Pointedly ignoring the suggestion that he rein in his feelings, he ploughed on with a brief, albeit detailed where necessary, overview of what had been happening in the galaxy ever since the formation of the Empire, since he assumed that was when Vax had disappeared to Felucia. He covered more recent topics, such as the increase in bounty rewards for Jedi, the purging of Force-sensitive beings such as had happened at Carratos, and the Senate's appeal to lessen the offensive capabilities of defensive fleets, among other things. Throughout, he chose his words carefully, displaying no lingering reverence for the Empire which he still secretly served.
"Which brings us to where we are now" he concluded, sipping again at his drink. "You have a bounty on your head just for existing. I assume I'll have the same bounty on my head, now that word is out I'm with you" he added, that strange thought settling in for the first time.

While he'd spoken, he'd been going over things in his mind, but had come up with no solid plan of action.
"So..." he said, deciding to voice the list of things they needed to do. "First up, we need disguises, a ship, and the location of other Jedi. The first two should be relatively easy to come by, but will be wasted if we can't find others to join the cause" he sighed. All of this was frustrating him, and at the forefront of his building anger was his own lack of preparation for the task he knew he'd eventually be undertaking.

Silently, he went over recent events in his mind, the ones he'd just recited to Vax. The only directions he seemed able to see were Dantooine, where Havoc had recently caused something of a disturbance, or Volus, where it was rumoured a Jedi had been involved in some insurgent uprising against the Empire.
"If you see a direction for us to take, now's the time to speak up, old man" he said. "Or if you know of anybody on this rock that could help... that'd be even better, since it addresses our more immediate concerns".

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

"Disguises? Some artfully applied makeup and new clothing should suffice there. I can sell my ship and you your vessel so we can get something to get us off this rock. My contacts here, unfortunately, are more likely to turn us in than to help us, but I may be able to find a few. Dantooine seems like a dead end. If this Jedi, Havoc, was there, he is long gone now. Volus is a possible place to turn to, but I have no contacts there at all. Perhaps... I may know someone on this rock who can put us in touch with some of the former members of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. I know they were our enemies once, but now, as the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"There are still vestiges of the CIS active in the galaxy?" he wondered out-loud. He'd heard plentiful rumours to suggest it as true, but until now, had received nothing that looked or sounded like concrete proof. Still, best not to play it too eagerly...
"The enemy of my enemy is also sometimes my enemy..." he pointed out. "Though they can't be any worse than the Empire for holding grudges" he admitted, almost as an afterthought. He sipped at his drink, winced at the high alcohol content. He pushed it aside, deciding he needed a clear head, whether his abstinence from drinking made him look suspicious in this place or not.

Standing and pulling his jacket into place to keep his lightsabers obscured, he gestured toward the door.
"I say we go find this contact of yours. Any allies he can put us in touch with will be useful. Plus, I don't like just sitting here, it feels like... like giving up, or waiting for the inevitable. Lets keep moving".

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

"I always suspected not all elements of the CIS were wiped out. My contact is a Toydarian who sells weapons, perhaps twelve blocks from here and three levels down. Truth be told, I don't like sitting here either. I have a rather annoying tingle at the back of my mind, so indeed, the sooner we are rid of this planet, the better."

He wanted to voice the concern that if the Empire were already actively seeking them, then it would likely be Inquisitors doing the job, and such an attack would warrant lightsabers and thus their complete exposure.
But then he reminded himself of how he'd first confronted Castor, and belayed that statement. The Jedi was no fool; he'd be thinking exactly the same thing, hence the rush to get their information, and get out, possibly grabbing a ship along the way if time permitted.
"Lead the way, old man. I'd hate to lose you in this crowd" he jibed, lightening the mood a little, and allowing Castor to lead him to the Toydarian arms-dealer.

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

Inside, a solitary Toydarian was flitting about, dusting off Clone Wars-era (and older) rifles and blasters. He looked up at the two men who entered. "We are closed for the night and... you!"

Vax smiled faintly as he stepped into the shop proper. "Yes, me, Grullo. Back from the dead and all. I need some information."

The Toydarian's wings beat rapidly as he stammered another greeting, but his eyes shot from the pair of men to a curtain-covered hall to their left and back again.

He resisted, waited with baited breath during the tense exchange between Jedi and death-dealer. The irony wasn't completely lost on him. Neither was the Toydarian's quick, possibly nervous glance.
He nudged Vax's thoughts with his own, unsure whether the Jedi had noticed the brief movement during the exchange of niceties. Then, directing his attention to the curtain, he probed with his senses for what might be hidden down there...

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

"Look, Grullo, my friend and I are in need of your help."

"Help? Help, yes. There are plenty of blasters here, Jedi. All for sale."

"Not that sort of help, Grullo. I need some information from you. We can't pay much, but I'd be lying if I didn't say it was your repayment for the favor you owe me about that business with the Hutts."

Grullo gave Vax a sour look, then flitted over behind the counter, settling on a short stool that hid his hands under the counter. "Ok, Jedi, ok. I will help you. You should know, though, that there is a very large bounty on your head..."

Caden might feel the warning from Vax a moment late, but the Toydarian was already reaching for a silent alarm button under the counter with one hand and for a stun blaster with the other.

Trouble such as himself and Vax, who'd been met with lukewarm and nervous response ever since arriving in the arms dealers shop. And, as his danger senses heightened, and he felt Vax's warning immediately after, he knew something was amiss and trouble was about to find them.
"The trouble with bounties..." he said slowly, deliberately, fixing Grullo with a piercing gaze which began to yellow in colour, "is that you need to be alive to spend them" he added forcefully, extending an unfocused telekinetic push in the Toydarians direction, uprooting blasters and hopefully the small being in its wake, pinning them to the wall.

