Private The Flight to Nar Shaddaa

[Arris Windrun]

NAR KAAGA
- Juvard Spaceport -

Juvard was a backwater among backwaters on Nar Kaaga in Hutt Space. Here bounty hunters, smugglers, tramp freighters, and criminals made port of call. It made sense, after all, aside from the small mind paid to spaceports like Juvard, there was the added benefit of discretion. A few credits here, some words there, and soon your ship is struck from the manifest, and a bogus identity in its place.

It wasn't so much as the perfect place, but the only one where Arris Windrun could find transport off this rock. The bounty on her head grew again after she crossed a Hutt enforcer named Austuan over bad bets in the shockbox pit.

"Listen, I'll pay you back!" Arris could be overheard arguing with her friend and longtime rescuer, a large and aged Herglic. "Seeva, I need this."

Seeva looked positively silly, how he had squeezed himself into a corner booth with data pads and scattered chits taking up the tablespace. He even wore little spectacles which betrayed his muscular frame and imposing size. "How about the last one you still owe me for, hmm?" He looked up from his datapad but his serious expression was unchanged.

Arris pleaded with him the only way she knew how. That pathetic expression humans were just so good at. "Seeva... I really, really need this... Last favor, I promise."

"Oh so now it's a favor?" He scoffed and gave her a hard look. After a few moments, it softened, and a friendly smile finally curled. "Ah, to the Netherworld with it!" He cursed and his large digits sifted through the chits in front of him. He grabbed one and plugged it into his datapad. "This is all you're getting." He said as he handed her the chit with a fixed amount of credits loaded onto it.

Arris reached across the table and hugged him. "Thank you!" And a kiss on the cheek for good measure. "Last time, I promise," she said with a grin that suggested anything but. As she released him from her embrace, Arris began to leave the spaceport cantina towards the docking bays in search of transport.

"Don't come back, Arris. Nar Kaaga is better without you!" Seeva called to her as she departed. Arris only gave him a small wave in return before she disappeared around the bend.

"Now to find a ship..." Arris muttered to herself.

Angelus Hafey

 

[Angelus Hafey]

Somedays, the situation you are in can range from a simple pleasure of taking off...and on other days, it is a royal pain in the-

"As spoken beforehand, you must have a life sign before you can proceed takeoff."

"I am of flesh and blood, I fail to see-"

"We know who you are Mr. Hafey, your reputation and those of your family proceed you of Human Replica Droids. System law states that any starship taking off, must have a life sign on board, as per the rules a millennia ago after the end of the Clone Wars and three hundred years since the Metal Lords of the Voids hostile takeover when updating new definitions of life signs."

"I-Alright, I will find a pilot. You just best hope my business returns here without this incident again."

The Hafey would put back on his hat as he narrowed his eyes in a bit of anger, his left hand going up to the brow as he began to rub the forehead. It was a programmed feature, not much it actually did but a way to show the Hafey models at times to think. Multiple, if not thousands of computations occur every second but to figure out a solution at times can be difficult. Walking out from the spaceport, he would look around as he had to find a way to get off world towards Hutt Space...well, further into it.

Leaning outside the docking bay on the wall, he would glance around and tried to figure out what to honestly do. The droid was trapped, with expensive merchandise on a planet that was considered unsavory. This is what he got for refueling his old starship, the Victory-Wing had served him well but it was starting to show the need of an update. Tapping on his blaster belt, his DL-67 hanged low as he looked forward before speaking out a bit loud, his gentleman like voice even with a small gravel to it would echo outwards.

"Anybody here going towards Nar Shadda? Offering a ride to anyone who wants it, provided you pull your weight!"

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris continued down the hallway passing pilots, techs, and passengers alike. It was uneventful until a small Gand bumped into her and shouted something in a language she didn't understand. "Yeah, yeah, I'll watch it!" She retorted in that way when bumping into people was your usual day-to-day.

The Gand continued to click and drone at her as they both carried on their separate ways. The exchange drew a small amount of attention from the bystanders, but most just ignored it as there was a lot of noise in the spaceport, and a little spat was nothing unusual.

Nar Shaddaa? The namedrop pulled her out of her head and she looked around to see who said it. There stood the most peculiar figure in the whole starport she reckoned, a gentlemanly sort she would more expect to find at a dusty cantina if not straight out of an old gangster holoflick.

"Did you say Nar Shaddaa?" She asked on approach. Pull my weight, hmm? She thought while looking down at the credit chit Seeva gave her and wondered if she might just hold onto his parting gift a little longer. She presented herself to Angelus quite matter-of-factly, with nothing hiding the obvious signs of her cybernetics.

"I weigh quite more than I look. I reckon I can pull more than anyone else in here." She said with a grin.

"What do you need? Hauling, a mechanic?" Arris knew how to fix up a swoop but was far from an expert in starships, though that didn't stop her ignorance. Anything to get her off this rock was worth it.

