Three, Two, One

[Sabetha Tag]

"What did you say his name was?"

"I told you twice, Sabby."

"Sorry, distracted. Been a bit since I occupied anything other than a three by three duracrete cell. Havin' a bit of an adjustment."

[member="Rohak Vizsla"], that was it. She remembered once Hira said it again, and it annoyed her that she was having such a hard time with details that would have normally been easy.

Two years in a concrete box on an asteroid with not quite enough gravity. Everything was taking more getting used to than she had been expecting it to. And not everything was quite what she had been expecting over all.

The rise of the Sith Empire. Civil war amoungst the mandos. The fall of the Alliance. The continued expansion of the First Order. The last had them on Terminus, between the increasing tensions of the Order and the Coalition. The strain of the situation could be felt in the streets, seen in every face. With actual hostilities breaking out, it made everything all the worse. Word on the street was that it would be war any day, and Terminus?

It was deeply uncomfortable with its position between the two. Even if war didn't come to their doors directly, it was about to be a very, very rough time to be living in this area of the galaxy.

The pair pushed into the bar, Sabetha falling back slightly behind Hira. She didn't know what this guy looked like, after all.

There were other perks too, but that was neither here nor there.

"Your friend here?"

[member="Hira Mitsae"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sabetha Tag"] | [member="Rohak Vizsla"]

There was an itch between her shoulders and it had nothing to do with Tag carrying herself behind her.

Strangely enough she trusted Sabby.

As much as Hira could trust anyone ever since Kalad got himself killed anyway. The sudden collapse of the Alliance had done wonders getting them out of that chit of a prison, but the chaos of the Galaxy had made Hira realized something. There was a certain strength in numbers. Two was fine, but three? Three was better. "S'allgood, Sab. Once ya see his face ya won't have trouble keeping him separate, trust. Ugly mug as anything."

They settled down at the corner of the bar while obsidian eyes scanned the room once, twice... three times.

Not here yet.

"Beer for me, ya want a beer?" Glance towards Sab while checking the bar with her hip. If so Hira would order one for her too and then settle in to sip for now. "Anyway, guy's a menace in Zero-G, best fighter I have seen. Mandalorian, but nobody's perfect, eh? S'far as I know he has always been hunkering for cash so I dun' think we will have trouble getting him on-board."

 

[Zef Halo]

The doors slid open giving way for the thick smoke to escape. His nostrils would've burned from the extragalactic spice and his eyes would've bled from the colorful and flashy signs within it had he not worn his helmet. The bucket served its purpose, always did. Some said he wore the beskar'gam all the time, others say he wore it rarely. Rohak never thought about it much. He just knew what places really required him to wear the armor and helmet and most of the time it was nearly everywhere.

It's just how the galaxy is.

Earlier he had received a communique from a person he thought dead. The Mandalorian would've otherwise ignored it had he not been in a dire financial position. Any work was welcome now. Last time he worked with Pike, and the only time, they commandeered an Order's heavy cruiser. That was crazy.

His T-visor attracted attention but at the same time fended off the annoying drunks who always were looking for a fight. Steel boots rattled the metal floor of the establishment as Rohak made his way to where Pike was. He loomed beside the two women like a shadow before his voice cracked out of the helmet's annunciator:

"What?" The Mandalorian adjusted his seat.

[member="Hira Mitsae"] [member="Sabetha Tag"]

 

[Sabetha Tag]

"Damn straight I want a beer."

Sabetha had gotten the first couple of things she'd wanted, as soon as she'd gotten out of prison. Good food. Shower. A real bed. Not EVERYTHING she'd had on her list, but there was wiggle room. While a drink hadn't actually been on THE list, it was on a secondary, lower priority list.

Yeah, give her the beer.

She leaned against the bar, elbow on it. Angled toward Hira, she accepted the beer, taking a long, deep swig before smacking her lips and closing her eyes.

