The Smuggler's Moon

[Elijah MacCready]

Nar Shaddaa​

Pollution filled the air of Nar Shaddaa; the smog was so thick in areas that you could almost cut it with blade. Today airflow around the area was particularly poor, making those who ventured outside choke upon breathing in the particulates. This density of particulates made it difficult for the lights of speeders and starships alike to pierce the atmosphere, making travelling to any part of the planet a dangerous expedition. Although, there were still those who dared to fly through the dense, green clouds. Many of these were smugglers, who could not afford to sit idle whilst other waited for the conditions to improve. These men had schedules too meet and items to deliver, with many of the target destinations halfway across the galaxy.

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Nar Shaddaa Spaceport​

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"If you can't afford to wait another day, get Gordo to do it!" The shouting was coming from a docked freighter located in one of the cheap hangars of the spaceport, often used by small-time smugglers. "I ain't got a death wish, and flying in these conditions will destroy me and yer cargo!" Elijah was attempting to bargain with one of his Hutt employers, who wanted him to deliver the cargo as soon as possible, although the smuggler knew this was an unnecessary risk with the smog conditions around the planet. After more bickering, both parties hung up their holonets with the agreement that the smuggler would be allowed 12 more hours before exiting the spaceport.

The stress of dealing with a Hutt, who was as stubborn as himself, had taken it's toll on Elijah and he felt like alcohol could help him relax. The spaceport was popular among the so-called "villains" of the galaxy and so featured a great deal of watering holes serving cheap booze. There were about four separate cantinas within a ten-metre radius of Elijah's ship, and so the gunslinger lit a ciagarra and began to make his move around the spaceport.

Anywhere that served cheap alcohol, wasn't jam-packed, and allowed smoking would be suitable for Elijah. As of right now, it seemed he was spoilt for choice.

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[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

It was always the same when Lirka went to Nar Shadda. It was all about work, she despised Nar Shadda. Though truthfully it wasn't all too different from her old place in the Choah Belt even with her having some of the best possible stuff avaliable to her there. Maybe, she hated it because it gave her nostalgia for Choah. And Lirka wasn't about nostalgia, she had a good 300 years left to her if some sword or blaster didn't kill her first. There was no time to reminisce over old and dull parts of her life now. She had work to do, thrills to experience. Hell, she was a "Mandalorian Protector" now. Whatever the hell that even truly meant.

But, she took time to relax for a little before going off to hunt for a bounty or two. Just some nice and bloody kill hunts, she loved those. Hunting, that was right up her style.

For once it was possible to tell she was well, a she. Her helmet placed to the side and her usual high contrast face half contorted in disgust at the cheap, but potent, booze in her hand. Her massive blade, her "Klaive" as she called it, was placed to her side. The sword resting practically in it's own seat, ready to be pulled to it's Mistress's hand at a moments notice it someone needed to be rendered into a bloody mess.

 

[Lirka Ka]

[member="Elijah MacCready"]

 

[Elijah MacCready]

The particulates in the atmosphere were choking the city-planet, causing many of the visitors and residents to stay indoors. Unfortunately this became a problem for Elijah who wanted a quiet place to find a drink. Still, Elijah was adamant about finding a suitable cantina and so would glide through the large crowds of of people, all varying in size, shape, and species.

Then, something caught his attention. No, it was not a person or a noise, it was instead a smell. The smell originated from an alcoholic beverage Elijah often drank on his home planet of Tatooine. It was one of his favourite drinks, hence why he had caught the scent in the air so quickly. It came to surprise to the smuggler that the drink was served in an area such as this as he had never encountered it outside of Tatooine. He began to follow the smell until he found his way to whoever was enjoying the drink.

"Where can I get a glass of that?" Elijah questioned, gesturing towards the bottle of booze. Upon turning around, it surprised Elijah that the bottle was being held by a woman; he had made the assumption that they were a male due to their tall stature. Soon more features would become apparent, such as the pointed ears, and he made the realisation this was not a human. It was a Sephi.

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Elijah MacCready]

[Double Post]​

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka looked up towards the man, each one an icy blue and holding a malice behind them. Lirka was half infamous for a poor temper and a generally unpleasant demeanor. If the armor itself didn’t show that with it’s
imposing and generally unapproachable demeanor, when fully on.

She trusted some as a response, his surprise was evident to her practically all seeing eyes. Was hard to hide an emotion from someone who had lived for over a century.

