You know, for a filthy, scum-infested eyesore the Blue Asteroid wasn’t too bad. I’d been in worse, that’s for sure. Yeah, the air was full of weird gray smoke. And the band only knew two songs. And the bartender couldn’t even mix a good whiskey on the rocks. And the floor was so sticky that the only dance people ever did was the tromp. But hey, it was nice.

Yaoksi and I walked in side by side, both of us gripping our blasters and ready to blow the other one into oblivion at any moment. I took a seat at a table that was just waiting for two good looking guys like us, and Yaoksi sat down across from me. I smiled a big toothy grin and raised my empty hands to show I wasn’t holding a weapon.

“Hey, barkeep!” I called out. “We’d like two of the best whiskeys on the planet. But since we’re here, we’ll take two of yours!”

There was a general roar from the rest of the crowd as the bartender muttered something under his breath and poured the vile liquid into what were hopefully somewhat clean glasses. I turned my head back to Yaoksi as the waitress moved towards the bar to grab our drinks.

“So,” I said. “Thanks for joining me. I was hopin’ to catch you before you blasted off, and was really surprised to find you still on the tarmac. And what was with those crazy lunatics, anyway? That what held you up?”

--------------------

Fact of the matter was, I didn't know him from Adam, and a part of me was still hopping mad that he even had come near me and my ship. Too many peeps had come near me and Devil today, serendipity be damned.

It was plain peculiar, that's a fact.

So I just acted casual, but kept one toe on the line and the other ready to run.

"Yeah, I don't know what was with those slimebags, but they're history. At least I hope."

I was interrupted as the bartender came schlumping over to plop a couple smudged glasses on the table in front of us; not my usual brew but hey, a freebie is a freebie.

I lifted the glass, took a swig. Set it back down and slouched a bit further. One hand reached up to toy idly with the sad, brown tendrils of a nearby hanging plant. My eyes followed my fingers... except for my peripheral vision, which still had Muscles planted firmly within it.

"Sooo..." I finally allowed, letting the crinkled vine crumble to the sticky floor, adding its own small effort to the effluvia there.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?

"In private?"

His final comment raised a few tensions, but I managed to keep that under control. Just because I didn't trust him, figured he must know something about me not taking off when I was supposed to, and thought he had bad breath was no excuse to behave in an uncivilized manner. I just turned back to him, raised my glass, and with a big smile took another swig of the awful stuff.

--------------------

“Now,” I smiled, raising my glass, “salute.” I tossed the glass back and drained it, letting the cheap whiskey burn its way down to my gullet. It had plenty of company, it wouldn’t be lonely.

I relaxed a little and regarded Yaoksi with a smile.

“Pardon me, don’t mean to stare. I just can’t believe I’m sitting in the bar with the famous Yaoksi Joao that I’ve heard so much about… recently. Ya see, I’m just a poor honest businessman, making a living by hauling freight from system to system. I snag what most guys in my position would call a beautiful thing, only to all at once find it yanked from under my feet. To me it ain’t right to make a deal with someone like me, then pull it cuz someone came out of retirement.”

I waved at the bar to get a fresh round delivered.

“But I’m not mad, naw. That’s for young punks and losers, not for enterprising businessmen like ourselves. Folks like us, we can see opportunities. When life gives us lemons, we pour a whiskey, right? Ya with me so far? Good. So let me ask you, are you the kind of man who cuts in line at the local club, or you the kind of man who makes friends with the doorman? Cuz if you’re the friendly type, I’ve got a proposition for ya.”

--------------------

Who famous, me?

C'mon pal, have you got your mag-flux all in a slush....

But whether what this guy thought of me was factual or not, the reality of the situation was that he clearly believed it to be so. This was rapidly turning into something of a sticky wicket; it would seem that Mr. Muscles thought I was muscling into his territory.

Or at least, just by being me, keeping him from muscling into that territory already staked out as mine. But whichever, it was something I could certainly put to my advantage.

I set my drink carefully on the table, resisting the urge to stomp on the critter whose appendage I had been toying with, and leaned across the table to level a steady look at Rico.

"I believe you've got me wrong, pal," I said slowly, keeping my voice all friendly.

"I'm the kind of guy who owns the club, so you see I can go inside when and how I want to.

"Now, just for giggles, assuming that I don't have anything better to do... what is this proposition you have for me?"

