Private An Unlucky Gamble

[Jonter Dalton]

It was said that a Smuggler always arrived to the spaceport in style and whoever said that needs to receive a blaster bolt to the face. Jolter swerved his ship through the hail of blaster flak. He thought the fracking battle of New Jedha was over and that the Galactic Alliance triumphed over the Brotherhood of the Maw. Well that was a fracking lie, there was some scattered Brotherhood squadrons taking on a GA capital ship and a few of their starfighters that surrounded it. Given that Jonter loves to do fancy flying he stuck out like a Gungan in the middle of the Tatooine. Both the GA and the BOTM opened fire on Jonter causing his shield to drop to 10 percent.

"Damn it Stan!" Jonter yelled through the radio. "I thought had clearance!"

All Jonter could hear was garbled nonsense, "frack you!" Jonter yelled slamming his fist on the console. Pressing some buttons, Jonter began to accelerate his ship away from the small battle and towards the coordinates that Stan sent him. This smuggling run better be worth the hassle, he expected a peaceful spaceway but it seems it seems that it was too much to expect the GA to do the bare minimum. Jonter entered Jedha's atmosphere still at top speeds. "Argh," Jonter breathed. "I took a hit at the back quarter, landing is gonna be tight."

The fact that the fracking spaceport was as miniscule as a Porg's droppings certainly didn't help. Jonter took a sharp turn seeing a large buildings looking like they're under construction, the Smuggler started the landing cycle as he entered the landing pad. A violent rumble was felt in Jonter's cockpit he struggled to keep the ship under control. From outside, Jonter witnessed sparks as his ship's hull scraped against the metal wall. "Not my fault," Jonter muttered making sure that the rest of his ship was intact.

Blinking, Jonter looked around to see a thin man leaning against one of the munitions boxes. He had thinning brown hair and a smug look on his face. "Piece of chit," Jonter got out from his chair running towards out of his ship. "Stan!" Jonter yelled. "Why the frack did the GA try to attack me?!"

"Well hello to you too Jonter," Stan replied. "I tried to tell you over the radio, there's still pockets of Brotherhood resistance in Jedha. Recently the bozos have been fracking with the GA's communications which included the automated systems such as the clearances. Got a bit worried though, the Brotherhood has been bringing the fire lately and it's preventing us from successfully setting up shop. I've listened to the chatter up in space, it's fracking shooting gallery up there."

"No kidding," Jonter gave a heavy sigh taking a closer look at his surroundings. "Haven't been in Jedha in years," he said. "This place looks new."

"Welcome to Fort Skywalker," Stan replied. "Biggest Fort in Jedha, the GA wanted to create a foothold on the planet after defeating the Brotherhood and built this advanced monstrosity."

"Apparently not advanced to have a feasible spaceport." Jonter said. "This place a mess."

"GA built it in a hurry to try to establish military presence." Stan said. "I've heard they're gonna do some renovating as soon as they wipe out the remaining Brotherhood. It hasn't been easy though based on how you escaped that battle." Stan approached Jonter giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Nice flying though." he said.

"Your blasters are ready Stan," Jonter said stretching his arms. "Looks like I'll be grounded for a little while until settle down."

"I'm gonna have to make it quick," Stan said walking back to the hangar and inspecting the munitions boxes. "Even though the main army has retreated, the remnants are putting up a real fight despite being disorganized and scattered. Been tough helping refugees or moving supplies through the area without getting ambushed. I'd say you need to haul ass as soon as possible."

"Well I'm not sticking around in this hellhole." Jonter replied. "Especially this close in Brotherhood space."

"Like I said," Stan replied crisply. "I'll make it quick, there's a bar not too far from here." he rifled through is pockets tossing Jonter a credit chit. "Your payment Jonter." he said. "Don't spend in one place."

"Don't worry I will," Jonter turned on his heel heading for the bar. Once he entered, the Smuggler plopped himself on the nearest seat. "I'll have some whiskey." Jonter grumbled slapping the credit chit he received on the table.

