Fishing for Work (Avril Crew/Lady Kay)

[Strider Garon]

Location: few kilometers off shore from Chasin City, Comenor

The Avril gently moved with the ocean's waves, pulling lightly against her anchor as she sat a few kilometers off shore. The soft cold breeze of Comenor's autumn winds bristled through the open rear loading ramp of the ancient ship. The ramp was lowered just high enough above the water for the ship's captain to comfortably relax in his fold out chair and enjoy his morning spiced caffa and puff upon his shento cigar while he tended to his fishing rod and line. One could say the old man was enjoying retirement though his fellow crew would probably wished he did so with more clothing on.

Thats right, the old man was in his boxers, a man of average height, mightily shouldered and deep of chest, with a massive corded neck and heavily muscular limbs. His piercing gaze is dark and sullen with deep smoldering brown eyes. The warrior bares a short black mane, properly groomed. He was a named man in the mandalorians, legendary to some, infamous to most as the Hound of keldabe. He was a professional soldier now long in tooth, feared in battle and well known for his endless thirst for life's pleasures. Strider is pragmatic and amoral in life combined with his sarcastic dark sense of humor gave him the visage of arrogance. His body, almost complety exposed at this moment in time, was littered with scars that held testament to the decades of wars and battles, his hide reading like a bible of violence along with stunning tattoos.

Strider continued to puff on his cigar and drank his caffa while he waited for his aquaintance to make contact or there was a bite on his line. Either way, it was a relaxing morning. The cold hair did not bother the old man, his hide was thick and he was enjoying every moment of his life from here on out. He was a free man, free of service and roaming the galaxy with a small crew and his ship and picking up work here and there as they went.

Placing his cup down, he would reel in his line and toss it out to sea once more with the shento cigar tightly gripped between his lips. This was the life. Having his ship amphibious brought many perks sides from fishing in his boxers, it also meant he did not need to compete with the heavy traffic of the bustling space port. Here it was luxury seafarers and fishing trawlers and lots of ocean to land on.

Spoiler

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]
[member="Meer"]
[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]
[member="Akio Diachi"]
[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Strider Garon"]


It was all on the holonews, or at least where one knew to look. The Great Strider Garon had retired. Kay had met the man very briefly at his birthday party. She didn't know what to expect and certainly didn't expect to see the man dressed in....unusual attire and singing his heart out, sort of in tune to a rather large audience made up mostly of Mandalorians. Her introduction with him was so brief that she couldn't even ask if he had wanted a case of Commenor's own brandy. This time she'll remember.

A couple of days ago she had sent a message off to him to meet her on Commenor at his leisure. He was retired after all, let him enjoy it. No doubt he deserved it. But she figured that a man like that wouldn't be able to relax for too long without needing to get into the thick of things, get chased by danger and the like. He probably craved it. Kay was counting on that.

Once she had arrived on Commenor herself after a brief stop to Mustafar, she had received word that Strider had arrived on the planet. So without stopping for a cup of tea, she headed off to the nearest port to him just outside of Chasin City. While on her way, she sent him a message via her comm, "Strider Garon? This is Lady Kay. I'm just on my way to the port now, so if you could meet me there, that'd be great."

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio stood motionless atop the Arvil. His soft, loose-fitting black gi fluttered in the breeze. His breathing was slow, filling from maximum to minimum with the cool, refreshing air. His stance was a perfect Tora Boei; delicately balanced on one leg while the other was drawn up tightly to his side. One arm was partially extended forward, the other behind him, both fists arced in the jagged tiger's claws. It was perfect for defense from all sides, as a child Akio had been forced to stand in this position for hours at a time, reciting the credo. Inhale. Exhale. Move not. Stay still. Aware of all. One with all. The art of death requires discipline--discipline to remain still for extended periods of time, indefinitely. Awareness would be his best friend in the fight.

