That One Thing We Did That One Time

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta's cargo this time was quite an interesting haul--especially considering the fact that none of it was actually illegal. Sure, there were guns packed in some milk crates strapped to sleds, but nothing particularly obnoxious and blatantly off-limits. And there was an awful lot of bacta. What was most curious, however, were the literal kilometers of weathered fabrics, the digging equipment, the gigantic water coolers, the power generators lined up like soldiers in the lounge (because they had run out of room in the main hold), and spools of thick, metal cords. This was certainly an operation.

And, naturally, the trip would conclude on Tatooine--and that little fact was definitely apparent now, as the pilot by the name of Salvo sifted through the sands on her return trip to the docking bay under a malicious pair of suns. Her sparingly-dyed hair was sopping wet, and her face red as the Republic had been for a few days. "This is the frakkin' looniest thing I've ever trucked," the pilot said, climbing up the boarding ramp of her freighter, the YT-2400 christened the Lost Cause. Finally, air conditioning.

The spacer immediately headed towards the cargo hold, where there were now assembled more... organic objects than typical freight. She rounded the corner to the biggest room in the ship and gave a thumbs-up to all aboard, then proceeded towards the huge safety lever to lower the main hold's large freight ramp. After bouncing against the stiff switch a few times, the ramp unlocked with a pneumatic hiss and creaked with a might yawn as it opened its maw and allowed in the merciless sunlight.

"All's cleared and you're green to fry," she announced, turning to the passengers. The brunette wiped a hairful of sweat off her brow and cheeks before continuing. "Should be a bantha corral 'bout three klicks to the south. Hope ya tan well."

Why would anyone want to bother with Tatooine?

 

[James Justice]

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

James hated Tattoowine, the memories were horrible. And he hated being a passenger. He would rather have been at the helm of his Lost Angel angling in than playing this game. But the leather-clad billionare had to be discrete this time, and he had to find his way around the people that were hunting him. Why they were hunting him, he had no idea. And frankly didn't care. He was too busy trying to rebuild himself after his recent--well whatever you want to call it. Fall from grace? Fall into darkness?

Well it wasn't exactly completely his fault. Any how, it gave the man a chance to experience life on this side and get away from the stress of running his business for a few minutes. Or days. All the same, he would be ok with it. And to be fair, the pilot he had hired was doing a good job. He filled that under to hire her again later--

Ugh, he was doing it again, business mode without even realizing it. He sighed and shook his head. Where had the care-free drinker gone? He wished he could find it again. Of course that was what this was all about.

He gave a cheerful smile at the pilot and his employees began to unload the payload for him. Even here, on a get away, he couldn't quite get away. But for now he turned his attention to the female before him.

The spacer gave one of his dashing smiles and winked, "Miss, I always tan well."

Was he flirting again? Well why not, he was a single man again, after all.

 

[RC 212]

[member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="James Justice"]

Jack loved Tatooine! Between Jawas, sketchy Toydarians, and Hutts you could acquire just about any part you ever needed. Which was what he was doing right now. With Dak his trusty sidekick in tow they were unloading a trolley of disruptor rifles on a hover sled. The Kessels Pride was disguised today and Jack handed over the false manifest chip to the port authority, whom without a glance simply waved him through.

They were no strangers to his business.

"Thanks bub." A twenty credit chip was slipped into the officers apron and Jack and Dak travelled onwards, piloting the small sled through the streets of Mos Eisley. They were headed to a smaller section of the town where his boss Zorlac the
Hutt set up his stash houses.

"How come we're always the mules?" Dak asked, shooting a sideays glance at Jack as he piloted the small hover sled.

"You'd think he'd have another guy to fly the stuff in, rather than paying twice to fly it in, and then fly it out."

Jack spit over the railing, feet apart antique blaster rifle over his shoulder. His brown eyes were piercing the crowds, scanning for bounty hunters and trouble. Nar Shaada had bounty on him for stealing the Kessels Pride.

"Dont question it kid. Business is business, you never look a Krayt Dragon in the mouth."

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

Stardut of loaded and her eyes dimmed in response the the twins suns overhead"hmm....onlynthe second time being here..."she said as she stood and waiting for her allies to off load behind her as she gazed among the sand scum and shops

[member="James Justice"] [member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="Jack Raxis"]

 

[Tiberius Rex]

Tiberius had lost count of how many days he had spent on Tatooine, sure this was his "home" but even still ever since he walked away from The Shadow Empire his life had become for a lack of a better term...well boring. Sure there was the occasional bounty thrown his way but since he was very good at his craft he would only get the high value targets. Any other target was given to the less than professional "bounty hunters", if you could call them that. They were muscle with guns that did sloppy work but they cheap and therefore folks hired them more often than not. Where were the days of hiring the true professional bounty hunters? The silent professionals that were quick and didn't leave a mess behind.