"Man this is piss," she said cheerfully and took another drink. Even bad beer was still something worth enjoying after two years. It wasn't the beer itself, not really. It was the ability to stand here, free and clear, and drink it, just cause she wanted to.

"So what exactly, besides 'ugly' am I looking fo-"

The arrival of the armored figure cut off the rest of that statement. She quirked an eyebrow, glanced at him, then at Hira, then back at him.

"What what? We in yer spot or something? Cause I didn't see a sign, Tin Man. Hira you didn't tell me your friend was a Man-in-a-Can."

[member="Hira Mitsae"] [member="Rohak Vizsla"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Rohak Vizsla"] | [member="Sabetha Tag"]

"Two years in the can an' ya an expert on beer quality, Sab? Dis is fiiiiine."

Taking a deep sip to illustrate it and trying her best to hide the grimacing at the bitterness of the taste. Okay, so maybe it wasn't all that good, but Hira enjoyed messing with Sabby so in that regard this was a win as far as she was concerned. "Mmm, feels gud tho. Relaxing a bit an' not havin-" Suddenly a third shape added itself to the mix. Hira glanced over to her side and noticed the big, metal and ugly at her hip.

She looked up.

Ugh.

"Dun think I forgot how hard Kalad made ya blush every other day, Rohak Vizsla, ya think jus' cus ya got yo' self some shiny armor I gotta be impressed?" A snort followed at Sabby's nickname, she liked it tho. "Probs drank the kool-aid a bit too hard, Sabby, he wasn't showerin' in his beskar'gam last time I saw his mug." The pronunciation was impeccable for once.

"Sit yo ass down, Roh, have a beer. We got chit to talk about. Get this man a straw."

 

[Zef Halo]

Man-in-a-Can.

That's the newest byword for a Mandalorian in his dictionary. These di'kuts got better with every new insult. The curt amusement remained hidden behind the cold, glaring black visor of his buy'ce. One of his favorite parts about wearing a Mandalorian helmet, or well any other helmet, was one always had a sabacc face.

"Sit yo ass down, Roh, have a beer. We got chit to talk about. Get this man a straw."

The bartender quickly drew a glass of beer with a straw out of think air but surprisingly Rohak shoved it away. He kept his glare at the two women carefully analyzing their features till his mind finally caught something odd.

Hira?

The Mandalorian swept the thought away. Did it even matter? Coin was all that mattered in his mind and it was time to talk about coin. Small talk and stupid jokes came later when one was desperate for creds.

"What's the job and where's Shysa?" Rohak asked with his voice coming out of the annunciator rather demanding.

[member="Hira Mitsae"] | [member="Sabetha Tag"]

 

[Sabetha Tag]

Sabetha leaned back slightly against the bar, looking him up and down. Not that there was much to see. Metal metal, more metal, really tall.

And apparently the personality and sense of fun of a wet paper towel.

She snorted, reaching over and plucking the glass out of the air in a heartbeat right before it spilled.

"Man if you don't want that then I'll take it," she said. "Might be lousy beer, but no need ta hurt its feelings. Don't worry baby, I gotchu." The last part was addressed to the beer.

Tilting her head, so far Sabetha wasn't impressed. Oh sure, he came across as tough, but it was coming across as either grumpy and defensive or trying too hard. She wasn't sure which yet, the jury was out. Maybe he woke up on the wrong side of the beskar that morning. She didn't know and she wasn't sure if she cared. Him being a friend of Hira's was about all he had going for him for the moment. She was hoping for more.

"Extra muscle, need someone with some of your particular skills- according to your friend here- got an eye on something on a space station," she said after a long drink, jerking her head in Hira's direction. "Maybe long term, maybe not. Guess that depends on if we all like each other enough to keep it up."

[member="Hira Mitsae"] [member="Rohak Vizsla"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Rohak Vizsla"] | [member="Sabetha Tag"]

She was starting to second-guess herself.

Had time really changed Roh so much that he had grown an arse for a brain?

