Public The Kessel Run [SJO] [OPA]

[Kingsley]

"How do you know my sister?"

"Rrrawk! Oh my poor Nida, you're confused!" Kingsley's eyes widened at Kyra Perl in dismay, "You must have fallen and hit your head."

His beloved Nida Perl didn't recognize him? Oh to be fortune's fool! Perhaps this ruffian Acaadi had manhandled her trying to prevent their reunion. He could not blame her for being out of sorts but the look in her eyes like he was a complete stranger broke his heart. This was supposed to be a beautiful moment and the Jedi were ruining it! Just like they ruined everything.

"What have you done to my fiancee?!"

He dropped the scattergun in his rage and wrapped his talons around Acaadi's throat. Powerful wookiee-like claws sought to strangle the life out of him.

"Close your eyes, Nida! Go to your happy place!"

 

[Kyra Perl]

"Oh mY FORC-NO!" The moment descended into chaos. All thoughts fled Kyra-- all her training, all logic. One moment she was intent on keeping the peace. The next? She was tugging at Kingsley 's talons, screeching up a fuss.

"LET MAH FRIEND GO!" Acaadi was turned into a rag doll, shaken between them.

The three's fuss kicked them up into the weightlessness of the space-- three bodies left tangling through the air. She kicked at the bird's shins, her face going red with exertion. "You're killing him, staph it! I'LL TELL MY SISTER!"

 

[Vyri]

The ship rocked gently as he docked. Relief flooded through her, the tightness in her chest finding space to release.

“I hope ya packed”

She flicked off her comms, leaving the rest of the dying vessel to putter off without her oversee. "Yeah that won't really be necessary," Vyri mumbled to herself. She shoved a bunch of metal parts into a draw on the side, a piece of optical lenses clattering to the ground in her flurry of movement. She closed the draw, locking the the remains of her now gutted companion droid out of sight.

"Bye Vi."

She ran down the hall to her would be savior, all erasable signs of her illegal activity swiped from the remaining wreckage. Fresh air kissed her face as she jammed open the airlock. Vryi, for her part, looked harmless if not frazzled. She was tall and lean and maybe even a little dirty to boot. Life hadn't given her a shower the past few days, but hell at least it was giving her fresh air.

"Well what do you know, my hero, just in the nick of time." She stepped into his side of the dock, patting his shoulder as if they were the best of pals. She closed off her ship's own airlock, turning without care of leaving it behind.

"Thanks for that. Get us out of here, will you?" She tried to step into his ship, moving causally.

Eldin Daine

 

[Acaadi]

"Kark!" went Acaadi before those huge hands snapped around his neck. Kyra joined the fray and all three were lifted up from the deck.

Acaadi wrapped his fingers around the beast's talons and tried to lever them off just enough to keep his blood flowing and some air moving through his lungs.

He lifted both feet and planted them on Kingsley's chest. He used every ounce of strength he had to try and push his feet into his chest and break the grip. It was not going well. He should have acted when he had the chance, but all the tall of Nida had caught him off guard.

 

[Eldin Daine]

The hiss of the lock opened the door, Eldin was hit in the face with stall air, or maybe it was the smell of the girl. To be expected he supposed, not really knowing how long she had been trapped out here. Besides, he was in no position to judge, looking scruffy and unshaven, although for the most part, it was part of the ruse, there was not a need to take care of himself with no company on board.

Not that he was expecting a shrinking violet to step out of the ship, don’t get those out here in Kessel or in space for that matter, but her casual demeanour took him by surprise and enough to raise an eyebrow. He looked down as her hand patted him on the shoulder, the ingrate being so flippant, but it produced a lopsided grin.

“Ain’t no hero love”.

At least she said thanks. Eldin pushed passed her as the girl stepped into side, and once he made sure the air lock was secured again, Eldin made for the cockpit. “What ya doin’ all the way out here?”, she could ask him the same he reckoned but, he had a ship, she didn’t. “Looks like ya been in a scrap by the damage on ya ship”.

