Took Longer Than Expected

[Zhudah Sakkel]

It had been some months since Zhudah had put the request out where she could, to find a transport. She knew it would take awhile, being in the underworld along with having little credits. At least it gave her time to gather supplies, or... what she would call supplies. It was a slow process, but she had been hunting Cthons. She was in need of biological material for when she arrived at her destination, but it took longer than she planned for. She had a couple airtight cargo pods used to keep her specimens; some dead, some near death, but the problem being was decay. So instead of relaxing, she had to continue to hunt, to replace her lost specimens. But finally, there was someone interested. An independent Trader seeing some easy extra credits. Zhudah had absolutely no care in the galaxy for credits or riches, instead she found pleasure in creation. So the credits she had accumulated during her stay at Coruscant seemed enough to give away just for a ride to another planet.

One of her Chazrach slaves had met up with the trader by one of the noticeboards after the troubling communication, and brought them to where Zhudah lurked. It was a tight fitting alleyway, which should have suggested some drunk and dirty homeless person was there... but there was only Zhudah. Maybe at one time there was such a man, but not anymore. Zhudah used it to stay away from those that may still have illwill against the Yuuzhan Vong. The Chazrach didn't bother to try and speak, considering the communication troubles just from language, so it just lured the Trader to meet Zhudah... thankfully he obliged.

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

"Who's got the credits, scaly," the captain asked. Still, the Chazrach didn't speak, just ushered and pointed toward the alleyway. The captain shrugged, shaking his head as he walked over to the alleyway, alongside one of his crewmates. Zhudah slowly walked out of the shadows to reveal herself, staying quiet as to let the captain react and speak first. "Ah, one of them Vong, aye? Should've guessed by the reptoid here. So what's the deal?"

"I need a ship," Zhudah said in Basic, with what she had learned. "I need to go to Bonadan, with a couple small cargo pods, along with my two slaves. I'll give you all the credits I have, I've no need for them."

"You want me to haul all of that, for some credits barely worth the refuel of my ship? You're lucky it's on the Hydian Way, and that I'm headed near there. What's in the pods?"

Zhudah shook her head slowly, crossing her arms. "The less you need to know, the less you need to be involved with me. I'll stay out of your way, in the cargo hold, if necessary. I've waited a long time, can you transport me or not?"

The captain rolled his eyes and looked over to his crewmate, then back at the Vong. The crewmate opened a datapad, surveying it. "I need to know how big the cargo pods are, so I can see if we can fit them," the Captain noted, raising an eyebrow at Zhudah.

"The containers are about 4 meters all around, and I have two of them. My slaves and I don't take very much room if you want to pack us in single file."

"Yeah, we should be able to fit that without any issue, Captain," the crewmate chirped up. "Fine. But I'm not haulin' them except getting them inside. So you bring'em to the port, we'll get them in. How does a few hours sound, will you be ready to leave?" The Captain asked, obviously not being courteous.

"Fine... but I'll give you the credits when we load my cargo, is that good enough for you?" Zhudah wasn't going to play easy, but she needed to be careful. One wrong move and the trader would decline, and she'd have to wait again. The Captain threw up his hand dismissively. "Alright, just have the credits when I see you or we'll have problems. Bay eight, I won't wait." And with that, they had an agreement. The Captain turned to leave, and Zhudah got the attention of her slave. ("Get the other prepared, we need to move my containers. Hurry up")

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

Some hours had passed and Zhudah was able to get some help moving the containers from their location to the space port. Of course Zhudah didn't lift a finger, having the Chazrach utilizing hover jacks to move them. Zhudah tends to avoid mechanical technology; not exactly demonizing it, but to her it's almost repulsive, in a way. She was at dock eight, waiting for the trader as the Chazrach slaves pulled the cargo haulers over. Maybe the trader was being fashionably late, or something happened. But he didn't take too long, and his small freighter slowly came down and docked. As the cargo bay opened, the captain and a crew crew mates hopped off while it was still landing. "Is there only three of you?" Zhudah asked as the Captain approached her, the crewmates walking over to the Chazrach and helping them with the cargo. "Nah, there's Jack lazin' about at the mess and I got Bajona at the helm. Don't worry, I don't think you'll be lonely. But she transports cargo, not people. I don't have an extra room," he put his hands on his hips as he stopped in front of her, "Ya got the creds?"