"Shysa's gone, Roh. You didn't know? Got himself offed in the prissy Mand'alor schutta's throne room." Yasha fething Mantis. Queen schutta and the one holding the leash of every two-bit nothing Mandalorian around Mandalore these days. She had read up on it all since they escaped from the prison. She was nothing. Less than nothing. Kalad had been six times the Mandalorian and he barely talked about the Resol'nare as is.

The fact that he had gotten himself killed trying to yank her out of that posh recliner seat only infuriated her more.

"Sabby's got the right of it. Ya might have gotten an arse for a head these days, but ya still the best Zero-G fighter I have seen. We run this job, earn some dough. Run some more missions if we haven't killed each other by the end of it. Then..."

She finished her glass, thumped it on the table and pointed her finger straight against the visor of Roh.

"We fethin' kill everyone who had anything to do with Shysa's death. Dig?"

 

[Zef Halo]

Space station?

Here go the reckless ideas again. In all honesty, the reckless ideas bothered him less with passing day without work. At least it wasn't a Super Star Destroyer, right?

"Maybe long term, maybe not. Guess that depends on if we all like each other enough to keep it up."

Rohak pondered over Sab's words trying to decipher the meaning behind them. If he was assuming right, did she just indirectly say they were thinking of forming a crew? He decided not to ask but keep the question for later. What interested him the most was getting a job done and getting those coins flowing.

Then came the news of Shysa. It didn't hit him like a hammer but it pulled a painful string within reminiscing the moments Rohak nearly died in that damned throne room when Shysa got killed. Shysa was never more than an acquaintance to Rohak but his death there reminded him of the buried memories of the death of his siblings in that same throne room in that same event. He grimaced at the news. Shysa was a good Mandalorian, true to his blood, true to his culture.

Mantis...

"We fethin' kill everyone who had anything to do with Shysa's death. Dig?"

"Fair." The Mandalorian grumled. He sought vengeance less than coin but delivering retribution had always been on his mind. Rohak just didn't show it to outsiders. There was no need for them to know how he felt. "She mentioned space station. What space station, what exactly do you want done?"

Rohak looked them both up and down realizing something.

"Have you both even got a ship?"

[member="Sabetha Tag"] [member="Hira Mitsae"]

 

[Sabetha Tag]

Sabetha kept quiet during the exchange about Shysa. Wasn't her circus. She didn't care much about the revenge bit. She was in it for the money. Maybe Hira a little bit but that was up in the air. Fine lady, but Sabetha didn't go through this much trouble for some tail. The credits however....

Emerald eyes glanced sideways at the other woman when the soup can mentioned a ship, then covered her mouth and coughed.

"Ah there's the rub, ain't it? Part of the job is getting a ship. Specifically, a particular cargo ship."

The ship Hira thought she'd had, well, that was gone. Stolen, missing, didn't much matter. Sabetha? She'd been in lock up for two years, feth no she didn't have a ship. Buy one? Let's not be silly. But to actually manage their plans to hit that records hub on Sullust, they were going to need a ship, and a lot more besides.

"Station is a shipping waypoint. Civilian but beefy. There's a company that ships something Hira and I want to get our hands on for a side project." A pause. "Anti-matter. Can't nab it at point of origin or delivery. But between? Already got a buyer, courtesy of your friend here, minus the amount we need for our.... arts and crafts project."

Sabetha finished the first beer and then got started on the one Rohak had been so mean to.

"They have a special hangar on the station- zero-gee for stuff with a tendency to go boom, ya dig? Which is why we want you."

[member="Hira Mitsae"] [member="Rohak Vizsla"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Rohak Vizsla"] | [member="Sabetha Tag"]

Her expression darkened at that.

"I had a ship." The tip of her finger tapped against Roh's visor, before she pulled her way back and gestured for another glass. Her hip checked Sabetha's knee gently, before she half-turned towards the bar and accepted the second mug of beer. Say what you want about the barkeep (rodian, beady eyes, but kept his nose where it belonged) he knew exactly where the money was. It was answered with a push of a credit chit over the counter.