Janith Rintao

 

[Janith Rintao]

---

Character: Janith Rintao
Tags: Jonter Dalton​

---

While Jonter was evading his own fight with the brotherhood - Janith was in a fairly similar boat. Having recently escaped after freeing a slave ship in the northern outer rim - she found herself fleeing from a group of Hutt's she pissed off who had also.. wanted to collect on her bounty. She had found herself crashed on Aeten II, and after performing a fairly.. unsuccessful defense of her ship - she was barely able to escape with a fractured hyperdrive and malfunctioning engines. But where was the adventure in making it out in one piece?.. Either way - after jumping to hyperspace, one world she knew out of the eyes of those after her?.. Jedha, it was on the fringe of space controlled by a major faction.. and next to that, it was civilized enough that she could get repairs.

However upon arriving in the system - and seeing the state of the orbit - she was barely able to bring her ship through the atmosphere while avoiding authorities and stray combat in space. Upon breaking into the atmosphere and cutting to planetside, she was met with a small junction - one where another smuggler had only recently touched down at. Bringing her ship in the ship whailed and let out a mean-sounding screech due to the engines being at their last life.

"Come on.. hang in there buddy.." She said to herself as her droid, BD-5 let out some worried chirps. "No no - we'll be ok - just - strap in." She yelled out as she pulled on the controls - grunting as her YT-1000 treaded up sand from the quick descent, before sliding into the spaceport, surprisingly in one piece.. That was probably the best piloting she had ever done in a while - but upon opening her eyes out of her realization she had seen BD had taken co-pilot control to help bring the ship in - not trusting Janith herself. BD-5 would let out some joyful laughs and began walking around as Janith got up. "Laugh it up buddy, I could've pulled that landing off.. Anyways, I'm gonna talk to someone about repairs - and maybe get a drink, can you stay here, just uh.. do some internal repairs?" She said as he stuck out his splicing thumb and began running off to do as she asked.

Stepping outside she was met by the city under construction, or town to be nicer - Fort Skywalker. A pleasant sight, off the grid enough but decently built that she could maybe find work and definitely find repairs.. hopefully.

Upon getting up she walked over to the spaceport owner and crossed her arms, a young devaronian man. "How can I help you, a fix up darling..?" He spoke with a shrewd voice looking at the smuggler who approached, smiling. "Just - a body work, took some scratches - I want basic rates on everything, don't .. get any ideas." She spoke with a stern voice, having dealt with the usual spaceport mechanic and knew their ways, so the devaronian shrugged and handed over a credit check, expecting her to pay it once the repairs were done.. So with that out of the way.. came finding a place to drink or maybe eat.

So it wasn't long before she finally stumbled into a local cantina, nothing special but it was something she could work with, and sat at the bar. Sitting.. Ironically right next to Jonter as she lowered her mask that covered her face and brushed her hair slightly out of the way. "One.. Hm, Corellian Mule please." The girl spoke as she sighed finally being able to relax as she let the pressure way off while sitting at the bar, not cognisant of those around her quite yet.

---

 

[Jonter Dalton]

Jonter could've thought that Hyperspace War ended long ago, but there were still remnants of the Brotherhood of the Maw putting up a fight against the Galactic Alliance especially in the borders of Wild Space where they first originated. Exegol was destroyed and their Sith Masters abandoned the cultists but they are still convinced that the Sith will come back to lead them to salvation which fueled those who decided stay behind and continue to fight the Alliance. Jonter leaned against the counter taking in the smooth sounds from the Bith band playing the Saxophone.

The Sith were like roaches, no matter how much you try to get rid of them, they come back in larger quantities. Jonter's heart raced thinking about those damned dark siders. Nothing good came from them he should know..... Jonter placed his forehead onto the table groaning, just his luck to exit out of Lightspeed and find himself in the middle of the skirmish. There was a concept called Smuggler's luck where to be a Smuggler you have to be fast with a starship, skilled with a pistol, and be born with insane amounts of luck. Jonter was only blessed with the first two. The young man thought Smuggling was fun when he first joined the criminal underworld and it some instances it was. Though for the most, it was just mostly Jonter spending his time trying to make the right connections so he won't be thrown in prison. There was so much kissing up he had to do in order to tiptoe past authorities and even then you never know if your "friends" will back stab you.

