Sticking with the Trixians had been a safe haven of sorts. Aegir had given her enough funds too in the form of jewels or whatever else she desired. Wealth appeared easy for him to come by. Wealth alone was no good to her if she just hoarded it so from time to time she went off to spend and enjoy it.

It had been on one such occasion that she had overheard something that lead into something else and something further. Hearing about impossible scores, heists and the typical actions of pirates brought back memories.

She had heard of this stone that was said to summon things, a religious artifact that moved from world to world among a cult that had been attacked by pirates more than once with the pirates coming away with bloodied noses.

Whoever comprised of this cult had been powerful indeed. As the weeks past she heard other stories, rumors of one pirate nearly doing the impossible and stealing that artifact only to later crash land on a planet where the cult had been in full force.

What caught her attention more was the fact that there was a huge reward for the retrieval of the stone … Aegir had placed it she found. She had a means of making contact with him to get the pay off, and it was an easy matter to inquire about the unlucky pirate or attempt to gather any additional details.

The artifact was moved around frequently so it would be tougher to locate it, she could assume that someone had done the basics. The bar was filled with pirates of all sorts, human, cyborg and even alien of all types.

One of the aliens told the most stories about the artifact and even mentioned having a boarding action once and had been lucky to escape that mess.

He was red and had no nose, eyes or ears. There were numerous spots on him and as best as she could tell he had holes that functioned as ears as if he were a reptile. The spots appeared to be eyes, she could see him react as if they were. Whether the larger spots were the only eyes eye sported or the smaller ones too was tough to distinguish. He could have all around vision for all she knew.

The last few months had been a big break from the galaxy in general. She was able to hide among the Trixian women and remain safe. She didn’t even have any money problems, with the jewels that Aegir provided her.

However, Rei Yamamoto found such a life boring, and had to from time to time go back to her old haunts. At least there she could spend some of her new found riches in the bar while enjoying a good drink and a good tale.

As she and the other pirates told each other trails. She had heard of a religious artifact that pirates would find from time from time. Each time though they would come across a cult that would take it away from them.

The cult seemed to very powerful and always one step ahead of the pirates. They always had the upperhand and managed to the be where the pirates were next. Still the pirates seemed to always looking for the artifact.

The reason was that the artifact had a huge reward for anyone who retrieved it, and it had been set by Aegir. The outlaw knew that it would be very difficult task to retrieve it, but unlike the other pirates, Rei could get a hold of the alien far easier than any random pirate. So as soon as she found it she could get the reward.

From all the stories she heard it seemed that the artifact moved around a lot, making far harder to track down. Still as often as the stories reported finding it, it seemed that someone here would have a good clue of where to look.

One of the stories that caught the young woman attention was that of an alien surviving a boarding action from one of these cults. It came from a reptile who had no obvious eyes or ears. Still she saw spots that could function in that way. Curious she moved over to his table. Excuse me sir. I heard that you had quiet interesting tale to tell about surviving a boarding action while in possession of an artifact. It sounds like you have been luckier than most.

As she neared her suspicions had been confirmed, the alien shifted in response to her getting to close. At first he may have suspected that she had been heading elsewhere but he turned towards her letting her know he had been aware of her.

With so many spots it was hard to tell how he focused his attention or where it was. Without the ability in possessing all around vision she could not grasp it fully. Just as knowing a fly saw multiple images at once but in only one direction this was more like a spider that had eyes at the back of it's head … something one noted but could not truly understand.

“That's right. Having eyes in the back of my head helps too,” he chortled, motioned the bar keep for another round and a drink for her as well. He grinned a bit then took a sip from his freshly poured drink.

“It wasn't all that long ago and most of the crew died. I managed to get back on board our ship before the captain cut his loses and left the others to die. We found out where they were moving the artifact and didn't think much about a bunch of cultists on a pilgrimage. They fooled us though. The cultists were actually mercenaries, they were disguised as cultists. Leaked information, a set up from the start.

“However, I do know where they are or at least where they were to collect the rest of their fee for dealing with us waits. Ultimately a means to find out where they are all due to an eager merc that made the mistake of boarding my vessel along with some of his fellow mercs.

