Snazzyyyk Kashyyyk [Closed]

[Corvetta Salvo]

She had laughed when asked by her latest employer if she knew where Kashyyyk was. Of course she knew, but that was quite a detour. Needless to say, she had some suspicions, and she sure as a Hutt smells was not going to be left this side of spacer paradise. So she occupied herself with the ship just in case any funny business was about to go down.

Corvetta descended the boarding ramp after retrieving a towel from the galley. Finished with flushing the alluvial damper for the third time, the spacer needed something to wipe her greasy hands, and she was no chef so it was serving no purpose in the kitchen at the moment. Scrunching the towel in her hands while leaning against a landing strut, she scanned the hangar. It amused her how only a minority of Kashyyyk's spaceport denizens were Wookiee.

Hoping to get her first bit of sleep in three days, Corvetta bent over to reach into the lowest pocket of her cargo pants and remove a weathered flask containing a healthy ration of some gin from Taanab she had recently acquired. Keeping an eye out for her captain, she brought the flask to her lips and tipped her head back.
[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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The business on Kashyyyk was gruesome work. Any being who had been there to knew of it would agree. To Graxin, it was simply another assignment in a long list that needed to be done. A stepping stone on the road to success, and in this case, that meant freedom.

He ha kept this all a secret, of course, and he had made sure not to use Imperials to maintain his shuttle. Not only would they link him to his origin, were he to be caught, but they were also not to be trusted. Darth Vulcanus had a habit of testing his honorific son.

Graxin had picked his own mechanic for the mission. It had been random, as secrecy often demanded. He had finished looking over the wookie village, it would be a day or so before the mission began, and was now getting around to meeting this mechanic. He was right on time, as punctual as possible.

He wore a simple gray hooded jacket, dark blue pants, and black combat boots. His expression softened slightly as he approached the vessel, boots clicking against the floor as he came to a halt.

"Miss Salvo?" He asked, brow raised. Women had always been cruel and generally the same in the Empire. He was, privately, curious as to how the normal ones acted.

He eyed her drinking subtly, a tinge of amusement lacing his voice. "I see you're...enjoying yourself?"


[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta's eyes widened as she heard the voice of her captain, and she could not subdue the reflex to spit out her gin. The liquid sprayed out a full meter and sprinkled the floor. "Oh, hey! Didn't see ya there..." Embarrassed, she contorted her mouth awkwardly while tucking away the flask. She inwardly cursed. No sleep for her, once again.

"Tweaked a little while you were gone. Should have a variant emission trail when we truck," the navigator informed her employer. She leaned to her left to peer behind the cloaked man, puzzled to see that he had returned with no more than he had departed with. She shrugged, casually hooking her thumbs in her hip pockets. "...I was guessing you didn't want to be tracked.

"Anyway... we're prepped."

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Graxin stared passed the woman at the ship. It was a decent vessel, though for the life of him he could not remember its name.

He had opened his mouth to speak further, only to have the words die in his throat as gin soaked the hanger floor and his boots. His hazel eyes remained locked on his boots for a dreadfully awkward amount of time.

"Well I needed an excuse to clean these anyway." Graxin shrugged right back at her, and the unfamiliar urge to laugh brought about a cracking, oddly sounding chuckle. He didn't do that often--not for a lack of a sense of humor, but because nothing was really funny with the Sith.

This woman was odd.

"Variant emission...yeah, that. Thank you." His lips curved into a thin attempt at a warm smile. It wasn't very convincing, though it was a heartfelt try. "I appreciate your initiative. Being tracked could end up being an issue...."

The infiltrator strolled up toward his navigator, then made a sharp left to run his fingers over one of the landing struts. "We'll be leaving either tomorrow, or later tonight. Business can be chaotic like that..." Graxin turned partway to look at her, lips pressed into a thin line as if he did not know what to say.

In truth, he didn't. He had convinced himself that the world was simply another training program, and if he answered wrong, or spoke out of turn, he would fail. Failure meant permanent entrapment and possibly death; it couldn't happen.

"You'll be paid for the time, of course."

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta was caught a little off guard by the strange, tepid chuckle. But it was alright, she had seen a lot of weird and truly insane folks in her travels and this guy was mild in comparison. She nodded when he informed her of the delay in departure, along with the monetary compensation. "Well, I hope you don't expect me to fix you dinner... Because that would be unfortunate." She offered a goofy smile and then a grim frown as she wondered if maybe she had just downgraded her rating with the man. "I mean, we could always go for the freeze-dry. Sometimes it's really 'OK'."

Still finding the situation awkward, Corvetta picked at a snag in her pilot jacket. Eyeing his current composure, she considered that he had not much to say. "I don't talk too much, either. But ya got a name? Or a nickname? Maybe even just a callsign?"