Wear of living hand to mouth, constantly hiding himself and having to stow away to move from one planet to the other, the assassin had heard of this legendary warrior; [member="Strider Garon"] who had won many battles and constructed the art of death upon many souls. Though his methods were not as skillful and cunning as Akio's, the Chiss applied himself for the honor of working under this great master. I pray to the ascended that we may gloriously take many lives together in the art of war so that they may be proud and we may earn a right to be among them.

Drawing his leg down slowly, Akio opened his eyes at last and drank in the beauty of the world around him. When the now-dead gods had made this world, Akio was sure they had been intended it for one of the paradises. Still, a part of his heart longed for the field of war, his meditation was broken with a desire to go and earn his right to honor. The times of peace are good, but only for the purpose of training and preparing for the next war. Akio remembered his masters telling him as a child. Words he had to memorize, like so many other catechisms.

 

[Meer]

Meer was running around the ship in a blur, picking up small shiny items and putting them into his already loud jingling sack. A loose screw here, some pocket change there, truly it was amazing the things that were cast aside. And then he saw the cigar cutter sitting next to the half naked Captain [member="Strider Garon"] . It sure was shiny.

Meer wasn't exactly sure that it was the captain's but what he was sure about was the fact that he wanted it. It was shiny and gold and on the floor, therefore he felt he had the right to it.

Meer darted for the shiny metallic item and pounced on it, jingling every very quick step of the way. He held it in his hands and let out a small soft growling sound.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh dangled her legs off the side of her bunk, lightly swaying them from side to side while she read a book, lips encircling a batch of fresh strawberries she had picked up from their last stop, sinking teeth gently into the succulent fruit ever so slowly in sheer bliss. This was her down time during the brief periods where the ship was actually running as it should. She'd been used to buckets like this one, her earlier days in the Republic's Navy afforded her nothing but the worst of ships to work on, though as she ascended to the Supreme Commander's role that steadily declined. She had commanded great vessels then, vessels she was proud of and crews she was infinitely impressed by. But those days were over. She had retired early from her career, passing the torch to a man she greatly admired. Now, she took up a much less stressful role making sure that Strider's baby was space worthy.

[member="Strider Garon"] , the former Mandalorian she had struck a Republic/Mando alliance with way back when, who'd have thought she'd end up serving under him? He was a crass, rugged old man, but she was smart enough to recognize a good leader when she saw one, even if he preferred to spend an unusual amount of time partially naked aboard his ship while filled with crew and cargo. Just so long as they didn't pick up any stray passengers she thought.

The girl leaned over, snatched up her comm and called for the man. "Aren't we supposed to be meeting someone, Cap'n? The ship is going to need fuel cells soon, and we could use some supplies, and we haven't had work in a while so we can't exactly afford much."

[member="Meer"] | [member="Akio Diachi "]| [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

"Kark... I think I drank too much last night..."

Hangover. Another. But, it was better than being strung out on spice all the time. She'd had to struggle with that for almost nine years, ever since her husband disappeared. Ever since Sarge said he was certain she'd fine him.
She never did. Nor did she expect to at this point. Her husband was long dead, she was sure. Funny thing about widowhood. Until you had a body to burn, the death of a spouse just felt numb.

She sat up in bed, grabbed her cigarettes and her lighter, threw on Calico's old leather jacket, and went to go find something to kill her massive head ache. Nobody would probably care much that all she had on was a loose tanktop and shorts. No matter how old she got, she'd always dress like a street walker.

 

[Thryykarr]

The call to Commenor had given Thryk a wave of nostalgia. He was wearing his normal leather vest, along with the greaves and boots from his Juggernaut suit. It'd been nearly ten years since he'd had a real job, more than just scouting out places where nobody else would go.

Who'd have thought Zandra would remember him? More surprisingly, who'd have thought she'd be serving another captain? Of course, the big Wookiee knew Strider Garon. Who didn't? The thought was shaken out of his head as he saw his old captian walk into his view.

"Hey, Zandra. Miss me much?"

