Private Ferry Ride

[Alliser Roche]

Shora the Shameless

COME ALONE. INTERVIEW. FIVE DAYS. TAKE A RIDE: . . .

Shora would receive word back on the job, firstly the interview, about a day and a half after he passed his name along. It came back with instructions attached, along with a holoticket for a ride in a cargo ship across the skies of Freehold. It seemed he was wanted to take a ride, and for them to have the talk while aboard.

Were he to take up on that offer, he would find himself aboard the relatively large ship of the S.S. Tau. It wasn't a privateer ship, in fact, most all aside from the security aboard looked to be no more than unarmed sailors. None of the lower ranks knew where the meeting was to be made, nor did they know of him. The officers could only measly point him to an open flight deck aboard the side of the ship, but even then they knew little more than he did.

The ship carried on regardless though, heading towards its destination like any other day on the planet.​

 

[Shora the Shameless]

Not having anywhere else to go, Shora the Shameless waited outside the cantina and spent the night sleeping beside the entrance, much to the dismay of the bartender. Thus, when a darkly dressed man approached him the following day with instructions pertaining to the interview, Shora was in the exact position he promised he would be in. The next five days were lived rather nervously. He had walked the path from his shelter to the designated loading zone several times, and each night Shora had softly recited to himself important phrases in the common tongue. His exile on Pzob had done little to hone his social skills, and often times his appearance and manner of speaking would garner hostility and suspicion from most employers. However, Shora had landed himself a job interview and this mysterious man has even purchased a ticket for his troubles. Such a success, though small, blessed him cautious optimism and a couple sleepless nights. Perhaps this was the opportunity he had been looking for.

When the time came, Shora retraced the now familiar steps to the loading zone where he found the cargo ship waiting for him. He paused before the cargo ramp and flashed his ticket to the loading manager. Nagini gently coiled around his bicep in a comforting manner as he walked up the ramp into the ship. Aboard the S.S. Tau, sailors bustled about as they prepared the ship to launch. With a sudden thrust, the freighter began to rise and Shora did his best to not get in the way of the crew securing their cargo. He could feel all eyes following him as he made his way through the corridors and up onto the open flight deck. Here, he leaned up against the railing and took in the view as the ship climbed higher and higher into the atmosphere. This is where he would wait. Shora’s massive figure was not easily missed and he was sure that Alliser Roche would seek him out soon.

 

[Alliser Roche]

The freighter climbed high and began its charted course across the planet. The skies, murky only in the horizon, were a picturesque view of blue. The wind, while chilly from the climb in atmosphere and the speed of the ship, was obstructed in some due part by the ship. It was nice, at least if he wasn't queasy about the whole fifteen thousand feet high and flying deal.

The only downside to the whole view was the heavy hum of machinery and engines behind him within the core of the ship. It was loud, almost loud enough to stop him from hearing the door from which he entered opening behind him.

A group of seven men filtered through, six wearing black armbands and another in a synthleather overcoat and combat boots. The first six held their hands at their sides, to holsters. The last one stepped through as if it was a casual occasion, cigar already lit in his lips.

He blew a smoke ring to the side and approached the Yuuzhan Vong with a nod. This strange clothed man simply stepped to the side of him where the wind wouldn't blow his smoke into his counterpart's face, and took yet another toke of his cigar as he looked wistfully out to the skies.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He exhaled and gestured out to the wide open sky before them with his cancer-stick. "Reminds me of my earlier days as a true pilot."

The stranger then blinked and turned to him with a tip of his head. "Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Alliser Roche," He offered up a smile that to his instincts perhaps didn't feel genuine. "-and I'm the man who intends to hire you."

"I'm told that you speak the common language well enough, if a bit rough." He gestured to his mouth. "That right?"

"If it is," He continued at a slower pace. Not in a demeaning way, surprisingly, but rather just at a beat long enough for him to process and understand. "I'd like to ask you a few questions. Mind telling me about yourself?"

 

[Shora the Shameless]

Shora’s pointed ears flicked back at the sound of several booted footsteps approaching. The heavy drone of machinery did little to conceal their presence from him. As the metal door swung open and the entourage of armed guards filtered through, Shora turned from the railing to face his interviewer. Six guards now confronted him, all with their hands hovering above their holsters. However, Shora paid them no mind. Let them have their false comforts. Instead, his attention was quickly drawn to the obvious leader of the group: a dark middle-aged man with a cigar in his mouth and a casual confidence in his walk.