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Graxin let an eyebrow raise. Was that a joke, or a simple statement? His mind couldn't really keep up with the possibilities. He simply didn't have the social experience, well, the experience with non-Graug anyway. He chose to answer simply.

"I can only eat protein cubes. My stomach is not strong enough to eat anything else. No need to worry." The infiltrator's head canted to the side. This was certainly not the disheveled servant of chaos that he had been taught all non-Imperials to be. Then again, Krag had lied many times before.

He still had to be followed without question however.

"Name? Oh, erhm..." His lips pursed as he thought it over. Infiltrator and son wouldn't do with someone he would deal with on a personal level, even if it was the most limited form of such.

"Graxin. One of the priests called me Grax, if you prefer to shorten it." He let his hand fall away from the landing piece, and settled his gaze on the woman he had employed. "I know, it's a silly name. Very dramatic." His think smile became a grin, and he set his weight back against the landing strut.

"I only caught your last name. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. I can call you mechanic woman." It was his attempt at a joke. Not the best but...it was a try.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta squinted and offered an obviously bewildered look at his mention of protein cubes. Maybe this guy was a case after all, or his humor was far too dry for her comprehension. She decided to ignore that until later when it became important. Weird.

"Grax," she repeated after he had divulged his possibly real name to her. "Yeah, that's neat. Like... Graxintegrator. Er... Something." She shook her head to remove a few brown and teal strands of hair from in front of her face; also attempting to distract from her social blunders.

Not that he seemed to have anything better to offer. His joke fell as flat as a soda without the carbon with her. She contemplated whether being referred to as 'mechanic woman' was supposed to be derogatory. Brushing it off with a smirk, she pushed on and revealed her own name. "I'm Corvetta. It means something like, frakkin' snazzy. So you know... I know what I'm doing."

She offered her hand to him and flashed a smile.

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"Graxintegrator?" He mumbled quietly with the most perplexed look on his face. He stared in relative silence for a moment, before another odd laugh escaped him. Despite the awkward start, it seemed the two would work well together--so long as Graxen provided credits, he thought.

To any onlooker, he supposed they looked rather normal. A freighter jockey and the slightly wealthy university student paying her to show him the more exotic part of the galaxy. That was all fine and dandy, so long as no one expected the true reasons for the partnership. Then again, Corvetta wouldn't know anymore than these casual onlookers.

"Frakkin' snazzy?" He mused, his lips pursed in slight amusement. The infiltrator was taking baby steps with the woman, but he was getting to a comfortable level. The anxiety had started to melt away with every syllable.

"I'll admit, it is unique." Graxin motioned up toward the ship entrance. "Have you had a look? You've full access to all the facilities. The rec room included."

He took a few steps up the gangplank; head tilting back to glance at the oddly haired girl. An amused little smirk was on his face now. "Just try not to spill anything?"

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta nodded. "Yeah, I took a small tour. I've seen models like these before," she said, patting the hull of the vessel with her right hand to emphasize familiarity. "Your bunks looked pretty nice. Also, I liked the kitchen. Nice towels..." She winced at how lame her small talk sounded, but thought to tuck the soiled cloth she had confiscated from the galley into her back pocket to keep Graxin from noticing. They seemed to be getting along fine despite it all, but according to her experience, business relations were still delicate until they actually fired up the repulsors.

"Yeah, sorry about that... thing, earlier," she apologized shyly, stealing a glance at his boots and biting her lip in shame. "You caught me by surprise. Lots of caps don't let you drink on the job. But a girl's gotta hydrate herself sometimes, don't you think?"

Seeing that Graxin was making progress up the ramp, Corvetta pushed herself off the landing strut nonchalantly and loped behind him. "So you know we're kinda in dark territory, right? It'll take a few days to hit the artery from here, no matter which way you want to go." she paused, always knowing it was imprudent to press hard with customers. "So I'm wondering what you might be doing all the way out here." She tried her best innocent face, which was not as good as most girls could accomplish, but it's the thought that counts.

"...Or we could draw a map."

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"I only started flying a few months ago, so most ships are still pretty new to me." Graxin mused in the most nonchalant manner he could muster. He led his associate through the narrow halls of the shuttle, and into the main rec room. It was rather standard, a sofa here, a holo vision implanted in the wall there. He shrugged off his jacket on one of the wooden chairs in the corner of the room, and something making a loud thud.

"The beds are nice. I assume you've tried them already?" Something skin to a teasing grin formed on the Infiltrator's features. This was far more pleasant than he had expected, all things considered. He adjusted the jacket to conceal whatever was hidden within, and pulled at his gray T-short as if it was too tight.

"Don't worry about the drink thing. I'm lenient. As long as the ship works, you can drink as you please." Words were just spilling out of him now. He was used to being in charge; that was easy. It made talking a breeze, and frankly, he didn't know the real repercussions of being drunk. He'd never dealt with a drunk person before.