“Ya gotta name? can’t keep callin’ ya love. Ya might get the wrong idea”. He couldn’t help himself; he had a look at her, his head tilted with a ‘yeah not bad’ internal conclusion on the matter, even with all the dirt.

“If ya interested to know, I’m Eldin”, that was enough for now, he still have guns to get through Kessel.

Vyri

 

[Vyri]

Oh Vryi got her own look back at him, letting him surpass her and lead the way through his own facilities. She gave a soft chuckle, "There are worse ideas to be had." And worse people to be picked up by, too. He looked decent. Kind enough. His friendly words bred an air of comfort in what would otherwise be a stressful situation.

It was never the best circumstances-- being alone and dependent on strangers you just met. A set of guns sat on both her hips, their outlines visible to the trained eye. Oh Vryi could hold her own, alright. It was nice to get the sense she wouldn't have to.

"People call me Tea." The false name came easily. Her fingers drew lines on her legs as she memorized the halls they walked through. "My pilot droid malfunctioned. Again," she asserted wryly. The lies fell smoothly from her lips, the aliases she adopted feeling more real to her than her own life sometimes.

"Wasn't even meant to take flight till three days from now, but here were are." She said nothing of the stolen goods or the fleet of criminals she had taken off with. No mention of chases, locked down planets, or slaves.

All that tied her to it now was her position and a certain influx of news that hadn't hit the media yet. She glanced out the cockpit window as they came across it, her expression sharp for a moment as she looked to see if any of those crates lingered in the area. All she saw was the deceiving beauty of the maw. She rubbed goosebumps from her arms.

"You? Isn't exactly prime vacation spot out here. You even know where you're going?" She flopped into the co-pilot seat, looking at his navigation coordinates.

Eldin Daine

 

[Eldin Daine]

Her comment produced a grin and a tweak of an eyebrow, not that she would have seen it, Eldin flicking the switches to disengage the air lock and move his ship away. He righted the ‘Blank Shot’ and slowly moved forward, navigating around the dead ship and away from it. He flashed her a look, the girl did not seem to be bothered about leaving it behind, not that he really cared. If she did, there would be an opportunity for her to come back.

“Tea huh?, like the drink”, as casual as Eldin is, he was on guard with a stranger on board regardless of how pretty she might be, and the fact he was hauling illegal weapons. There was still the sense of urgency since Slivers were about and out here in the Run, pirates and other manner of bad guys. He doubted the girl was any part of an elaborate ruse to get them, OPA had been very careful about his whereabouts and flight plan. But he was late, and they would be getting antsy about the mission.

“What made you leave early?”, small talk as he worked on a way out of here. Now that he had location, he had a direction. Eldin turned to see Tea looking out the cockpit window rubbing her arm to rid the cold. Strange, as the cockpit was warm, but he paid it no mind, maybe she was just anxious to get the hell out of here. After all, by now she would be dead. He noticed her guns under her loose jacket, but it was equal to his attire and if she was to try something, he could hold his own as well. Although Eldin did not fancy as shoot out on his ship.

“I do now”, he grinned as he punched co-ordinates into the navicomputer. “We ain’t far from Pabol Sleheyron, trade route which will get us outta here”. And into Hutt space. As soon as they were clear of the Maw, he would make the jump to Far Pando to re-fuel.

“Just finished runnin’ a deliver to Iego, some medical equipment needed to process spice for medicinal purposes”. His turn to lie now. “Dunno much about it, I’m just the delivery guy”.

Ahead was the Pabol Sleheyron much to his relief. “Be stoppin’ at Far Pando for fuel, if ya wanna get off there. Next stop will be Terminus”.

The ‘Blank Shot’, jumped into hyperspace.


Vyri

 

[Corte Fletchador]

Kyra Perl , Karra Tor, Kingsley , Jerec Asyr, Acaadi
Chasing Eravana

After hearing bits and pieces of some sort of struggle over his staticky radio, Corte asked again Do you two need help down there? I could always just drop in if reinforcements are needed....

