Dex:

Dex does his best to hide the nervousness that overcomes him at the suggestion that they discuss how to pay for the ships repairs. The moment of truth seems to have finally arrived. He had been dreading this moment. He fears that his companions will forgo the free repair of their ship rather than murder some filthy alien they don't even know. Ethics. There is just no explaining some people.

In any case, he finds himself in a very compromising position. In an attempt to make the truth more palatable, Dex gave Jarren the impression that the party really had no choice but to carry out the bargain. This will no doubt be brought to light now, and that will not look good for Dex. Not to mention, Ian will no doubt be fully aware that Dex really did not have any problem with the bargain. This will not look good either.

"I should have just let Ian kill Joko last night. He would have had him easy, and at least it would be over now," Dex thinks to himself. He really can not stand the idea of paying for something he was going to get for free, especially when the only obstacle is ethics. Considering that he still does not know who Joko is, or what or who he may be connected to, he still thinks he made a good call. After all, he would have avoided the recent Bothan experience had he only taken the time to discover that that shopkeeper was paying Rybo the Mean for protection.

Dex, doing his best to not display the nervousness he feels, waits for one of the others to respond to Ian's call for a discussion about "paying" for the ship's repairs.

Ian:

Ian glares at Jarren for a momment but tries dspertely to not reveal too much. "Poker face, poker face," chants Ian to himself as a mantra to focus himself to retain as neutral an expression as possible.

"I can understand being pissed but the girlfriend comment really deserves a good swipe out a sense of honor," thinks Ian. "But now is definitely not the time to push the envelope since I think I've used all my credits with these two."

After keeping his cool, he thinks about what to do about the contract before responding. What Ian says will definitely leave a very lasting impression on the only two people in Ian's otherwise miserable existance. Also, Ian realizes that planning a hit with close associates is difficult enough. But with two people he doesn’t know or trust, how do you jump right straight into discussing the hit. Besides, these two may turn him to the authorities if they really are against…Ian wishes he could think of a better way of saying murder.

On the one hand, Ian could simply deny he remembers the deal or at least blow it off as a fantasy. It would not be hard. On the other hand, a deal is a deal and Ian values a deal over life, especially life of a scum-bag. Ian also instintively knows that neither of these two probably have many reservations about the act, rather they probably care more about getting caught. Thanks to Ian, it would not be hard for this town to figure out who did it. Dex, Ian also thinks, never once objected to the hit so at least Ian thinks he has one on his side. And he seriously doubts the Omwati will lose sleep. The Omwati probably cares more that it is done professionally.

"The one thing for sure is I intend to go through with my deal. . .and frankly, we are getting quite a good return. I would give this is a second thought if the target was either a Saint or someone like the Hut. But, from what I can recall before the lights went out in my head, he seems to be a soft target and a complete bastard to that girl. Not that I think the girl is worth saving." With that in the open, Ian pauses a momment to guage their reactions.

"The problem is not if I do it but when I do it. . .or we. From what I could tell, the place is easy to access and definitely not secure. The problem is that we have several people in this town who likely know we are either looking for Joko or maybe Coozer even knows why Cal is paying so much to get our ship fixed. Either way, hanging around after the deed is not wise but the Imperials know where we are going next.

Before I feel comfortable taking down my target, I think we need a lot more information. I was thinking Dex might be able to somewhat inquire from his contact what he knows about this guy and who he is. I think we need to know what Coozer really knows about this deal. Also, I need to know if you two are in or whether you want nothing to do with it."

Dex:

Dex is both relieved and elated that Ian wants to go through with the contract. As a matter of principal, he tries his best to hide his reaction, he can not help but let a wry smile emerge when he hears that Ian is still interested in doing the deed. He very nearly smiles openly as Ian continues to elaborate on the necessary preparations for the job. Dex has the impression that Ian knows this kind of work well, and he believes that Ian might very well prove a better asset than Jarren; and he is not an alien, either.

Dex feels that with Ian on his side, he knows he can either bring the Omwati around, or atleast convince him to not interfere. He feels almost victorious. He had been preparing himself for much worse results.

"I agree. The return is too good to pass up. Cosidering our cash resources, we really have little choice." Dex throws Jarren a quick glance before continueing, "We definiately want to find out who Joko is before doing anything. I'll ask around and see what kind of information I can get. I can also probe Coozer as to his knowledge of this arrangement.

"I was thinking we might be able to sell Coozer one our holos, and get a little spending money. We all need a change of clothes, and I am sure no one would complain about some real food, and maybe a few Andos.

"Also, we are going to need to make sure that Coozer will have this bucket ready before we do anything. I don't want to rob the bank while the get away speeder is in the shop."

He turns to Jarren to see if the Omwati has any repsonse.

With the intrigue of planning the caper, and the prospect of making some good money, Dex is actually getting excited.

Jarren:

Jarren returns Ian's glare and smiles at the Human "How typical of the Alien Human. First he endanger my life, then he tries to degrade him by call him by the title Omwati instead of my name, and then tries to what? Threaten him with his glare? Will this Alien try to kill him in his sleep? What kind of murders do I find myself teamed up with? Apparently neither of the Aliens has a problem with Killing Joko in cold blood. Ian seems to feel that just because Joko yells at his girlfriend that he's a bastard and deserves to be killed and Dex doesn't seem to care at all as long as the profit is good. They just want to check him over first to see what kind of contacts he has. Once Jarren thought like they do. If you where given an assignment or in this case made a deal, then don't question your orders be a good little soldier. But now Jarren had to question, had to know that what he was doing was for the greater good." thinks Jarren.

