KotOR I: Orin Dakall

After what seemed like an hour of Mission going on about everything she knew anything about, Orin and Carth moved on, leaving her to badger Zaalbar into going as well.



“I didn’t know it was possible to fit that many words into that many minutes,” Orin said, scoping out a dark room where the main attraction was a group of dancing Twi’leks.



“Hey, I didn’t see you there,” said a low voice in her ear, belonging to a guy thinking she’d been saying something to him. “My attention was kind of focused on the dancers.” He glanced up at them again. “Look at them waggle those head-tails!”



She felt vaguely sick thinking that those girls, and now Lyn, would be doing that until someone decided they were too old. She’d called Nar Shaddar home most of her life. She knew what happened when dancers were forced to retire. They had no other skills to fall back on, and while they’d always been whores in the minds of the men who watched them, that is when they became them in actuality.



The man misread the look on her face, saying, “Aw, don’t worry, honey. Alien girls aren’t really my thing. I’m much more interested in an attractive female of my own species.”



“Never gonna happen,” she said, turning to leave.



“Hate to see a pretty lady leaving,” he called after her, “but you ain’t the only girl in this place.”



She met up with Carth at the door, who was glaring at the man. “What is it?”



“He wasn’t as sorry to see you go as he claimed.”



Orin looked around to see the guy staring openly at her ass. “Fucking pig.” She went back, fist clenched and ready to teach him respect, but the idiot actually thought she appreciated his ogling.



“Hey baby! Back again, I see.” Orin’s fist tightened. “I guess the old Holdan charm is still working. The ladies just can’t leave me alone!”



She released the fist in disappointment. “Holdan? You’re the guy who put the bounty on Dia’s head, right?”



Holden looked rather let down. “You’re here about that? Well, I don’t care who takes her out, just so long as the job gets done. I can’t let her get away with what she did--that wench tried to cut me with her vibroblade!”



“And why would she do that?” Orin asked, patronizingly.



“Because she’s crazy! She started screaming that I was making advances, and the next thing I know she’s coming at me with a knife.”



“Yeah, right,” said Carth from right behind Orin, making her jump. “Sounds to me like she was defending herself.”



“I admit I was drunk,” Holdan said a bit doubtfully. “Maybe I got a little fresh. But it was no big deal. She didn’t have to cut me!”



“Sounds like you got what you deserved,” Orin said.



“Hey, you weren’t there. She totally overreacted!”



She shrugged. “I want the bounty removed.”



Holdan blanched. “What? I can’t do that! Think how it would look. I work for Davik, I’ve got a certain reputation to uphold. I can’t let her get away with this. There has to be payback!” Orin bit back a growl as he paused, wanting to end him there. “Although... I do feel a little guilty about all this. Dia’s a good looking gal. It’d be a shame to kill her...” He looked up brightly. “Tell you what, I’ll take 200 credits in exchange for lifting the bounty.”



She smiled at him, leaning in closer. His eyes automatically fell to her breasts and he leaned in as well. “If you hire someone to kill Dia,” she said softly, looking up at him through her lashes, “it’ll look like you weren’t man enough to do it yourself.” She bit her bottom lip and blinked doe-eyed at him. He licked his lips and swallowed, breathing faster.



“Well... I guess you might be right. And some of the girls around here have been giving me the cold shoulder since all this started...” Orin innocently rubbed her arm slowly, squeezing her breasts together at the same time, and tilted her head. “Okay, you win. Dia can live. I’ll go tell Zax right now that the bounty is off the table.” He started to leave, then turned. “You gonna be here when I get back?” he drawled lowly. Orin smiled. He kissed her hand and ran toward the bounty office.



“Do you do that every time there’s something you want?” Carth asked, annoyed.



“Only if there’s someone stupid enough to fall for it,” she replied, wiping her hand off on her pants and heading for the exit. She smiled to herself, almost hearing his mind running through every conversation they had, making sure he hadn’t been one of them.



An hour later, after convincing the Hidden Bek lookout that they weren’t spies sent to kill their leader, Gadon Thek, then convincing his personal bodyguard the same, they were allowed to speak with Gadon, whom Mission had directed them to. Orin nearly squealed with delight when he told them Bastila had been captured by Black Vulkars and was now a slave. She was less thrilled when he told them they’d still have to go to the Undercity, break into the Vulkar’s base, steal some part for a swoop bike, get it back to the Beks, and enter and win the Lower City gang swoop race to win Bastila from the Black Vulkars. Carth, in turn, looked ecstatic when Gadon offered to trade their trooper uniform for some security papers to get them past Sith guards.



They were making their way to the Undercity elevator, through another group of Vulkars who decided to attack them on sight, when they overheard one of Davik’s agents demanding late payment from the Vulkars. Orin shook her head. They wouldn’t dare be late with payments if Goto were running this planet. If I were-- Carth was giving her an odd look, but they both turned at the sound of a sharp whistle.



A huge man walked past with a repeating blaster rifle held at the ready. He glanced at them, pressed to the wall where they could hear without being seen, with bored disinterest, never pausing in stride.



“Oh, hey...” One of the Black Vulkars suddenly sounded nervous, maybe closer to terrified. “Canderous, we didn’t know you was working for Davik now.”



Orin tapped Carth’s shoulder. “Did he look familiar to you?” she whispered. He shrugged.



“Not really,” he whispered back. “The guy called him Canderous. You know the name?”



She shook her head. He hadn’t seemed to recognize her, and she was sure she didn’t know anyone named Canderous, but his face... she was sure she’d seen his face before. And then he was in front of them again, looking over his shoulder.



“Those Vulkars are dumber than a Coruscant granite slug!” His eyes passed over Carth and fell on Orin. “They actually think being in that pathetic little gang of theirs makes them important. Gadon keeps his hidden Beks in line, but Brejik’s getting dreams of grandeur. If Davik’s smart, he’ll slap that young punk back down.” And then he was gone.



“He didn’t recognize you,” Carth pointed out.



“I know,” she said, looking confused. “And I’m sure I’d remember his voice if I’d heard it before... But I know that face.” She sighed. “This is really gonna bug me.”