Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire

[Lysle of the Hydian Way]

Destination: Coruscant
Payment: 195,000
Shipment: Disrupter Rifles, Thermal Detonators
Additional Info: Travel to Coruscant where a swoop gang is trying to get their hands on some high-class weapons and grenades. Deliver the weapons, fulfil the contract and return to Nar Shaddaa for payment.

- - - - - -​

It was another night at Frida's Spaceport Cantina, and the music was blaring. Lysle found himself shoving through the raucous crowd, forcing himself to the back of the main room. At the very back of the building, an open-air hangar houses Frida's private shuttle which was used routinely to transport liquor, or for escape. This time, it was for a routine smuggling run. The destination was Coruscant with the highly illegal cargo of Disruptor Rifles and Thermal Detonators.

Lenix' ship would soon be arriving, with the hangar cleared for a smooth landing. A entourage of associates would join them on the flight to Coruscant, where Lysle would meet with a local gang to set up connections on the planet. He needed to expand his operations off-world, and had a mind to soon move the focus of the Red Ravens from Nar Shaddaa to something out of interstellar authority.

Lysle stood in the chill of the night time air, looking up at what appeared to be shooting stars. Though it was not true. Nar Shaddaa was polluted, and heavily. What he saw were the racing speedsters that strafed across the night sky, as bright and illuminating as the star systems of planets and galaxies distant. He thought it a great time to light up a cigarra and draw from the narcotic, but unlike some of those he dealt with; he didn't use that what he sold.

[member="Sigourney Xanthius"] | [member="Arianna Maneria"] | [member="Colap Ticon"] | [member="Fanus Rendix"] | [member="Hytiix Mizgar"] | [member="Isaac Ideus"] | [member="Lena Abren-Rendix"] | [member="Lenix Ornil"] | [member="Mit Tuxaire"] | [member="Pollux Alrai"] | [member="Raven Mulds"] | [member=Vhette] | [member="Shiro De'Vol"]

 

[Lenix Ornil]

Soon the air shook with the sounds of heavy ion engines as the huge corellian freighter made its way into the open air hangar. The ship was a strange cobbled-together combo of a long corellian corvette, but the standard glass cockpit of most small freighters (albeit much bigger to fit scale). The telescopic landing gear popped from it's hiding hole and extended out~ allowing the huge craft to settle on them and wind down.

As the sound of engine whining desisted the large cargo ramp extended and the familiar squib strolled down it~ greeting Lysle with a wave and making his way over.

"Good to see you made it! Now where are these weapons being kept so I can load them in?"

 

[Arianna Maneria]

Arianna walks out of the bar. "So how much heat are we going to be looking at, assuming best conditions of course?" She asks Lysle inquisitively.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Arianna Maneria"] | [member="Lenix Ornil"] | [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] |

Frida Spaceport Cantina, a hive of clubbers, drinkers and all forms of debauchery. Nothing in comparison to the underworld of Coruscant or the bowels of Nar Shaddaa, but they did their part. Vhette entered the cantina in a midnight black trench coat and hands deep within it's pockets. Her fingers were gripped around the disruptor pistols in both sets. If any punk tried to get on her wrong side, then she would simply shoot them out without even taking them out of the pocket. Bolts could rip through coats too, you know?

The raven haired, chalk white bounty hunter pushed her way through crowds, taking routes that didn't mean that she had to take her hands out of her pockets. The Force helped with this, as it was easy to sense where to go, but the usage of it was minimal and she doubted that any Force-sensitive would discover her. After all, she had secrets and the Force was one of them.

Her next job with Lysle of the Hydian Way was to deliver disruptor rifles and thermal detonators to the underworld of Coruscant. Her thoughts traveled to the last time she had been stood in the dark Undercity. She had played Pazaak with another crime lord from a distant moon and a scrounger that had found himself at an important table. It had been an enjoyable night and she thought she had made a friend in [member="Fatty"] for later. She assumed that the rifles and detonators were for some group. There was an underground movement on Coruscant that sought to usurp the One Sith occupiers above, but she did not know if that movement was still alive and hadn't made contact as herself or one of her alias's in some time. Another possibility was a rival gang that sought to usurp [member="Christian Slade"] and the Black Alchemists that ran the majority of the underworld. She had assisted Slade on that night that the Hydra rose up against him. It had been a blood filled night, she remembered. She decided that she would just have to wait and see.