 

[Vyri]

Vyri mulled her options as he filled her in on his plan. Both planets were decent enough, but if she was betting anything, Far Pando would have more eyes than not working against her.

Lost payload and all.

Ugh, never mind about the busted ship.

Better she take the option to put more distance between them. After that... feth if she knew. It was great to not be dead and all, but dying woulda been a hella of a lot simpler than picking up her new mess. She let out a heavy breath, a finger pressing to her temple.

"Terminus, if ya don't mind. Got some family there. They'll take me in." If only. She avoided his other questions, letting the conversation move forward and stay off of her. "What about you? Got friends on this Far Pando," she repeated, spiting out the name like it was foreign to her. A very unoriginal idea was developing inside her mind. Something about petty theft and quick cash. She wasn't gonna draw attention to it.

What was a missing thing off the shipping log in the grand scheme of things? She had to survive on Terminus somehow.

 

[Kingsley]

"Go to sleep!" Kingsley shook Acaadi by the neck, "Go to sleep!"

His breath in the padawan's face smelled a thousand times worse than hot garbage. Acaadi kicked off of the birdman's chest to no effect. He hardly seemed to notice.

"Shhhh baby Kingsley's gonna take care of everything."

"You're killing him, staph it! I'LL TELL MY SISTER!"

"Rrrrawk! You wouldn't!"

He twirled around at last on Kyra Perl . Kingsley discarded the Jedi in his talons roughly against a bulkhead.

"I forgave you before for what that harpy Yula Perl did to me but this...she sent me to prison, Nida!"

"Do you two need help down there? I could always just drop in if reinforcements are needed...."

Kingsley tilted his head and snatched the comlink Acaadi had dropped out of zero g. He could hear Corte Fletchador on the other end.

"Rrrawk! Everything's under control! Situation normal!" he attempted a dreadful impression of the mirialan, "Had a slight weapons malfunction but uh everything's perfectly alright now. We're fine-we're all fine here now, thank you...how are you?"

 

[Corte Fletchador]

Kyra Perl , Karra Tor, Kingsley , Jerec Asyr, Acaadi
Chasing Eravana

After hearing Kingsley 's response over the radio, Corte replied I am reading this comm link as Jedi Acaadi's. who are you? You had better put Acaadi through right now or I will board your vessel and take care of business myself.

 

[Eldin Daine]

Damn, he was hoping she would want to get off at Far Pando, say their goodbyes, good lucks and may the force be with you’s and wait to see the back of her before meeting up with the smugglers. That was their meeting place, ORION would be there in waiting, waiting for the handover of credits and guns, before stepping into arrest them.

Well he still had time to work out what to do with the girl before arriving. “Terminus it is”, he settled back in his seat and propped his feet up on the control panel.

“Nah, just a re-fuelling stop is all”.

“Family on Terminus huh? What’s their names I might know ‘em”. Not very likely but sometimes the galaxy can be a small place and Terminus was not his main hang out. But at least she had somewhere to hold up until getting on her feet. Seems he was taking on strays lately, but he doubts this one was anything but in dire need of help. Eldin kind of gathered there was more to her story than she was letting on.

Eldin reached for the control panel with the heel of his foot and pushed a button, a catchy tune started to play and he waggled his toes to the beat as she settle back.

Fair enough too, after all this meeting in the Kessell Maw was by chance. He flashes a look at the navicomputer, time rapidly ticking down until they would come out of hyperspace.


Vyri

 

[Vyri]

Vyri crossed her arms unconsciously at his question. "Bob and Martha," she responded, not skipping a beat. "Rodians. Run a tech repair shop?" She glanced up at him, expecting no sign of recognition. "...No? Nice people. Cook a meaaaaan meat dish. Just don't ask what the meat is and you're in for a treeeeeeeat."

"You're welcome to it." She bluffed, grinning up at him to selling the lie.

Her fingers tapped to the music as well, the bit of life invigorating after staring down death on a stale, dying ship.

