[OPEN] return of the... bounty hunter?

[fettchquest]

WHO: Boba Fett
WHERE: The porter cities
WHEN: A few hours post-arrival
WHAT: In which Fett embraces both unemployment and his new powers
WARNINGS: None!



i. maurtia falls, shopping district
[In general, Fett prefers to avoid killing when it isn’t part of a job. There’s nothing sloppier, he thinks, than a bounty hunter whose unpaid kills outnumber his paid ones. But if he ever finds out who devised this joke of a job assignment, he might make an exception.

He shows up at the store in full armor, eyeing the signage outside skeptically. “HERB YOUR ENTHUSIASM”’ is displayed proudly above the door, adorned with painted leaves in a variety of shapes and colors. A chalkboard on the front step advertises fresh bay leaves for 20% off. It looks, in a word, harmless. Not that he bothers de-summoning his armor. If anything, it will help underscore his... overqualification for this position.

He walks inside, ignoring the stares from the patrons and staff. The interior of the store is full of racks containing bottles and jars of various leaves and powders, all bearing labels with unfamiliar names. The clientele seems clean in all senses of the word; here and there, children accompany their parents, staring curiously at the armored stranger.

Soon, an employee approaches, expression nervous.]

”Er… Sorry, are you the new imPort employee? I heard we’d be getting a new one and—”

[He interrupts with a piece of paper, held out in front of him. The employee blinks, eyes darting between his visor and the paper as she takes it.]

”Um. What’s this?”

Letter of resignation, [he grates out. In reality, the “letter of resignation” only contains about four words, but he feels it should be sufficient. The woman’s eyes widen.]

”Oh, well uh, my manager’s in charge of hiring for this shift, so you’d have to talk to her—”

No, [he says. His tone is not one that invites argument. And then his helmet tilts, slowly.] What’s the purpose of the plants you sell here?

[There’s an awkward pause as the woman processes the non-sequitur.] Uh. Cooking? Or potpourri, maybe? It’s up to the customer, I guess—

[She’s lost his interest again. With no further attempt at conversation, he turns and heads for the door—not caring to stop for the other imPort in the store as well.]

ii. any of the porter cities
[The information he’d received upon his arrival hadn’t been all bad. Of the powers he’d received the first time he’d arrived here, psychometry was one he rarely used. Even as a child, he’d been loath to experience others’ emotional excesses and had worn gloves to avoid accidentally triggering the power. It was more of a handicap, then anything.

He has more… context for the ability now. And it isn’t the kind that would’ve encouraged its use.

Fortunately, the power’s been replaced—or rather, altered. The name “Psychometric Tracking” had given him some clue of its new function. Now, he’s testing it.

When he picks up the coin from the ground, it’s with the bare fingers, the glove that would normally cover the skin de-summoned. He doesn’t see any memories or feel any strong emotions when he touches the cool metal. Instead, he feels a presence. He stands, turning the coin over in his hand as he considers the feeling. The description “watching someone you can’t see” comes to mind and is quickly dismissed as nonsensical. He supposes it doesn’t matter. What’s important is whether or not it works.

The presence is as strong as a scent or a voice on the air and just as easily followed. Have you dropped any coinage recently? Then chances are, you may soon start to feel as if you’re being followed.]

iii. wildcard
[Want something else? Plot with me at crimsonxiphos! You’re also free to just have your character approach him for no other reason than he’s wandering around the porter cities in full Mandalorian battle armor—it’s pretty hard to miss!]

Comments

ii - De Chima

[mysterioisthetruth]

[On a flight around the city, Mysterio had indeed accidentally lost a coin or two and he hadn't even noticed the loose change dropping to the ground. He was walking around now, fishbowl helmet covering his face and the occasional imPort fan running up to him to gush praise or ask for autographs, which he freely gives. So at first he also doesn't notice he's been followed by someone not a fan and he keeps striding around purposefully as if on a mission. He's quite the sight, not only with that distinctive helmet but also his lit-up armour and grand burgundy cape, bright with scattered lights.]

[fettchquest]

[When Fett eventually catches up with the coin’s former owner, the stranger isn’t what he expected. Like Fett himself, he's armored, face fully covered by a helmet. But whereas Fett considers his own armor strictly practical, the stranger’s is... theatrical, to say the least. The helmet is a perfect sphere, swirling with some kind of opaque gas, and an opulent cape flutters behind him.

Fett keeps his distance. It’s far easier for him to learn by observation than by conversation—and he would like to know where the stranger is heading so purposefully.]