"The smuggling game again. You like to take girls out of their comfort zone, huh Lysle?" Vhette circled around to check the freighter. "What's the plan to get there? A lot of star systems to get by and a lot of factions to get through. It's going to be difficult."

 

[Lysle of the Hydian Way]

The shooting stars were blotted out by one of their own. A large and bulky vessel of Corellian manufacturing came down with a chug. The strain on the landing sticks was audible and enough to make the crime lord wince. The screeching drives began to wind down, and lost their blue flame. A smile crept across the thin lips of Lysle as a ramp descended. It was an automatic reflex to expect a human to come walking out, but although he wasn't surprised, it flexed his mind for a moment when he saw the squib. He needed to get used to short creature, but there were so few of them around, and rarely did he interact with them. At least he liked this one.

"The weapons are in the far right corner," Lysle said, hiking a thumb over his shoulder near the way he had come outside. By the automatic doors were several titanium-plated crates. He didn't want the weapons exploding on him during the run, it could spell disaster for not only those in the vicinity, but for the ships electronics. Disruptor rifles could kill organic creatures on the atomic level, and it's process was known to be excruciatingly torturous, and therefore illegal. When the weapon was fired on a vehicle, it didn't have the same effect but it sure does fry the wires. Having a disruptor explode or fire inside the ship was as bad as flying through a plasma cloud in the Rift. You'd be going nowhere, and fast.

Lysle spun on his feet as the voice of Arianna had crept up on him unexpected. Her silken voice sent a shiver down his spine, forcing him to quickly shake his head. "Best conditions," he said, "There is no heat. Worst conditions, we're ash." He gave her a wink, "So let's try to keep it at the best we can, or vie for some middle ground. I'd rather my disruptors don't get turned on me." He motioned towards Lenix, then drifted his hand towards the crates, "Help out Lenix if you can. He needs to get the cargo on board, and once everyone is here we'll be departing. I'll brief everyone once we're out of atmo'"

Then it was Vhette who arrived next. He remembered the ambush on Ryloth and wondered if her name was really Alicia whatever-it-was, but it didn't matter. He had no idea what that name meant. He was a smuggler after-all, and his business was his own, and her business was her own. He liked to keep things professional, and knew better than to pry. "I'm not the one with the plan. I know where we're landing, and who we'll be handing the cargo over too. But after that, I got some business down in 1313." He stepped towards the ramp, overlooking the process as some of the boys from in the bar came out to help load the crates onto the ship. "And you're right. A lot of factions, and systems." He took a second to think as he mentally began to bring up the hyper-routes in his mind. "Even on the shortest lane to Coruscant, that's twenty-one inhabited systems we'll be clocking through."

@[member="Vhette"] @[member="Arianna Maneria"] [member="Lenix Ornil"]

 

[Lenix Ornil]

Lenix's tall, furred ears pricked up as he heard the concerns [member="Vhette"] and spoke up

"It's only imperials we'll need to concern ourselves with~ my ship scrambles it's main call sign periodically so the majority of factions we've had run ins with won't be holding any grudges. Unless they directly recognise us which in that case is where you lot will come in" he smirked~ imagining she wouldn't take route advice from a 1 meter tall furball very seriously, as most rarely did

 

[Lenix Ornil]

Lenix then nodded to Lysle and headed towards the crates~ activating the hover dolly to glide them over and up the ramp~ ready to hide

 

[RC 212]

[member="Vhette"] | Arianna Maneria | Lenix Ornil | Lysle of the Hydian Way |

The time had come. Colaps commlink had summoned him over his secure channel to Frida's at the behest of Lysle.

A few faces he recognized and few he did not. Though one stood out in particular and Colap made his way across the decks, silver armor gleaming in the dull lighting. As the group conversed he came up next to Vhette and nodded.

The group could not see his face, but they could see the helmets visor, complete with glowing blue eyes.

"I got us covered if they engage us in a small patrol. Anything other than that, we will have to outrun them."

Colap pointed as he spoke to the badly beaten Interceptor in the corner, a box of vessel, now mostly fried but rigged with engineering tape and liquid durasteel to be operational.

"I'll need a co-pilot, in case I have to launch my fighter, or do other assorted tasks."

 

[Arianna Maneria]

"Will do Lysle." She said as she walked toward the squib. She approached the squib on his ship and asked "Where are we hiding these bad boys?" In awe at the unique design of the ship she also asked "And where did you get this beauty."

