Whatever you do, don't freak out.

[Rexus Drath]

Well this was it, this is how I die, looking up at a air speeder lane while some hobo steals my shoes. The last thing I owned was my shoes and now even those were gone, now how did I get into a situation where my apartment was blown up, my speeder repo'd, and I was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer without ever once ever smoking a cigarette. Well that really boils down to three simple words.

"Lifes A queen" Jack said directly to the reader.

So now that was addressed I was just laying there in the undercity depths, my feet were cold and my life continued to be in shambles. Id jump in front of a bus if I wasn't so afraid that he'd break and I'd end up in an agonizing body cast for a year. I can't slit my wrists because I'm afraid of blood. I can't hang myself because I never learned how to tie knots. Getting a blaster is out of the question, and even if I could find one I would have no idea how to operate it. God I'm pathetic, me and my stupid cold feet. Ha, double entendres.

"Hey nerf herder, give me your wallet." And there it was, another goon wanting my last few possessions.

Laying there on the cold ground next to the burning couch fire I sighed and reached into the pocket of my filth coveted khakis and pulled out my sad fake leather wallet. Force, even my wallet was pathetic. Without a fuss I handed the man my wallet and as he snatched it up a card fell out with a number etched on it. Quickly grabbing it there was a name for [member="Kerrick Ikon"] (Sereta) and suddenly there was hope, the chance that I wasn't going to die alone.

Standing up I limped my way over to a nearby pay phone and gave my last credit to dial the number. It rang for a moment then as I did with everything, I wussed out. I hung up and hung my head looking at the ground.

"Why do I suck so much?"

 

[Kerrick Sereta]

Life for Kerrick recently had been, to say the least, entirely stagnant. The facet of the Coruscant underworld that had long been xir home seemed to have gone silent without warning, and so, with no further explanation xe had simply left. It was easier than asking around as to what had happened, and was far more sensible than waiting for another job to present itself. This sort of lifestyle was and always would be fickle, and xe had learned not to develop any lasting bonds with anyone, so when it came time to cut ties there would be nothing about a former affiliation that held xem up. A semi-apathetic way of carrying out one's life, perhaps, but there was no time for personal connections in this way of life. Or, well, not usually.

There were, of course, exceptions to most every rule. In xir case that happened to be [member="Jack Smith"], though just how much of an exception he was remained to be seen. Some kind of fleeting acquaintance had formed between them, the two had exchanged contact information, and each had gone on their separate ways without once looking back. That was the last xe had heard of him in a long while, and if xe was being completely honest, xe hadn't expected to hear from him again afterwards. And that had been the case for a long, long while. It was as if they had never even meant, and the smuggler didn't have an issue with that. This wasn't the first time something similar had happened, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

But then, one day, the comm system of xir ship picked up a transmission originating from Coruscant. There was no specific source to trace, meaning the line was either heavily encrypted or otherwise open for public use. And xe had almost picked up, before it stopped ringing altogether. Micro, xir astromech droid, warbled curiously. "Don't look at me. We haven't even had any jobs lately." Momentarily weighing the options xe eventually called back, flipping a switch that effectively put the comms on speaker mode so xe was able to move about the ship and carry out a conversation. Once again xir companion whistled an inquiry. "Yeah, I guess it could be. But I haven't heard from him in awhile."