appearing to confirm their suspicions that I am some villain."

He stepped out of the lamp light and looked over the canal to a closed café that lay on the other side. It spoke to the peaceful nature of the city that, even in the dead of night, all the tables and chairs were left outside where, in many other urban sprawls, they would be vandalised or stolen. However, such tranquillity was not entirely the result of the people's gentle nature, but manufactured by the wealthy exclusivity of this neighbourhood.

"On that note," the pale-faced Humanoid continued, "What kind of work finds us in this quiet residential neighbourhood at this hour?"

Rex flashed his flashiest winning smile at Mentis, the one that the Rattataki had rapidly become immune to during his time with the Human, a period that in fact seemed longer than the few short months it had actually been. It was a dangerous gesture, offered when the occasional smuggler was either keen to win something, or keen to get himself out of something. Both eventualities usually resulted in Mentis having to work harder than Rex.

"Justice, my bald friend," he said in an avaricious tone. "Justice and coin, to use the, uhh, vernacular of this fine city." Rex came to stand beside Mentis, resting his arms on the ledge that overlooked the still waters of the canal, so perfectly motionless that it had the visage of a mirror, beautiful and serene. Captured in its reflection was one of Naboo's moons, brilliantly bright and perfectly depicted. "Even your new 'master' must be on board with that, right?"

Rex simply could not help but then flick a loose pebble into the water, instantly destroying the picturesque serenity, ripples bouncing this way and that in a chaotic mess that refused to still itself, the image lost.

Mentis considered the question for a moment longer than Rex had anticipated, seemingly finding some insight he had not intended as the ripples settled once again, "I think there is a considerable grey area allowed in Bomoor's ideals, which might prove just as well if you are going to hang around for much longer. But, for now, he leaves it to me to judge the best use of my time while Amare is off to play."

With a subtle movement of his wrist, the Rattataki summoned his own small pebble, which he inspected briefly before casting through the shimmering surface of the canal, "Let's just say I'm on board for now."

Rex gave Mentis a hearty slap behind his shoulder, almost jerking him face-first into the ledge they were leaning on. "That's what Rex likes to hear!" The Human declared with a laugh, already walking away down the lantern-lit canal walkway, a slight swaying swagger to his gait. A few of the native nocturnal insects were drawn to the classically-styled lights, occasionally impacting the glassy exterior with audible bangs. Rex eyed a couple with some amusement, the appearance of them seeming to give him some satisfaction.

Naboo actually seemed to agree with the space captain.

"Place we're going is just a little ways up the way here," Rex whispered to Mentis when the Rattataki caught up, having recovered from the boisterous knock. He pointed up ahead to where the pathway angled off into a dark alleyway, although the end of the alleyway was visible, and wrought-metal gates were in view. Briefly, a uniformed figured ambled into sight, a buckled cap glinting with the amber light of his own hand lantern.

"Whilst keeping myself busy and building up some contacts in one of the local taverns, I happened across a poor, pretty little thing down on her luck, penniless and spurned. And you know how I'm a sucker for a sob story," he carried on explaining as they drew closer to the opening of the alleyway, his light tone not making it clear whether or not his last comment was barbed for Mentis' benefit. "She used to be the handmaiden to one of the heiresses of House Curalo, a Theed noble family, only, by no fault of her own, she was cast out. She ain't got no family and the lord of the house won't let her anywhere near his girls now, either. Now, all of this darlin' handmaiden's worldly possessions - jewels and the like - are still holed up in Curalo's manor. What with old man Curalo being a fancy lord an' all, local cops don't give a bantha's furry hide about our girl's complaints." Rex leaned in to Mentis, eyebrows raised. "Don't shit on your own landing pad, if you catch my drift."

"I believe so," Mentis acknowledged as he twisted his head slightly to get a better glimpse of the man presumably guarding the estate they were heading to, "I am no stranger to the consequences of upsetting your boss. I am sure that most of the people here want an easy life like so many in the galaxy, even if that means letting certain evils slide."

It seemed that the former cultist had accepted enough of Rex's story to buy into the venture. The smuggler knew enough of Mentis' story to tailor his own to the Rattataki's values. As they proceeded out of the soft lamp light and into the shadows of the alleyway, the modest but nonetheless grand estate came into view. Real estate was tightly managed in the capital city, owing to the nostalgic preservation of the classical architectural style and design that permeated the entirety of this central district. Therefore, many expanding estates had to be creative in order to expand: often adding new levels and platforms or expanding into unused stables and courtyards in order to capitalise on the space allowed.

The Curalo estate was narrow, but shot upwards with tall towers that had a spiralling design like a snake had bound them upright. An elaborate sheltered balcony stretched around the first floor with arches allowing a view around the estate and all the roofs were shingled with that iconic green metal seen throughout Theed. The gate they had spied the guard through led into a tiny courtyard, only big enough to hold a single speeder at most. It was likely the delivery entrance and not the usual avenue for noteworthy visitors to approach from.

"So, we have a Nabooian Lord and his estate versus a lowly handmaiden and... us," summarised Mentis, lingering slightly on their own inclusion in the mix, "So we know why this woman was wronged? There must be some reason she cannot return for her own possessions."