Stan was one of those "friends" he made years ago. Though he worked as a field engineer who's contracted by the GA, his other job was a gun runner meaning he smuggles in weaponry to supply cartels or rebellions. There was a lot of creds to be made from the dangerous business but Stan had the right connections to not get caught. Jonter had been doing some jobs for Stan working as a small time gun runner, the jobs only got tougher once the war between the Brotherhood and the GA began. Smugglers thrive off war, it meant that the sides fighting were usually preoccupied with destroying each other allowing crimes to slip through the cracks.

A lot of stiff competition these days but Jonter struggled to find work mainly because he wasn't a well-known commodity. Afterall, Jonter just joined the Smuggling business after deserting from the Sith Army. There was a young woman closer to Jonter's age sitting next to him ordering a drink. She looked cute, might as well turn on the Smuggler charm and by charm Jonter meant possibly getting tazed by an annoyed woman. Still, didn't hurt to try.

Jonter sighed taking another sip a little liqued courage can help. "Hey there beautiful." He said turning around. "This is my first time in Jedha in years," he said. "Name's Jonter Dalton," he said. "I'm a privateer for the Alliance and who might you be beautiful?"

Might as well enjoy the attention while he can.

Janith Rintao

 

[Janith Rintao]

---

Character: Janith Rintao
Tags: Jonter Dalton ​

---

She had a few moments to herself prior to Jonter turning to her and as the Mule got to her she took a hearty sip - needing to get the nerves out as she was incredibly tense, almost alarmingly. Life had been weighing down on her in the last few months, living on the run of course just wasn't sustainable - and so with herself now finally being able to relax, even if it was for a day and thanks to a drink, it was welcomed. She let her hair run free and draped it over her shoulders and even leaned back a bit as she relaxed herself as much as she could.

Although - as she was spoken too she looked over and smiled - a genuine look moved on her face as she greeted Jonter with it; showing.. she didn't plan on tazing him and wasn't annoyed, yet. "A pleasure, Jonter." looking away for a moment before sipping her drink. "My name is Kaya." A lie she told as she genuinely feared the weight real name carried in terms of the bounties saying it out loud it attracted. "I'm just a trader, I was in a nearby sector dropping off some.. construction goods to a nearby planet, and then, well - pirates kinda snuffed my ship out and I barely made it here - so, I'm stuck until I get repairs done." She told some truth - but the majority was a lie - one that smugglers often told to other smugglers to clue them in, a thieves cant in a sense as she spoke on 'construction goods'.

She spun the ice around in her glass. "I appreciate the compliment, Handsome." She put fairly bluntly as she laughed a bit - She had a philosophy of course that.. well, Most people expected to be rejected, so when you respond with the opposite of rejection - and confidently too - it throws most people off, shows their real colors as they don't know how to react.. So she thought why not put that to the test.

"Tell me Jonter, or.. Captain, how goes it up in orbit - or in the sector.. the conflict must be rough, but you don't seem in bad shape." She asked, smiling as she tried to learn more about this person - who was he truly. On one hand she just did this to most people - as she was a very curios individual, but on the other hand, she had a deep seeded interest, he was cute after all - and, she was more curious on if he truly was a privateer or not.

She, finished off by simply going back to her drink though - wanting to ease him into the conversation and keep this as normal as possible.

---

 

[Jonter Dalton]

"Kaya?" Jonter gave a nod at the woman, holy chit did he the jackpot. Look like lady luck is FINALLY on his side. A woman, a STUNNING woman is by his side and his actually cordial with him. Jonter felt giddy to the point where he wanted to do a little twirl, yet he had to be cautious. He never had much luck with women, it always ended badly whenever Jonter talked to a female. It always ended with him either getting slapped or on the floor clutching his groin. He just never had any luck with females or had much luck in general until now. "A beautiful name befitting for somebody of your stature," Jonter said inching closer towards the woman. "It's a shame that you're grounded like I am, those damn barbarians are the worst. They should know when they're defeated."

"I appreciate the compliment, Handsome."