[member="Lenix Ornil"]

 

[Lenix Ornil]

Lenix smiled at the compliment~ rarely aimed at his 150 meter long salvage experiment so he was glad to tell!

"Up in the back of the ship there's several false floor panels and magnetically shielded compartments~ fools scanners and makes it seem solid underneath. As for where I found her? She turned up on a scrap-covered meteor in the Hoth Asteroid field~ not sure how long for but she's a rarity! Talked to a Corellian engineer and he'd never seen one before, so I imagine it was a custom job." he admitted proudly.

"Anywho I saw she could be rigged up to make a speedy cargo vessel so I pulled her from the asteroid field and fixed her up~ being sponsored by my uncle in the Squib Merchandising Consortium and here she is! Paid for herself in a mere 5 runs for the Rebel Alliance and now raking in money and pissing off Imperials" he winked

"I kept some of the old guest quarters too! Corellian comfort!" He chuckled and called his Protocol droid over to take the crates of weapons up the ramp. It was a rusted and cobbled together 3PO droid with a Death Star Droid head welded on.

[member="Arianna Maneria"]

 

[Aldous Hofmann]

"That'd be me boss." Aldous said as the helmeted [member="Colap Ticon"] spoke, blue points of light created a gleam that reminded him of Kamino. That dark swirling blue. The man had never met any of the other folk before him besides [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] ,who'd been his initial point of contact for the Ravens. Aldous had normally regulated his activities to those of a legal nature but recent galactic circumstances led to a spice drought of sorts, leaving those unaffiliated with the right people out of luck so to speak. This would have been an unacceptable position for Aldous, who found he had trouble functioning within the boundaries of "normal" society without some sort of drug. Without spice he'd likely have been a hermit hidden on some backwater planet. Despite his lack of criminal history his particular skill and mindset were a rarity in most criminal alcoves.

Aldous had a college education and five years experience welding both huge naval cruisers and certain weapons systems/armor that the general public wouldn't know about. Most Militaries were lacking in skilled welders with the huge amount of troops being thrown into those meat-grinder-disguised-as-conflicts the majority of the galaxy had found themselves locked in. No time for technical specialists when cooks are being thrown rifles and told to fight. Beyond welding Aldous had the benefit of being trained by a honest to the Force Jedi Ace, in the ways of piloting, maintenance, and a Padawan level knowledge of the force. His travels had forced him to become skilled with a firearm and his disposition was of an extremely anti authority nature. The extreme introversion he constantly displayed made him a prime candidate for work that required on to keep their mouths shut after the job was over.

He presently wore what the common off duty traveling welder could be imagined in. Boots, tightly woven jeans, a tan long sleeved work jacket, unbuttoned, rolled up at the elbows, and a pair of welding goggles that shifted based on outside lighting. They could be worn in most environments due to their shifting nature without impeding on the users capabilities. Perfect for a spice user with a heavy slugthrower revolver constantly strapped to his side.

 

[Lydeck]

Nar Shadaar. It was a horrible place filled with Scoundrels, Criminals, Bounty Hunters and Entertainers. The air was thick was pollution, the air was barely breathable as someone with healthy lungs could walk out and be mistaken as a lifetime smoker of death sticks. For this and other reasons he chose to wear his modified Vacuum Mask. Not only did it conceal his identity but its inbuilt filter also provided purified oxygen that was less harsh on the throat. He wore a rather unique attire consisting of a indigo jacket made of bantha hide complimented with a pair of black pants. The jacket itself had a piece of shoulder armor strapped to its right side while the pants came equipped with durasteel knee pads. The mask covered his entire head and neck with the exception of his long wavy raven hair which kissed the top of his shoulders, violet optic lenses glowing amongst bronzed durasteel. The boots he wore were of Republic Military origin but what was most interesting were the modified propulsion packs clipped to each side.

The Kiffar mercenary never thought he'd find himself back in this hell hole but it had its perks. If one sought illegal goods or information this was the best place. But Brahlis was here on business. A few days ago he received a burst transmission on an encoded frequency stating the specifics of the job. The pay was good. It was very good and needless to say he needed the credits to purchase a few pieces of expensive equipment. A man had to do what a man had to do. The audio message clearly stated the location where he would meet his 'employer'.