"Dark? Oh, yeah, of course. I understand. As long as you don't find me too unpleasant, then we should be fine, don't you think?" Graxin plopped down on another of the chairs and ran a hand over his short, brownish-black hair. Her next question made him pause for a moment. Not long, but enough to be noticed if one were paying attention.

To execute an informer and insure that the Empire remains secret to the Republic until its ready to emerge. That, and to find an ally.


"I have a friend I want to meet near the Republic Embassy. We left on bad terms...he's caused a lot of trouble back home." Technically, it was the truth. "He committed some horrible crimes. I'm going to try and bring him in. All legal, of course. If things go awry, you'll still be compensated without legal repercussion from any government." As long as the Republic doesn't get nosy, that is.




[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

She released the softest of chuckles. Graxin's jokes were starting to develop into something actually funny on occasion. The atmosphere was easing. He also seemed to be feeling a little warm, shedding his clothes and pulling on them, and she wondered if maybe he was trying to signal that she needed to adjust the air systems. But he seemed to be making himself real comfortable otherwise. And he was talking quite a bit now.

And talking rather freely... It was hardly an unusual bit of business he described, but it was more than Corvetta had bargained for from this fellow. And apparently some of her spacer-speak had been lost in translation. "Woah woah woah..." she interrupted, holding her hands up in a sort of protest of all the information. "Sorry, I just meant we're out in no-man's land. Kashyyyk's dead between the Mara and Parlemian. It's a-ways before you hit either one. Depends on where you want to go, too--I mean, after we jet out of here.

"Still..." she added, attempting to avoid being cast as rude, "That's real stuff, what you were saying." She felt like a true klutz.

In an empathetic gesture, she sat down next to him. "You gonna be OK?"

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Graxin had a slightly confused look on his face for a moment. It then occurred to him that he had likely said to much, or said something off color. "That's what I was trying to refer to." He admitted; looking all of the embarrassed young man as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck. "I'm not sure where we'll go after word. I'll have to talk to the men in charge...likely the core."

He let his chin fall into his hand as he fell into thought for a long moment. "It really does just depend." A soft sigh escaped him as she went to take a seat. At least things weren't uncomfortable--at least she spoke more than guttural grunting. It made him have to think when he opened his mouth. "Real stuff?"

The lightest of chuckles escaped him. He didn't really know what she was referring to--but it sounded amusing. What caught the infiltrator off guard was her asking whether he was okay or not. No one ever asked that; they were told not to, and Graxin was conditioned to ignore personal issues. Still, he felt compelled to reply in turn.

"I...suppose. I have an assignment and I'll do it. Things are at stake if I fail." A small, though genuinely warm grin showed itself. "Though they always are. "

Who was this girl, a random mechanic to be concerned with his well being? Then again, it was likely another trick. A play by his father to lull him into a false sense of security, only to find that she was another of his hands. The training never ended.

"....Thank you for asking."


[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

The flygirl nodded solemnly, lingering next to him a while longer because that just felt like the right thing to do. "Yeah, you're not the first secret agent type I've tripped with. You're going to be frakkin' snazzy with me along." She hopped up and made way for the climate panel, mumbling, "Wookiee World's feeling a little less-than-temperate today, don't ya think?"

Upon adjusting the air flow, she produced a datapad from one of her many pockets as she returned to where Graxin was seated. She laid the device on the table, and with a simple flick and clamp of her fingers, she focused the holographic display on Kashyyyk. "If you want to go the safe route, I'd guide us through the Mid and over towards Boz. There's a lot of shady activity going on to its eight, so that's why I'd extend it just that extra bit. We'll take that artery and hit the crux in the general vicinity of Rhen Var. From there we can tank down the Par' through Mando space and eventually into the Core. Only reason I'd sponsor this big detour is because we head directly into a high-risk zone if we take the obvious approach."

She flashed a confident wink. "I'm not afraid to thread a needle, though. I can lathe off a few extra days if you want to take the straightway approach. It's up to you, and I don't know how many of those cheese cubes of yours you have." She smiled at him, anticipating his decision. Of course, he still had plenty of time to make up his mind, but hopefully she had disintegrated all doubt in her capabilities by now.

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"Secret agent type? I'll roll with it." Graxin gave a simple shrug; brow contorted in deep thought as she went to adjust the climate control. "It's too damn humid on this planet. I don't get why the wookies don't shave themselves."

He leaned back in his chair, enjoying the faint flow of air now flooding the room. He had seen a shaven wookie before, a few, actually. The Graug had a thing for humiliating the proudest of races. "Well, besides looking absolutely terrifying and demonic." His gaze followed her as she returned. "Though I doubt that matters much to them."

