Nothing Like a Bad Idea Gone Worse

[Corvetta Salvo]

Some things were just a no-no. Like smuggling bodies off Balmorra.

This was, by far, one of the strangest orders Corvetta and Co. had received. And, so far, she was not really liking it too much. Sure, she had seen a corpse or four before, but this was no routine form of contraband. Having a body aboard the ship was bad luck (for quite obvious reasons) and just unpleasant overall. At least it came in a spiffy vacuum bag.

The box itself was coated with durinium, which would prove rather handy, as the pilot was aware. But usually boxes of this size got a little more attention than just a basic once-over when being ported through customs. So the Lost Cause's client had stacked every available cubic centimeter of space within the sensor-proof casket with bottles of gin. Corvetta had a bit of an issue with that. "Well, he sure is lookin' spaceworthy," she commented glumly. "But that's a waste of good alcohol."

"What do you mean?" the Duro demanded, seemingly offended that the smuggler could possibly suggest that his dead brother or cousin or whoever-it-was was not worthy of being exported with a load of liquor. "It's good stuff. And part of your payment."

"I didn't say it was for the burners," Corvetta backtracked, hoping to not tick off a customer who had paid in advance. "Just sayin' I wouldn't drink it off a dead guy." She took another glance at the unsealed box. That was a heavy amount of alcohol--emphasis on heavy. "You sure he'll be fine trippin' like that? It's a long haul just from here to the park."

The Duro seemed far from concerned about the arrival condition of the cadaver. "Just get it to Chazwa and hand it off to Jrk'lek."

"Yeah, yeah... Jerk-lick. I remember." Reluctantly closing the lid and accepting a parting handshake, the slender spacer made ready to tug the gin-filled casket to the spaceport. Having secured it onto a little speeder bike trailer beforehand, she was ready to go.

Meandering through the streets of the Sith-occupied world, the brunette with the colorful hair patterns whirred onwards toward Sobrik's landing docks. Corvetta was not particularly a regular driver of these things, but she was a flyer, and that made riding a bike seem like child's play. So far it was nothing but smooth sailing today. "Don't you dare wake up on me, bud," she commanded the enclosed corpse. That would not be a funny joke.

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Walked out of a nearby gambling den with a smile on her lips and a few credits she had won in a dice game, cheated of course to get them but she wouldn't tell them that. "Hey you cheated didn't you!" A disgruntled gambler shouted after her as he left the gambling den after her. "Who me?" She said as she turned around to look at him with her smile still present only to see the man balling his fist and hitting her in the gut hard enough to send her half flying into the street.
Much to her luck, or misfortune depending on the point of view, she landed on [member="Corvetta Salvo"]'s speeder bike trailer and barley got a grip on the trailer which she was now lying on top of holding on for dear life. "S-STOP!" She screamed as she clutched the trailer as if she was a cat just out of a bath, with a wide eyed and bewildered look on her face, approaching terrified.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

"Holy frak!" the spacer swore, a loud thud and a lunge of the bike indicating that she had just unwittingly picked up some extra cargo. She thought she could hear someone shouting, but it was difficult to discern over the hum of the repulsor craft's engine. She did not hesitate to shift lanes, however, and Corvetta was soon sidling up to the curb of the roadway.

Leaning back to an upright position and bracing her arm against the aft of the chassis, Chief Pilot Salvo turned her goggles-adorned head to face the latched-on 'passenger'. The horned young woman was a bit of a site, though she seemed innocent enough; not alarming to the smuggler yet. She doubted this one was going to care much about a case full of gin--or be curious enough to dig for the bagged body underneath all the bottles. "Ya looking to spark out, sis?"

