Public Courtesy Patrol [Support Corps]

[Ezekiel Graenge]

TITUS: SECOND MOON OF SANJIN
SPACER'S REST CANTINA, WEST WING OF TITUS WORLD SPACEPORT
GALACTIC STANDARD TIME: 0600
LOCAL TIME: 01200/1800
[VIBES]​

A band in the corner of the dingy cantina played a working man's kind of song. A song about struggling for success and recognition in a rather mundane galaxy. Zeke couldn't help but but empathize. He lifted a tall necked bottle to his lips, taking a long sip. In a place like this he was home. This was an early set for the day, sun hadn't even set yet. The band was just getting warmed up but Zeke felt they were wasted here. They were only a momentary distraction from his current thoughts however, of which there were many.

In about an hour he'd scheduled the a briefing for the first operation of the newly formed Galactic Alliance Support Corps. Somehow a trip into a Navy liason office asking about helping with the war effort had landed him squarely at heading up a volunteer flotilla. It was nothing short of shocking for him, but at the same point he wouldn't have had it any other way. Well almost. It certainly could pay better than 'warm fuzzy feelings.' His credit account was certainly hurting right now after all. Beggars couldn't be choosers though, the fact that Zeke didn't have to really answer to anyone else was the biggest perk of this 'job'. He'd been essentially given freedom to stick his nose into the war and he didn't even have to deal with some nerf-headed officer telling him what his business was.

If they thought that he was the 'model leader' for an outfit like this they were dead wrong. That didn't mean he didn't plan on being effective, but strict hierarchies were a drag.

If he was putting this thing together? This was going to look nothing like a Navy flotilla. Just good vibes, good men and women shooting the breeze and shooting Sith. These were their ships, not the Alliance's. These were their lives, and no one here had signed any blasted contract. No, this wouldn't look like the Navy at all.

He finished the beer in a deep pull before tapping the bar for another. Still had an hour to kill.

:://CEC_245258-222 connecting to secure hologrid <SupCorps01>...
...connecting...
...connecting...
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Reply from Gateway_014952, tunneling success | encryption key: 09185214 | Recipients - 7


message
    <<This is Ezekiel Graenge, Captain of the Queen Amelia. I've recieved express interest
    from all of you in this Support Corps business the Navy has headed me up with. We need to
    get together and talk about how this gig is going to work. Not only that I've got an op
    for us  to tackle at the same moment. More details when you get here, briefing is on
    Titus, a moon of Sanjin in the system of the same. Meet up at Hangar 07-B on board my vessel.
    Time: 1300 local. 18 hour days here so don't get tripped up. GST: 0700
    Bulkhead won't be locked, let yourself in.

    BYOB,
    Zeke>>

 

[Kardek Alpha]

The Harbinger exited light speed right outside of the moons atmosphere.

"... and you know what?!..." Kardek said, continuing his epic rant with his silent companion, an IG-88 Assassin Droid named Alpha, "...She doesn't even have the decency to..." Kardek took another swig of his beer, "... to TELL me. I mean... like... just pretend like what we had meant SOMETHING, right?!" Kardek angrily slunk back further into his chair, glaring at the moon in front of them as if it was some kind of unwelcome guest in his one-sided conversation. He shook his head and angrily hit the comm channel, "This is Captain Kardek of The Harbinger!" He said with his aggressive and agitated tone still in full swing, "Requesting permission to land, over!"

"... ah... yes. Permission granted... Proceed to landing bay six...?"

Kardek finished off the beer, some of it dripping down his chin, before letting out an angry yell as he threw it against the viewport, shattering the bottle. Alpha looked over at him, as if to say... really?

"I kriffin' hate women sometimes buddy." Kardek said. He wasn't sure which was bruised more... his heart or his pride. But he quickly got up and grabbed a rag as he saw the mess he had made.

"... sorry ol' girl... not your fault." He said reassuringly to his ship as he wiped up the glass. Alpha, of coarse, did not respond as they made their way down into the hangar bay.

 

[ES-06]

Titus - Second moon of Sanjin
​

John pulled back on the lever exiting hyperspace above what seemed to be a moon, he looked around unsure of where they exited hyperspace but it didn't much matter anymore they had escaped the local crime syndicate chasing them and that's all that mattered to John at the moment. Looking at his navigation records the frigate had exited above the second moon of Sanjin, not a place John was familiar with but it seemed like a nice place to get a drink and maybe earn a few credits his account's are low but when are they not dealing with pirates.