Just then, Jonter nearly fell from his chair the moment Kaya said that. Did..... she call him handsome? This gotta be a dream? Does Kaya have a boyfriend telling her to say all these things so they both laugh at Jonter's expense? That happened before which enraged Jonter to the point where he nearly went to blows with the couple who pulled that prank on him. Sadly, the girl he was flirting with kicked him down south and her boyfriend finished the job. No woman has ever called Jonter handsome. Hell, throughout his life..... Jonter was only called one thing......

"Ugly creature."

Jonter growled his hand curling into a fist, the voice from a person he wanted to forget resurfaced in his mind. Sticking to his brain like a maligned tumor. He quickly adjusted his expression before Kaya noticed. "I..... thank you for the compliment.... beautiful," Jonter forced a smile. "It means more than you know."

He sighed. "Ahh same old chit," Jonter answered. "You would think the Alliance would do the right thing and just go scorched on these cultists. The war is over but Maw is acting as if the war never started. All you need is a giant nuke and just kill them all, no need to go easy on them."

Jonter's heart continued to beat his mind fighting back unfortunate memories. He should never invited that voice in his head, all it did was cause a resurgence of horror. "I'm just trying to make it in this galaxy," Jonter said taking a sip of Whiskey. "So where you from Kaya?"

Janith Rintao

 

[Janith Rintao]

---

Character: Janith Rintao
Tags: Jonter Dalton ​

---

She simply listened, seeming really like she enjoyed this entire conversation, she wasn't faking anything and let out pleasant laughs and genuine chuckles as she was.. pretty deep in the conversation. He seemed like a very genuine person and thats what she valued in people the most. Seems her philosophy was working, - she'd write that down later but, for now she enjoyed the product of her work in a sense.

"I..... thank you for the compliment.... beautiful," - - - - "It means more than you know."

"Of course -" She responded. "Hard not to be honest." She spoke, clearly flirting back at this point. Before.. she was being a bit playful but, now she started feeling something, a groove of sorts. She had success romantically before, but, didn't give in as she never had a serious relationship as truthfully - she distrusted alot of people who she felt were just trying to use her for well.. her body.

Either way she listened more, leaning in as her eyes glistened a bit in the light, Her distinct heterochromia being present as the green in her eyes had a faint pink in the center of the iris, staring into his eyes. "Aren't we all just trying to find a place." She said with a shrug as she finished her drink and ordered another, with the bartender beginning to pour the glass.

"I'm.. from places. I was born on ord mantell, but, well, you know." She had a hard time addressing her past, as did.. alot of people in this galaxy seemingly so she looked him in the eyes once more, pausing, and just thinking. "I, uh well - after my dad passed away my Uncle and I travelled around and that's how I got into the trade business, him and I just would go world from world, so Ord mantell is home, but I was raised in that ship I got out there." Speaking more as she opened up more than she usually does to most people.

"Whats your.. Origin story." She laughed - but didn't know what type of bag of worms she was possibly open, clearly already feeling some of the effects of the cocktail she had been sipping on. Spinning the straw within to the stir ice around but.. also thinking about her dad, and remembering what happened to him as she, didn't often get time to think about it. This was hard for her but, also.. she needed it.

---

 

[Jonter Dalton]

As Kaya leaned closer to Jonter, he felt his skin get goosebumps either the woman was really receptive to his rather average flirting or she was committed to deceiving him. In Jointer's experience, you can never relax around people who can exploit you for their own gain whether it's petty or cruel. Sometimes both. "Ord Mantell....." Jonter took a sip of Whiskey. "It used to serve as a shipyard for the Empire. Um you know the other Imperial Empire the ones who are descended from the Galactic Empire."

Jonter internally winced at what he said, he never thought about what to say after his flirts. It never got past: "Hey beautiful you wanna talk?" Before he got tazed and kicked in the groin. "There's so many Empires rising up these days," Jonter said. "It's hard to keep count but yeah it used to belong to the Empire before Alliance took over. I've done some runs on that planet though, it's filled with people still sympathetic to the Imperials."

It got even more uncomfortable when Kaya asked Jonter about his past. He should've known it was coming but thankfully he constructed a plausible fiction for himself in case he was asked that question. "I came from Tatooine," Jonter said matter of factly. "My folks were Moisture Farmers, got bored with life and when I turned 18, I took the first shuttle out of here, worked odd jobs around the Alliance, saved some money for a ship and now I'm a Captain."