--------------------

“We’re both businessmen,” I began. “We’re both freight pilots looking to make an honest living. I also got a feeling we’re both willing to go a little beyond the honest part. Bottom line is I got a great deal goin’ on here, and you coming out of retirement is going to cost me big. But I got a nice score here, and I don’t wanna lose it.”

I could see him tense a little at that, so I soothed out my voice as best I could. Thing is, I got a rasp.

“That’s what it comes down to. You see, I found this animal gland business on my own, and it’s worth a lot to me, I don’t mind telling you. What I’m asking is for some support here, smuggler to smuggler. If it’s offered, turn it down. I’ll do something for you down the road, I’m good to my word.”

Before he could answer, another thought hit me.

“You know what else? You got a ship, I got a ship. You got contacts, I got contacts. We put ‘em together, who knows what we can do? I picked up a few legit runs, too, one of ‘em is running supplies to one of the SSD’s around the Big C. Got myself a writ to fly right up and dock with it, even. Payoff is big. How’d you like a piece of that action?”

[ 03-21-2005 09:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rico Riven ]

--------------------

Sitting in a comm station, Kia'ra decided to make another desperate attemptto contact Captain Yaoksi Joao regarding her cousin Nais'ralen's condition, this time hoping to recieve a reply directly rather than having to rely on her family to inform her of one. She dialed in the frequency her cousin had given to her, the one which had been left by the Captain when he left her cousin Nassy on Ryloth.

Captain Joao, she began, I am still hoping to speak to you concerning my cousin Nais'ralen's condition. If you have already replied to my query, I apologize, for I have not recieved it. At any rate, I am hoping to hear from you, and soon. The injuries to my cousin bewilder me...

...and I wish to understand them. She was a close friend and confidant, much more than simply a cousin. I will await your reply at this frequency.

Finishing with that, Kia'ra attached her current frequency as promised, and sent the message, waiting for any reply which might answer the questions still burning in the forefront of her mind.

--------------------

This time it was something a touch wee stronger, Walkn'Fall...

I took a swig and smiled, deeming it prudent at the moment to keep to myself the little fact that this animal gland deal had already fallen into my lap. I dunno when my client was going to enlighten Mr. Muscles here, maybe never. Maybe they were just padding their bet that the stuff would get through.

I didn't know much about this guy, but I did know my own track record.

The job hadn't been given to me on the basis of my good looks, after all.

To Muscles I merely smiled, settling a touch more deeply in my chair, both hands carefully in sight but my blaster loose and easily obtainable upon my hip.

I took another, smaller drink.

"Since when do freight runners work as a team?" I asked him then, still all friendly and nice...

...figuring sure as there were space slugs in asteroids that he was still trying to muscle in on my territory, and probably thought that tossing me to the Impys would be the best way to buy it.

[ 04-11-2005 02:05 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

--------------------

“Well,” I said, still smiling myself. “They don’t usually, but I’ve seen it done. Teams can be pretty lucrative, from what I hear. You see, they don’t give those writs to run supplies to the Coruscant blockade very often. The folks here saw what I can do, liked it, and gave me the contract. Look, I’m no fool, I know that dingle-nuts will want you working the gland route, you worked with him before and he trusts you. It’s a crock to pull out on a deal with me, though. What I’m offering is a trade, you share that smuggle route with me and I share the legit route with you. While one is running one way, the other is running back, we’ll always be in motion and can make more runs.”

I sipped my drink and grinned a crooked grin. I looked down at my empty glass, contemplated the merits of another round, then noticed the light on my comm was blinking. Someone left me a message.

“Come on, just think of it. Flying up next to a Super Star Destroyer, right into the loading bay, and having them PAY you for it? Doesn’t that give you just the slightest of goosebumps?”

I raised my hands over my head and pushed back my chair a little.

"Tell ya what," I said. "I need to go flush the ballast, you think about it a minute and I'll be right back."

I stood and walked to back of the bar, pulling out my comm. I stopped near the door of the privvy and checked the message, keeping my eyes on the main door. The goons on the dock got my ship loaded yesterday, a day ahead of schedule. If I would've known, I could've been there right now, probably just pulling into the docking bay of big ol' SSD. This day just kept getting better.

After a couple of short clicks, I walked back to the table and put on as much of a smile as I could muster.

[ 04-20-2005 10:34 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Rico Riven ]

--------------------

My smile wavered; I still didn't trust the guy, not even as far as I could toss my granny's mashed yavi-plant. But, to be honest, on his side there was the little fact that (1) he was indeed returning to the table; and (2) he hadn't tried to blast or knife or poison me yet.