Zhudah unclutched a small chest from under her arm as she held it out, "Every credit chip I have, enjoy." The captain reached out and took it, slowly opening the lid and nodding a little before closing it. "Climb onboard and we'll be off. Hope the hold doesn't get too cold for ya." Zhudah nodded and walked behind he as he turned back to the cargo bay. The cargo was onboard and the Chazrach were waiting. "How long will it be?" Zhudah spoke up, curious about the freighters speed. "At leasts a sleeps worth, take a rest. We've got a stop or two beforehand. Yours is last." Zhudah didn't complain. She had hoped for better circumstances, but it seemed her ad didn't get many bites. After this she'll be on her own, completely, relying only on herself and her abilities. She won't have anymore help after this, so she used as much as she could before it was all gone.

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]

After awhile being onboard the small freighter, Zhudah looked up to see another crewman, again, checking their cargo. Not hers, but their own. They were still making stops and picking up or dropping off, and Zhudah was a little curious about it. She stood up and slowly walked over to the crewman, "What do you usually transport? I mean, do you do work with the factions like the Empire or Jedi?" Another crewman entered, who seemed to be carrying smaller cargo boxes. She silently had her Amphistaff make motions and movements for her Chazrach to be alert. "Nah, we mostly do off the book kinda stuff. Once or twice we've done work for the Galactic Alliance when they needed some... special goods. Why do ya ask?" Zhudah shook her head, shrugging. "I was only curious... an idea for whenever I may get some credit income I may have inquired to your business again in the future." "Oh, ya think ya might get some credits, hoh? How's that?" Zhudah grinned and had her Amphistaff move again. With er body so large, the Amphistaff could be on her back and the crewmen wouldn't notice it. "With the vongwomb I plan to make, but now I think I need your bodies to help me make it." "Wait, wha-" and with that, Zhudah motioned her hand and her Amphistaff loomed around, striking at the crewman, slashing his throat. The other crewman was alerted, but the Chazrach grabbed him and the other slit his throat.

"There is at least one other, probably in a room or their bunk. One of you come with me, we'll go to the bridge." As the Amphistaff curled back, Zhudah brushed her hand against it, in an affectionate manner and then looked over to the Chazrach. One approached Zhudah to follow behind, and the other continued to the door leading to the hallway.

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Why are we following this person again?"

"She's the only Vong I could find on such short notice."

Natalie and Cecelia peered around the side of a corner, tracking the Vong carefully as she got on the freighter. She stuck out like a sore thumb in comparison to the usual crowd on Coruscant, not in a good way though. She found it particularly easy to track this very one, given the sudden movement of cargo containers, confirming her suspicion as she attempted to sense a force signature, at which was impossible to do. Natalie grabbed Cecelia and began dragging her to the large IMF cruiser that was docked just beside the smaller freighter in bay 7, as soon as she reached it the chase was on. So as to not raise suspicion, the cruiser remained at a reasonable distance though if the Captain was paying attention he could probably tell that they were being tailed.

Saki began screaming orders as they stopped once more, at which Natalie could only look on and glare in dismay seeing the woman get so out of control. If worst comes to worst they could simply open fire on the ship, though that would kind of ruin the point of the whole operation attempting to befriend a Vong, at least enough to study her if they could.

"Must you be so loud?" Covering the ear closest to Saki, looking out the viewport and seeing that the were quite literaly just behind the ship. In panic, Saki reached down and opened a line with the ship.

"This is the GA-ENF, we are conducting standard cargo checks on all trade vessels in the area who have visited Galactic Alliance space. You have been randomly selected for a security check. Please prepare to be boarded and be ready for inspection."

"Oh my Gods I am at a lost for words right now."

The ship's engines increased in power, speeding up to be at the right hand side of the freighter. Natalie was really unsure of how exactly they were going to board given the majority of the ship was carrying maintenance droids, she just sat wordless for now.