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame looked like a cat that had been splashed with water as she was still as the grave on top of the case with her tail shooting straight up. "H-have we st-stopped yet?" She then uttered as her eyes were fixed on the front of the case. 'There's a lot less wind so we have to have stopped' She thought as she turned her head slowly and saw they were stopped, earning a happy smile from the Cernun. Slowly getting off the case, though still shaking a bit, she took out a cigarillo and lit it with shaky hands. "I wasn't tr-trying to spark out sis... I was hit by..." She stopped seeming like she had a eureka moment and turned toward the way they came with a raised fist. "A BLITHERING DOPA MEEKIE SKOCHA-KLOONKEE KUNG!!" She shouted most of her curse toward the guy that had hit her in huttese before she turned towards [member="Corvetta Salvo"]. "Thanks for stopping Pateessa, really saved my tail there from... well ending up as a karking stain on the road." She said as she rubbed the back of her head a little embarrassed while the other was extended in a gesture for a handshake, which would be very tightly gripped and strongly shaken.

The Cernun's hair was quite literally all over the place as the wind had dragged it out from under her clothes and strands were over most of her upper body as her white hair reached all the way down to her waist. Around her waist on either side was a sword, one long sword and the other a scimitar, and then as her coat had opened were two slugtrower revolvers strapped to either thigh.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Well, this one seemed to be quite an upstanding citizen. Not that Corvetta could claim she was doing anything legal at all, but most people who have to pack that much firepower and dual-wield swords was probably in over their head with trouble. As her father had always told her, "If you need more than two weapons, then you probably ain't doin' something you should be." Doing some quick math, the pilot found her hitchhiker to be two weapons over the limit.

"Well, at least your tail is still socked," Corvetta remarked, noting that the girl actually had a tail to save. "I shouldn't be expecting a firefight here, should I?" The flygirl glanced down the street at the recipient of this crazy chick's curses. Salvo had been from this end of the galaxy to the other, and she had come across that phrase once or twice. She knew what that all meant.

Hopefully the stranger was not going to be trouble for her load. She needed to get to Lost Cause, and a potentially trigger-happy gunwoman was not really going to make things smooth for her.

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Handing her hand in a handshake gesture Zreame smiled a cheerful smile. "No don't worry about that he probably thinks I'm dead or something. Oh and sorry for the late introduction my name is Zreame Zeibitha, I'm a mechanic/engineer/all round tinkerer." She said with a widening smile before giggling a little at the end, her tail wagging a little behind her. "Come let me repay you for saving my tail" She giggled a little at the pun "You need anything fixed that you own? or is there some way I can repay you?" She said as she felt a little indebted to [member="Corvetta Salvo"] for saving her hide.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

He probably thought she was dead? The horned girl (And that seemed like an omen in itself--horns.) made it sound as if he was hoping she was dead. That was how the situation registered with Corvetta, anyway. And getting tangled up with someone whose head was likely considered a valuable artifact could only mean bad news for a smuggler with an already-dead guy hitched up to her bike.

'Zreame'--as she called herself--waggled her tail a bit energetically as she talked about saving her life or something like that. The pilot was not sure how to interpret that signal, but repayment was coming in loud and clear. "Don't know what you wanna pay me for. I didn't even know I was rovin' with ya." Why did she feel the need to give her anything?

"Name's Corvetta Salvo. Ay-Kay-Ay Frakkin' Snazzy Salvo." Her obvious confusion was replaced with a small but twinkling smile as she presented her more-or-less fantastical name. Corvetta had almost nothing of an ego. She was just a girl who wanted to be her own dream.

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

"Frakkin Snazzy Salvo huh?" Zreame giggled as she heard [member="Corvetta Salvo"] introduce herself. "Interesting alias you got there, not that I have one my self though my full name consists of the names of these in the middle." She then said as she tapped her swords and then moved her head to entangle her fingers and make them rest behind her head.