At least I thought he hadn't attempted the latter; I shot a quick glance to the remains of my Walkn'Fall (now half-drained by the simple act of pouring the rotgut under the table in Muscle's brief soiree to check his comm) and decided that even if he had, the stuff would neutralize the toughest neurotoxins known to the galaxy.

Yeah. It was that bad.

A smile undoubtedly as false as my own plopped itself across Muscle's face; he approached our table, still all nice and friendly, and reached for the back of his chair. I will admit, however, that I didn't have to put on the act as I considered further his offer of a double run; being invited to board an SSD was that coveted an improbability.

But, insidiously dangerous, no matter what they said, and highly suicidal to boot.

What was in it for me? I didn't need the run; the animal gland contract was but one of many I knew would come my way, once word got out that I was fully back into the swing of things. I had no one to support, no bills to pay, no strings attached. Devil-May-Care was fully operational, fully upgraded...

...but, come to think of it, missing something.

Bee.

Tell the truth, it still rankled that the little redhead had so blithely up and sent my one TIE off into an early demise in the heart of a Sun, saving the galaxy by thus destroying some weird something-or-other be damned. It was my TIE; at the time I hadn't said anything for sure as hell that would have made me look -- not to mention, feel -- like all kinds of cad.

But Devil just didn't seem right with one part of her missing. Wannabee was lonely....

And what did SSDs keep aboard them--?

I straightened, shifting as Rico regained his seat and slugged down his Walkn'Fall, letting my casual smile slowly return and then crook just a bit as he slammed his empty glass down on the table. I then let the smile planted on my face slide into something more appropriate to the conversation at hand.

"You know," I finally said. "These Impys are only expecting one ship:

"Yours.

"How am I supposed to join into this, ahh--- lucrative deal that you're talking about? You're that important to them that they're just gonna sit back and allow this to happen?"

I picked up my drink and took a careful sip; damn, but I hated that stuff.

[ 07-05-2005 11:43 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

--------------------

Rico set his empty glass on the table and eyed Yaoksi, a genuine look on his face.

“As it turns out, they got my ship loaded early. I could blow outta here right now and we could forget all this. But I really want that gland deal, and we could really both come out on top here. Who knows, you might even be able to work out a deal for a TIE.”

--------------------

"Look, buddy; you're still not telling me how the Impys are gonna all of a sudden allow a new ship to go waltzing up to them -- especially when you're talking that the blockaded planet in question is Coruscant!"

I daggered a level look into his cool, green eyes, matching what I found within them like for like.

Then I sat back and letting out a little chuff of disgust, pushed the Walkn'Fall away from me. This with my left hand; my right one was still handily free to do--

Well. To do whatever I required of it.

--------------------

--------------------

A company???

--said "company" having a convenient "writ" to go waltzing up to SSDs busy blockading major core worlds. Like it was taking him that extra time to dream up a legit response, or one that (hopefully) would appear thus to me.

Or mybe it was that I just didn't like the tone of his voice.

Suddenly this deal just seemed sour as hell. If Bozo here had a "company," then sure as shootin' every damn ship he purportedly owned would be on some kind of list with the Impys: id numbers, flux signatures and all. Those guys just didn't go around handing out invites carte blanc for the universe in general to come dock with them, ya know.

And Fates only knew that so far -- knock on greel wood! -- Devil had yet to be put on any kind of list that I knew of.

Which was just the way I liked it.

I smiled, leaned back nice and easy in my chair. Cast a furtive look about us.

Good, most of the patrons had either left, or were else sitting far enough away from us that, should it come to this, any stray blaster fire might miss the majority. I hated brawls, especially ones in bars, as usually the victims were not the intended ones but rather the innocents.

"A company," I mused aloud, one forefinger idly doodling an abstract design on the tabletop.

"Sounds to me like you've got it pretty good pal; in fact, good enough that you really oughtn't to be troubling yourself about losing that animal gland deal. By comparison to what you've got going for you with this Imperial deal, its dust bunnies."

I paused a moment, my smile unwavering, every muscle still loose and ready. Then I leaned forward, pinning him with an even look.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass. I've got other things I was planning on doing."

Alone. Which -- again -- was just the way I liked it.

With that I nodded to him, pushed my half-filled glass further in his direction, and rose to my feet.

"Thanks for the drink," I finished as, tossing a few credi-coins on the table for our moochy waitress, I nodded to Muscles and headed for the door.

