Private Sands of time

[Aela Wren]

MOS ESPA/TATOOINE
MIDDAY

It's always nice to stop over on Tatooine. Especially when you are between jobs and running low on some credits. The jobs on Tatooine aren't always the most glamorous, but at least they put money in your pocket. Aela was going through these thoughts as she made her way to Akim's Munch in Mos Espa. She can always count on some kind of job that she can kick out of the barkeep at the café. She shoved a drunken Quarren out of her way as she entered the bar while some Twi'lek was blaring out a song over a microphone to some second-grade band music. She headed over to the bar and ordered a drink. When the old man sloshed her tankard down in front of her, Aela leaned forward.
"Any jobs on the board that will be worth my time?" she asked him.
He looked at her with pity. "Most of them require a bit more muscle than I think you are capable of, little lady."
She frowned at him. "Seriously?"
"You can check, but it's just a bunch of big guys that need to be taken in for this or that. I haven't seen anything that's looking for a pilot of some sort."
"Great. Thanks, I guess." she grumbled before heading over to the bounty board. She flipped through the options, but nothing jumped out at her at first. She sighed before she made her way to a table and flopped down.

She leaned back in the chair, scanning the bar while sipping her drink. This place usually attracts all manner of scum and other patrons, so she might get lucky outside the of the bounty board. If not, she'd continue on her way back to Nar Shaddaa. She'd had a lull in excitement lately. She needed a bit of an adrenaline rush again. She sighed again and pressed a button on her commlink before bringing it to her mouth.
"BB, is the ship all fueled up?" she asked her droid.
He chirped back at her over the comms.
"Good. I'll let you know when we are going to leave." she said. BB-8 warbled a confirmation before disconnecting. Aela then sat back again to continue scanning the café while cringing at the Twi'lek's screeching.

Anduir Ka

 

[Anduir Ka]

Anduir's adventures around Confederate space had been something that's for sure: taking up the mercenary life almost naturally, the Sephi had been wandering around looking for odd jobs to keep her little hovel in Golbah City, but in these misadventures the naive little clone had been taught the gross importance of owning your own Starfighter.

Or how to hijack one.

Anduir had been more suited for the latter. After a stint against a not-so-well-to-do spice smuggler, she had ended up with a hunk of junk that could barely keep itself flying, but it flew long enough to get her to tatooine at least. With a scene not too dissimilar to her arrival to the Confederacy, a chunk of the ship burst into flames as she made her decent, sending whatever piece out into the void of space with a hiss. Great.

Spuddering down into Mos Espa and landing with a hard thump into one of the docking bays, the woman moved her way out of the ship; being forced to kick down the docking hatch as it depressurized. The Sephi didn't really look much better than her ship, clad in a hodge podge mix of various armors that looked like they'd been taken from a dumpster. The blaster rifle slung around her shoulder beat up and obviously well used.

"Hunk of junk."

She moved on, abandoning the vessel now she entered into the wider city; Anduir jerked for a moment, flashing, phantom, memories surged into her mind once again. A warrior, clad in dark plate moved through the city however long ago, shaking her head Anduir moved for the most recognizable establishment she could find: a cantina. Unintentionally entering with a saunter, the Sephi moved to the bar and made herself room. Speaking some sort of botched Huttese when asking for a drink. Anduir hated alcohol. But at this point it all just was a natural, nearly encoded, flow.

Aela Wren

 

[Aela Wren]

Aela was squinting as the cacophony barraged her ears when she noticed a new patron enter through the door. This woman, Sephi by the looks of her, was something Aela did not expect in the dumpster that was Mos Espa. She was big and imposing and looked like she belonged somewhere in the thick of war, despite her attire. Then again, most people were bigger and more imposing than Aela, to her frustration. She frowned as she noticed Botch-behind-the-bar's worried expression as he gave the woman her drink. Her movements seemed almost mechanical.

Aela slowly stood up, quite concerned about what was going on. She walked over to the bar and went to stand next to the woman. She glanced over at Botch with a questioning look and he replied by lifting his shoulders ever so slightly before he turned to the woman again.
"You on Tatooine looking for work?" he asked her while filling another tankard for Aela, even though she did not ask for any. "We have some jobs available on the board over there, if you are." he continued, sliding the tankard over to Aela.
"This better be on the house, or I'm not drinking it." she told him, grabbing the tankard before it slipped off the counter.
"'Course." the old man said.
Aela scowled at him before turning to the woman, leaning on the counter with her one arm. "You ok?" she asked. She had been around people long enough to know something was wrong. It was probably none of her business, but she was bored and she needed some distraction before she ended up pulling the damn Twi'lek from the stage.