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] [member="Meer"] [member="Akio Diachi "] [member="Strider Garon"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Zandra had to blink for a long time as a wookiee came out of seemingly nowhere. She was far too hung over for surprises, but she laughed anyway and reached over to pull the walking carpet into a hug. She never forgot a face, even one as furry as his.

"[member="Thryykarr"]!" she laughed, "Of all the places-! Lady Luck sure has a funny way of workin'!"

She let go after a moment, still chuckling as she went to light up a cigarette.

"How ya been? Ain't seen you in- how long?"

 

[Thryykarr]

Thryk grinned as the tiny blonde pirate pulled him into a hug. It was a little less sentimental, because he could smell the booze coming off of her, but that was okay. He instinctively pulled back a bit when Zandra lit up, but that was less out of any problem with her smoking, and more because Wookiee fur is flammable.

"It's really been too damn long. Last time I saw you, there was a little half-Echani kid glaring at me. Frak, how long ago was that?"

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Damn. That long? Zandra frowned, then took a long drag of her cigarette. Which half-echani kid was he talking about?

"Corrin, or Rawnie?" she asked, "either way, those kids are adults now. Has it really been that long?"

Yes. It had. She'd gone through at least three crews last time she saw him. One crew was slaughtered. One disbanded. And the other, well, she fired every damn last one of those kids. Pirates these days. Not what they used to be, especially the young ones. Worthless. Well. Now she was here, reunited.

[member="Thryykarr"]

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio slid off the highest point, choosing to take the subtler approach to the deck. There was no need to make an entrance at this point. His acute hearing picked up the second half of the conversation his new crew--still instinctively arbitrary to this assassin.

He had always been better at fading in and disappearing than conversing but still he needed to try to make allies of the . Especially because they would be working together. Yet another arbitrary term to him. This new world would take getting used to.

Akio politely approached the pair and bowed. "It is an honor to work with you. I am Akio."

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]
[member="Thryykarr"]
[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]
[member="Meer"]
[member="Strider Garon"]

 

[Thryykarr]

Thryk nodded, tugging at the beard-like braids around his mouth. It'd definitely been at least fifteen years. The Juggernaut, as he'd once been called, was beginning to visibly have gray threads shooting through his brown fur. By comparison, Zandra looked a lot like he remembered her, except for one thing...

"Tch. You went and got yourself chopped up, huh? Not that I'm much better-"

His teasing admonishment was interrupted by a guy who looked like he thought he was some kind of a ninja. Admittedly, he'd snuck up on them pretty well, but the kid seemed to be taking himself a little too seriously.

"Well, hello, Akio... Do you always go barreling down hallways to greet new people?"

[member="Akio Diachi "] [member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio blinked at the wookiee. He was unsure how to take that. I wasn't--ah a joke. He tried to smile, which wasn't natural. And he knew it, which made it worse.

He attempted a chuckle. Humor was the worst of his weaknesses. The uncomfortable feeling that humor always brought up in him crawled up his spine and made his blue skin turn a slight shade darker. In the past all the children had made fun of him in their Umbarian way, with cold cutting snarky jokes that made him feel left out. And alone. Akio chided himself again, forcing himself back into the present.

He knew he would most likely fail, fall flat on his face and gain further embarrassment, but he tried his best to reply playfully, "I just had to test your reflexes. Since Wookiees are supposed to be renowned for it, after all."

[member="Thryykarr"]
[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]

 

[Zandra Tal'verda]

Chopped up-? Oh. Her hand. She'd actually forgotten about it. She was so used to it by now. She opened her mouth to say something when they were interrupted by... a kid in a ninja outfit. Well, okay. To be fair, Zandra was old now. Everybody was a kid to her.

"Zandra," she said, even though he hadn't yet addressed her or asked for her name, "Names Zandra. You can call me Mrs. T though, a'right?"