--------------------

Too many potential deals going down the tubes if I lose this gland deal. This guy was either stubborn as hell, or as dimwitted as a pile of dung. Maybe I was using too big of words? I dunno, maybe I just fry his ass right here and now and be done.

I pushed back my chair and stood, still looking the other direction.

“You just don’t get it, do ya?” I asked the wall. I then turned to look at him.

“I don’t have a company, I just got me. These bozos landed this writ on me because I’m the one who do the job. But I guess you’re not into back scratching and all, eh? Damnation and hell-buiscuits, are you just daft or what? I coulda been hauling space dust all night and been at that SSD right now delivering that load of wea—“

It took a split second for my brain to register the blast. I saw the flash of light out of the corner of my eye, right before the shock took out the big window of the cantina. As the ball of flame made its way from the ship bay to us, I felt my legs go into motion without any word from my brain, and I sprawled myself out as I dove into Yaoksi, bringing us both the ground as the fire ripped through the bar.

It was over quickly, and the screams from outside came tearing into the now wide open cantina. I rolled over on my back, checked Yaoksi for life and saw he was just as disheveled as me. The fireball miraculously spared most of the inside of the bar, but the huge window was shattered all over the floor. Little pricks of pain shot through my hands and face, and I saw I was bleeding.

“Aw, crap,” I growled. “What the hell was that?”

I crawled to the open window and peered out. The interior of the bay was charred everywhere. People were running here and there, tending to those who had fallen or were standing in shock. In the center of the bay, right where my ship should have been, was a pile of twisted metal. That sinking feeling bore down full upon me, and pressed down further when I noticed how my ship was surrounded by a mangled mess of damaged ships, including that hunk of junk Yaoksi was trying to take off in earlier.

“Oh hell,” I said. I looked back to Yaoksi, who was pulling himself up off the floor.

“You all right?” I asked.

--------------------

At first I thought it was smoke, from fire, and that I was burning. Then my vision cleared, and I realized that rancid odor was coming from Muscles, who was standing off a ways from me, framed by an empty window and chaos, half looking at me and half looking out in the direction of the spaceport in which I had docked.

Hearing abruptly returned.

"--ll right?"

I shook my head and clambered to my feet, coughing and spitting general crap from my lungs. Then I turned bleary, watery eyes Rico's way, stared toward him, past him, beyond him, my heart at first jumping to my throat before plummetting to land somewhere around my toes.

Oh, HELL.

Now strength returned with a vengeance, propelling me to my feet, overwhelming any aches and pains that might be hiding due to the impact of the blast's periphery. I wavered just once, then firmed and moved quickly to where he stood, staring at me and then back out the blasted window.

I gave him a hard look before simply moving on by, coming to the zone of broken glass and scorched, overturned tables. A holo-emitter, once proudly proclaiming the name of this wonderful establishment to all those who would wish to be so advised, now hung forlornly from its wiring; it swayed in cadence with the rising moans and groans from the other patrons who were trying to shakily put their senses back on track again.

I paid them no heed. I could only stare outside.

"Oh, hell!"

I didn't say anything else but barrelled through the broken window, running to the spot where Devil had been sitting. People in various degrees of shock sat or lay around, or moved in a doll-like daze; I paid them no heed but hurried on, the universe tunneling until all I could see was my poor, poor ship.

Yeah, she was where she had been... sort of. Thank the gods who look out after fools such as me; she was skewed about, her port now occupying the place that her bow had just moments ago. Dark burned splotches marred her hull; I bit my lip in pain as I circled about her, seeing here and there her innards displayed outwards.

Oh, this was gonna take months to repair! I groaned to myself, coming to a dejected halt at her bow and going up to lay my hand against the smooth metal of her hull.

Suddenly, a strange little noise sounded. It wasn't much, but it was unexpected. My head jerked up with surprise at this tiny mote of life coming from Devil; it was like coming upon a drowned man, only to see his eyelids flicker. I followed the sound, coming to a rip in my poor ship big enough to allow me entry, and moved through her until I came to the bridge.

A quick glance about: at least this looked relatively unscathed. Maybe those repairs wouldn't take quite as long as I--

The sound bleeped again, and with a little jerk I realized it was coming from my communications console. Someone was trying to contact me.

Still somewhat dazed, I punched receive; and stood there, unbelieving, as Nassy's cousin's voice filled my ears.