The cernun was smiling ear to ear. "Well if you don't want me to repay you that's fine but would you mind if I could perhaps hitch a ride off world from you? Kinda worn out my welcome and I'd pay you for the ride of course creds or work whichever you'd prefer, course if you don't want that either I'm sure I can find someone in the space port." She said before adding a light chuckle at the end, her tail had slowed down and seemed more like a snake moving behind her than a wagging tail.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

The spacer swept her hair back out of her face, the dreamy colors of the strands' dyed tips cascading behind her shoulders. Payment for passage--that made sense. Though, as previously noted, this particular chick looked like she might be the type to bring trouble with her. "Well, where ya aimin' to pad down?" Corvetta asked, then felt the need to correct her slang for regular people. "I mean, where you try'na go?"

Removing herself from the bike, the freighter pilot moved back beside the trailer and brushed her hand across it to make sure the lid was still snugly fastened on top of the case. "Galaxy's a big place, and I don't know if I can side-ship ya to wherever you need to pitch in time for whatever it is you need to be there for."

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

"Hm? Oh no I'm only in a hurry to get off world I can just hitch a ride to where ever you're going if you won't mind it that is... as long as it isn't in a bad part of space that is." She then said as she gave a little smile as she combed her hair back fully and pulled up her night-vision goggles to rest on her forehead to keep her hair combed back. "I won't cause any problems for ya and if you're ships engine is actin up I can make it purr like a kitten." She said as she drew a hydro spanner out of the pouch on her belt and twirled it around in her fingers as if to emphasize her words before she put it back into the pouch. 'That trailer something valuable to her or maybe just her current job perhaps?' She thought as her eyes followed [member="Corvetta Salvo"]'s hand as it brushed across the lid of the trailer.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Purr like a kitten, eh? Well, the girl certainly had a tail. She could believe that much. "I'm a pretty good mechanic myself. Grown up on freighters all my life. Can't say I need one necessarily..." Though there was always something she could learn about. Koko seemed to always find that one last thing Corvetta had never encountered in engineering. That girl was magical.

The pilot needed to get out of here pretty quick, though. And a paying passenger never hurt things. "I can take you for a few hundred credits as long as you help out. I'm just about to dust to the Inner Rim," she continued, gesturing with her thumb ever her shoulder as if pointing towards some visible location. "Open space. No trouble there unless you've got a tag on your noggin. Then I'll have to decline you to board."


[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame smiled wide. "Great!... one question though whats a tag?" She then said cocking her head to the side as her tail stopped swaying behind her. [member="Corvetta Salvo"] looked like she really knew her stuff so who was Zreame not to take advantage of learning a thing or two from the more experienced spacer? Anyway a trip off this planet was just what she wanted... or rather needed since she had ripped off pretty much every gambling institution in the city.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

"A tag?" Right. Spacer speak. Even after so much experience dealing with clients nowadays, it was still a tough habit to break with 'normal' folks. "Oh, yeah. I meant a bounty. Sorry, I got a lotta slang that most people aren't used to."

She pressed down on the lid of the coffin of sorts just to reassure herself that it was completely sealed and ready to roll again before slinging her hips around and straddling the seat of the speeder bike. Looking back at her potential passenger, Corvetta patted the back of the bike behind her seat and called to the tailed girl. "Get on if you wanna get outta here."

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

"Oh well I don't have a bounty on my head." 'At least I don't think so' She finished in thought as she moved to sit where [member="Corvetta Salvo"] had gestured for her to sit. Zreame wrapped her hands and tail around corvetta's hips and stomach to hold on to the spacer when she sped up the speeder bike. "Thanks by the way." She told the woman as she braced herself for the speeder bike's ignition.

This planet had been financially good for Zreame and she had quite a good stack of credits to spend on Corvetta's fee for the trip, she just hoped that the planet she was going to was a new planet for Zreame or at least one she had left on good terms.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

It was a bit of an awkward thing to have someone's tail wrapped around her torso, and Corvetta sucked her stomach in--as if there was much to suck in for the unhealthily slender pilot--as she kicked the bike into gear. "I mean, don't really need to thank me. I'll be takin' your chips when it's over, ya know." Sure, the Lost Cause flygirl was certainly being generous, but there was no reason to deny the capitalism involved. This was a transaction in the end.