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Tailing the freighter

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

[member="Zhudah Sakkel"]

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


It seemed at this moment things would be a little easier than Zhudah could have hoped for. The Chazrach looking for the last crewmen found them sleeping in a bunk, which he used a Firejelly to prevent them from counterattacking, and then stabbed them. Zhudah was making her way to the bridge, and as the ship exited hyperspace, more than a few events started popping up. Opening the door, the captain was alerted, but he had just exited hyperspace and then immediately hailed by a ship. He suspected it was a crewmen and ignored the door for a moment. "What the feth? Security checks? All the way out here?" the captain spoke out loud. Meanwhile Zhudah and her Chazrach slave were getting into position, the Chazrach behind the other crewmen supposedly at navigation. Zhudah overheard the transmission as well, feeling this might be a bad time, but she couldn't wait. "Open a transmission," the captain said, but that is when Zhudah acted. She extended her arm and touched it, launching a whipsting which latched onto the captain and poisoned him. The Chazrach grabbed the crewmen by the neck from behind and stabbed his chest multiple times until he stopped struggling. Zhudah approached the captain and elbowed his skull, knocking him out so he would die unconscious.

To the ship requesting a security check, a transmission was open from the freighter, but they didn't hear any voices. It was just an empty transmission. Live, but silent. It lasted for a few minutes until they heard an unknown voice. "Who are you? The Galactic Alliance has no authority out here." Zhudah spoke straightforward. This was going to hamper her plan, but she could only control it to crash land on Thosa, she could not control it at all in a fight, so for now, she was going to comply.

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"This ship was spotted departing Coruscant. The Galactic Alliance has authority on that area, and while we are far away from Eiradu we have standing deals with planetary governors that we can retrieve non-compliant merchant vessels through force."

"You sound so hot when you're angry."

Two girls could be heard giggling through the transmission, followed by an immediate shushing sound.

"If you do not surrender your vessel within 10 minutes we will be launching a boarding party to take control of the vessel by force."

"Hey that person soundS different."

"Pretty sure they didn't sound like a woma-.."

A slamming of a fist could be heard on the transmission as it closed, Saki turning around and pointing a finger at both Natalie and Cecelia. "If you haven't noticed I'm trying to give a convincing lie to whoever is on the other side of this Goddamn comm-link and you two prissy little children keep talking over me. Out. Out. OUT." Motioning for the two leave the bridge and makeway for the launch bay where they would be boarding the ship from if it wasn't surrendered.

As soon as the two exited the bridge they couldn't help but burst with laughter once more, filling the rather empty halls with childish joy. Saki stormed out of the bridge, leaving the room unattended to scald the too once more, leaving whoever was next in charge to respond to [member="Zhudah Sakkel"]

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Tailing the freighter

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


Honestly, for Zhudah, she felt this situation to be quite weird, hearing all this from the other ship. "I am not the ship captain, nor part of the crew," she spoke up truthfully, a little unnerved by the pitstop, "the ship will not fight back, you may board." Zhudah couldn't exactly tell them no; she couldn't make the ship fight, and if she tried to kill them, surely the ship would fire on her, so she was at an impasse, she had to agree. There was a small docking port near the bridge, which Zhudah expected them to arrive from, so she waited at it. Meanwhile, she had her Chazrach slaves check on her cargo, to make sure it was still usable.

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Well that was easy..." The Lieutenant now in charge of the comms said.

As he said this, the ship swiftly made a docking maneveur, the freighter now looking to be almost still with motion, not that Natalie or Cecelia expected that to be a bad thing. As the entrances lined up, the seals engaged connecting to the two ships. The doors whirred open and to their surprise they weren't assaulted upon walking in. The bridge was just a few meters away, handy really, and Cecelia and Natalie approached the door, opening it and seeing the Vong woman.

"Just as I suspected." Looking towards the unconscious Captain lying on the floor.

"So, care to tell me what exactly's in those cargo containers? Also, if you plan on attacking me, trust me, you'll die in the process."

Cecelia placed her hand on her blaster ready to draw should [member="Zhudah Sakkel"] plan on doing so, not that either of them expected her to do it.

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Tailing the freighter

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


Zhudah huffed, as if she didn't already know how dangerous the situation was. "You think for it to be so easy I let you on the ship you still think I want to strike you down? No Galactic Uniform, no super-imposing armor, and, oh look - a lightsaber. No, I don't have the means to fight you. I only killed this ship crew because they were worthless and no one would miss them. What is in the cargo containers is no different from the crewmen. Well, what they are is different, their status is the same. Dead Cthons, for the Coruscant Underworld. I hunted them myself, and if we take any longer they'll decay until they are useless. I needed organic material for the planet I want to live on, to partially vongform it. I didn't resist because I'm unable to; I was just going to crash land this abomination onto the planet, I can't actually pilot it. So there you are, everything I'm doing on a silver platter. What's your next question?" Zhudah appeared unimpressed, actually more frustrated by the situation. She wasn't specifically annoyed by the visitors, but by the time it was taking, Zhudah was obviously trying to make this quick so the dead bodies wouldn't decay. "I don't know what's in the freighters personal cargo, and quite frankly I don't care."