@Akio Diachi

 

[Llkt'tudrin'wyshd]

The small room was pitch black, save for only three points of light. The first showed itself to be the smouldering end of a cigarette, dangling loosely from a set of lips. The last two light sources were being emitted form the face plate of a droid, standing in the corner of the room and staring at the hanging cigarette, or more accurately, the person with the cigarette. That person was Ydrin, no last name after he had shed it, who's outline could just be seen within the room, dully illuminated by the eye's of the droid. The young man was hunched over, his head in his hands as clenched his fisted within his shaggy hair. Slight tremors ran through his frame.

Off to the side, a quiet alarm rang out, breaking the silence. Slowly, one eye peaked open, starting at the droid. The eye, his left, was revealed to be coloured a dark purple and unique. What made it unique was the blemish on the whites of his eye. It was coloured a dark, milky black that only left a small amount of white peak through at the right corner of his eye.

"Y8, do you have the tablets prepared?" Ydrin's slightly accented voice was kept controlled and level as he addressed the droid, who, judging by the slight shift of shadows, had turned to face it's master.

"Confirmation: Yes Master."

The droid leant forwards, handing over three small pills and a glass of water to its young master. Soon Ydrin's head was thrown back and the pills were gone. Over the next few minuets the small cabin aboard The Avril was silent as Ydrin's spasms slowly decreased to nothing.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio bowed in acknowledgement. He quickly made a note of this. It was going to be extremely challenging working in a team, but he would adapt--he was sure. We are all essentially the same, are we not?

"It is an honor to meet you, Mrs T," Akio added as he rose. He could see the looks on their faces. "I apologize. I did not mean to interrupt."

He took a slight step back, watching and waiting. Deferring into the shadows. It was what he was best at.

[member="Zandra Tal'verda"]
[member="Thryykarr"]

 

[Strider Garon]

The captain may have been old but he was not def. He heard the blue rabbit and all his shines performing a flyby on him. The mandalorian would look over to his right and see his cigar cutter was missing and all he could do was sigh. He had right mind to plug the little beast with a stun boltd or two just for a lesson and even the though it brought his indignant frown to a devilish smirk. Hell, one could of made a game of it.

That was when his genius mechanic chimed over the comms informing the Captain of their current financial and engineering issues at hand. The devilish smirk degraded back down to a frown. He placed his cup of caffa down and his shento cigar cradled in the ashtray. He took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with ocean air before gripping his personal comms "Come on Kayleigh I know you can hold her together just a little longer." Strider would encourage the ex republic supreme commander.

Then the old man got the message he had been waiting for. It was from his acquaintance, Lady Kay. She was shark of a politician and a galactic nuisance that got his respect. And she wasted no time sending word to the old war hound for possible employment. She somehow knew that he would not sit to long on his homestead. He was a man of action, a warrior of thousands of battles that somehow reached the ripe age of sixty one and forced into retirement. He should of died far before such could of ever happened. "Copy that Lady Kay, will be there!"

The old man stood from his chair unembarrassed by his current clothing issue. He quickly reeled in his line and propped the fishing rod off to the side of the loading bay ramp before extracting the ramp with a click of a button. He could hear most of his crew bustling about in the crew area. Well, since they were all up and adom it was time to get to work. Strider moved from the cargo hold and into the crew common area where a good chunk of them were gathered. He looked at Zandra who also seemed to have an aversion to clothing. His eyes would ravage the site before he got to business...

"Alright pups! Enough with the ass grabbing, we have work to do!" The hound of keldabe snarled as he continued walking through the common area. "MEER!" Strider looked around for the creature that was going to be the next ingredient in tonight's stew, he could not see him but he knew those oversized ears could hear him "Get us airborne and to the docks."

"Akio, Zandra, Semziru and Thryykarr! you all are my security team while we go meet our contact, Lady Kay at the port. I am not expecting trouble but I have always been the one that hoped for the best and prepared for the worse. Lady Kay is high profile target so if poodoo hits the fan at the docks, no point in us dying for lack of shooting, right?"