“The man selling drinks. Where else?”

Well, she ended up about as gruff as ever.

 

[Lirka Ka]

[member="Elijah MacCready"]

 

[Elijah MacCready]

From the response of the Sephi, it didn't seem as if she was in the best of moods. Normally Elijah would make a joking comment on this, however this person didn't seem to be in any sort of mood to deal with his humour. The full-body battle armour made it obvious that, like the smuggler, she was here for no good and was potentially dangerous.

"Sorry ma'am, didn't mean to disturb yer. There's just plenty of watering holes round here, perhaps you could direct me?" Elijah attempted to be civil as to not cause any issues with the armoured Sephi. He was all too familiar with how a simple bumping of heads could break out into a physical dispute or even a firefight in these backwater planets.

After he finishes speaking, Elijah made the deliberate effort to scratch his lower leg. This casual movement would slightly move his overcoat and reveal his large blaster, The Equaliser, that rested in it's holster. This was not meant as a threat, he just thought it would be better if the Sephi woman also knew he was not to be trifled with.


[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

[member="Elijah MacCready"]

Truly the simple fact of the matter was that Lirka was very rarely a pleasant person, it just didn't run with her well. She had spent so much of her life in dens of the underworld, and violent ones at that, that she simply gravitated towards her gruff and rough demeanor to practically anyone and everyone. Nothing personal, of course at least till someone went and crossed her. Then it became very personal.

"Ma'am? I thought this was Nar Shadda?"

She practicably snorted at the thought, Lirka hated the usual "gentleman" annoyed her already short fuse. This was the Underworld, stop wasting time with Bantha Fodder.

Moving some, the armored woman pointed forward and right towards a bar. A simple place, run-down and probably on it's last legs. What one would expected in the partial underbelly of a planet like Nar Shadda.

 

[Elijah MacCready]

After the response from the Sephi, Elijah's assumptions that she was in a foul mood had been confirmed. Perhaps it was the booze? It was a potent drink and would knock even the strongest of men off their feet if drank in large quantities.

"I might be considered the scum of this galaxy, but my mum still raised me right." The smuggler chuckled slightly at the thought of having to explain he was being polite to someone. Only on Nar Shaddaa. Although this character very clearly didn't want anything to do with Elijah, it was likely she was one of the only people around the spaceport who spoke basic. Elijah had 12 hours spare and nobody to talk to, perhaps he could try and keep her around for a while.

Elijah turned and saw the establishment where she got her beverage from, but he would turn back and speak to her once again. "Maybe you'd like to join me? Dangerous place to be alone." Elijah wasn't the brightest, but still saw the irony in saying this to an armed and armoured warrior. "Plus, you're not going to be able to leave this spaceport for at least an hour or more."

[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

Lirka easily could've tossed out her own jest there, oh she was raised right. But she ditched that whole Princess junk a century ago, it was long gone teachings at least in the sense she never actually went to use them. What use were they in the Underworld?

Lirka herself had the benefit of learning a few languages in her long life, a much easier task for a Sephi and their near ridiculous lifespans. A few years into understanding a language was nothing to them, and it wasn't much for Lirka either. A few as a kid and the others picked up while she worked a Hunter and fought in the Choah Asteroid Belt. She made a cold and humorless laugh at the "alone" part of it all.

"Maybe for you. I've learned a thing or two about handling myself. Yeah, I know. Stuck in this dump just like you."

Didn't take much for her to tell he was scum like her, it was demeanor, dress, little things that gave away those necessary hints on if one was apart of the vast vast Underworld was well. Of course, it was more of a game for her now, not like it was any truly useful information.

 

[Elijah MacCready]

Elijah did not doubt that this Sephi could handle herself, but in a place like this it was not uncommon for people to be outnumbered 3-to-1. Even in a spaceport owned by Hutts and other criminal organisations, who seemed to provide the only sense of structure or security on this moon, gang violence and petty crimes was an all too familiar issue. Many of the people in their immediate vicinity would most likely kill for the armour and weaponry she had on her person.

"Say, I didn't catch your name." The smuggler tipped his hat slightly before continuing, "The names Elijah, Elijah MacCready. But you can call me Mack or Eli. Take your pick."

Elijah still hadn't gone to get that drink. He was still thirsty and wished to be intoxicated, however at this point he was distracted by this strange character he had met. To some it may have seemed like he was flirting, but truthfully, Elijah was just being polite and trying to pass the time. At home on Tatooine he already had a wife and son, and he would never do anything to jeopardise his relationship with either of them.