He knew the clatter of weapons would alert the waiting bodyguards, but at this moment it didn't matter; the Toydarian had likely already summoned them to the shop, and Caden was becoming too agitated on Nar Shaddaa to deal nicely with those who would sell him or Vax out.

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

The first Trandoshan proved to move quicker than his comrades and he burst through the curtain, throwing himself to the left behind the cover of a large weapon rack, all the while squeezing off a barrage of shots from the pair of SSK-7 heavy blaster pistols he clutched. Perhaps two seconds later, a second Trandoshan emerged, charging straight for the pair of men and firing a DC-15A blaster rifle, likely appropriated from a dead clone at some point, one handed. In some regards, this might actually better their chances of not being hit. The final bodyguard had paused in the doorway, unable to take a shot due to his companion's charge, which was perhaps luck as well, as he held a DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle, and at close range, it was more than deadly.

Vax answered the initial charge by throwing himself to the side, his yellow saber extended to catch and flick away the blaster pistol bolts that came at him (one nearly struck the pinned Toydarian, which caused him to squeal all the more). His cover was behind a rather solid table that seemed more appropriate as a desk. Caden might well see, if he had a moment, how bad Vax was with a blaster. The Jedi had drawn the weapon and was fumbling a few shots off to try and suppress the Trandoshans. Oddly, perhaps not noticed at the moment, but he refrained from using the Force.

If the Jedi was ever able to get the hang of that blaster, anyway.

"Never been in a shooting gallery, old man?" he called above the noise, edging closer and closer to the Trandoshan with the twin blasters, ever mindful of the third bodyguard who huddled in the doorway with a heavy rifle. Eventually, one of them would have to deal with that, but so far the bodyguard had refrained from firing off a single shot.
He deflected shot after shot, each one missing his target by inches as the Trandoshan continued using the weapon rack as effective cover.
With a sudden change of tactic, Caden deflected another pair of shots from the dual pistols to the shooter with the DC-15A, hoping to hit him in the arm he used to carry the over-sized rifle and allow Vax an opening.

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

The former Inquisitor's expert deflection worked well, the pair of shots striking the Trandoshan's weapon and the lizard's elbow, rendering both arm and weapon useless. Fueled by drugs and rage though, the Trandoshan barreled forwards, quite intent to crush the life out of Caden with its good arm and sheer weight, lightsaber or not.

Vax, meanwhile, used the opportunity to throw himself forwards and slide across the floor, ending up almost behind the bodyguard wielding the pair of blasters. A quick flick of his hand, the hum of the lightsaber, and the Trandoshan found itself weaponless. It seemed as if the odds were going good for the pair of men.

That was, until the third bodyguard, tired of waiting, opened fire, and the shop was filled with the roar of the DLT-19 as the Trandoshan sprayed without good aim. His first burst served only to cut his wounded comrade in half at the waist, but it was a tossup to see if either of the men would be injured before they downed the oversize lizard.

Falling backwards, Caden found himself pinned by the salivating and growling Trandoshan, his Force-augmented strength waning beneath the frenzied bodyguards efforts to crush and maul him. Underhanded though it was, he saw little alternative, and brought his knee up between the Trandoshans legs, crushing his nether-regions with as much brutal force as he could muster.
Whether the Trandoshan was affected enough to stop his assault or not, Caden took the momentary distraction to reach for his blaster, snap it out of its holster, and fire point-blank at the beasts face.

Luckily, the Trandoshan was still pinning him when the DLT-19 began its lethal spray of fire, the majority of the shots that came his way entering the downed beast at a safe angle so as to not hit Caden when they tore right through its thick hide.
"Get down!" he growled to Grullo, not wanting the Toydarian shredded before they'd had time to squeeze some help from him.
Still trapped beneath the Trandoshan, Caden tried once to push the corpse from him, then roared in frustration and blasted it up and forward across the shop with an unfocused Force-push.

He rolled behind the safety of the same weapons rack that his lightsaber had rolled beneath, and groped in the dusty crevice for it. Finding a familliar cylindrical object, he pulled it out, and put his blaster away in its holster. Drawing his secondary lightsaber, he remained hidden and crouched, weapons unlit, waiting for an opening.

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot

Vax knew the authorities wouldn't be too long in coming. Even on Nar Shaddaa, this much fire and the magnitude were sure to draw attention they didn't need. If not the Imperials, then the Hutts... or worse. He had to end it quickly. His initial plan of not using the Force was out the window with Caden's repeated actions, so Vax simply threw his weapon at the distracted Trandoshan, taking the bodyguard's own weapon and turning it into two nice pieces of metal that couldn't hurt anybody. That is, unless the somebody holding them happened to be an angry oversize lizard who now had two clubs instead of a blaster rifle. A strong Force push served to slam the Trandoshan against the wall and render the beast unconscious.

Breathing heavily from the adrenaline, Vax stood, pointing his saber at the remaining bodyguard, who ran for the curtained hallway, plainly intent on escape.

"Caden, grab our unpleasant friend please." Grullo had managed to recover enough to try crawling for the front door of the shop.

Once the Toydarian was safely secured underfoot, so to speak, Caden paused to admonish himself; if the Inquisitorius were infact as hot on his heels as his paranoia told him they were, then this careless display of Force power would likely be a beacon to them. If none of the local authorities came to investigate the disturbance, then any Inquisitors that had tracked them here most certainly would.

He assumed Vax was taking care of the remaining bodyguard, while he leered down at Grullo, keeping him firmly secured to the filthy shop floor. If they didn't need him so much, he'd squash him like a bug here and now for the trouble he'd caused them.

Caden Sturn
Former Inquisitor - Fugitive
Imperial Inquisition Ace Pilot