And so because of a lack of business among the cantinas Rex found himself hanging around the spaceport in the hot Tatooine suns. "Now I remember why I work out of cantinas and clubs..." the bounty hunter said to himself quietly referring to the outside heat. It was around this time that he noticed a ship where a large amount of people were disembarking out into the streets. "If folks are leaving that ship then more than likely they are in the people moving business" he thought to himself. The bounty hunter made his way closer to the crowd to get a better look at the vessel and see if he could spot a crew member or even the captain of the ship so he could bargain his way onto it for the next time that the ship took off.

 

[Eliza Stryder]

Eliza stepped off the ship, standing in the simmering heat of Tatooine. While this wasn't her favorite place in the galaxy, this was her home. She was raised here by her family for nearly half her life, so a sense of nostalgia filled her as she moved forward. She walked with the rest of the passengers, taking her jacket off in the heat and tying it in its usual position around her waist.

Knowing that now wasn't the time to get lost in the nostalgia, she shook her head and continued off. There was a purpose to coming here, and she couldn't forget that. She stood a distance away, waiting for everyone else to exit the ship.

 

[Corruck Kazen]

As the door opened, Corruck could only think of all the tales he had heard of this place. It did not make this seem any wiser an endeavor than the twenty times he had thought it before. There was little that could be done though, a retaliatory strike was an acceptable strategy, especially since the Rebels needed some sort of victory to bolster the resolve of the soldiers. This was an excellent idea for an attack, if not a small part insane. He found himself once more wishing that Matchbox were here, that they could be working together and pushing this alliance forward, doing that which the Republic seemed not to do anymore.

When had he become the man he was? The person he always remembered being, the one he feared to once more become, was the man who had run from the Rebels for reasons that he had fabricated to soothe his own growing conscious. What was this? That man had returned to the Alliance one day and had changed into what he was now. But that man was still there, hiding somewhere, waiting for a moment when his conscious was more relaxed. He felt torn, there were things in the galaxy that he had put into play and he knew that they had to be dealt with, but he could not divert the Rebel's resources from fighting the larger dangers of the galaxy. The intelligence he had created, it had gone rogue. He knew that someday he would have to deal with it directly, but until then he had to wait.

He nodded his thanks to the pilot before following the others outside. He could not remember being here before. Tatooine just wasn't the place that he would have gone to, not often anyways. He put aside these thoughts, there was a job to do and it needed to be done quickly and efficiently so that this attack could be finished soon. He personally did not want to spend too long here, it just was not a hospitable place for him.

 

[Cloudburner]

Tatooine was a horrible place for Vahn. A planet he had only been on twice. The door opened, exposing desert terrain and warm temperature. The sweat of being on a warm planet was an immense disadvantage for Vahn. The first time Vahn was ever on Tatooine was back when he first wore the Mandalorian armor, after killing his Bounty Hunter father out in the desert.

He had gotten on well with the residents, who had seemed to look up to him and think he was some sort of hero. When in reality, Vahn was nothing of the sort. He was a ruthless bounty hunter who contains some heroic traits but is truly in it for the money. The "Fett" name was legendary out in Tatooine, as the legendary Luke Skywalker rescued a smuggler named Han Solo out here. Who was hunted by a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Boba Fett. 800 Years later, Vahn Fett gets ready to step outside of the ship with other passengers.

 

[Corvetta Salvo]

Corvetta turned about and faced Mister Justice with one hand relaxed against her waist and the other brushing her hair back over her shoulder. She was not the flirtatious type--not intentionally, anyway--but it was sort of fun to humor it all the same. "Then you've found the perfect resort pad. Endless tanning to go 'round, bud." She finished off her jab at Tatooine's climate with a firm pat to her latest employer's shoulder. "Though I'm really thirsty after that ruck. Gonna head down to the cantina while the cargo gets hitched." No one had paid her to actually pull the heavy work. She was the pilot, negotiator, and hostess, and that was where her job ended. Besides, she was noticeably too small to handle this kind of luggage for too long--especially in this sun.

"I'd suggest ya get the cargo unloaded now and wait 'til sun-drop 'round nineteen-hundred," the spacer told the passengers, nodding her head towards the dazzling ray of sunlight sizzling against the loading ramp. "Rucking it in this heat'll get you fried like a worm in ten ticks."