Back to crisscrossing the traffic lanes, Corvetta took no chances in speeding along for this trip. She could burn the Lost Cause out of here like she was in a prison break, but getting cocky before they even got aboard the ship was too inviting of unfortunate accidents and incidences. They needed to get on to the ship squeaky clean--not that running into Zreame had really been inconspicuous--and any more inadvertent cargo acquisitions could keep to themselves as far as the smuggler was concerned.

As they rode out into the clear with the spaceport looming dead ahead of them, Corvetta glanced around to check the trailer nervously. As long as her passenger and the hauler kept fastened to what was in front of them, everything should be golden. This spacer had dealt with customs once or twice. "Just leave the jabbering to me, and we should be fine," she advised Zreame, eyes still occasionally straying to the tail that was wrapped around her stomach.

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

Zreame enjoyed the ride to the space port quite a bit as she looked at the traffic running passed them or along them. Once they reached the space port she loosened her grip on [member="Corvetta Salvo"]'s stomach. Noticing her look down at her tail she uncoiled it and instead wrapped it around her own stomach. "Dealt with a lot of customs officers have you?" she then just blurted out loud, though she then gave the gesture 'Sorry I'll stay quiet until you're done' to Corvetta.
A fat Human began to shamble towards them, wearing the custom official uniform as he held onto a clipboard like datapad as he stopped them and gestured for them to go to the side as he began to look them over. "What's in there?" He then said in a heavy and raspy voice as he pointed towards the trailer.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

"Shimmied with 'em once or twice," Corvetta confirmed, turning her head and winking at the girl riding at her back as the bike coasted into the checkpoint. "No worries."

Attention next fixed on the rather full-bodied customs agent, the pilot sat up straight and brushed the aurora-colored tips of her hair back over her shoulder and followed his finger to the trailer. Where else would he be pointing, anyway? "All the beer you'd need for the rest of your life, bud." An ear-to-ear grin smothered her face as she beamed jovially at the man, totally telling the truth but not wanting him to actually realize it. "No sir, it's just canned provisions. Got a charter for Kuat but they nabbed us for a waylay to Telti."

The smuggler tugged at the goggles crowning her head and added the slightest drop to keep the talk small. "Ya know there's a war that sparked there?" Could you believe that? Of course the Sith would be invading. They were always invading somewhere.

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

The customs officer didn't seem all that interested in small talk as he looked [member="Corvetta Salvo"] over and then walked to the trailer. "Well then I suppose you won't mind me scanning it then? Also I'm going to need to see your shipping license." He said, a slight grin on his pudgy face, as he pulled out a handheld scanner to use.

Zreame had only given the man a little finger wave and then she just let Corvetta do the talking, after all she had experience with dealing with these types of men.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

The trailer casing was made of durinium, which would hide anything under a mask of interference when the guard scanned the case. So Corvetta had no reservations about him running such a task. "Go 'head." Digging into a pocket in her pilot's coat, she pulled out her freighter credentials--no marks on it yet. She had been a good little shipping pilot, as far as any governments knew. Frakkin' Snazzy Salvo had not been caught with any contraband yet. Hopefully she would continue with a 'clean' record today.

And hopefully Zreame would keep nice and calm like she was so far excellently doing and not give any room for suspicions. "Registration digits are Why-Seven-Six, One-Four-Ell-Ay-Tee. Corellian '2400 model."

[member="Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha"]

 

[Zreame Ithrac Zeibitha]

The man took the registration and looked it over and then back to [member="Corvetta Salvo"]. "I'm going to have to have you open this. It's against regulation to have Durinium casing around cargo it's a hefty fine you know." He said with a wry smirk, tapping his datapad on the trailer and looking at Corvetta though his look gave something else to be implied.

Zreame leaned in a little and stared at the datapad he had and then up at him. "How big a fine?" She then uttered, her tone more curious than nervous.

The man only smirked back as a response.