Do Unto Others

[Rusty]

"Not much demand for the things, even as collector's pieces. The big ships never really fit with the smuggler's mystique, so there was nothing to drive the resell price up."

The ship was in immaculate condition, as befitting of a piece in this collection, but all the shiny in the world didn't make it desirable. It was sexy as hell, but it was the largest ship on the block by far. Judging by the vests and gunbelts the other, more fashionable patrons sported, the goal today was definitely style. Hell, no love for the big girl, but the pair of YT-1300s had a mob around them.

"I have a feeling we're gonna make out like bandits on this one. There's no reserve on the auction today, so in theory we might even get it cheaper than what we had hoped."

There were a couple of appreciative glances being cast over at the big ship, but nothing that really worried Rusty. It wasn't a desirable collector's item, and it didn't make much sense as a commercial vehicle, outside of what the Captain had planned.

 

[Malia Afredane]

The auction couldn't have gone better if they planned it. The 2500 was up midway through the auction and with only one other buyer, it was looking good until he drove the price up to 600,000. If it hadn't been for the money from the bounty, they might have had a problem, but Izzy's renovations weren't as expensive as they thought and insurance covered part of it.

The other guy, a Bothan, withdrew his bid after 610,000 and it was over. The YZ-2500 was theirs. The lawyers had to sort the paperwork out and it would be a couple weeks before they would be able to come and get it which was fine with them as it required several more people to fly than they currently had.

First order of business, buy an astromech. Next, hire a crew. Somewhere in there she needed to find Kairon still. He mentioned something about Sullust so she checked into it. Apparently he was involved in a strike on a couple decommissioned Sith ships being towed to drydock for refits or something. She looked over the mission brief and passed it to Rusty.

"Wanna go kick some Sith in the teeth? Low risk, decent pay, sure to be a good drinking story."

 

[Rusty]

Rusty snorted. It sounded something like a radio with a head cold.

"Captain," he said, voice full of mock indignation. "Are you coming on to me? For shame."

He took a look at the brief himself.

By all indications, it should be a pretty safe trip. Big ships, sure, but probably only lightly guarded. In the state they were in, they'd be more of a liability to any thieves than assets, and trying to sabotage them made little sense from a military standpoint. Hiring a bunch of privateers to do it, on the other hand, made perfect sense, and the targets likely wouldn't see it coming.

Which of course meant it was all going to go sideways in spectacular fashion.

"Yeah, I'm in, but I'm bringing Gertrude."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Fine with me but I'm gearing up for this one. You got some stuff I can wear?"

That was a fairly stupid question, Rusty had an armory at his disposal. Whatever he didn't have on Gracie, he would have on Dressel and they had just enough time to make a pit stop before they rendezvoused with the Alliance cruiser. Hopefully, she'd get to see Kairon before hand. If not, well, let's hope this didn't get too sideways.

 

[Rusty]

"Actually, I've been working on something for you."

He flashed up a schematic of what looked to be a set of leathers for a swoop rider.

"Lightweight bantha leather jacket and pants with armorweave lining. They'll soak up a fair bit of small arms fire. Not too far off from your normal look, either. I've taken the liberty of sizing you a set."

Another schematic popped up from the holoprojector.

"Also made a full face helmet. Basic sensor suite, HUD, and a few other assorted goodies. Plus, it'll protect you from flash blindness and loud noises. Also, if you wear it with the jacket, you can seal yourself up airtight for a few minutes. I haven't had a chance to install an O2 bottle on it yet, but I'll get to that eventually."

 

[Malia Afredane]

__________________________________________________________________________________

After the GA merchant fleet mission.

Mal trudged back up the ramp of the Wicked Grace, the lights in the hallways were on so it was a good bet that Rusty was around and prepping for departure. The GADF Hope had returned to Sullust and they were sitting in orbit, as the smugglers were a little slow to get moving. She'd left Kairon in the infirmary getting his burned tended. There was something she needed to talk to Rusty about anyway.

"Rusty!" She called through the hallways, listening for activity so she knew what direction to head in. He was probably running diagnostics on Gracie, she knew they did not make it through the battle completely unscathed.

 

[Rusty]

As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Rusty was doing. He dropped out of the ceiling once the Captain got to engineering, landing with a resounding thud behind her.

A near hit had somehow been energetic enough to melt a wiring harness, and that would have to be reworked if they didn't want to end up without life support in the near future. He was mostly done with it, just had to let the solder set so he could insulate the wires. Now was as good a time to talk to the Captain as any.