“While some of us boarded their ship some of them had the same idea about boarding ours and were taken when the captain left. The captain already spent too much on the failed heist, particularly in crew and couldn't afford to go after it again or chase down additional information. But if you're interested in it I wouldn't mind selling that information if you think your crew can pull it off.”

Rei was pretty confident that each of those patches were some of sensors, whether through vision or hearing. Still it was disturbing to see him react to her even as she was approaching his table even from this angle.

How the alien was able to interpret was he saw from different sensors, was beyond Rei. She suspect that it was similar to flies and their eye, but she was no xenobiologist. In fact she found such things pretty boring. It was better to interact with the alien and let his behavior explain to her how it worked.

Fortunately the alien seemed to be in a talkative mode. He also was kind enough to get the bar keep to bring a drink for Rei while making sure his own parched throat was satisfied with a freshly made drink.

The alien explained that the boarding action was actually ambush. The so-called cultists were in fact mercenaries. They had leaked the information of being cultists to actually set the ambush. And it had nearly wiped out the crew and the ship this alien had been on. But somehow he and the captain had managed to the getaway and the alien at least made here in this bar.

Yeah, I think I have a crew that would be capable of pulling this off. Of course by crew, she meant just her. If she could sneak her way in, she could grab the artifact and sneak out before anyone was wiser. What kinda price are we talking about?

He paused as if doing the numbers in his head. It was doubtful he had considered her actually pulling this off, in her line of work people weren't so altruistic. He had to be calculating a reasonable price knowing that he was unlikely to gauge her given the seemingly impossible task at hand but it was worthwhile information at the same time.

“Five thousand credits. I'm sure if you don't have that much we can work something out,” he grinned then went back to his drink. “Of course the longer it takes the more useless the information becomes seeing that the mercs are on the way to get their payment or haven't received it too long ago and thus it will still be possible to track down their benefactors and find out where the cultists actually are.”

What he had meant by working something out was something she had an idea about. With all the funds she was getting from Aegir she had that in various gems and precious metals, some of which she had already converted over into credits for meager transactions such as paying for her drinks and whatever else she needed or wanted to pick up without the hassle of having to get that seen to before she could handle every day transactions.

The alien paused for a moment as he seemed to be calculating a price in his head. No doubt he believe in her ability to use the information. So he was probably trying to figure out enough money just incase Rei found someone who actually use the information, as oppose to her. That was fine by the platinum blonde as long as the price was fair.

Five Thousand Credits, you have to be kidding. The pirate didn’t have that money in direct credits. However the alien did have a good point. The longer it took for Rei to get the information out of him, the more it will get out of date. And the less like she would be able to find out where the artifact was.

The young woman dug into one of her pockets. Eventually she pulled out a small gem. [color=Red]I think if you get this appraised you find it will cover your price and whatever exchange fee you would have to deal with. The platinum blonde smiled. Now if you want this you will give the information.

The alien took up the gem holding it between his fingers, looking at it she surmised with those eyes though it looked odd since he didn't have eyes on his face in the typical sense. There were a few spots there and as always he was looking everywhere at once but at least his head shifted toward the gem as if focusing on it just as he had initially turned toward her as she approached. It was more for her benefit she felt to show where his focus was.

Clearly he was evaluating the stone and took a few seconds before grinning.

“Done. I doubt that you wish for me to divulge the information here.” He returned the gem then gestured about indicating that they could be overheard. “Got a ship? I figured you wish to depart as soon as possible, or any where else I could tell you unless you want something on a data chip I could give you but seeing how the information is not there it will take a little time to set something up.”

The alien took the gem from Rei, looking at closely with what Rei figured was his eyes. This alien would be hard to play with poker with as he didn’t seem to have any expression that the pirate recognized. She could only looked on as he shifted his head towards the gem and studied for what seemed to be a long time.

Eventually he smiled showing that it was enough for him.

Great, I would definitely prefer to talk about it somewhere else. The alien returned the gem, showing that he was at least a being of his word. Yes, follow me to my ship and we can talk there. The alien was right, in that the pirate wanted to get a jump on this lead as soon as possible.

He followed her the short distance to the port and ultimately her ship. She had to be on her guard now that they had not been in a public place he could have attempted to rob her knowing she had the gem. He was already a pirate, though most pirates in these parts ignored most others they had a common enemy in the law so it was best not to alienate yourself from everyone. But not everyone played by those rules.