[member="Vahn Fett"], [member="Corruck Kazen"], [member="Eliza Stryder"], [member="Tiberius Rex"], [member="stardust"], [member="Jack Raxis"], [member="James Justice"], [member="Poy Luroon"]

 

[RC 212]

[member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="Vahn Fett"] [member="Corruck Kazen"] [member="Eliza Stryder"] [member="stardust"] [member="Tiberius Rex"] [member="James Justice"]​

A few hours later.

The Dropoff was done and Dak had just finished loading the Kessels Pride. Now it was time for a drink and little rest. The twin suns were burning hot into his skin as he stood by the ramp, watching Dak saunter down. The kid had a bounce in his step that was the opposite of Jacks temperament. Jack was the pessimist and Dak was the optimist. A funny pair if ever there was.

"Where we off to now skip?"

Jack furrowed his brows, trying to remember when and where the last cantina he had seen was. He figured they'd just walk and figure the situation out on the way. Ahead of schedule and a few days at that, they had ample time to blow. Now he just had to keep the kid out of the brothels. A repeat of the last time they were here was nothing he wanted to see.

"Anywhere but the brothels kid. I'm not saving you from the bouncers again. Left a helluva mess last time. C'mon lets go."

Dak fell in beside him and the ramp hissed closed, locking itself at Jacks thumbprint.

They strode off, through the port and into the streets of the city, headed towards the nearest cantina...

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

She nodded"thank you for the transportation "she said and then the force perked her and she turned...someone familiar was nearby and she needed to see why"

She looked to the others"guys I'll be right back...I've got something to do"she said and headed towards [member="Tiberius Rex"] before stopping and putting a hand on his shoulder and turned him"follow now

She led him back into the bar and motioned to sit as she ordered two dribk"now if memory serves me and I ain't wrong we've. Met a long time ago

 

[Poy Luroon]

[member="Corvetta Salvo"]

The Twi'lek was sitting in reasonable comfort inside the cantina, sweating buckets and also drinking plenty of liquid. This Tatooine duty did not agree with her. The only place that she could relax at was in a temporary underground air base. Footsteps approached the cantina, and then a female pilot stepped inside the establishment, whom Poy seemed to recognize from somewhere deep within her childhood memories.

Could it be Corvetta, the girl who she had grown up with for many years, before she was shipped off for mandatory military training, and then lost all contact with her? She seemed to match what Corvetta would look like now, after so many years apart, but was it really her? Poy kept her eyes on the woman, but did not want to cause a fuss if it turned out to be someone who resembled her in some way.

I hope that you still remember me Corvetta...

 

[James Justice]

James gave a painful grin as the memories came up. One, especially vivid:

The image of his father, 15 years ago. The spacer had been a teen then, watching from the cockpit as his dad conducted the hand off of weapons and spices. Of course the buyer had wanted to underpay, the always wanted to underpay. Their client the ganglord gradually became more and more heated as the spacer had refused again and again. Then the blasters came out--

James blinked twice and swallowed, trying to put it out of mind. That had been so long ago, he had almost forgot. That was back with the Drunken Angel. Before the fleet, before the billions of credits, back when he was living from hand to mouth. Back when it was him and his ol' faithful astromech, Reed.

The spacer managed a smile, the best he could for a recovery.

"Ah I got much better places to tan, tho' a drink should do much better, I agree," he turned to his employees who were grabbing the last crates off the ship, "Mates, when ye finish storing this in the sheds, take a load off. Drinks on me."

James turned and began clomping down the ramp, "I know a jaunt here that the drinks are half as bad, so long a ye don't look at the tables and keep ye elbows off the counters."

The spacer chuckled as he made his way across and down the street to one of the adobe domed houses.

@Poy Luroon
[member="stardust"]
[member="Jack Raxis"]
[member="Corvetta Salvo"]
[member="Vahn Fett"]
[member="Corruck Kazen"]
[member="Eliza Stryder"]
[member="Tiberius Rex"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck shook his thoughts away, for now he had a job. While others might take their break to acclimate, he turned his attention to offloading the materials. This had better work. He started with the more durable stuff that could be manhandled without fear of much damage. He wondered if they should buy some water vaporators from some of the locals, or if they would just trade with for water and store it. He would have chosen the former himself, it would give them some flexibility with later operations on desert planets.

The first stuff to be moved, not so gently out onto the sand was the digging equipment. They were going to be spending enough time in the sand anyways, no harm in getting some now. He tried to stay out of the way of pilot, she probably had things she had to do anyways and this was not the ideal situation for a pilot like her he was sure, the longer it took to move the stuff off the ship the longer she would be grounded and therefore not be able to go pick up other jobs and pay whatever bills she may have.