Jonter took a deep breath and smiled trying to keep the turmoil that was his past away. "That's me." Jonter said. "Raised by loving parents in a normal, boring life isn't that what we all want?"

At least that's what Jonter wanted.

Janith Rintao

 

[Janith Rintao]

---

Character: Janith Rintao
Tags: Jonter Dalton ​

---

As he spoke about Ord Mantell her head pointed down a bit - thinking about her childhood - missing her dad, missing her uncle.. all of it. She heard the talks of the empire and all that but.. to be frank; she never experienced that, Oran, her dad was always incredibly protective, and wouldn't ever allow her to leave the homestead they had, she was homeschooled, isolated, and only really got to see Oran's friends.. never seeing the empire for what it was as they were under the protection of a Hutt, before.. he ruined it all for them.

But she didn't want to think too much about it and .. laughed a bit - the comment about the empire's rising up was pretty funny. "Its bad when you see empire's rising up to fight empire's." She responded back trying to crack an awkward joke as she laughed with a genuiene smile on her face, almost snorting as she felt pretty at ease. The talk of the past hurt, but making light after helped, alot. "I didn't know people could be sympathetic towards something that didn't care about them." Saying as she shrugged, she hated all these .. groups that promised security and peace but really were promising authority and a lack of freedom.

Although she continued to listen to Jonter, hearing his story about his life on tatooine - something about it didn't feel right, he sounded believable, but - she had met characters in her life, and she had grown a pretty good detector of characters.. and that didn't seem like the story that matched the man she was talking to.. But, she didn't want to pry, she wasn't in the sharing mood of her past so.. why force it out of someone who was possibly in the same place. Plus, now wasn't the time for therapy, now was a.. well heart warming part for her, nice drinks, and.. nice company.

"I can't agree more, can't think of anything better." She said as he spoke about two loving parents.. eitherway she painted the conversation another direction. "How long are you stuck here then you think? I gotta say Jonter, I like your company.." She put plainly - and to be frank, she seemed super honest in it. "Plus, my only company on my ship is my droid - so.. some human interaction is what I need, don't wanna go stir crazy." Laughing as she finished another glass.

---

 

[Jonter Dalton]

"We understand what you have to do, you will go through a life of pain and agony but we're proud of you and trust that you will follow your heart."

"You are truly a kind child my son."

His parent's words echoed in his mind nearly causing Jonter's eyes to water, he rapidly blinked and guzzled down his glass of Whiskey. His throat now burned, and his dark cheeks started to grow red as he focused on trying to down his alcoholic beverage. "You....." Jonter coughed his stomach now feeling like it was dipped in the fires of Mustafar. "Had a loving family it seems; a good family is always a sign of a happy child."

A sad smile formed on Jonter's lips his hand slowly curling into a fist. Here he was dwelling on the past again. He needed to focus, mainly on the woman who actually showed an interest in him. "She'll probably be annoyed that of me talking about my so called boring past," he thought.

"I don't know truth be told," Jonter sighed. "My colleague is supposed to get my cargo out of my ship. There's also the matter of the blockade which I barely got by."

He then turned his gaze towards Kaya. "But I think even those things were taken care of..... It's nice to have someone talk to especially one who won't hit you upside your head."

Jonter laughed. "You wanna another drink? Next one is on me."

Janith Rintao

 

[Janith Rintao]

---

Character: Janith Rintao
Tags: Jonter Dalton ​

---

She thought for a moment and listened, watching Jonter's .. body language showed alot. The way he drank, the face movements - maybe it was because she was part zeltron and well.. able to pick up on emotions easier, or the force sensitivity she had.. but she didn't want to force more out of the man. She hated talking about her past, or at least talking about it in public - so - she.. well, put her hand on his back for a moment, and gave it a slight rub. "You don't need to tell me anything you're not comfortable about - if, tatooine is true or not that is.. I got some past trauma too I have locked up.. lets just, enjoy the company." She spoke as she.. hoped she was reading his character well, but - looked at him with sincerity, hoping to let him know that well - she just wanted to ease him.