"Here, Captain."

 

[Malia Afredane]

She looked him over and up into the ceiling where he dropped from, her eyes squinting to see what he was working on.

"Anything serious? What was hit?"

Gracie came first. Awkward conversations about her boyfriend could wait a moment.

 

[Rusty]

"Mostly electricals. Had a hit come close enough to melt some hull insulation and some wiring. Nothing too serious, but we don't want to be without atmosphere for a few hours, at least until I get the life support checked out."

He stood and set the tools in his hands down on a nearby workbench before offering a chair to the Captain.

"I don't know of anything else yet, but I'm still looking. I should have her ready to go by the time life support is finished with its diagnostic."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"Alright. If there is something major, grab one of those Alliance yahoos running around the deck."

She took a seat, huffing out heavily. She was tired and stiff from not stretching out in her bed, as it was really not big enough for two. She wasn't sure she wanted another night of being crammed in such a small space with Kairon. Maybe his cabin on the Quin would be better.

"Looks like the Quin's down for a while. They are gonna tow her to drydock but Kairon's already been told her repairs are not a priority."

She shook her head.

"Thanks for the heroics, we'll fix your crap eventually. Standard."

She grumbled at the bureaucracy in all things.

"Anyway, that means Kairon and his crew are up the creek with no work until she's done. Considering we need help with the Warden, what would you think about having them on as temporary crew until we hire replacements and the Quin's ready?"

 

[Rusty]

Rusty thought it over for a few moments. There were a few ways this could get complicated in a hurry, no doubt. How Kairon and the Captain would get along when thrown together for extended periods remained to be seen. He knew it wasn't entirely unheard of for couples to move in together after a short amount of time, but ships were different. There had to be a clear chain of command, and he knew having a couple in it could cause problems.

On the other hand, they needed the help, and he liked the folks over on the Quin. They were good people. Well, as good as anyone in their line of work could be. They needed the work, and he and Mal needed the help. Better the devil you know than the one you don't.

"I'm all for it, but we'll need to hammer out a few ground rules, I think."

 

[Malia Afredane]

"I think that part goes without saying. If you're in agreement, then I'll talk to Kairon about it. Gotta figure out what he's paying them and make sure we can get them close or on par. I don't want to steal his people and it'll be a good dry run for us having a crew and command chain."

She leaned forward resting her forehead on her hands as she looked at the floor a minute.

"I think they said the Warden would be ready for pickup in a week. If you want to take Gracie to Dressel, see to the rest of your stuff there, that's fine. Not all of the Quin crew are gonna fit on Gracie anyway. We can get a transport to Zeltros and meet you there."

She was trying to run through all the business items she needed to be before she took a break.

"I'm gonna stay here a couple days, try to relax before I have to be responsible for both crews. Did the Alliance pay us yet?"

 

[Rusty]

Rusty shook his head.

"Tomorrow or the day after, they said. Still figuring out our cut. We should have a pretty hefty bonus heading our way for taking out that ship, and there might even be something for the TIEs we blew up."

Taking the Wicked Grace back to Dressel wasn't a bad idea. He needed to get to the shop anyway, and on the off chance something was wrong with the life support that he didn't catch, he could survive without it better than the Captain.

"Sounds like a plan to me. You guys can hammer out the details between yourselves."

He paused for a moment, unsure of how to continue.

"You think it's gonna be okay?"

They were both consummate loners, unused to working with others for extended periods. It would be a test for them both.

 

[Malia Afredane]

"We're gonna find out pretty damn quick. If we can't hack it, we sell the Warden and go back to Gracie. There's nothing wrong with that."

She pushed herself up from the chair and looked down at herself. She hadn't showered or cleaned up, too much other stuff going on this morning for her. She wanted a nap but getting cleaned up was a priority.

"Kairon's crew is gonna have to pack up their stuff and get it off the Quin. I'll have it loaded in a cargo container. You can stow it in the hold on Gracie so their stuff is there when they arrive. I'll talk to Jarrick about making sure that gets done, provided Kairon says yes. I'll let you know one way or another."

 

[Rusty]

"Works."

Since he was already out of the ship's innards, he went ahead and got the console started on the diagnostic for the life support, and queued up one for the engines as well.

"Anything else that needs to be done before we head out?"

 

[Malia Afredane]

She stopped in the hallway, thinking about something before she turned and leaned on the bulkhead.