"Oh! Uh..." She pocketed the chit and extended a hand in greeting. "Arris, Arris Windrun."

Angelus Hafey

 

[Angelus Hafey]

The man whom looked straight out of a Outer Rim Western would look through the crowds, repeating the same message over and over. Who needs a ride? Who would want to come aboard? It felt like he was going on deaf ears as he would have been hoarse if it went on much longer...granted if he had an actual throat. As the sounds of a particular lady came through to the side, the one who could have been called Angel Eyes would look over towards the blonde haired woman. There was cybernetics, strange ones at that but he did not consider them a problem due to his own personal droid like body.

"Yes I did, Nar Shadda, a place of great business and a place to lose it all. I got some business to take care of, a shipment of...valuable cargo."

Hearing she could pull her weight...well be more of weight, an image of a her stepping on someones back instantly entered the droids mind in a holonet western fashion. A strange image to be sure but it took another second to understand it as the it soon turned into a multi-facet kind of person, capable of doing various jobs.

"Let's just say a mixture of hauling and protection. more of the later than the former, being prevented getting off world due to my...life sign status. I am a droid, a very good Human Replica Series, fully independent as our family has intended for three generations. My apologies-"

The droid would grip her hand lightly, it was warm to the touch and felt much like a regular humans, even the calluses on the hand felt very real. When letting go, he would make a motion to the left side as he kept speaking towards the docking bay.

"Miss Windrun, I am Angelus Hafey of the Hafey Family Line, Second Generation. I do a lot of shipwright work along with other technological marvels in some ways, we are known for our creations. Done a bit of cybernetic work in the past...not important though, can you stay in a Victor Wing for half a day? Free board, some old rations...for say a portion of my cargo....two percent?"

The man had not mentioned what the cargo even was currently, rather leaving it more of a mystery as a few people pass them on by towards the docking bay...though Angelus seemed a bit oblivious to them currently. The focus was on the lady, how was he to know he was potentially about to be robbed of his wares in a few short minutes?
Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Conversely to Angelus' surprisingly lifelike grip, Arris' metal hand was just that, metal. Cold and a bit greasy. "A Replica?" She sounded surprised but her expression remained friendly.

Arris had no qualms about it, after all, he seemed fine enough from first impressions. More than fine, in fact, from his forthright attitude following introductions. The offer helped, too.

A ride, some food, and a job thrown in on top? It almost sounded too good to be true. "Am I to assume no questions asked about this cargo?" She wondered as two percent could be very little or a lot in this case, but it felt ultimately less important than the fact he was offering her a ride off-world. Maybe on a different day she would've haggled but Arris was not in a place to negotiate her safety.

"You know what? Agreed." She didn't know what a Victor Wing was, but then again the Talusian street rat didn't know most starships by their models. Not in the same way she knew swoops, drugs, and where to hit a Trandoshan to knock them out cold.

"Lead the way." She said, equally unaware of any trouble to come.

Angelus Hafey

 

[Angelus Hafey]

The droid took some time to think as he would give a slow nod over the cargo, over the no questions aspect of it, speaking with a tad bit more grit that betrayed a bit of his heritage and programming.

"You are indeed correct, the cargo is a bit...delicate. To move it requires not screwing things up in the long run but your percentage cut will be worth it."

The droid gave a soft smile before turning as he made a small motion with his left hand. Walking towards the hanger bay once more as the Victor-Wing would come into view, the voice of Angelus would echo out with the left hand pointed towards the hanger master whom was a Quarren. The Victor-Wing had its ramp down as the droid fast approached the man.

"Here you go, a sign of life! Now unclamp my ship and get me approved for flight!"

"It will take two hours before flight, you should await outside while we do final flight checks."

"Now hang on, you had all that time to do it right then and there!"

The finger of the human replica droid poked the chest of the Quarren, forcing the person back a few steps and the Hafey model moved forward, raising his voice rather loudly. Unknown to Angelus, inside his ship was a pair of Rodian characters attempting to pull up a five by five foot crate with it being so heavy, it was to heavy to even lift up more than a foot off the ground.

"You are telling me to wait more after I clearly did what you asked, having it here for nearly a full day and now you wish to do more flight checks?!

"Be patient or I will call the authorities! You wo-"

"You won't make it five steps, now unclamp my ship!"

Then there was a clattering noise inside the Victor-Wing as a grav lift had actually broke, sending parts of the top handle falling down the ramp. It became apparent, far more now that he was being robbed of his belongings as one of the four boxes were stuck on the ramps entrance now. Glancing forward, he would turn to have a blaster stuck under the head of the droid. The Quarren would try to pull his signature blaster out of his hand as blasters were drawn from inside the Victor-Wing. The only gesture Angelus could do was glance towards wherever the person he hired was and hope she had something up her sleeve.