Once he arrived he walked directly to [Member=Lysle of the Hydian Way] to confirm his arrival, his voice masked and distorted electronically making him sound someone deep and robotic. It was a necessary precaution "Sorry I'm late. Nar Shadaar isn't exactly the easiest place to get to. Ran into a bit of trouble" his amber eyes scoured the area. He noticed that there were a few individuals involved in this mission, both a positive and a negative "The audio message specified you needed someone to act as your.....muscle. I assume my main priorities rest in defense while the others focus on delivery?"

 

[Lok Jorunn]

Circling the freighter and the various individuals that milled about it, Lok kept his presence to a minimum. His kind of help was one that very few had taken the time to master. When a client asked for muscle, that muscle came with both guns, brains, and stealth. Enough firepower to destroy the foe, enough smarts to known when to speak, and enough skills in concealment to arrive in the most unexpected times and strike from the shadows. Ah, the shadows. His home was quite the place of solitude. Dressed from head-to-toe in a black outfit and his usual mask that bore a skull, the Jedi Knight made his form visible by stepping out into the lighted perimeter.

From what the others could've told, he was unarmed. Lok held nothing in his gloved hands, although the dozens of pockets that littered his trousers and tactical vest told them otherwise. The Harbinger eyed the location in which his employer stood, apparently talking to someone else. Silently he approached, bringing himself within two feet of the man who had hired him and heard something about muscle.

"Extra muscle?" He asked, craning his neck to the side, stretching tendons in it. "You know what an A280 is, pal?" He didn't doubt this man's skill, but it was always safe to assume the worst in them. Especially if he responded in the wrong way. Sometimes questions gave more answers than the answer itself.

[member="Lydeck"], [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"], [member="Vhette"]

 

[Lysle of the Hydian Way]

"Can't help you there, I'm taking the Tachyon," Lysle said. The Tachyon-class light freighter was an old vessel, but he had refitted it on Tatooine. She was heavier, but just as fast as any other. With a crimson coating and the emblem of their organisation, she was known as the Red Raven. The physical embodiment of their group. She wasn't a powerhouse of fighting and swinging fists, but she was quick, cunning and hard to take down. "She's parked out back shop. We'll be dividing our men and women into teams. I'll grab someone to go with you."

"You're not late, just in time," Lysle turned to Brahlis. "You're right on one part, we need some muscle. We'll be clocking through twenty-one systems, and that is the tastes route by my calculation." And his calculation couldn't be refuted. There were few spacers in the Galaxy with such an extensive knowledge of the hyperlanes and routes. He earned the title Lysle of the Hydian Way from the countless attempted arrests and subsequent escapes whilst coasting the Hydian Way. Lysle was a well wanted man, and Black Sun space was one of the few places in the galaxy he didn't yet have a warrant for his arrest, and the Lords of the Fringe. He was a friend of theirs.

Lysle spun around to find Lok had crept up behind him. Something gave him a shiver down his spine, but he passed the thought off as being surprised. In a galaxy of literal centillians of sentients, with only a few thousand Sith or Jedi, the chances of encountering either was like encountering a Duinougwuin - you'd likely die from an ant before you saw one, such was their rarity. Thinking about it, Lysle had only ever seen a lightsaber once in his life, and that was because some Mandalorian on Bastion had killed and specialising in killing Jedi. He lost himself in this train of thought at the almost mythological monks of the Force before snapping himself back.

"Okay, Saint and Vhette with me. Aldous, Brahlis and Colap, you three have some quality time together. Arianna and Lenix, you've got the cargo. If Isaac shows up anytime soon, he's with me." Lysle began organising them into teams, raising his wrist where a Nas-Tech Mounted Datapad began to unfold and a holographic displayed appeared. He checked the status of the other Ravens, and had no replies from any of them. He wasn't concerned, he doubted anything had happened to them. This was an optional job. Though he was a bit concerned about Ikon, he needed him out of the way as soon as possible. Another job, for another day.

Lysle walked across the domed hanger and left through a rear door, leading into the thick, populated spaceport out the back. There a Tachyon squatted with a series of droids and alien mechanics hovering around it. The team of Duro's providing fuel to the ship avoided his eyes, clearly they had dealt with criminals before and knew to keep their privacy their own. He admired their attitude, he would have to pay them on the way back if he sees them again. "Saint, Vhette, this is the Red Raven," Lysle introduced them to his ship.