Enabling his comlink John made contact " This is John Simbor, Captain of the ESU Frigate requesting immediate permission to land "

" Request granted you may proceed to the landing zone "

John sighed a sigh of relief as his request to land was granted, his ship was bordering empty on fuel and had sustained some damage while being chased by pirates, this would be a good place to hang out for a few rotations earn some credits to fix and refuel his ship. Might as well have some fun and get a drink before getting straight to work, entering the moons atmosphere John descended to the moons surface landing at one of the landing pads, once landed John exited the vessel without his armor it was likely to draw attention and that's the last thing he wanted right now. He continued walking through the streets looking at the surrounding area he spots a cantina the perfect place settle down for a few drink calm the nerves, entering the joint John walked forward sizing the place up as he sat down at the bar.

Ezekiel Graenge ​

 

[Kardek Alpha]

SPACERS REST CANTINA
Tags: Ezekiel Graenge ES-06

The exit ramp lowered with a hiss as Kardek and Alpha walked out onto the landing pad. His mind was still fuming from the betrayal he had just experienced. He stopped and surveyed the location, taking one of his blasters out of its holster and twirling it in his hand with an extra edge of agitation still apparent in his movement. Finally he let out a heavy sigh and slammed it back in its holster as the cantina caught his eye.

"Lets go." He said roughly to Alpha. They both started walking towards the entrance. Kardek shook his head, his mind still going strong. If it hadn't been for his skills with a blaster, he would likely be dead right now. The only real damage done was to his wallet and... well... his reputation unfortunately.

He was here for a meeting with a team of captains organized by a man named Ezekiel. He normally stayed very far from governmental work or organizations of any kind... mostly because he felt like he could bring real change to real people much better when operating outside of bureaucracy and committees. And yes, he still believed that 100%. But there was a lot of potential benefits to working with the Alliance. And if he could still operate with a level of independence, then maybe he would be able to walk that line and take advantage of the perks while helping out some people along the way.

But he still wasn't fully sold on it... he needed more information before he would commit to anything... and honestly... if he ever felt at any point like things weren't what he had signed up for, he would have no problem walking away. He was his own commander, no matter what anyone else might think or believe.

He was a little early, and if there was ever a day that called for more liquor... today was that day.

He pushed open the door roughly and walked up to the bar. He pointed at an expensive bottle of bourbon demandingly. The bartender took it and went to pour it into a shot glass, however Kardek shook his head, "No." He said, motioning for the man to give him the bottle. The man paused, then slide it as well as the shot glass across the bar to him. Kardek opened the bottle and poured a shot. He looked at it, and with a suddenly somber expression, he raised it as if he was giving a toast,

"To everything you threw away..."

With that, he threw it back in one gulp and set the shot glass on the bar, filling it with another round, but not drinking it yet. Instead he seemed to be lost in thought as he stared at the glass.

 

[ES-06]

Spacers Rest Cantina
​

John waited for the man next to him to finish ordering his drink, the man seemed to be having a rough day according to his body language and the fact he ordered a whole bottle of bourbon to himself, John raised his hand motioning for the bartender to come over. " I'll take a glass of your daily special " he raised the glass to his face John had definitely smell better but he was not gonna be picky today he just needed anything to dull the last few days. Looking to his left he watched as Kardek Alpha toasted to himself out loud and slammed back his first shot, " drinking that whole bottle to yourself huh, that's a bad omen drinking without a friend ".

Once again he raised the glass to his face finishing the bitter liquid as he motioned the bartender for another, " bad day I'm assuming, yea I'm having one of those days myself " maybe a few of those days in a row John thought to himself as he glanced around the bar as some patrons at the other side of the bar began arguing over local sports bets and whatnot, nobody likes losing money. He turned back towards the man next to him as he nodded at the bartender for delivering another drink, " and no your droid doesn't count as a friend " he said in a joking tone hoping not to upset the man anymore than he already was.