Eldin Daine

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra gasped, her hand snapping to her mouth as Acaadi was sent bouncing off the bulkhead. Uh! She only could trust that he was okay, the frazzled girl holding out both her hands to face down the neurotic plucked duck. "Uuuuuh, listen, I don't know what you're talking about but-" logic quickly caught up to her. She flustered and back tracked, deciding that going with whatever this was was likely the safest route to calming the creature down.

He didn't seem to mean her harm. Everyone else, on the other hand.

"No-nonono-" she told Corte Fletchador , her voice high and tight as he threaten to come down there and deal with things himself. "I really don't think we need to escalate this further! No one has to go to jail! You're right, see?" Her attention cut to Kingsley, a sense of calm rippling out through the air as she tried to further subdue him.

"No sisters. No trouble."

She gave him a tentative 'calm doooooown' gesture, glancing over his shoulder. "Acaadi?" She called out, wary of the situation exploding again. "Are you alright?"

Kingsley Acaadi Corte Fletchador

 

[Acaadi]

Acaadi struck the wall at speed, but he wasn't that heavy and was relatively bouncy. It didn't even register with him as he gasped for air. It still felt as if the great bird had its talons around his throat. He was mad. Acaadi hadn't appreciated the threat until it was too late.

He grunted and made a choking noise as Kyra asked for him. Instead he offered a thumbs up as he tried to breathe. Foolish and now Kyra was in the line of fire.

His lightsaber was floating in the air. Acaadi grasped something on the wall and braced against it. A gentle nudge and the lightsaber was placed between him and the owner of the ship.

Kyra would talk him down, he decided. If not he was going to launch himself off the wall and grab his saber. As soon as he felt some strength come back to him. He realised he must have been moments from passing out.

 

[Kingsley]

"No sisters. No trouble."

"Yesss..." Kingsley's eyes glazed over with pleasure, "Finally you come to your senses, Nida my sweet. No one else! Just us."

He drifted over to the hangar control systems and threw a lever. A large heavily armored crate slowly started rumbling along a hydraulic track headed for the docking bay's magnetic shielding.

"I can tell you're in pain, my darling. Whatever you see in these Jedi friends of yours I'll never understand but alas ours is a star crossed love! As a show of good faith I'm releasing my ah...wookiee cargo."

The smuggler floated back to Kyra Perl and swept her into his arms.

"Come away with me, muni! I'll let the others go and we can have a proper wedding this time! Forget about Theodore or whatever his name is."

Kingsley cleared his throat.

"Excuse me one second dollface," he raised the comlink to his lips, "Rrrawk! Now listen up pateesa! One more Jedi sets foot on my ship and I blow the reactor! I'm dropping my cargo, you just let Captain Kingsley go his own way and everyone makes it home safe."

Of course chances were he wasn't getting anywhere near that reactor but Corte Fletchador didn't need to know all the details.

 

[Corte Fletchador]

Kyra Perl , Karra Tor, Kingsley , Jerec Asyr, Acaadi
Chasing Eravana

After hearing Kyra Perl 's frantic message over the comm link, Corte spoke in a calm voice, Calm down padawan, I was just asking if you needed help and the only voice I heard over Acaadi's commlink was that of the ship Captain's. I will stay out here and push any unfortunate victims back into the ship, should they decided to jump out and hitchhike again!

 

[Sasmay Cull]

WIELDING: 4 Whimsy Knives, 1 Nastirci Combat Knife, 2 HG-88 ‘Big Iron’ Hand Cannons, 1 R12 LMG
WEARING: Phase I Haywire Armor on top of UL-13 Corporis Skin Suit

Sasmay peppered the loading ramp of the disabled ship, a few shots clipping her and burning through the first layer of her armor before dissipating on the second layer. She made a note to herself to look for something stronger when she got back. The shooter dodged behind a landing gear, shots from Sasmay sending sparks all over them as she pressed forward and continued laughing. A grenade would have been handy in that moment too as she pie'd the corner of the landing gear and abandoned the shield for a time.