"Some fether made off with it while I was in jail."

Sudden suspicious glance at Rohak. "Ya wouldn't know anything 'bout dat would'ya?" A nod after Sabetha explained a bit more. Sighing, deflating a bit as the second can of beer took the edge off of it all.

"We go more silent than I am used to." And by extension he was used to when working with her. "Sab over 'ere convinced me might be best if we dun start with a big boom or two from the get-go."

Ugh.

But smart, Hira guessed. She reminded her of Kalad already.

If that was a good thing or not was up in the air.

 

[Zef Halo]

Of course they had no ship. They looked like prison fugitives from miles away, no wonder the Rodian was handing beer on their side of the bar without being asked to. Got a good sniffing nose for credits. Rohak crossed his arms and leaned back on the backrest-less bar stool. So anti-matter, huh? Never got his hands on one of those ever. Last time he heard about anti-matter was Capn. Gulvren's whole crew perishing in an incident trying to snatch a cargo of that. Not a fun story.

He nodded at Sab curtly before Hira tapped his visor irritating him. It seemed the two girls had it all figured out but Rohak had his doubts on whether they were telling him everything. Yet, his financial situation was nothing less than desperate.

"I don't steal ships, Hira." Commandeering a ship wasn't stealing in a pirate's vocabulary. His T-visor tilted at Sab's direction. "You're both talking about silence and no big booms but we're talking about anti-matter here. It doesn't add up but I am not asking more questions at this point."

"Seventy to thirty. My majority." No point in more questions before the terms were settled. Standard pirate procedures and ethics.


[member="Sabetha Tag"] [member="Hira Mitsae"]

 

[Sabetha Tag]

"Anti-matter is for a side project, nothing ya gotta worry about-"

Sabetha snorted.

"Seventy-thirty? You havin' a laugh? Okay I take back my unkind thoughts, Hira, your friend must have a sense of humor. You said he was ugly but I dunno if I trust your tastes. Gonna take off that helmet or what? Don't like making deals with people who's faces I can't see. That's how I ended up working with Hira over here."

She threw a smirk the other woman's way, clearly teasing. The exchanged the followed was a rapid fire back and forth, clearly in the same vein.


"Is his face pretty enough to ignore his personality while karking him?"






"I dunno yet, I'll let you know. Jury's out, that's why I'm askin' ."













"I knew you fell for drugged-out Bothans, didn't know you were into arsehole mandos too"









"To be fair, 'get laid' was like, literally on my list."









"There are professionals for that, ya know"









"With what money?"









"Oh, please, waggle your arse a bit and they will give ya a free ride."

"Lady, you haven't met a lot of whores have you? They don't give ANYTHING away for free, no matter what your butt looks like. I do admit, mine is rather fine tho, if you haven't noticed."









"With your taste I think I am talking to one right now."













"If you waggle your arse at me, I'll give you a free ride. I mean, hell, they make better money than we're making with you judging who I kark so why not."













"Awesome. I will be ya pimp and earn 70-30. Roh, your taste-man, gave me that idea."













"Nah, I'm still laughing at him over that. Anyway. 70-30 not happenin', playa"

Green eyes came back to Rohak at that one.

"Fifteen to you." It wasn't a final offer. The whole point was to go back and forth, insult each other for a bit before finally meeting on the reasonable amount in the middle sane people would have just agree on to begin with.





[member="Rohak Vizsla"] [member="Hira Mitsae"]

 

[Zef Halo]

If you haven't seen a facepalming buckethead - now's your chance. As the two girls, visibly tipsy (two beers after serving time was enough), enjoyed a heated discussion of who would kark who, or, more specifically, would Sab be screaming oya oya beskar beskar tonight, Rohak couldn't help but swing by and rob Sab of the beer she had snatched from him. He wouldn't drink it yet, that'd mean he'd take off his helmet and for now he was slightly enjoying teasing the ginger. Hira, on the other side, had seen him without the buy'ce back when the Mandalorian met her and her associate Kalad.