There was a lot of pretty much everything, that was important for this mission, but it did not make it any easier when he was moving it all off the ship. He was once more glad that they had found this pilot who was willing to put power generators in her lounge, he was sure that some out there would have been insulted by the idea.

As he moved about his mind wandered, he wondered where his problem droid was. What was it doing at the moment? He wondered if it were still continuing with the program he had given it. What sort of changes had it given to itself while he was not watching over it. The damn thing, first if had stolen a transport and then taken a large chunk of funds from one of his banks before completely disappearing. He had thought of tracking down the money in the hopes of following it to its new owner, but that idea had been shot down by the fact that Ultimatum had moved it straight from Corruck's accounts to some random account before moving it into a droid manufacturing company, a well known and respected one. He feared that perhaps that the droid had convinced a veritable army to be created, that was too quick a growth and that would endanger his plan. He had not even talked to anyone about the droid after it had run away, and he wondered about asking around, certainly someone would know about the blasted thing...

[member="James Justice"] [member="Poy Luroon"] [member="stardust"] [member="Jack Raxis"] [member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="Vahn Fett"] [member="Eliza Stryder"] [member="Tiberius Rex"]

 

[Tugoro Taidarious]

Tugoro remained silent for the duration of the trip. Space travel just wasn't the same, unless you were the one piloting and in control. Sitting amongst the other passengers, the young Jedi appeared to be nothing more than the average young male spacer, donning a brown leather jacket, boots, and beige pants. It was his usual getup when working in the public eye, seeing as the brown cloak look was really a dead giveaway. Still, it looked so edgy and mysterious, sometimes Tugoro just couldn't help himself. This time it was different however, and mistakes could not be afforded. Leaning against his chair, the young man would glance casually over the passengers, quickly assessing them before going back to his own business. Which was staring strangely at the floor. There was something about being a passenger that the boy really didn't like, especially when it came to space travel. There was something else he didn't like, that being negative vibes given off by those around. Lifting his head, the Jedi's stare would fall obviously upon [member="Corruck Kazen"], sticking for a few moments before he turned away. Something wasn't right, but he simply couldn't tell what. He wasn't very skilled in mind intrusion, and even if he was Corruck surely wouldn't let his guard down that easily.

Now that the ship had landed, Tugoro would be free from his prison. Standing up and stretching out his limbs briefly, the youth would avoid direct eye contact with [member="Corvetta Salvo"], for something told him that he had done something very stupid and childish in the past. He definitely remembered being in this ship once before, and nearly ruining the entire mission due to one of his foolish decisions. Maybe he had ruined the mission entirely. He really couldn't remember, it seemed like it had been so long ago since then. Patting down the front of his jacket, Tugoro quickly checked his body, making sure that he had all of his belongings on him. Beneath his jacket, the young Jedi wore a blaster holster, carrying a single military issued blaster pistol along with his lightsaber. The cylindrical hilt was tucked away in an inside pocket on his jacket, as to conceal it while still not having to undo any clips. Following the crime lord casually, Tugoro would aid him in the unloading of equipment, and anyone else who had decided to do so as well. It looked like everyone was about to head off to a cantina or something, so the youth tried to get the job done quickly.

One of them in particular had scurried off quickly, that being @stardust. He knew that she was a force user as well, and if she had run off that fast something was definitely up. Now that he thought about it, there was a familiar presence nearby. He couldn't pin it off the signature alone, but he was sure he might have some recollection of [member="Tiberius Rex"] when he saw him. Oh yes, he did. Still remaining silent, Tugoro would gesture towards Corruck, trying to get the man's attention seeing as the unloading had been finished. It had taken a bit of time, and everyone was surely at the cantina by now.

[member="James Justice"] [member="Poy Luroon "][member="Jack Raxis"] [member="Vahn Fett"] [member="Eliza Stryder"]

 

[Tiberius Rex]

Rex followed [member="stardust"], he wasn't quite sure why she didn't recognize him since they had worked together during the time of the Shadow Empire and he had even attended her wedding. But then again that seemed like a lifetime ago since that chapter in his life, he had a family then and anymore he was just a simple man trying to make his way in the galaxy.

Tiberius sat down with stardust in a corner booth in the cantina, after all he wasn't going to deny free drinks and he had always enjoyed talking to her when they had worked together. "Aww come on Star, you know me. We worked together with [member="Romeo Sin"] and I even went to your wedding." He relaxed slightly in his seat as he took his glass, he was genuinely happy to see a familiar face. He toasted her "cheers Star, to familiar faces".