[mysterioisthetruth]

[But it seems there is no destination. He's walking around as a show of confidence, acting the hero and taking in the compliments and playing up the poses when asked for photographs. He does appear to be revelling in the attention. Eventually, he just ends up at a cafe, where he sits down and orders a cappuccino. The helmet now retracts, revealing his face and he gives the waitress a friendly smile but then he looks a little weary after she departs, sighing as he run a hand back through his hair and relaxing in the chair with his drink, which he carefully sips.]

[fettchquest]

[Fett follows—for a while, anyway. When it becomes clear that the stranger isn’t actually doing anything that important, his curiosity wanes. The armor and purposeful stride seem to be there mostly to generate excitement in locals Fett will generously term “fans.” After observing a couple of interactions with such groups, Fett decides he’s seen enough. He turns and quietly leaves the other imPort to his spectacle.]

{ooc: Sorry about Fett’s antisocial-ness, but he will at least recognize Mysterio if he sees him in the future!}

II - Nonah

[pushygirl]

Though Kira has relaxed since she first arrived through the Porter, it hasn't been enough for her to miss the fact that someone is following her. She ducks into a random office building and goes up one floor using the elevator.

She'd dropped a few coins pulling a pen and some paper from her handbag and, because of the differences between this Earth and her own, hadn't bothered picking it up.

[fettchquest]

When the trail veers sharply into an office building, Fett doesn’t hesitate to follow. The surprised stare of the receptionist doesn’t dissuade him, nor does he bother to explain himself. The only thing that gives him pause is how suddenly the path had changed. Does his target know he’s following them?

If he were anyone else, perhaps he would take that as a sign to end this trial run. But as someone who’s spent most of his life on one hunt or another, Fett is only further interested by the challenge. After all, if someone is alert to being followed, it’s probably because they have reason to be.

He follows the presence into an elevator and—pauses. His new power may have brought him this far, but it can’t tell him which button his target had pressed. There are only five levels on the building. He splits the difference and chooses the third. It’s a useful test; there’ s no reason the ability shouldn’t be able to work vertically as well as laterally.

He watches the display screen closely as the elevator lurches upwards. The signal swells as it passes the second floor. Target located. Fett exits on the third—and notes how the elevator dings on arrival. Convenient. He sends it one floor down unoccupied. It’ll serve as a useful distraction for his prey. From there, he descends to the second floor via stairs.

He’s quiet when he slips out of the stairwell, closing the door softly behind him. If he’s lucky, whoever he’s following won’t even know to look in his direction. It’s a shame he hasn’t actually been contracted to finish this little chase. He’s quickly deciding that he likes this new power and that’s a rare enough statement about anything these days.

He moves carefully through the level, eyes scanning his surroundings for anyone who matches the presence he’d felt on the coin.

[pushygirl]

Considering that Kira had been searching for the stairs, spotting her is quite easy. A young woman in her twenties is standing between the elevators and stairwell. She'd been on her way to the stairs in order to go back to the first floor using them. Her casual clothes - starkly different from the business casual clothing other people in the building have been wearing - mark her as an outsider. She turns around to continue her original plan and her eyes go wide.

Kira backs away, glancing around as much as she can without taking her eyes off her pursuer. There's got to be a different way out of the building. Or something she can use as a weapon if it comes to a fight.

"Why are you following me?"

[fettchquest]

Even without his newfound power, identifying the woman as his target would be easy enough. Her clothes don’t match her surroundings at all, nor does the tense agitation in her movements. With his power, it's even more obvious. The presence he'd felt from the coin radiates from her, as clear as any beacon. If he’d actually been paid to kill or capture her, it would be the work of an instant to draw a blaster and fire.

But he hadn’t been. He has no endgame and when she turns to face him, there’s a pause as he considers what to do next. Finally, he raises his ungloved hand—and flips her coin back to her with a flick of his thumb.

“You dropped this.”

[pushygirl]

She catches the coin and drops it back into her bag. "You followed me to return a quarter? How did you even know that... it was mine?"

There are people - called Sniffs - who have Kira tracked down in her own world. They got a hold of something that belonged to her and sniffed it to figure out where she was. She looks to see if his other hand does have a glove (she's seen some Sniffs wear gloves to avoid accidentally picking up on someone's trail).

[fettchquest]

His other hand is indeed covered by a thick glove—though, given that he’s completely covered in armor, it’s his bared hand that seems to be the outlier.

“Psychometric tracking,” he answers, not particularly caring if the words mean anything to her. “This was a test.”

In other words, he’s not there to kill her.

ii heropa de chima wherever

[merging]

[Being a Jedi has some perks. Like laser swords and jumping, but also those extra little senses, knowing things just because you can feel them. It certainly came in handy as an urchin on the streets of Lothal, always somehow knowing where the stormtroopers were. And it's handy now, as he feels someone near him.