"I would like to find out if Joko is the scum that we think he is before we plan an operation to eliminate him. If he is then no problem, but what if he isn't, what then? Do we kill him just because he yells at his girlfriend? I would need a better reason to kill him then that, and killing for Credits wouldn't be one." he says eying Dex. " I've done that before and won't do it again unless I have a good reason. If he is not that type of scum we might find another way to fulfill your contact." he tells them.

Jarren throws Ian the Blaster pistol saying " Well I guess you really are over being crazy. You keep this one I'll get a new one." Jarren watches Ian, now that he had a gun would the Human try to kill him? Jarren almost wish that he would try. He never did like bigots. He had seen enough of them in the service of the empire. Jarren also deep down hoped that he was wrong about Ian, he really could us some friends in this cold and hard universe.

"Well let's see if Dex here can get us any money."

Dex:

Provided no one else has anything to say, Dex will let the others know about his talk with Tee'Kal. Dex will then pocket a handful of porno, and head out to talk to Coozer, letting his comrades know what he is doing.

Dex was originally just going to ask Coozer what he knew about Joko, assuming he already knew about the deal with Cal. But Ian quite thoughtfully brought up the fact the Coozer may not know about the arrangement. It would have been foolish to have tipped his hand like that. The Bothans must have dropped him on his head a few times.

He now is thinking of a new approach. Dex will strike up some friendly, casual conversation and try to get to know Coozer a little and develop a rapport with him. Once he has sufficiently smoozed him, Dex will ask Coozer how long it will take to repair the ship, and when will it be ready (Just in case this is not the same question). He will insist that the ship needs to be fixed as soon as possible, and that Coozer should get to work right away. Should Coozer have some reason for not beginning the repairs right away, Dex will ask him what he needs to do before the repairs will begin. Hopefully, this will Segue into Coozer revealing what he knows about the arrangement. If it does not, then Dex will as casually as possible change the subject, asking Coozer how close he is to Cal, and by questioning their relationship and their past, try to steer the conversation toward the present predicament, and see if he can coax Coozer into telling him what he knows with out having to ask. Should this fail, he will simply ask Coozer if he knows the arrangement.

If Coozer does not know about the deal with Cal, Dex will not say anything to reveal it. If Coozer does know about the deal, Dex will question him openly, trying to find out who he is, who he is connected to, what he does, where he hangs out, etc. If Coozer does not know about the deal, then I will say that Cal had mentioned his woman ran off with a guy named Joko, and that I had met a guy on Bespin that was from Tatooine. A real mean guy. Some kind of criminal, and that Cal would be better off not messing with that guy. Hopefully this will inspire Cal to give me some info on Joko without having to ask directly.

Finally, Dex see if Coozer might be interested in buying a holo. Or maybe a few (He could sell them to his friends).

If in speaking with Coozer Dex gets the impression that Coozer would not appreciate where the conversation is headed, he will abandoned the line of questioning. IE, if Dex gets the impression while getting to know him that he would not be interested in the porn, he will not offer to sell him any.

Once finished with Coozer, Dex will pass the information on to Ian, and if the info makes Joko look bad, then also to Jarren. If Joko turns out to be a semi nice guy, Dex will only give Ian this info in private. (When it is safe and will not seem suspicious.)

Dex will then suggest they go get some clothes and a bite to eat.

Ian:

Ian catches the blaster from Jarren and is relieved that despite the Omwati's reluctance to be involved, he at least has given Ian his blaster back. Ian quickly checks the number of cells left in the clip and ensures the safety is on out of habit. He then tucks the blaster back in the nape of his lower back.

Still mostly inoperable from the immense headache, Ian isn't too excited to get up and start moving. At least Dex is willing and able to do the initial ground work. Ian would probably screw up the intelligence work anyway.

Just as Dex is about to head out, Ian stops him by saying "Hey, Dex! I just had another idea. What do you think about getting the communication link to Cal from Coozer? We could simply ask Cal what he told Coozer. Also, maybe we need to know from Cal how many people in the town know about their feud. In fact, I wonder if Cal has considered the fact that he would be a primary suspect and I wonder if he is ready to be questioned by the Imperials. Then again, maybe Cal can give us an idea of how strictly these sort of things are investigated. Maybe nobody cares in this town if someone is wacked. What do you two think, do we alert Cal to this fact and maybe have him back out of the deal first? Or do we suggest to him that at a given time, he get himself a very good alibi?"

Dex:

"Man, this guy has a pretty good head on his shoulders, after all. We should have shot him a long time ago!" Dex thinks to himself.

Dex replies, "That's a good idea; we should get in touch with Cal to see what he has told Coozer. We might also want to ask him about how thoroughly these kind of things get investigated here. I am not too concerned about him being the primary suspect. If he had second thoughts, I am sure he would be in touch with Coozer by now, but I'll ask how many people know about their argument, just to be safe. We should let him know when to set up his alibi when the time comes."

With that, Dex will alter his previously stated course of action. He will ask Coozer if he can get Dex the information he needs to contact Cal. He will then call Cal, taking whatever precautions necessary to insure that it is a secure communication, and ask him what he has told Coozer about the arrangement, and how thoroughly these kinds of things are typically investigated. He will also ask how many people know about their argument.

Dex will relay this information to Ian and Jarren.

Rather than probing Coozer to see if he knows about the deal, Dex will use the information from Cal, and act according to his previously stated actions given the situation.

Jarren:

Jarren informs Dex that he will tag along when he goes to talk to Coozer. If Dex asks him why I tell him that I have a couple personal question to ask about nothing big. With that I'll follow Dex and while Dex is talking to Coozer I'll just stay in the background. After Dex is done I ask Coozer if he knows anyone in the area that is considered by the town folk as a wizard or someone that has strange abilities or powers. If not I'll ask if he knows anybody else that I could ask that might have the info. Either way I'll say thanks and return with too the others to plot our next move.