The pair were both hugging the wall of the alleyway, the darkness obscuring them effectively as they examined the layout of the Curalo estate. It was then that Rex retrieved an extendable monoscope from one of his pouches, placing it against one eye, head moving from side-to-side and up-and-down as he scanned the environment. A smile continued to spread wider across his face as he took in more of their quarry. He either did not notice or simply ignored Mentis' question.

He suddenly turned back to the Rattataki. "You must have sneaked into dozens of places when you were running with the loon squad, right? Well, I'm reckoning we cause a little distraction with the SoroSuub flash speeder the old man's got parked up just past those gates there. Those model S-117s' converters are notorious for overcharging when plugged into off-brand power sources. We could make a couple of pretty big bangs and flashes, get all the heavies blinded and all the others over to investigate and help, and then we can shimmy up that tower, just there."

Rex pointed at the nearest tower, which sprouted up from the bulk of the building just behind the half-visible speeder, protected as it was by the gates. There were several figures milling about here and there, lazy but tactically positioned to have a fairly good view of the courtyard and tower in question. Some dim lights were also still visible in some of the windows lining the various structures of the estate, and occasionally the shadow of person walking by inside could be glimpsed. Were there to be any sort of commotion, it would probably excite the entire private platoon

"We're using these," he said, pulling out a couple of small boxy devices and pushing them towards Mentis, both being small enough to fit in the palm of Mentis' hand. "ORA droid-poppers. Low-grade kark, but good for taking out small synthetics and electricals. With your magic spells, there's no reason we can't get 'em straight onto the speeder and any cameras or trip devices Mr Curalo's got waitin' for us." Rex now glanced back towards the estate, his head bobbing as though he were counting or perhaps timing something. He looked back to Mentis. "How's your climbing?"

"Excellent," Mentis answered plainly, examining the droid-poppers in his hand, "And I can certainly get one of these onto the speeder with nobody noticing. But that only gets me up to the tower; I presume you will want to get in too, if you know exactly what we are supposed to be liberating from this Lord."

The Rattataki glanced up and down the human for a moment before hesitantly asking, "Do you want me to carry you?"

"What?" Rex looked at Mentis incredulously, brow furrowed and eyes wide. "No!" His pupils then narrowed, and the man peered in closer to his friend, curiosity taking him. "I mean, are ya actually strong enough to-- No. No, no, no." He shook his head, throwing off the thought with each successive swing. He pulled up his trademark DL-18 heavy blaster from its holster.

The burnished metal, tarnished during the showdown on Korriban with Mentis' former cultist companions, had been recently polished, the recent damage repaired by both Rex and Reave over the past few weeks. At one point, the smuggler thought his own 'duel' with the Devaronian cultist had cost him ownership of the blaster, affectionately named Cindra, but Reave had managed to recover it in all of the chaos. Initially, the cantankerous Jawa had taken the opportunity to lord his possession of the weapon over Rex, but he had eventually relented. Or, rather, he had not stolen it back after Rex had found it within the maintenance ducts of the Red Raptor, which the awkward sentient rodent had taken to calling home.

"Grappling hook attachment," he boasted, teeth flashing and head nodding back and forth with smug self-amusement. "This baby's custom. You wouldn't believe the kinda kark I've attached to old Cindra. She's a reliable girl." Rex gave the blaster a kiss before spinning it back into its holster. "She and the Janna have never let me down."

He only seemed to realise what he had said after he had actually said it, his expression threatening to drop just very quickly, but his head quickly shot back up again, the showman's smile returning. "No time to waste though, Mantis." Rex placed a hand on the Rattataki's shoulder. "We gotta lord to rob! C'mon. Stay low and follow me."

Not waiting for any confirmation from his partner-in-crime, the Human ducked down and ran quickly over towards another speeder, one that was parked in the wide, ancient cobbled street that largely encircled the perimeter of the estate. Still an expensive model, as was fitting for such a wealthy quarter of Naboo's archaic capital city, it was not quite as remarkable as Lord Curalo's gleaming pride, still nestled and visible within the estate's grounds.

Although there were lights, both natural and artificial, coming from both the Curalo buildings and guards, it was the bright light being reflected from Naboo's moons that really lit up the night, making it unseasonably bright and offering an unadulterated view of the estate they were targeting. To the side of the gates and with a roof that overlooked the courtyard and speeder, there was a small guard's outhouse. It would be a simple matter to climb onto and over it, the tower they sought being just a few extra feet beyond it on the other side.

"Reckon you can use your Force to get yourself clear on top of the guardhouse?" Rex whispered to Mentis, peering over their speeder cover. "Once you're on, you can help me up. Save Cindra for the biggun."

Mentis peered out around the speeder to look at the outhouse, allowing some of that bright moonlight to momentarily light up his pale, chalky skin like a third smaller moon in the night. There was no one occupying the small building, but that did not mean nobody was around. Ducking back in, he gave Rex and affirming nod before quickly skirting along the remainder of the alleyway until he was hugging the wall of the guard house.

Rex followed swiftly behind and reached him just in time to watch Mentis execute what looked like a short hop, but actually carried the strength to propel him to the flat roof above but no higher, lest he be spotted. He offered an arm down to Rex and brought him up alongside him so they were both crouching looking down on a new view of the courtyard.

“Okay,” Mentis whispered, “So, I’ll get one of these poppers onto the speeder and then shoot up the tower. What about you?”

"Ain't it obvious?" Rex said with a wide smile. "You're gonna carry me on your back."

TBC

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