Ezekiel Graenge ​

 

[Kardek Alpha]

SPACERS REST CANTINA
Tags: Ezekiel Graenge ES-06

Kardek was seemingly pulled back into reality as the stranger next to him began to engage him in conversation. He glanced over at him with a rather blank expression, processing his words as his cybernetic implants scanned him, trying to access any known information available in accessible databanks. The guy looked like the real deal. When he heard that he was having a bad day as well, Kardek grabbed the bottle of bourbon and raised his head, looking down at the dark liquid and pretending to read the label.

"Let see here..." He said, "Looks like this bottle is exclusively for bad days... and if thats the case..." He reached over and filled up ES-06's first empty shot glass, "...Then who am I to hog it all to myself?" Even with the joking, his facial expression never lifted. "Besides... I can't let you drink that other stuff. I don't even..." He reached over and grabbed the shot from in front of the man, lifting it to his own nose before making a sour expression. "Nah... not today brother." He slide it back over to him, forcing a slight smile.

Kardek slammed back his own second shot, then put the glass back down on the table.

"You know... I can't speak for other droids, but this guy here is the perfect friend... especially since he never talks..." He looked over at Alpha, giving him a wink. "You can tell him anything... the perfect confidant. Ha."

He Looked back over at the man seated next to him, then offered him his hand,

"Name's Kardek... This here is Alpha." He said, motioning with his head towards the assassin droid. He slid the bottle of bourbon in-between the two of them, making it available to the man for future shots if he desired.

 

[ES-06]

Spacers Rest Cantina
​

John listened as the man filled john's glass full of bourbon, the man didn't seem bothered by John's presence so the gamble to not drink alone seemed to pay off drinking alone was never fun anyway. He nodded his head silently cheering his new pal as they both finished their shots, John listened to the man as he explained his droid companion and in a way he was correct, droids could be programmed to fit your parameters and rarely betrayed their makers except for the 0.01% chance they glitch. And while it's true they would not reveal secrets unlike organics their memory banks can be easily spliced to gain information or intel.

" I might need to get myself a droid like that, keep getting screwed over by women and mercenaries " He extended his hand shaking Kardek Alpha hand, " Names John, John Simbor " John took the man's silent offer and reached out grabbing the bottle filling his shot glass once more. " IG model huh, good choice versatile and durable " he had heard stories of IG droids and how effective they were in almost any role they were assigned to, " You buy him or build him? " John asked with a look of curiosity as he finished his third shot.

Ezekiel Graenge ​

 

[Kardek Alpha]

SPACERS REST CANTINA - BAR
Tags: Ezekiel Graenge ES-06

When ES-06 mentioned being screwed over by women and mercenaries, his eyebrows furrowed deeper. He tried to pull himself away from that headspace and instead engage with his bourbon and his new social companion.

"Pleasure." He said, shaking the mans hand.

At his comments regarding Alpha, Kardek couldn't help but smile to himself. Alpha had been anything but a choice... more like fate. Kardek took another shot, then let out a laugh as he wondered where he should begin.

"Well... that really is a long story my friend." He mused, twirling the empty shot glass on the bar with his fingers. "Truth is... Me and this guy use to work together on a bounty hunter crew that specialized in high-profile targets." He looked over at Alpha, remembering the long journey that the had been on together. "We ended up working for Sith... Imp Generals... the works. Paid good, but... It's the kind of stuff that haunts you at night."

As he shared, he poured another shot slowly. All of this journeying down memory lane was abnormal for Kardek. He usually preferred to leave the past in the past... but he was in a very unique headspace today. Why not. He was usually more careful about what he said to complete strangers, but as he looked the man over, he mentally decided... what the hell... And if he turned out be nefarious with his intent, then Kardek would just have to kill him. But he hoped that wasn't the case.

"Anyways... We got assigned to this bounty... more like an assassination, but... whatever. We didn't care. Well..." He cracked his neck, a sense of personal disgust creeping into his countenance, "The mark had a young kid." Kardek took another shot, his eyes seemed to be filled with almost a sense of fear as he shared things he hadn't talked about in years to anyone. "One of our crew, just out of... I don't even know really, but... He killed the kid right in front of the mark." He slammed another shot. "Guess that was the last straw for me." He looked back over at Alpha, a sense of humor suddenly mixing into his mood as the liquor was starting to take off the edge a little bit.