He was planning on finding the captain of the vessel that was hauling all those people but from the looks of it everyone had decided to go into the cantina anyway. And a few drinks wouldn't hurt, who knew maybe the captain was in the cantina themselves and a few drinks would put them in a more receptive mood to having a passenger out of here.

[member="Corvetta Salvo"], [member="James Justice"], [member="Jack Raxis"], [member="Eliza Stryder"], [member="Corruck Kazen"], [member="Vahn Fett"], @Poy Luroon, [member="Tugoro Taidarious"]

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

Ahhhhh tiberius...been so long hahah sorry didn't remember you been do much going on and such has happened "she said as she took a sip

Indeed I remember now heheh been so long since that wedding... " she went silent and frowned before smiling"other then that how's life been treating you and how'd you end up here"she said smiling even if the smile looked genuine one could tell she's been though hell and back several times...it even looked as if she didn't age

[member="Tiberius Rex"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck stretched when the work was done. It had been quite some time since he had worked in the heat of two stars. Sweat had fully drenched his shirt and sand had already stuck to this. The power generators and water vats had been particularly heavy. He had been grateful for the help by the young man... what was he thinking? He himself was a young man! Oi... Time did weird things. Especially when time had been filled with many things that most people would consider strange.

The past crime lord felt a little better, looking at the all the work that had been accomplished. Now it was a matter of moving it all to a location further out from the colony, then to report in. There was more work ahead, first moving and then setting up the equipment. He would be lying if he said he looked forward to it, It would not be easy work, but it would be necessary. In a way this was recompense for his leaving the Rebels without a word of warning. Now he was working harder than he had in a long time.

He noticed a moment late that [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] had been waving to catch his attention. Corruck walked over to the man, silently wishing that he had been able to wash. "Thanks for the help. It would have been quite a bit longer." He stopped himself from continuing, to allow the man to speak if he wanted.

[member="James Justice"] [member="Poy Luroon"] [member="stardust"] [member="Jack Raxis"] [member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="Vahn Fett"] [member="Eliza Stryder"]

 

[Thane Drexel]

When [member="Juwiela Melec"] says she knows a drink that'll make you blind, believe her. Thane learned the only way a horn headed Zabrak like himself could, the hard way. Some pure Everclear and a cinnamon stick does not make for a good hangover. Rolling over to find himself sleeping in the head, Thane grabbed at everything he could to pull himself to the sink. The lights were on and blazing in his bloodshot eyes. The cold water against his face was like standing on Hoth, or getting the cold shoulder from Juwiela.

"What the hell?!" Thane stumbled the. Straight face dove off the ramp out of the ship. Sitting up, Thane's head aches like he'd just falled five feet to the hard packed dirt of the bright frakkin' planet in the galaxy.

"Ugh, Tatooine."

Looking around, he couldn't make out who was standing around, or even if they were part of his group. Blurred faces and shaded places gave a lot of interference to his sad, drunk eyes.

"Hello!?"

[member="Corruck Kazen"] [member="stardust"] [member="Tiberius Rex"] [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] [member="James Justice"] [member="Poy Luroon "][member="Jack Raxis"] [member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="Vahn Fett"] [member="Eliza Stryder"]

 

[Tugoro Taidarious]

"No worries," Tugoro spoke casually to [member="Corruck Kazen"], after they finished unloading the last of the equipment. Some things had been easier to move than others, the more heavier objects forcing Tugoro to tap slightly into the force. The young man was unsure as to what they would encounter on this mission, and so wanted to keep his use of the force to a minimum, in case he was detected. Not that it would be difficult to sense his force signature in the first place, for he had little to no training in the arts of stealth. "Let's catch up with the others," Tugoro spoke calmly and clearly, before turning away from the crime lord and heading out of the hangar bay. With his sensory abilities, the Knight was able to keep track of where his comrades had headed to, even if it was somewhat obvious. The cantina, or a cantina for that matter. Tattooine was littered with low budget establishments, it'd be a miracle to just drink out of a clean glass.

A few minutes had passed since the duo left the hangar, walking through the expansive corridors and trying to sneak peaks into the various docking bays. At least, that is what Tugoro liked to do usually. It was always interesting to see what kind of people piloted what, you could tell a lot about someone by what they flew. Arriving at the cantina, the young Jedi would step to the side, leaning up against the beige wall before glancing to Corruck. "You go on in. I'll hang out here." Tugoro decided, figuring someone should keep six.

[member="Thane Drexel"] [member="stardust"] [member="Tiberius Rex"] [member="James Justice"] [member="Poy Luroon"] [member="Jack Raxis"] [member="Corvetta Salvo"] [member="Eliza Stryder"] [member="Vahn Fett"]