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Odd. Regardless, your story matches up. We'll be towing this ship to our corporate headquarters for salvaging. If you don't want ejected from it, you could always come and join us on our much more comfortable ship, so long as you promise not to kill any of our crew members."

Natalie smiled poking Cecelia and pushing her forward. The purple haired woman glared at the Vong and her containers. She moved and placed her arms under the body of the looking-to-be-lifeless captain, staring directly into her 'eyes'

"Touch me and you're dead."

"Oh don't be so hostile C. After all... what's your name? Is our new guest! Here. I'll do you a favour. If you don't want those zombies to decay I can place them in stasis pods, or just put them under stasis myself. Consider it a gift, alternatively if you want to crash land this into your destination then I suppose we'll just be on our way, after we collect this Captain's body for interrogative purposes of which I'm sure you don't care about."

Quickly Cecelia rushed back onto the other ship to leave Natalie and [member="Zhudah Sakkel"] standing face to face along with her slaves.

In the background, several crew members would be moving behind Natalie to the cargo bay and transporting it onto the the IMF-CAP.

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Tailing the freighter

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


Zhudah crossed her arms as her Amphistaff rose up slightly from the top of her head. Before it just looked like it was part of her headdress, but that was the point. It swayed from side to side. "I was hoping to keep the captain as a meal for my pet, but you can take him, I can't stop you." She then tilted her head to the woman who threatened her, squinting with a disappointed look. "And you can watch your tongue. I'm not here to kill senselessly or start some great yuuzhan vong war. I'm what they call a Shamed One. I'm not part of their.... group. There's a difference between a Yuuzhan Vong and a Vong, and the difference is I'm banished. I'm out here for myself, and I only kill when needed. When you're all alone in a place you don't understand, you either adapt or die. So I killed Cthons as they were a murderous nuisance and could not be stopped or tamed; no one cared if I killed them. I killed these crewmen because the Cthons were starting to rot from all this stopping and going, and I thought no one would care if they died either. The Captain is poisoned with a Whisting, you'll need an antidote from me. And just so you're not confused, the Cthons are dead, they've been dead for a weak but sealed airtight in those containers. I just need to get to Thosa; if you can drop me off that would be a great help. Or was there something you wanted?"

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Sure. We only need to interrogate him for a few minutes, you can do whatever you want for him after."

One of the crew members shouted something at Natalie as thudding could be heard all over the ship. Some juttering would be followed, Natalie losing her balance slightly.

"If you need food or whatever we can supply you with whatever you need. We'll pass by 'Thosa' on our journey. If you want to stay on this freighter you're more than welcome to but it'll be a bumpy ride given that it's being towed, plus you'll miss out on having a fabulous conversation with me on my luxurious ship."

Thosa? Isn't that planet uninhabitable? That's probably where the whole 'vongforming' comes from. To be honest Natalie didn't know the difference between a Yuuzhan Vong and a regular Vong, nor was she going to ask for the particulars with the person standing infront of her seeming to be so annoyed. Her eyes fluttered as she looked back at the hauling of several cargo containers then looking forward.

"So uh... you coming?" Walking back to where the boarding had occured.

Natalie was moreso concerned if she thought these crew's lives didn't matter what exactly was she going to do with her own crew? Thankfully most of them were droids anyway.

[member="Zhudah Sakkel"]

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Enroute to Thosa.
Un-named freighter - Being towed

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


"I'm not a big talker, nor am I in need of luxury. The type of luxury I enjoy, you are unable to provide. Nothing against you, but I like my walls made of flesh." She sighed as she looked towards her Chazrach slaves and gestured to them. They sheathed their small blades and approached her, taking up the left and right as if to escort her. "But I'll go. You don't have to treat my cargo special, just don't throw it on the planet." She slowly caught up to the woman as they prepared to transfer to the next ship. "Before we say our goodbyes I will have my slaves gather up the corpses and remove them so you won't have to deal with them. Thosa is just a jump away."

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Heh whatever, suit yourself."