As Ezra moves forward, he ends up taking a winding and twisting path, not really as an attempt to shake his follower or anything like that. But he keeps finding little excuses and errands to take him further out of the way because hey, why not. At one point, he considers jumping up to a rooftop, but that might be a little much.

Eventually he stops to sit down at a bench in a small park, and he's soon joined by a few stray cats, some from Earth, some from his galaxy. One of them meows loudly as it nudges Ezra's leg. Seemingly unprompted, he calls out,]

You can join us if you want. You're kinda worrying them with all the sneaking and stuff.

[fettchquest]

[He should’ve taken it as a warning when the coin felt familiar.

He follows the twisting path of his target, one that takes him in and out of buildings, through side streets, and on one occasion, over a wall. It seems to him that his target knows they’re being followed—either that, or they just have a very eccentric way of getting around. It bemuses more than it bothers Fett. If it weren’t for his new power, he might have actually had to put some effort into tracking this one.

The presence grows when he reaches the park, something Fett has learned means he’s gaining on his target. Either they’ve slowed or are no longer running. He remains on alert. People on Earth are rarely armed compared to those on Tatooine or even Coruscant, but with the wide and devastating array of imPort powers, it would be unwise to let one’s guard down.

As he approaches his target, however, wariness quickly gives way to irritation.

It’s Ezra. Again.

He doesn’t, in fact, want to join the boy or his pets, but reputation still matters, even here. He won’t slink off just because a Jedi spotted him. Or rather, sensed him. Fett’s sure he never entered the boy’s line of sight.

The cats at Ezra’s feet scurry off as Fett stalks into view. A shame the Jedi doesn’t have the same sensibility. As soon as he’s close enough, Fett tosses Ezra the dropped coin.]

Psychometric tracking, [he explains brusquely.] Didn’t know it was yours.

[Just in case the Jedi thinks Fett sought him out intentionally.]

[merging]

Oh, thanks.

[he says with a small nod as he puts away the coin, not upset to see Boba, but a little upset the cats are gone.]

New power? [While Ezra didn't know all of his powers before leaving, it seems kinda odd he'd track down someone to give them back their coin. Unless all the Jedi killing made him really altruistic somehow.] It's different from the way I track things, I guess. I have to know the person.

[fettchquest]

[Fett says nothing to the Jedi’s attempt at conversation, only tilts his head slowly forward in a way that suggests the leveling of a glare. Ezra still talks to him in the same friendly manner he had when Fett was still the younger of the two. The fact that Fett is now older, more dangerous, and much more experienced at killing Jedi doesn’t seem to register to him at all.]

Would’ve been useful back home, [Fett says after a long moment, voice utterly dispassionate.] Could’ve tracked down the rest of you.

[merging]

[Ezra lets out a small laugh, a little bitter and a little genuine.]

Honestly, it'd be impressive if you could find me, powers or not.

[There's only him and Luke left, after all. And he's faced down every other Jedi hunter and made it out mostly fine.]

[fettchquest]

[He’s found—and killed—Jedi who felt similarly. ] “Impressive” is what gets me hired.

[Ezra doesn’t seem intimidated by him. Fett supposes he doesn’t have to be, but the boy's equanimity is still irksome. It’s too much of what the Jedi are supposed to be. Fett far prefers to see Ezra’s kind scared or angry, dragged down to the base level of the rest of the galaxy.]

Someone else get to you first?

[merging]

No one got me. It's a long story, but I got me, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and a bunch of Imperials stuck somewhere out in the Unknown Regions. Or maybe even Wild Space. Basically, I don't know where we are and no one else does either. But I have another Mandalorian bounty hunter out there looking for me, so it shouldn't take too long.

[Or that's what he hopes, at least. There's no point worrying over that future when he's here anyways.]

[fettchquest]

[Now there’s something he hasn’t heard before. It might be easy enough to fling oneself into the unknown reaches of space with a well-fuelled ship, but managing to take high-ranking, presumably unwilling members of Imperial leadership with you sounds several degrees more challenging. Though, as far as methods of sabotage go...]

If you wanted them out of the picture, [Fett suggests dryly.] Killing them would’ve sufficed.

[merging]

[Ezra shrugs]

There were several paths before me at first. I knew the one I took was a possibility, but I wasn't sure if it'd actually happen. The Force is tricky that way. But that ended up being the only way to liberate my planet.

Lothal might've been one of the first planets to actually win against the Empire. So I'd say my plan went okay.

[fettchquest]

[The visor of Fett’s helmet turns away as the boy speaks. He isn’t interested in hearing Ezra philosophize about the Force, so full of that typical Jedi arrogance that assumes events are controlled by an entity that favors them.

When he was younger, he'd thought that perhaps Ezra would choose a different path. He'd been wrong, clearly.]

Save your stories, Jedi. [he says, turning to leave.] I’ve heard enough.