Really wasn't a question and more of an order. The old man would walk past them all and up the stairs to the command deck and into his private quarters. He himself needed to get dressed for the occasion. He would not bring his medic, Ydrin, with him for he did not want to place the only real medically train crew member he had in harms way. Kayleigh and Meer would button down the ship and keep her ready to go in their absence.

"DAMNIT MEER! I BETTER HEAR MY ENGINES PURRING!" The salty captain barked once more "AND I WANT MY FRACKING CUTTERS BACK, OR ELSE!!!'

[member="Semziru Nar"] [member="Akio Diachi "][member="Ydrin"] [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Thryykarr"] [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] [member="Meer"] [member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Meer]

Meer heard [member="Strider Garon"] it was hard not to. He had a very commanding voice and as quick as a hiccup Meer covered the distance to the cockpit. He got the beast moving, loud unsettling clangs could be heard coming from the ship starting to move. The Teek pushed the PA button, "Oy! Keep yer pants on, Guv'na." He announced before taking his finger off the intercom while being quite punny all at the same time.

"I'll get this rust bucket in the air, some'ow." He said closing all the cargo doors, in case some drunken fool was hitting the bottle early, in this ship it wouldn't have surprised him. He pulled a lever and away they went.

"Awlright then... tha's no so bad." He said meticulously alternating between steering, messing with buttons and flipping random toggles. Thrusters sputtered and even Meer had to wonder if he could keep the bird in the air much longer without a complete overhaul of the pannels. Meer wondered why the captain was so sentimental with this flying piece of trash.

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh rolled her eyes at the unsurprising reply that came from [member="Strider Garon"]. She'd known him long enough to know that a little longer more or less meant indefinitely until we can afford otherwise.

"I'll do what I can, Cap'n." The girl dropped the comm back on to the edge of her nightstand and returned to the strawberry snack she was enjoying. That is, until the ship suddenly jerked up and down, the engines firing as the ship began take off procedures. Kayleigh quickly tossed the remainder of the fruit into the small container and slid it into her tiny refrigeration unit before heading out of her quarters and down to the engine room. During most flights she found herself below deck, either spending the trip fixing and repairing what broke mid-travel, or simply watching over the deck to ensure that nothing did break or malfunction, leaving them stranded on some desolate planet with even less in their pockets than they had now.

Reaching over to the radio she pressed the button which would announce through the ship's internal PA system, that way wherever Strider was at that particular moment he would hear her, as well as the pilot and crew.

"Judging by the sudden take off I am guessing we either ticked off the locals again, or we got ourselves a payday? Someone talk to me, tell me it's the latter. We can't afford to be barred from anymore surfaces."

[member="Meer"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Akio Diachi"] | [member="Ydrin"] | [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] | [member="Thryykarr"] | [member="Semziru Nar"]

 

[Ibby]

[member="Strider Garon"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Akio Diachi "] [member="Meer"] [member="Kayleigh Tyven"] [member="Zandra Tal'verda"] [member="Thryykarr"] [member="Ydrin"]

Semziru glanced up at the comms from where they were, sitting in the crew's sleeping quarters as they cross-stitched a particularly lovely floral scenery. Sewing was a hobby that they'd taken up a while back, and they'd found it to be rather relaxing.

But now it seemed they were needed, so they put their things away and shifted into their typical human form, wincing at the pain.

That done, Sem then went to locate the captain. The ship rattled as it took off, and they grinned slightly. As much as they disliked their piratical origins, there were some things they just had to love -- like flying, for instance.

Another voice came across the comms, and they smiled again. It sounded like the mechanic, but her name they could not remember. Ah, well. They'd learn it soon enough.

They finally found Captain Strider, alongside a few other members. "Greetings, everyone," they said. "We hope there will be no shooting today, as we are much better at artillery that, well..." They gave a wry grin. "Than close combat."