After the verbal duel things came back to business and Rohak was once more interested. Fortunately for them he wasn't much of a negotiator. Never was and only he couldn't notice that.

"Fifty, fifty or no deal." The pirate stated turning his head back from the beer to the two girls.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Sabetha Tag"] | [member="Rohak Vizsla"]

Hira chuckled, leaning back against the bar once the 'argument' leveled back towards the deal at hand.

That didn't prevent her from leaning in and whispering (loudly enough to be overheard tho)- "Mebbe I will waggle sum depending on how much ya buying." A wink. It obviously ignored Rohak's self-inflated price on his services. Oh, Hira didn't dispute that he was good, but not 'lower my own share to pay him' good. Barely even a third of the goods good, if she was being honest. But Sabetha had convinced her that a third was the fair thing to do here.

Ugh.

Who cared about fair.

"Listen, I jus' wanna have some drinks an' enjoy da music. Ya get a third- anything more an' ya can take a walk. Am sure ya rusty-ass buckethead has jobs lining up da woozoo, hence ya accepting a call of someone ya haven't seen in years." A chit-eating grin followed there.

That was the thing, no? There was a reason why Roh had accepted it.

And he wasn't exactly the nostalgic sort, so money must have been tight here.

"Yah or nah, boy?"

 

[Sabetha Tag]

"Hey!" Indignant as Rohak snagged the beer, practically from her lips. "You didn't want it! That's a terrible thing to do to a beer- and STILL the man doesn't drink it, give it back, the poor thing needs to know its wanted."

She held out her hand for it.

"I couldn't afford someone like you, lady, Too rich for my blood what you'd be worth," she smirked and then made a face.

"Ugh, Hira you are really bad at this, you know that? First they ask for the sun and we respond with bantha piss and work up from there to that reasonable middle point. Fine. Yes. A third or no deal. As it is yer more insurance than anything else, buddy. Third is fair and you know it. Now hand that over or buy me another. I ain't picky but don't gotta be a booze tease."

[member="Hira Mitsae"] [member="Rohak Vizsla"]

 

[Zef Halo]

The Mandalorian remained silence looking as if he was pondering the offer. Someone had told him never shoot a straight answer for some reason. He never learned what the reason was so he looked blankly through the visor at the two, the buy'ce helpful in keeping his expressions to himself.

"Only because Shysa was a serious di'kut." Rohak lied. The truth was - he needed the cash. Sliding the bottle of beer back to the thirsty ginger he abruptly stood up from his seat. "Let's find a ship."

--

Something like a junkyard,
not far off.

"Rohak, old friend." Came the Bothan dealer's greeting with arms wide open. How many times did Rohak have to tell him they were not friends? "I've got some fine new additions."

Yes, the junkyard was illegally selling starships. Taxes recently went up by a lot on Terminus. Gotta make those ends meet somehow. So K'uhk Aleneia turned to what he knew best - starships. Far as the Mandalorian knew, K'uhk used to be a cargo hauler gone smuggler gone rebel gone merchant. Guess hope wasn't a good enough wage. K'uhk knew a whole lot about starships and even more about modifications on them so that's what he sold - old, but modified starships. Looked like junk most of the time but they usually were much more than the eyes met.

Don't forget though - they're still either old or overused.

Maybe not the best place to look for a ride to hijack some incredibly important reports but budget's low.

"Won't you introduce me to your girls, eh?"

"Show me what you have got, K'uhk. They can introduce themselves if they want." The pirate grumbled coldly as his visor locked dreadfully with the Bothan.


[member="Hira Mitsae"] [member="Sabetha Tag"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Rohak Vizsla"] | [member="Sabetha Tag"]

"More time ya spend on me, bigger the discount gets, Sabby. Stick it out an' ya will be fine."