Kardek laughed loudly, patting Alpha heavily on the back, "Well I ended up turning on my crew right then and there... and I shot poor Alpha right through the head! So I didn't buy or build him... I killed him!" Kardek laughed to himself. Such strange irony. "But then I ended up getting shot in the head myself by one of the other Bounty Hunters..." Kardek turned back to look at John, "... my... friend... the last of our crew to survive... He brought me and Alpha to a cybernetic doctor. The doc saved my life by installing some implants in my head." Kardek pulled his goggles off his head and reached to pull his hair away on the back of his head, revealing an access port that was hidden underneath. "...But the damage was too extensive. So he created a cybernetic bond between Alpha and me... And he reprogrammed him to... well... be an extension of me, essentially."

He smirked, "So I guess it's kind of like I'm talking to myself whenever I talk to Alpha. Pretty bizarre relationship we got going on, yeah?"

Kardek looked back to the man, his eyes furrowed, curious what John would make of his history. It might be off-putting to some folks, especially the whole Sith and Imperial angle from his past.

Kardek looked past the man, noticing another stranger sitting at the bar with them. He wondered if perhaps he had been too loud when sharing the story, so he decided to engage him in conversation as well to determine whether or not he was just another local, or someone... well... hunting him down from his past life. It was not out of the question by any means having happened before on multiple occasions.

"Care for a drink?" He asked Ezekiel Graenge with a raised voice to get his attention, offering him the bottle of Bourbon.

He then drifted his attention back to John.

"So..." he said, "What do you do, John?" By his appearance he would assume he was either a Mercenary, bounty hunter, or spacer. He had a general idea from his original scan of him, but what was on paper was often a different story than reality.

 

[ES-06]

Spacers Rest Cantina
​

John listened as the man explained how he met the droid, bounty hunting was indeed a messy business and from what John could tell the man had worked for some dangerous organizations and survived so he must be good at it or just plain lucky. Although most people would likely quit conversating with someone of the mans occupation John was not so skittish, if anything John was beginning to enjoy the mans company even more so. John himself has worked for some bad people and completed some tough jobs that left their marks, some you could see some you couldn't.

John filled his glass once again listening as Kardek Alpha continued on with his story about his past crew member killing a young child, then the man suddenly burst out laughing which caught John off guard initially but he continued talking about how he turned on his crew including the IG droid. John smiled for a short moment, although short lived as the man explained his misfortune, John's expression changed going blank as tried understanding the mans story. He had never heard of someone surviving a blaster bolt to the head, " That's some doctor " he said finishing his 5th, 6th, aw hell he had lost count of his drinks at this point, " That's a unique situation you and the droid have going on there for sure " John's face showing visible confusion.

He watched as the man offered another another man a drink, the stranger seemed to be sitting at the bar by himself nothing out of the ordinary except his appearance being a little different, " Ah, well I do whatever pays, smuggling, a little bounty hunting here and there but mostly espionage ". John preferred espionage, usually payed very well and with his primary skillset being stealth he could sneak into places and steal information or valuables, although it hadn't always worked out he survived on it none the less. " People love to pay for information, digital gold " he said as a smirk grew on his face.

Ezekiel Graenge ​

 

[Kardek Alpha]

SPACERS REST CANTINA - BAR
Tags: Ezekiel Graenge ES-06

Kardek smiled, nodding knowingly at Johns remarks. Hey threw back another shot, his mind now fully distracted from his day. In the back of his mid he knew he should probably be taking it easy since he was about to be briefing with the Support Corps soon, but there was also a part of him who couldn't care less.

"Espionage huh?" Kardek turned more towards the man as he poured himself another shot. "Now THAT'S Intriguing." He held the shot glass up to his face, studying the mans face as he processed that he was a spy of sorts. "So what's your M.O.? Governmental? Crime Lords?"

Kardek tossed back the shot. His eyes drifted around the room as he took in the sound of the band playing in the corner. Suddenly, with the help of the alcohol, Kardek was feeling hopeful... as if this day was actually a reset for him... a new start. That idea filled Kardek with fresh expectation for the future. Maybe it would be this Support Corps thing... maybe not. But in a way he felt like a new man. Probably just the alcohol talking though, only time would tell.