The infiltrator fell silent as she explained in no simple terms their possible different routes. The more she spoke, the happier Graxin became. Hiring on someone to maintain the ship had certainly been the right decision.

That, and he found the girl pleasant to speak to.

"I'd rather go for the safer route. I'm a cautious man. However, we'll confirm when we break atmo, I figure."

His lips pursed as his hazel eyes darted from one part of the display to the next. It was all rather complicated in its own way, but Graxin allowed himself to trust Corvetta's word on it all.

"Which reminds me--when we leave, it may be quick. If things get out of control, I'll send an emergency signal, you come and get me, and we bust out." He set his hands on the arms of the chair, and gave his associate a confident look. "Is that alright with you?"

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Graxin seemed to open up ever steadily and appeared to be trusting of her at this point. His Wookiee comments were a little odd, like he was speaking out of experience, but everything seemed above-board about him and he was very agreeable. Some people were not as accepting of her advice, no matter how much of an expert she had proved herself to be. She enjoyed a little danger, but his choice to play on the safe side was cool.

Corvetta pursed her lips when he informed her of a possible hasty exit. "When we leave... Are you talking about a firefight here? 'Cause, you know... that might be good to know before I run in to things." She cocked her head with a simper.

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"Possibly. Likely small arms fire--I don't think they carry any big kit here. Not within arm's reach anyway." Graxin wasn't one to beat around the bush when it came to the objective. He retained his calm, somewhat amused demeanor as he continued to speak. "Though if I come under fire I'll make for the Shadowlands. I'm sure I can evade the beasts for a few minutes while you make your way down. It would save the ship from taking much, if any fire."

Though it shouldn't go that awry.

The infiltrator flashed a confident grin at Corvetta. She seemed wholly on board with everything else; a little action never hurt anyone. Well. As long as they didn't freeze up when the shooting started.

"I figured you might like a little excitement." He said with his arms folded over his chest. He seemed fully confident in his own ability to get the job done, and why shouldn't he? It was a simple assassination, and the Republic had proven itself slow to react before. "I promise to try not to cause any explosions. Cross my heart." He did the little hand gesture, and gave Corvetta a questioning look, curious as to her thoughts on the matter.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

This was when she got a little worried. Corvetta had no problem with combat from her perch in a spacecraft, but she was a little uneasy about being there for any wild crusades. She was a bit apathetic about it all, but it bothered her on the possibility that the 'good guys' were getting hurt.

But Graxin seemed to be a good guy. Shouldn't be anything to worry over. "As long as you don't expect me to get out and blast the baddies with you, it's fine with me. Because I'm not exactly a sniper." The spacer shut her left eye as she dramatically raised her hands in the air to aim an imaginary rifle, concluding the act with a curl of her trigger finger for the kill. She dropped her hands and laughed at her own charade.

"So yeah. If you're in trouble, you call me." She pointed a finger playfully at Graxin. "And I'm holding you to that no explosion thing. Though, if you wanna blow up the spaceport so I never have to come back here again, I could live with that."

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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"No worries. I handle the ground stuff; just be ready to pull my shebs out of the fire."

A soft laugh escaped him as Corvetta imitated firing a sniper rifle. He wasn't really aware of it actually happening--it seemed some
things were natural no matter how you were brought up. "Just try not to shoot me by accident, and I'll be happy."

He leaned back in his chair; lips pursed in silent curiosity. Asking about personal things was pushing past the social boundaries, though one simple question couldn't hurt.

"Careful, you might tempt me." He flashed a teasing smirk. "I think that about covers everything....it should go off smoothly. I am curious though....Corvetta like a Corvette?"

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta simultaneously clicked her tongue and pointed her finger in a sporty manner, humorously assuring Graxin she would make sure to not cause him any bodily harm. "You got it, comrade."

She shrugged and smiled as he inquired about her name. "Yeah, you like it? I think my name worked out pretty good for a flygirl." She chuckled. "Yours has got me puzzled, though. I'll have to think on yours a bit."

[member="Graxin Rade"]

 

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Comrade.

Graxin pushed up from his chair, and grinned big and wide at the flygirl. "Well, I'm glad I can rely on you them."

His boots clacked against the floor as he strolled on over toward the adjoining kitchen. An emergency kit needed to be made, just in case. He doubted he would fail, but a little caution could go a long way. "I do like it, actually." He called out as he crouched toward the lower cupboards.

Where did I put the damn sword?

"It's unique, and it fits you." He continued, wincing as more than a few metal pots fell clattered loudly against the tiled floor. "Mine? I means enforcement or something like that in one of the old languages."

The infiltrator went to the noisy task of putting everything back where it belonged, grumbling a string of quiet curses as he went along.

"I'll be leaving soon. Make sure we're prepped to move when I give you the signal, alright?"

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]