The Human Replica Droid had indeed a backup weapon but it was only one shot...and was very...very loud.

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris followed her temporary employer into the docking bay where the Victor-Wing stood proudly. She let out a low whistle upon just an initial inspection. Saying it was armed to the teeth felt unjust in itself. This thing was more like weapons with a starship than a starship with weapons. She looked to Angelus and then back to the ship.

Who is this guy? She wondered, but her curiosity was cut short by the heated exchange. Indeed it appeared just as Angelus said, that something fishy was going on... Or... Cephalopody? Either way, it didn't take much cue for Arris to pick up what Mr. Hafey was putting down, and more importantly what the fumbling Rodian's should have been putting down. The aforementioned delicate cargo.

The cyborg stepped forward and stood between her boss and the Quarren. "I love aquatic species..." She opened with. Thankfully he was a Quarren, for their kind were a rather familiar site in the underworld--particularly all the way out in Hutt space. She recalled a shakedown she once witnessed between a Hutt enforcer and their kind, and did her best to summon that same energy.

"You know, part of what helps them dive so deep is that their insides are full of soft little pockets... Like lungs, but all over and quite vulnerable out of water." She looked down at her mechanical fists and clenched it shut hard enough for the pistons to fire audibly, then looked back to the Quarren with a grin. "Shall we have an anatomy lesson?"

Her eyes then glanced at the Rodians and switched her spoken tongue To Huttese, which she trusted they understood if nothing else. At least they couldn't pretend otherwise without expecting the biggest of fools out of Arris or Hafey here. "The cargo for your lives... Your friend here is liable to get you killed, and more importantly, Austuan doesn't like it when people cut onto his turf." She hoped it was a well-timed bluff to name-drop the Hutt's chief enforcer in the area. A gamble assuming they and the Quarren didn't work for the big man himself.

It was time to see how much she had just earned her ride to Nar Shaddaa, and that two percent on top.

Angelus Hafey

 

[Angelus Hafey]

The strange...flirting he would assume? It was unusual but he had seen other things gone in other mysterious ways but he was more than curious why she wanted to flirt with this creature, it did not even fit into his subroutines. Now it became clear, the creature was being threatened as the head turned only a moment for the Hafey model to pull out his blaster and point it directly as the Quarren just in case as it gave even an audible revolver like click even if it did not need it. Staring between the group, the shifty eyes darted back and forth as the three men would start to slowly back off yet grabbing the back of the Quarrens clothing, placed the blaster on the back of his head.

"Unclamp...now."

On that order, the ships docking clamps would be released as he made a motion with his left head to the starship. Backing up slowly, he gave a soft nudge with his left leg as the Quarren run off. Turning, he would climb the ramp as the audible whine of its engines starting, probably registering the droid on board to do a start-up sequence, would grip onto the container and barely lift it further into the bay.

"Make that three percent. Strap in the cockpit, we leave now."

The ramp would start to close as Angelus would start to pull a few levers around the ship as loud clanking noises vibrate the ship for the moment. Outside, the starship would shimmer as it became to camouflage into the environment, similar to a cloaking device. The starship had a few amenities, a small workshop and charge station, a very small medical chair with emergency supplies, rations on top of that in a cupboard that was a few years old along with a section of the ship registered for organics...basic beyond basic ammenities but it works, least there was a pillow.

The cockpit looked something out of a holonet show. Gone were normal controls but instead were many upon many levers, multiple pedals and no seat at all save for two co-pilot seats, one on each side for sensor and turret operations. Walking forward, Angelus would get locked in as a small chair did form underneath but more so to hold himself up. Gently pulling a lever, the Victor-Wing would start moving upward into the sky as he spoke aloud.

"Atmosphere in three minutes. Any questions now, I will answer...hopefully they cannot detect ion trails easily."

Arris Windrun

 

[Arris Windrun]

Arris assisted to make sure everything was in order, cargo and otherwise, her gaze still glanced back to where the Quarren and his pals lurked. Then she boarded the ship a few steps behind Angelus and made for the cockpit. Of course her eyes made sure to soak in as much detail as they could while she moved deeper into the ship.

"Fine machine. Does it travel far?" She felt a tactful way to explore its capabilities. From first glance it seemed quite the warship, and not exactly what she would've expected from a smuggler. At least that's the occupation she gathered from the brief exchange and the vague details of the job.

Arris took her seat as they made for an atmospheric breach. Questions? She certainly could think of a few. "Do you usually run into trouble?" She gauged the events back there with some curiosity and wondered how many enemies this replica had made. Of course, the most pressing question was the cargo, but she knew some folks liked to keep those sorts of details under the table.

Then again, it contributed directly to her total payout. "Oh and, uh... Mind telling me what we're delivering?" She made sure to avoid the word 'smuggling' though her tone of voice suggested her suspicions.

Angelus Hafey