"Yeah. I never properly thanked you for pulling my mum's arse out of the fire and sorting that mess out. You didn't have to risk your neck for her but you did. That means a lot to me."

She looked sheepishly at the massive droid chassis.

 

[Rusty]

Rusty looked down at his feet, a little embarrassed.

"I still don't like the woman," he said. "But...she's your mom, and that makes her family."

There was a lot more to that declaration than would meet the eye. The Shard wasn't much for people, organic or otherwise. The Captain was the first he'd ever really gotten to know without having to torture them to find their true selves. The fact that he considered her family was, in and of itself, pretty significant. What's more, he'd come out and said it, indirect though he may have been.

 

[Malia Afredane]

Mal smiled, and nodded before she headed for her room.

"Yeah, family."

Family and home had nontraditional meanings to a spacer like her but she had them in Rusty, Izzy and Gracie.

 

[Rusty]

A few months later

It had been a while since it was just the Captain and Rusty. The Grey Warden had been fairly profitable, but it was only a matter of time before the Quin crew had to go back to their ship. While they were all sad to say goodbye, even if only temporarily, Rusty was secretly pleased.

He quite liked most of them. They were all professional, reasonably intelligent individuals who didn't balk when their backs were against the wall. They had pulled together through some really tight spots as a crew, stuff that would have killed normal crews. But no matter how much time went on, the Shard couldn't help but feel like an outsider.

No one said anything, of course. They were all perfectly polite and sociable. There wasn't even the slightest indication that they didn't value him as a member of the crew. But, well, it was hard to explain. It's like he was there, and they liked him and all, but they weren't exactly comfortable around him. Well, the Captain was, but she was with Kairon a lot, and he mostly spent his days trying to keep on top of the vast maintenance schedule that kept the Grey Warden flying through the dark.

It went without saying that he was a little relieved when it was time for them to head back to their own ship. He didn't know all the details, but he was pretty sure the Captain had worked out some sort of loose partnership with them, so they could work together again if needed. In the mean time, the Grey Warden was due for a spell in dry dock. It didn't need anything serious, but they didn't have enough crew to run it as is, and there were a bunch of little things that needed doing. They had figured it was best to take care of that early, so they didn't have to worry about it all piling up.

So now they were back on the Wicked Grace, just the two of them. They had a hold full of cargo, a destination in the navicomp, and a time to be there. Just like old times.

[member="Malia Afredane"]

 

[Malia Afredane]

Mal was morose as hell, sitting behind the yoke in the cockpit of Gracie, her feet propped up on the edge of the console to her left. She was reading a book Kairon had given her, some epic tale of a long journey by a ragtag group of warriors, farmers and smiths in order to overthrow a tyrant. There were grandiose descriptions of the beautiful countryside, of the various cultures they met and then recruited to take a last stand against brutal odds. The way he described it made it sound amazing, so when he handed her a book thicker than her forearm, she tried not to balk at the task of getting through it. She didn't want him to think she couldn't do it, but mired in a part where the farmers are nearly waylaid by spectres from beyond the veil, she snapped the book closed and tossed it on the co-pilot's seat.

She felt like a mess. Traveling with Kairon for the last few months had been interesting. There were rough patches, that was to be expected but they managed to work through them without Rusty threatening to airlock them both for being stupid. Her small rack on Gracie felt immense to her without him next to her. She also had grown rather fond of his cooking.

She would have been happy to just sit in drydock and wait on the Warden, but Rusty had insisted they take a job. He was practically bouncing around the halls right now, and all she wanted to do was watch sappy rom-coms and eat peanut butter. Being apart from Kairon now just sucked and she started wondering what that would mean for a future between them. She would never ask him to give up the Quin, but she almost wished he would anyway, without prompting in some grand display of devotion.

Never gonna happen, just as she was sure that he probably hoped she would give up Gracie and the Warden. So it was back to separate lives, a blur of days blended together by excesses of alcohol, cargo runs and telling her mother that she didn't want the bar and she wasn't popping out kids just because she found a guy who could tolerate her nonsense for more than a day.

The lights outside the cockpit were holding her gaze as they streaked past the window but her mind was on him. It wasn't a break up but it sure felt like he ripped her heart out of her chest when he left, just for safe keeping. The loneliness was a bitter pill that refused to go down.

The Grace shuddered once, a wave of warning lights snapping her out of her melancholy, before Gracie shook violently and lurched hard stopping dead, surrounded by the blue wash of hyperspace.

This was not good.

[member='Rusty']