"What have you-!?" The shooter yelled before she caught them in the side and back with a few shots and dropped them. The lmg silenced finally, and her attention focused on the caged wookies. A heaving sigh as she calmed down, she crossed the ground and spied the locking mechanism before waving a hand for the wookies to step back. Blaster shots at point blank peppered the lock before it dissolved under the heat and the door popped free. Shouldering the heavy weapon, she pulled the door open and waved for the slaves to go.

Her attention shot back to the jedi after the cage was empty, hurriedly walking over to them to assist once more now that they weren't in immediate danger. Squeaks over her comm however had her stopping short of the jedi as she turned away and listened to the chatter.

"Then do what you can. I'll be heading back that way in a mike. Make sure you don't hit the wookies or droids." She informed them through the comm before turning back to the jedi. "You going to make it? I got some slaves to free and if you are good to get out of here I need to get back to them."


TAG: Aldric

 

[Eldin Daine]

Bob and Martha, nope he had not heard of them, after all Terminus was a big place and he did not spend that much time there. "Have to look 'em up when we get their, meet the family", he grinned, although he did not have any intention of doing so.

Light flashed on the control panel, the 'blank Shot' about to come out of hyper and enter the atmosphere of Far Pando. He pulled his legs down off the panel, "Brace yaself, the Shots got a mean kick". Only seconds later, Eldin felt the bolt and the pressure of the ship dropping as he was pushed into the back of his seat. He could have it fixed of course, but elected not to as he liked the feeling, it woke him up and put his senses on edge. Only real problem was that anything not secured down went flying. He would fly manual from this point, turning away from the girl working his instruments and preparing to cut through the atmosphere and toward the meeting place. The ship shuddered, some of the damage it took coming through Kessel and getting too close to one of the many black holes had ripped off some of the sensor array and stability was effected, but his patch work held.

He engaged a homing beacon that ORION had installed so they could track his ship once he arrived. It would only take minutes before the 'Shot' would land at the appointed landing pad where he was to meet up with the smugglers away from prying eyes and any authorities of the planet. Not that there were. As the ship approached the landing pad, mobile missile turrets turned their target on him, and on ground men waited from the ship to land, all of them armed to the teeth. Now he regretted picking up the girl. "Stay right here, just gonna arrange for fuel". Internal sigh, he doubted she would fall for the lie now after seeing the 'welcoming mat'. If the girl decided to check the control panel, she would notice the 'Shot' had plenty of fuel and gain access to the manifest, although the 'cargo' was not on it, not in it's true registration.

Eldin left the ship armed with his twin pistols, fully loaded. At the bottom of the load ramp the smugglers approached him cautiously and formed up in a defencive line. "You're late", one man walked toward him.

"Had some trouble in the Maw at Kessel", he pointed to his ship, the damage evident on it. "I'm here now and got what ya wont". He placed his hands on his hips, a habit to place his hand close to his guns.

The man walked passed him, toward the load ramp, "Alright, lets go see them than, you'll get paid after I am satisfied everything is in order".

Vyri

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra gave a wild look to Acaadi, her body straining inside Kingsley's sudden embrace as she looked between her green friend and the cargo box, floating towards the exit.

Well that was a development! And just another thing for her to try and juggle to protect here, a slight pinch of fear in her chest. Breath! She could do this! The bird's infatuation with her was unexpected and unnerving, but in a situation like this, Kyra wasn't going to overlook it. She went along with the confusion, least she be forced ti stab her sister's friend and upset the delicate balance of the household.

"Yeah, okay, right. We can do that. But first, there's just the itsy bitsy titsy issue of this ship drifting towards a black hole-" she plucked up Kingsley's hand, trying to duck out of his arms and move towards the closest control panel.

"Or well. Several black holes. You could really do with an engine restart-- Acaadi can help there. We don't all want to die right?" She gave his talon a patpat.

"Why don't you go bathe and by then I can have engines up and we can talk about all the ways Theodore eats dust? Maybe- Just- just you and I?" She offered, trying hard to mimic Nida's ever so slight passive stutter when overwhelmed.

"Acaadi~ The wookies." She beamed at Kingsley, a weak wash of pheromones in the air.