Eitherway she let him continue on, and as he asked the question she shrugged. "Sure, why not - and hey - once we're done here I wouldn't mind.. continuing to hang out if you aren't busy of course." She said as, she spoke to him - kicking her legs from the bar stool, swinging them happily as she laughed a bit.

"So - here, you pick the next subject we talk about - can be anything, I'll.. I'll tell you whatever, how about we get to know each other, no need for our story - lets.. figure out who we both are." She said joking a bit, but truthfully she just wanted to move the conversation to the now, the past was the past.. it hurt, but it built who they were now. She had done some bad things - things she wasn't proud about, but they helped shape her into the Janith of now, which was something she was proud about.

---

 

[Jonter Dalton]

Jonter stared at Kaya his mouth agape when she mentioned that she has past trauma. That was..... another surprise how candid she was in admitting that she endured something horrible as well. "I don't know if it's on the level of what I endured," Jonter thought. "If I told Kaya now, she would look at me as a monster."

Because Jonter was a monster.

"Yeah I guess," Jonter smiled. "Misery loves company after all and we can't just sit around moping about chit. We're young! And beautiful!"

Jonter turned towards the counter rolling his head and feeling a crack on his neck. "I'm glad to have met you Kaya," Jonter said. "I thought you were just some pretty face that I could attempt to flirt with. But you've treated me well in 1 hour than other people have in my entire life."

The Smuggler smiled. "I would love to hang out with you what else do you want to do?"

Janith Rintao

 

[Janith Rintao]

---

Character: Janith Rintao
Tags: Jonter Dalton ​

---

She was softening up of course - and as she saw the change in mood - her eyes were reflecting a mix of gratitude and some growing appreciation. "The galaxy has a special way of bringing individuals together." She thought for a moment, musing on the though as her voice had a warmth to it - "Especially those of us with, layered histories.. but - lets not unwrap those layers yet - and.. I'm glad I met you too." Smiling at the end as she had a fairly infectious smile that had an equally warm and comforting presence to it.

She laughed though shaking her head as he said he'd like to hang out so she got off her chair. "We can take a walk, I know the planet isn't the most scenic but.. a walk is always nice. Or.. we could go back to my ship to talk - a nice conversation is always nice too." She smiled as she was giving Jonter the choice, and opened up the field for him to pick. "Also.. I appreciate the compliment," As she referred to him calling her beautiful.

"Also - I have to say - talking to you beats chatting with my droid about engine troubles, and how messed up I keeping leaving the ship.. At least you haven't insulted me yet." Laughing once again as.. she seemed a tad tipsy in her voice due to the alcohol finally having its effect on her.

---

 

[Jonter Dalton]

Just then, Jonter's Holoprojector began beep rapidly. "That must be Stan excuse me," he said walking away from Kaya and rifling through his pockets to grab his device. "Please be good news."

"Got some bad news Jonter," Stan's image appeared on the holoprojector. "The GA company tasked in taking back the remote-control station has been ambushed by the Brotherhood a few clicks from the site. I got all the stuff carried out of your ship, but you'll have to remain on the planet unless you want to be blasted out of the sky."

Jonter sighed looking at Kaya. "I don't want to be buried with my ship so soon." he said trying to control anger at the prospect of staying on this rock for longer than he should've. "I have an idea. I'm going to infiltrate the station and disable the guns, the skirmish that's going should serve as a good distraction for us."

Stan chuckled. "That's pretty courageous of you!" He laughed. "Didn't expect a cautious man like yourself to be soooo brazen."

"It's my friend," Jonter said holding the Holoprojector towards Kaya.

"Pretty," Stan said immediately smitten with Kaya. "You know what they say, many a man dies to be noticed by a Zeltron beauty."

"Frack you Stan," Jonter growled. "She's standing right there! Besides, she's.... more than just a pretty face! A lot more!"

"Whatever," Stan said. "Do what you need to do but disabling those guns seems like the best bet."

Jonter turned off the Holoprojector and walked back towards Kaya. "I guess I got to do his job Kaya," he said. "I wish I could talk to you more..... you've been an amazing woman."

Janith Rintao