Eventually Roh got his chit together and agreed to the deal. A glance towards Sabby when that happened, a self-satisfied wink that basically reeked of See? "Ya go an' find ya contact, lad, Sab and me gon' have another drink. Relay da contact when ya got 'em."

---

They'd meet back up at that junkyard, where Hira was squinting at it all with something of... suspicion.

"Ya sure dis da place, Roh. Look like 'em ships gun' fall apart just by looking at 'em."

Or speaking too loudly.

She was slurping loudly from some fruity drink with umbrella and straw. In the meantime she was studying the Bothan on the other side, while he was having his interaction with Rohak. It was clear that the Mandalorian wasn't a huge fan. Just as it was clear that the Bothan didn't seem to mind or maybe he didn't notice. Either way- " 'is girls? Puh-lease." Hira snorted over the rim of the glass while glancing around again.

"Ya got anything fast and maneuverable in here, eh? Preferably that dun' get demolished jus by taking off."

 

[Sabetha Tag]

Despite the earlier display, Sabetha had declined a to-go drink. Was one thing in a bar where half a dozen improvised weapons were close at hand (the number of people she'd taken out with a barstool alone). But walking around the streets she wanted her hands free for the blasters on her hips.

She'd hate to have to break a glass full of booze in someone's face.

Think of the poor booze.

None of what was clear to Hira about the interaction between Rohak and the Bothan was clear to Sabetha. After all, Rohak still had on that helmet and he was acting basically the same way toward the Bothan as he'd been acting toward them in the bar. She was just starting to think he didn't like people in general. Of course, she wasn't about to make hard judgements on ten minutes of interaction.

Probably.

Some people took longer to warm up than others. Some never did. Sabetha wasn't terribly fussed.

While Hira snorted, Sabetha smirked.

"Dunno if he could handle one of us, let alone both. Still tryin' ta figure that out."

The Bothan opened his mouth to respond to the other woman, but never got it out.

"Hira you wound him," Sabetha said, pouting. "Every ship on this lot is of the HIGHEST quality, dontchaknow?"

It was obvious to everyone but the Bothan that the redhead was mocking.

"Oooohoho Rohak my friend, keep this one, she knows a good thing when she sees it."

As the Bothan turned away to lead them into the yard, Sabetha rolled her eyes for the other two.

They looked over a couple of ships. All of them, she was surprised to see, were at least good enough to make a single jump to hyperspace. Of course, she couldn't promise they'd made the reversion back again, but still. It was a step better than what she'd been expecting. Small step. Crooked. But there.

They settled on one in particular. One of the two least likely to shake apart on a second jump. With the other two clearly terrible at haggling, Sabetha stepped in there. They went back and forth, trading both casual verbal abuse and flirtation, until, finally, the Bothan clutched his chest.

"My family will starve tonight at that price, Miss, but you three have yourself a ship."

[member="Hira Mitsae"] [member="Rohak Vizsla"]

 

[Zef Halo]

Rohak gave Hira a baleful look as she chit talked the Bothan. She was the last one to talk about preferences when she had zero cash. The ginger too. Prison breaking wasn't bank breaking. They were piss poor and Rohak knew it. How the Bothan couldn't see it was beyond him. Maybe Sab had a knack at haggling, at least it looked like she did. The Mandalorian wouldn't last such a long back and forth conversation, he'd either smack the other or flip the finger. Kark what they said about no brains under the buy'ce.

He looked the freighter up and down but the helmet gave no hint of his facial expression. As the Bothan left them, Rohak turned to the two tipsy girls with something close to a snap:

"Who is the pilot?"

The Mandalorian wasn't really the best choice to take the helm of a ship smaller than a frigate and this ship of rather outlandish origin was certainly far from his expertise. He'd only barbecue them in an explosive ball of flames.

He slammed the ramp open for them to board and something from inside fell with a loud crash.

Time was money and if these two aren't lying - he'd make a good enough fortune from this job. If they did?

Rohak would have to put one in their backs. Nothing new.


[member="Sabetha Tag"] [member="Hira Mitsae"]