Fortunately he had. Once she turned over the gem he told her where the mercenaries were suppose to met up along with the contact, the cultist that was suppose to pay them. Argar was the planet and the Raging Talkar was the place that they were to meet, a sports bar as far as she could tell.

The world was known for mercenaries and other arms. They were manufactured there and there had been all sorts of high tech weapons available there. Some weapons were cutting edge, others were prototypes that only had a handful of field tests.

The place had slavery but arms smuggling was what they were better known for. Ideally it was a place to get mercs and cutting edge weapons. Chances were that if someone thought of it they had a weapon for it and there was a good chance that the weapon was pretty good. Whether a shipboard weapon or a personal weapon they tended to provide it.

The planet was easy enough to get to though there were constant checkpoints along the way and instructions to approach specific space lanes. Traffic was moderate, always flowing at a steady rate so keeping to the set of travel instructions was more a convenience to prevent ships from crashing and keeping everything flowing at a steady rate.

When she was close enough she was asked if she were here on business. Merchants were directed to one port near the warehouses to make loading up vessels easier. To her everything had been orderly and it was clear that they had some practice at this. The port itself had been busy, mostly mercenaries of various species returning back from the latest assignment or about to depart on one but there were kiosks run by droids that offered up information, could download maps on to datapads or assign a team to provide maintenance and repairs as necessary so finding out where the Raging Talkar was had been easy enough.

The place wasn't far but getting a taxi would be convenient and easy to arrange. Her approach was another matter. Did she follow the target in hopes he lead her back to the other cultists and her prize, did she pretend to be a merc herself? Did she attempt to place a tracer on him or bug to hopefully get what she was after without really interacting with him?

The alien had no issue following her to the port and onboard the Cosmo Eagle. However now was the most dangerous time for the pirate as she was now alone with the alien. Honor among thieves was a unique thing and not all pirates felt the same way. Fortunately this alien went more than happy to get paid for his information.

He explained that the mercenaries were suppose to meet up in with a cultist who was going to pay them for their work. The planet was the meeting was to take place was Argar, they were suppose to meet up in the Raging Talkar, some sort of sports bar.

Rei was familiar with the planet’s reputation, this is where many mercenaries were came from. They also had a booming weapon industry here. All sorts of high tech weapons came from Argar, with the planet itself known for its quality. There was even some prototypes here that had rarely been seen off planet.

The planet like many in the galaxy also had slavery, but you really had to research the planet to find that out. Really if anyone was coming here to start and industry, it was to raise an army to take some other planet over. Between the mercs and the weapons, they could field whatever size force they wanted with the right amount of cash.

Travel on the planet was easy enough. Argar liked to encourage as much business as possible, so there was little restriction on travel. They had many checkpoints on the way in to the planet, but it seemed that was to regulate traffic and ensure that no one crashed into each and make a disaster of traffic moving through.

As she arrived at the port she was asked to state her business. She explained that she was here to purchase some weapons. That was a best a half truth, since it would be nice to get some descent weapons before she left. She was directed to a port near some warehoused, probably where the merchants could load and off load their stuff. The pirate stepped out of her ship after landing and found a kiosk that was maps for download. From that information she could at least find this Raging Talkar on the map. Maybe if she was lucky she could find more information on that aliens sports bar before she got there.

The planet was civilized enough that getting a taxi for a hotel near the bar was pretty easy. The hard part she thought about on the way there. She would have to place a tracer on the cultist to be able to following him without his knowledge. It meant she would either have to bump into him in the bar. The other option was a bit more elaborate if she could get a view of one of the waitress at the bar she could disguise herself as a waitress at the bar to ensure it would be easier for her to get close without his suspicions.

There had been plenty of information about the Raging Talkar she could download from the kiosk. While there wasn't so much sites of interest for a tourist in the typical sense all the major business had been detailed along with what they sold.

After weapons of one type or another there were war droids then an even mix of hotels, bars and restaurants that any visitor would want. She could tell that the bar was fairly popular among Hel'Corians, Hezrou and humans. According to what she could find reptilian creatures were most common.

There were even a few images she could bring up and among them she saw pictures of the bar itself and some of the wait staff there which were primarily human and Hel'Corian females of a lower caste.