[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

[member="Elijah MacCready"]

“Lirka.”

That was it. She didn’t bother going deeper into her name or anything of the sort, no need to trace back lineage to the defunct monarchy of Thustra. That was a far too unpleasant experience in those who actually knew where she hailed from, thinking she was actually royalty still...well...or even being the proper heir to the throne.

Lirka would gladly welcome someone to go and try to attack her, she had easily 80 years of experience fighting in the fighting pits in Choan and training among the Anzati for that long long decade. She was brutally skilled with her massive blade of choice, and could easily gut three men with a mere slash of her blade. Brutal and efficient was how she worked.

 

[Elijah MacCready]

"Eh, not much of a talker are you?" He retorted, smiling as he did so.

Before speaking again, Elijah would take a small holonet device from his pocket and check on the conditions of Nar Shaddaa. This spaceport lacked any windows and the artificial light was not informative of what was happening outside. The holoprojection would be visible to Lirka, although there was not much to be seen.

The smuggler sighed upon seeing that the conditions would not improve for another few hours at the minimum. "Even with all my top-notch sensors, flyin' in this conditions would require a death wish!" Elijah took a glance at his ship, which was still there, luckily. It was one of the larger ships in the hangar and featured a odd shape. It was actually patchwork of various ships Elijah had constructed himself. It was a looker, but it got him from A to B, and it did this with almost unrivalled speed for a small time smuggler.


[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

“No need for talk on Nar Shadda.”

She was highly aware of all those unsavory figures around her, maybe the one in front of her was too. The force had given her the ability of Danger-Sense early on and had saved her life dozens of times over. She could only hope that it would work this time too, friendly people weren’t commonplace on Nar Shadda unless they wanted something.

She responded with only a grunt at that, she worked within Nar Shadda itself half the time. Taking large and seedy looking lifts over paying for overpriced and just as seedy Air-Taxis. Better for her anyway, walking was good. And maybe would even get to practice with her blade along the way if anyone was stupid enough to get in her way.

[member="Elijah MacCready"]

 

[Elijah MacCready]

"Socialising ain't ever hurt anybody."

Elijah's mouth had become very dry and the various cantinas surrounding him seemed to be calling his name. It was time for him to get his drink. "I'm going to grab a drink then head back to my ship. Feel free to join me." Elijah smirked as he said this, he knew the Sephi would join him, she clearly preferred to be alone.

He headed in the direction of the business that Lirka had pointed out him. His walk had a certain swagger to it; Nar Shaddaa was a sort of home away from home and he felt confident here. It wouldn't be long until he reached the bar and would order his drink. The first taste reminded him of Tatooine and his real home.


[member="Lirka Ka"]

 

[Lirka Ka]

[member="Elijah MacCready"]

"You'd be surprised."

More than enough Bounty Hunters, Assassins, and other unsavory figures would gladly sit down and talk to your face before shooting you or slashing you into a sad little mess of gore. Lirka had been that person a few times, and of course Nar Shadda was such a sleazy and scummy place such an action wouldn't be all that surprising.

But Lirka didn't stick around for long, what reason was there? Her drink landing empty on the table the Sephi rose from her seat and back to her full height. With a hiss and a whine her helmet returned to it's place on her head and she returned to an androgynous suit of armor and with a quick flick of her hand the force was used to yank her massive blade right back into her hand. She didn't have a lick of her of using the force in public in a place like this.

Of course, she also began to feel "the tingling" as she called it. And could reasonably guess her drink wasn't drugged, no, it was likely Danger Sense. Blood was quick to being shed.

 

[Elijah MacCready]

Elijah would not sit around to finish his drink, he'd rather go back to his ship and hit the hay for his remaining break. Some of the people who surrounded him were putrid and it was difficult for one to feel safe or relaxed among them.

As he began the short walk back to his ship a creature spoke to him in a language he did not understand. "I think you have the wrong person." Was all he would reply. Whatever species this was clearly didn't understand basic as what Elijah said aggravated it. Now whatever language was being spoken was louder and seemingly aggressive. To avoid any unnecessary confrontation, Elijah would continue his journey back to his ship the longer way round through an alley between two small businesses. This was still a safe route due to the substantial lighting and clear view from the surrounding businesses, if an attack were to happen it would not be here.


[member="Lirka Ka"]