Anduir Ka

 

[Anduir Ka]

Anduir shifted in her seat from, she was absolutely as mechanized as a fully fleshy hunk of meat could get: her memories, burned into her head, formed the basis of just about everything she did: and wracked her mind just as much as it formed it. Her eyes, two icy diamonds set into her skull turned to face this Aela Wren, glazing over her with the cold precision of some Akk Hound.

Seems even clones could pick up on the family traits. Even if said clone so grossly hated them.

It was an interesting question for sure, Anduir pondered if she should answer it before slowly taking a sip of her drink. Rancid. Awful. But it gave her a warmness, a phantom feeling that pushed her to continue.

"I am not dead."

As crude and inept at social skills as ever.

 

[Aela Wren]

The woman mechanically answered Aela's concerned question in a very strange way. The young pilot glanced over at Botch with a question mark on her face. The barkeep slightly pulled up his shoulders once more. Aela looked back at the Sephi.
"Good to know." she answered. "I don't like zombies." She chugged back a bit of alcohol. wincing as the screeching on the stage continued. She had had enough of that now. She finished her drink before flinging the empty tankard at the Twi'lek. "Get off the karking stage and go irritate some Jawas down the road!" she barked.
"Chess ka, chuba poodoo!" the Twi'lek swore at her, but he stopped squeaking at least. The band struggled on, however. Her next target would probably be the damn Harmonique player that couldn't hit one note correctly.
"Please don't fling my tankards around. I never get them back." Botched told her.
"Get better entertainers, then." Aela told him.

She turned back to the woman. "Does the very live stranger have any work for me? Business has been slow in the flying department lately, so I could do with a job. The old geezer over here has got nothing for me at the moment." she said, motioning with her head towards Botch. He scowled at her.
"What? I'm certain there are more jobs out there than the bunch you are displaying right now." she told him.
She really hoped this strange woman had some kind of job Aela could do or help with - she really needed the credits.

Anduir Ka

 

[Anduir Ka]

Anduir clicked her fingers against the counter of the bar, a twitch in her eye as another memory surged forth: she did not know the planet, but she saw through eyes that were not her own, some alien language reached her ears...Huttese. It was a gang being built together, she did not know for what as the memory faded as quickly as it came.

Cold eyes acknowledged Aela Wren once again, it took Anduir a few more moments to find the words. The first that come out was in some stark and bizarre alien language, the distant and nearly lost language of the nobility of Thustra. A useless gift from her gene-mother, always had the clone and her "siblings" been bred to eventually become the heirs of Thustra's throne. Well, whichever of the three survived that long.

"...I need one who can fly, and one who can kill."

Crude, she paused at the word kill: trying to force away the word "murderer". Her Gene-Mother was a murderer, her siblings were murderers, this Galaxy was filled with murderers. Anduir was not a murderer, she had been finding a better purpose from her gifts, she was a....problem solver. Yes. Problem solver.

 

[Aela Wren]

The woman seemed to be remembering something before replying in the most bizarre language Aela had never heard before. The question mark on the young pilot's face grew, but luckily the woman found the right words and explained what she needed.
"Flying I can do with ease and I have a ship. As for the killing, I'm no assassin, but I can hold my own with a blaster if I have to. You got yourself a pilot. I'm Aela. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss...?" she said. She hoped the job would pay well enough if there was killing involved.

She finally got up. "Right, so where are we heading? I need to know if I have to take extra fuel along or not." she asked as she settled her account with Botch for the drinks. "Hope you get your tankard back, mate."
"I hope so too. It's not easy keeping the sets complete."
"Consider it a challenge to overcome." she quipped before turning back to the woman. "I'll be at hangar two. I just want to go over the ship and ensure everything is in order before we leave. I'll wait for you there."
She then walked out of the cantina in the direction of the hub where her freighter was parked.
"Bonnie, add us a can of fuel. We got a job and I don't want to run out in the middle of nowhere." she told her droid over her commlink as she walked. Bonnie chirped a confirmation.

She soon reached her ship and went over the diagnostics and other checks to make sure everything was in order for the flight - including her armament. She then waited for her companion to join her.

Anduir Ka