Hel'Corians did a lot of mercenary work through out the galaxy and so did the Hezrou so neither had been out of place here. She came away with a sense of what the staff wore, which she might have been able to steal if she managed to sneak into the back changing rooms.

The Raging Talker was busy as she arrived. Mostly the strong militant sort had been here. More than a few eyes rested upon her, either it was because they had interest in her or because she was a new face. It was easy for her to tell the non mercs from the mercs given the way that they held themselves. The Hel'Corian on the staff had some practice with combat, most everyone here did.

She was told that the cultist was here, supplied a name and had to recall it. That alien imparted the name of Conner to her, there were a few humans that stood apart that were not mercs as far as she could tell like the guy at the corner booth who was flirting with a no nonsense Hel'Corian until he saw her and gestured for her to near. At least there was no one else behind her.

The young woman found that she was a lot of information on the Raging Talkar apparently. Apparently what passed from tourism here was really the war industry that this planet from famous for.

There was various industries for war gears and war droids, in addition to the hotels, bars, and restaurants that were in the area. From what she could see the area seemed to be filled with humans Hel’Corians, and Hezrou. The Hezrou were the most common of the creatures in the area from what the outlaw could tell.

As the pirate checked out images of the bar from the information she downloaded, she could see that inside of the bar. It seemed that most of the wait staff were human and Hel’Corian females which would make it easier for the platinum blonde to use her plan.

Rei had been around the galaxy has been so the Hezrou and the Hel’Corians made sense to her since both races seemed to prefer that line of work. And now she had some sense of what the staff wore, so she knew to look for in an outfit.

As the young woman entered the Raging Talker, she was surprised by how noisy it was. She could see the mainly the tough visited here. She could see by the way they handled themselves that most here had some form of military training. That seemed to include some of the staff. Still Rei could feel a lot of eyes on her.

She had gotten the name of the cultist from the alien earlier, Conner. He was relatively easy to spot, he did not carry himself like the others in the bar. He was attempting to flirt with one of Hel’Corian staff who was not having any of it. Looking over at the new girl in the bar, Conner seemed to want to try Rei to see if he would have any better success. The young woman smiled and began to make her way over to the cultist.

His eyes had been upon her as she moved closer watching the feminine sway of her hips. He smiled offering up a seat at his booth across from him. It was a bit more personal then sitting down at the bar next to him but it didn't concern him. So someone that didn't want to be elbow to elbow with others or paranoid about seeing others approach his position unseen.

“You do not move like a merc. Smuggler?” Those had been the first words out of his mouth. It didn't seem as if he were really interested in that answer and making a small observation as to why she was here in the first place. He even offered to buy her a drink flagging back over the waitress. “I have not seen you here before, not that I've been coming here for long.

“Meeting someone?” For the first time she thought he may not have been Conner. He could have been an arms dealer waiting for a contact. It did not feel as if his mind was on business, however, given the glances of his eyes, peaking at her cleavage, always smiling or grinning.

The person she identified as Conner kept his eyes on her hips as she approached. He smiled as he offered a seat at the booth, though it across from him. He apparently was not quite ready to have her close at the moment. Either that or he didn’t trust anyone else in the room and didn’t want his sight blocked.

I have been known to move things discretely for clients when they need it. The pirate watched as he flagged over a waitress to get a drink for the young lady. I just got here myself. I was looking to see anyone needed to move anything where the Directorate or any other forces can see them.

Do you know anyone that might looking for a ride? She meant that as a bit of a double entendre. She can tell if he quite interested in her as he kept looking down at her cleavage. Still she need to talk to him more to see if this person was the Conner she was looking for.

“A bit of smuggling?” He nodded then grinned, not considering many that needed to book passage but rather picking up on the double meaning right away. “Oh, I know someone who might be interested. As for transporting a few goods too we're always searching out those that can move stuff for us.

“Not always illegal stuff too but often things that need a bit more … discretion.” He grinned again, his eyes dipping before taking up his drink. A sip later and he was asking her a more direct question.

“Interested? I know we'll have a need soon enough. I was just about to depart this world so I haven't been in touch with my boss but I could get a hold of him come morning. I'm more intrested in your plans this evening darling.”