Alliser Roche approached Shora and did not seem disturbed by the appearance of the bare-chested figure who towered over him. Alliser’s confidence in the situation boosted Shora’s own, as he nodded in agreement alongside the man. The sky was indeed beautiful. It felt like he had seen so much of this beautiful galaxy since he ended his exile on Pzob, and yet he knew there was much more waiting for him out there amongst the stars. Shora turned back to Alliser as he processed what he had to say.

“I am Shora,” he said softly as he placed a mighty fist to his chest. Then he recited his short little speech.

“I am strong warrior. Thirty-six years of fighting for Yuuzhan Vong. Then exiled. Then, nine years fighting Gamorreans on Pzob. I am leader in battle.”

The Yuuzhan Vong paused and looked down at the dark man. His pale eyes looked for any sort of reaction in the man’s face, but Alliser continued to watch the sky and smoke.

“Do not be tricked by weak words,” he rasped. “I am not stupid. Any job, I do. I am smart and capable. No questions.”

He stared into the man with intensity, hoping his speech made for a good impression.

 

[Alliser Roche]

He listened intently to his words, smoking all the while, until Shora the Shameless finished. At that time Roche lifted the cigar away from his lips, held it to his side, and turned to lean his back on the railing and face him directly. The privateer captain held a particularly indistinguishable expression. He seemed impressed in some due part with what he heard, but his eyes were dull. It was likely intentional.

"Your pay would be seventy thousand credits in this sector's currency, that or goods of equivalent value in my possession I'm willing to trade." He said as he raised the cigar back to his lips, but not without being careful to blow his exhale away from his counterpart. "You would be provided room and board, as with any repairs you need."

Roche put the cigar back to his side after he finished speaking, perhaps taking a momentary break.

"My only requests for you accepting this job is, for one, that it remains discreet. Not the type of job to be put on the reference side of an application." He spared a glance behind him to the far-flung surface below in a look of brief thought. "And two, that you verify your abilities. It's not that I don't trust your word, but more along the lines that it's good business practice to see what's what before you commit."

He pushed himself off the railing and walked toward one of his guards who in turn gave him a folder. He read through it wordlessly for a moment before turning back to his potential hire. "There is a prominent businessman also taking a hitch on this ship. He has some interests contrary to my own, you see."

He started the walk back towards Shora, turning the folder inside out as he went to show him an image of the mentioned businessman. "He's in room D28 and has three guards with him. They're armed with batons and knives, captain's orders you could say."

"I'll pay you one thousand and five hundred credits if you can get in there and rough him up a bit. A further thousand if you can nab any important folders of his while you're in there. The guard's lives don't matter in the end, but if you can leave them alive it would be preferred." He raised his cigar to his lips and took another toke as he finished, nodding to him.

"So, how about it? I know you said you didn't have any questions, but it's always fair to ask."

 

[Shora the Shameless]

Shora could barely contain his excitement as Alliser Roche explained the requirements of the job. It sounded nearly too good to be true. Seventy thousand credits with room and board! At this point it made no difference what the real job entailed, it was enough payment to get Shora on his feet and then some. All that stood in his way was the businessman pictured in the folder. A test of his strength. Or, more likely, a test of his restraint. He barred his fangs in a toothy smile as he folded and tucked the picture of the businessman in his loincloth. That was all he needed to get to work.

“D28. Preferred alive. No questions,” he said eagerly before he bounded off into the cargo ship.

Finding his target’s cabin was a bit more difficult than what he expected, but after mustering up a small amount of courage to ask for directions from a perplexed sailor, he finally arrived outside the door of D28. The door was of thick durasteel and required a card key to gain entry. He had to act quickly, as he did not want to keep his future employer waiting for very long. Shora looked up and down the hallway to see if a maintenance worker or astromech could help him out of this predicament. The door was too thick to cut open with his amphistaff, and he did not want to alert the guards inside to his presence, lest they try to escape somehow. Yet he could not locate anyone to help him. Even if he could, what could he say? Shora was quickly running out of options.

“Step back from the door!” A guard supporting a black armored vest had rounded the corner and confronted Shora. He had a tray of food in his hands. Shora, not believing his luck, took several steps back and muttered an apology. The guard stared at him until the bare-chested berserker made the moves to leave. Satisfied that he saw him off, the guard turned with his lunch tray to the door.