Natalie turned around looking to the woman. "So let me get this right, you would like to be transported to a planet that's be registered as uninhabitable?" Her face screwed up a little trying to process exactly how that was going to work out. Maybe it's only inhospitable for humans? "We can provide you with a gunship, enough room to transfer your companions and what not, but unfortunately we won't be able to go near the surface for... obvious reasons."

"Just leave the cargo in the hanger bay." As they passed it. It was almost empty, bar a few gunships and some droids running maintenance.

[member="Zhudah Sakkel"]

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Enroute to Thosa.
Un-named freighter - Being towed

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


Zhudah became confused at their statement. "What obvious reasons? It's not dangerous, it's just barren rock. I'm using these dead bodies to vongform it, and make my own vongwomb. I'm going to birth ships from the planet. Then I'll plant other flora, to vongshape creatures, which will produce more organic material to continue vongforming the planet. Just like the crewmen of that freighter, they served no dire purpose, just as the planet does. So I make them useful." But now that she finished her statement, Zhudah became curious of something, this was very, very easy. "I'm curious.... what were you searching for, when you came after this ship? And why are you so willing to give me a ride?"

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"Oh uh... interesting hobby." As they approached the elevator, they spotted Cecelia once again who held the doors for them.

"Well I'll tell you honestly - I'm aware Vong use biotechnology and I'm kind of looking into improving my longevity so, but I can assure you I have no interest in stealing from you or kidnapping you. Moreso I'm just trying to convince some investors that transporting people has its valuable aspects to it, including acquiring some ships by convenience."

She looked to Cecelia then back at [member="Zhudah Sakkel"], "Of course if you had some technology or ideas you wanted to tell me as payment, then I wouldn't refuse." Smiling to the woman as the elevator dinged and she walked out, expecting the Vong to follow her. Cecelia remained inside of the elevator, sounding like it was continuing upwards.

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Enroute to Thosa.
Un-named freighter - Being towed

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


Zhudah started to gain a smile, which slowly started to curl until she giggled slightly, just before she hushed herself. She curled her hand up to show one of her altered Shaper Hands, "You want to mess around inside of your body, human?" Zhudah turned her head, thinking someone actually wants her to change them. The thought never occurred to her, her test subjects always screaming and being a frustration. "After I've set up everything, all I want to do is create more Produce and birth and create more and new life. So I won't care if you want to adopt one of my children. But if you want to be altered, I will require time before I can offer that. Unfortunately, what I have to offer, you could never make use of unless you were Yuuzhan Vong. So you can take me to Thosa, and I'll get to work. When I finish something, I'll find a way to contact you.... or one of my children can find you on their own. How does that sound?"

 

[Natalie LaForte]

"That sounds... fine."

A voice on the intercom would begin to play throughout the ship. The voice would quite obviously be a droid or something similar, not that it particularly mattered.

"APPROACHING - THOSA."

"I suppose that's your stop then... taking the elevator up seems kind of redundant now, huh? Just take one of the gunships down to the planet. It'll be on autopilot, though I can assure you I won't tell it to crash into the planet."

Natalie continued walking down the corridor waving a hand to the woman.

"Oh yeah my name's Natalie LaForte, IMF CEO. Ciao" as she entered some sort of break room.

Spoiler: IMF commerical fleet

IMF-CAP - Y Cosmic Class cruiser 100%/100% - Approaching Thosa.
Un-named freighter - Being towed

Captained by Cecelia Price and Saki Matsuo

[member="Zhudah Sakkel"]

 

[Zhudah Sakkel]

[member="Natalie LaForte"]


Zhudah didn't expect to be there so soon, thinking they'd have maybe an hour to chat, but she still didn't know this galaxy quite well and she didn't assimilate to ...all... of it. So she shrugged it off. "You can call me Zhudah. I'll contact you when I have something ready... I guess I'll say thank you for the ride." But that was all the woman would really get. Surely, later when Zhudah has gotten all her work done, she'd be more of a charm to be around. "I guess, I'm sorry if I come off as weird or awkward.... the people of this galaxy still don't quite seem to understand what exactly I am, though I don't fault them, they never tried, since we tried to exterminate them. I'm a Shamed Vong, it means I'm banished from any official Yuuzhan Vong collective. I rule myself. I do what I want, basically. We'll talk later." And with that, she walked away, following whoever she needed to follow to find her gunship. The Chazrach slaves followed behind, but one gave Natalie a look before going. It wasn't a bad look, more like a curious look.