[member="Lok Jorunn"] [member="Lydeck"] [member="Aldous Hofmann"] [member="Lenix Ornil"] [member="Arianna Maneria"] [member="Colap Ticon"] [member="Isaac Ideus"]

 

[Lenix Ornil]

Lenix nodded and turned to Arianna with a smile "How's your piloting skills? I've always preferred a physical pilot to my Droid~ he's a bit stiff-jointed amd can't keep up" he walked up the ramp~ leading her up inside the ship and yelled to Lysle.

"Hey Lysle! Anyone else coming for me~? or am I okay to roll up the ramp. And am I following your escort or you following me?"

His little astromech disconnected the fuel line as it indicated it was topped off and ready to go! the little red droid doing a quick pre-flight scan for trackers and beacons (custom software installed by Lenix)

[member="Arianna Maneria"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Aldous Hofmann"] [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] [member="Lenix Ornil"] [member="Lok Jorunn"]

Colap nodded at the statement motioning the Mercenaries he had been assigned towards his own vessel.

"Alright men, saddle up!"

As they reached the ramp Colap slipped inside and took his seat at the end of the hallway in the bridge. The Interceptor was a box of junk, but she held steady as he flipped the engine switches and powered her up. It was going to be a long day, so while the engines spun up through their cycles Colap lifted his visor and lit a cigar.

As the cigar blazed Colap squinted through the sweet smoke, reading the gauges with a practised eye.

"Red Raven, Red Raven this is Raven 2, radio check over."

Colap spun in his chair to reach for a cup of stim caf that had just finished brewing in the pot on the dash.

"Ah darkness my old friend, come on over."

He took a large gulp from the pot then poured himself a cup and offered the pot up.

"Stim caf?" He asked Aldous.

 

[Isaac Ideus]

Isaac wandered through the industrial ghetto on the outskirts of the city. He had scribbled the address of the short-notice ship hangar he was supposed to come to, but only God knew if he was heading in the right direction. Earlier that day, he told himself he was to begin on an internal crusade of "self-improving"... add dead reckoning to that list, he thought.

He was late. Dammit. This was not the way to impress his hopeful employers. He stopped and closed his eyes. Perhaps the back of his eyelids had a heads-up display he hadn't noticed. The low-pitched hum of an idling engine suddenly broke the relative silence. That had to be them! Were they leaving without him?!? Sonnuva-- Isaac located the direction of the noise and took off running.

The noise grew louder as he turned a corner into a plot of hangars. There it was! A man on the ship looked around, and then turned and disappeared up the ramp and into the hull. I'm coming dammit! 15 meters away, Isaac noticed the ramp begin to roll up. He was in a full out sprint, the smell of burning fuel choking his laboring lungs. He leapt onto the withdrawing ramp at the last second. He looked up, his hands on his knees and breathing heavily. "I..." he said between deep breaths, "I got a bit lost."

[member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"]
[member="Vhette"]

 

[Lenix Ornil]

A buzz came over the coms as Lenix settled into his flight seat after prepping the cargo for liftoff. He had an extra shipment of droid parts and salvage as a cover incase low-level law stopped them for searches, and his signal scrambler activated

"I'm sending you a low level frequency to track me by, as my scrambler will make it hard to lock on for you guys." he flicked a few com-switches and sent the signal to the crafts~ booting up the low level frequency generator, he then flipped his coms over to Colaps.

"I guess Interceptor is a popular name eh?" he said jokingly to the fellow Raven pilot with a wide smirk before switching to Lysle's craft

"Ready when you are boss~ Just give me the go ahead"

[member="Colap Ticon"]

 

[Arianna Maneria]

"I am very good at piloting in fact." She states with pride. "And i understand the droid thing they're good but they just don't have that intuition."

[member="Lenix Ornil"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Lenix Ornil"]

Colap kicked back as the engines roared to full throttle. Soon it would be time to ride, like space cowboys.

As the transmission came over the comms Colap picked up Lenix's and locked in the frequency of his signal with a few taps on his terminal. Now that they had a secure link all lights seemed to be green and he was waiting on the Red Raven to lift off before he made his way out of the hangar.

Colap keyed the comms with a chuckle, spinning his Westar-35 absently around his finger as smoke from the cigar slowly filtered through his nostrils.

"Copy last Raven 3, I actually aint got a name for her yet, just been using her model name as her play by, but who knows, I might name her soon! Raven 2 out!"