~ Is everything alright out there? ~

~ Yeah I’m outside with the client’s lu- ~

Shora slammed his amphistaff onto the guard with a sickening crack. The contents of the lunch tray splattered onto the door. A horrible moan escaped from the guard before he slumped to the floor, clutching his head. The commlink on his shoulder came back to life with a flurry of questions. The door to D28 sprang open with the two other guards rushing to investigate the commotion. Shora threw his body into the doorway and all three tumbled back into the cabin. Each foe pulled out their vibroblades and rushed the Yuuzhan Vong. He whipped his amphistaff around the neck of the first guard, pulling him to the ground. However, the second guard was already on top of him and slashed his arm with the vibroblade, creating a wound of seeping black ooze. He dropped his amphistaff before sidestepping the guard’s next attack, using the momentum to plunge the knife into his leg. With the second guard now off balance due to his wound, Shora shouldered him into the ground. His amphistaff began to coil tightly around the neck of the first guard who started to writhe around on the floor.

With all three guards incapacitated, Shora brushed himself off and assessed the situation. The businessman was nowhere to be seen in the cabin. He bent down to the second guard and took ahold of the knife in his leg. The guard squealed in pain as blood started to pool around him.

“Where?” Shora asked calmly.

The whimpering guard pointed to the closet door. Shora stood back up and opened the closet to reveal a pudgy middle-aged man in a business suit who immediately started protesting as he was dragged out. Shora stood him up against the wall of the cabin as the man blabbered nonsense of money and payments and kids. At this moment, Shora realized that he didn’t know why this weeping sack of a man needed to be roughed up but he still felt like he needed to say something.

“This is warning,” he declared bluntly, before slamming his knee into the soft belly of the businessman. He crumpled to the ground wheezing and clutching his ribs. A warning for what? Who knows? But Shora felt like he understood the message.

His amphistaff was still coiling tightly around the neck of a now limp guard. Shora beckoned for Nagini to release her prey and slithered up his arm, coiling around his bicep and reverting to its inactive form. Reunited with his friend, Shora stood in the doorway and took one more glance around the cabin. A black briefcase laying beside the bed caught his eye and he remembered Roche’s orders.

“Mine,” he announced to no one in particular.

After about 20 minutes, Shora returned as he had promised to Captain Roche. Stained with a bit of his own black blood, Shora handed the briefcase he took from the cabin to the dark man. His knife wound had already knit itself back together.

“It is done.”

 

[Alliser Roche]

Roche had propped himself up against the railing while he waited for his new hire to return.

"You sure about this one, boss?" The closest mercenary guard to him asked. "He seems a little.. You know? Off? A little like he might-"

"You don't need to continue." Roche shot a glance back to him before taking a moment to indulge in his cigar.

"As an employer, it's one of my unofficial jobs to recognize talent."

He looked to the man with dull eyes. "This one looks like he has it."

Minutes later, the door to the landing pad opened and Shora the Shameless returned carrying a black briefcase. Roche watched with curiosity as he crossed over to him and offered it across. He took it in hand and - without a second of hesitation - passed it off to the mercenary from before for him to open it.

"Alexei, give the man his credits. Two thousand and five hundred." Roche said across to another who did exactly that as he looked in the now-opened, non booby trapped, briefcase. Shora could practically see the privateer captain's eyes brighten with interest as he shut the briefcase and clasped its locks.

"You did well." He turned back and gave him an approving nod. "The contract is yours to take. Seventy thousand credits when the job is complete, and as said room, board, and repairs. You're welcome to choose whether to join me on my ship to wait until the job is executed, or to stay here on the planet on your lonesome until I call on you. If we can't reach you at first though, your pay will be penalized."

One of the mercenary squad moved to the side of the railing while they spoke and said some coded language into his headset.

"Either way," He took a toke of his cigar. "We will be leaving."

A shuttle appeared from below the ship as the last wisps of tobacco smoke disappeared from Roche's person. He nodded to him and glanced from the landing vessel to the door from which he came. "What'll it be?"

 

[Shora the Shameless]

Shora felt his chest swell with pride at the small recognition he received from Alliser Roche . Such validation was more than he had received in several years, even from the gods. To finally hear that someone approved of him after everything he had been through, why, it was enough to make someone a little emotional. Not that Shora would betray such vulnerable emotions to his new employer. All that mattered now was the job at hand which he was eager to learn more about.

After tucking the credits into a pouch hidden on his person, he nodded to the dark man. “I follow you.”