Riel took a short breath and picked up her pace, with nobody to witness but the rodents and her stealthy rooftop shadow. So far, so good.

Her commlink gave a warning beep. She slowed to a jog, and let her eyes rove around the alley in front of her. What could it be…..? “All right, hold it right there.”, said a voice from behind her. Riel raised an eyebrow and gave a quick glance over her shoulder. A man, shorter than she, with a blaster. “Let’s see those hands.” he said. Riel raised her arms without a word, and slowly turned to face the man. He must have been hiding in a trash bin to get behind her like that; otherwise she would have heard him. Coward. “Well well, if it isn’t Sulane Cosami. There’s a nice little bounty out for you, looks like Imma be the one to claim it.” [I] Joy, a bounty hunter. [/I] As the man stepped to within two meters of Riel, she wondered if there wasn’t already enough of these bastards in the universe. Judging by the way he held his blaster with one arm, away from his body and tilted to the side, he wasn’t that good of a bounty hunter either. [I] As if the experts weren’t enough to deal with. [/I] “So, what brings this lovely assassin out on such a miserable tonight? Maybe I foiled a job?”, he paused, as if expecting a reply from Riel. He received none. “Hmm. Anyway, let’s see you hand over your weapons, ok?” Riel reached into her vest and wondered what was taking so long. [I] He must be trying something fancy. Damnit. [/I] Just as Riel clicked the safety off on her blaster, a bolt blazed from behind and to the right of her, disintegrating the man’s elbow. He screamed and clutched his forearm, which was now hanging to the rest of his body by just a thin layer of skin. The shock of a sharp kick to his chin, plus the pain of his jaw breaking, was enough to put him down. He splashed onto his back in a shallow puddle. Riel picked up his blaster, set it to stun, and made sure he took a nice long nap. She jammed his blaster back into it’s holster, turned and began walking away, just as some emergency sirens went by in the distance, most likely to the nightclub. The commlink beeped again, and she picked it up. “You should have just shot him in the head and did us all a favor.” she said to her partner on the roof. “Yea, I felt sorry for him. It’s gonna be a while before he picks up another bounty though,” laughed the commlink in Riel’s hands. She smiled and pressed the TRANSMIT button again. “Just meet me at the rendezvous.” “10-4, love.” ******* Cylex sat on the Coronet aerotrain and whistled quietly. Riel sat just a few rows ahead of him and shifted uncomfortably. Cylex continued to wonder why she has such disdain for public transportation. He usually chocked it up to her wealthy upbringing on Alderaan; the public transportation there was said to be like none other in the galaxy. Until the planet was destroyed, that is. He carried on with his whistling and took a look at the other passengers on the train. Several different races were represented, businessmen, some security forces, and obviously some entertainers towards the back. A couple sat in the row directly behind Cylex, sharing an embrace. He closed his eyes and pictured himself and Riel……… [I] Focus, Cylex. You have things to to. [/I] As soon as this train stopped in the spaceport district, Cylex and Riel were to exit. The task today was to meet with a somewhat trustworthy informant, concerning Imperial shipping procedures in the Coronet spaceport. The Rebel Alliance needed a big score on a weapons cache that was supposed to be coming in sometime next week. They were to meet this informant in a warehouse on the Spaceport. A ‘Somewhat Trustworthy’ informant was the reason Cylex and Riel were sent to this job. The two made a good team, and could hold their own when things got hot. Such a good team, in fact, Cylex had recently proposed marriage to Riel. Her reply was “as soon as things calm down”, which made the desire to bring down the Empire even stronger in Cylex’s mind and heart. The two had met when Cylex was just considering joining the Rebel Alliance at the age of 19. Riel, just a few months older than him, was one of the main reason’s Cylex decided to join, especially after he witnessed her grief when Alderaan was destroyed. They worked together for a few weeks as part of a team of spies, before the unit was disbanded as a result of heavy casualties. They were separated, and did not see each other again until Cylex took a hit in the battle of Hoth. Luck happened to station him in the medical lounge directly next to one of Riel’s friends in one of the transports leaving Hoth, and the two were inseparable ever since. Riel’s experience and cool were perfectly matched to Cylex’s strength and combat skills, making them an excellent Hit team when the Rebellion needed something done quietly. The aerotrain glided to a silent stop, and Cylex exited without even a glance at Riel, but he knew she would be right behind him. It was her turn to shadow, so Cylex was the lead. He continued to whistle as he made his way to the spaceport entrance. *******