I had to listen to it two more times until it fully registered.Oh hell, not now, not at a time like this...

Then a thought crossed my mind. I drew in a breath to fortify myself, and quickly opened a return link.

"This is Captain Joao on Devil-May-Care," --

Or what's left of her, anyway...

"--returning communication. Greetings; long time no hear. I would be happy to oblige and have a sit-down just for that purpose; unfortunately, my ship is, ahh-- being overhauled and I am unable to come to you.

"If this is of importance more dire than your communication would indicate, please come to me at Piriingisi--"

I followed this with my address, since it seemed I wasn't going to be going anywhere anytime soon.

"Captain Yaoksi Joao, out."

It was only then, as I hit send and sent the return comm winging on its ethereal way that the last words Muscles was saying to me crawled into the front of my brain and yelled for attention.

Wea-- it had to weapons that he was talking about; he was carrying weapons to the Impys....

Whoa, mother; now what in all the Universe was wrong with that picture?!? Since when did the Imperials need anybody running weapons to them?

Unless it was something they couldn't get or make themselves, as improbable as it would seem, considering that back in the day these were the guys who made the Death Star.

They seemed awfully trigger-happy that Muscles was off his schedule, too; any idiot with a slug's quantity of brain would have gone to them first and tried to recruit me second.

Unless they weren't responsible for the explosion.

A chill swelled up inside me, but I managed to hold it at bay with the equally strong rise of anger. It took over completely, propelled me from Devil, carried me back to the Blue Asteroid, through the broken window, through the wandering, wailing throng inside and right back up into Rico's ugly face.

My hand shot out and grabbed up a bunch of his shirt, and to my great satisfaction I felt that yes, I had actually managed to pull him up on his tippy-toes.

"You'd better start talking square with me, and start it NOW!" I seethed, tightening my grip and pulling his mug mere millimeters from my face.

His wonderful body odor and bad breath be damned.

[ 07-06-2005 08:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

--------------------

Kiara sat up with a start, surprised at the noise of the comm unit indicating an incoming message. Quickly she hit the accept switch and Captain Joao's message streamed in. Her reply was immediate, and swift.
"I would like to speak with you soon, and personally. I will meet you in Priingsi in...

...three standard days, at the location you have indicated."

Sending the message off quickly, Ki'ara got to her feet and hurried out of the comm station, her mind set on getting off the planet and to her destination as soon as possible. And, while she didn't have the money to afford such a trip, she always could find other ways of getting on board...

[ 07-06-2005 10:13 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Kiara ]

--------------------

I shook my head and pushed hard at the chest of the bozo who had me by the shirt. I broke away and stepped back a half step.

“Hey, back off!” I yelled. “You think I had somethin’ to do with this, then you’re dumber than I thought!”

I held my hands up, trying to calm us both down.

“Look, all I know is that I had a deal with some company here to deliver this load of warheads to the Impies. They checked me out, got me a writ, and I was set. I’m supposed to run about once a week, and I get paid bunches. Short hauls, you know? Priority loading, take-offs, all that. In fact, they got me loaded so early that if I woulda taken off on time then I really shoulda been pulling into the SSD weapon bay already…”

I stopped. Holy crap, did I just say what I think I said?

“Wait-- they thought I would’ve taken off when the cargo got loaded, they didn’t expect me hang around here… If that would’ve gone off inside a loaded-to-the-cupcakes weapons bay…”

My face must have turned white, because the look on old gruesome’s face went from “I’m gonna kill you” to something more like “ack!”.

“I think I need a drink.”

--------------------

Suddenly Muscles didn't seem quite as shady, as underhanded, as deceitful and raunchy as I had formerly thought.

Well, ok; so he's still just as raunchy....

But the rest of the not-so-nice adjectives I was mentally saddling him with suddenly grew degrees lighter--

You know, I think he's on the up and up about this; no one can fake that shocked a look like the one planted on his face. Nope; I've seen veteran holo-vid actors do much worse in that department.

Ok, so he maybe didn't have anything to do with the explosion, except for the little matter that it sprang from his ship.

His ship that he had docked here, all nice and tidy and legal and everything.

I blinked, my own ire lessening but the heat it left behind now lending itself to a touch of alarm.

"You know, pal," I finally began, reaching out a hand toward him. He stuck his chest out a touch, a touch of a glare in his eyes, but stayed put and let me clap a hand on his shoulder.

"I think we are going to be having some company real soon; now, I don't know if you're quite ready for all the legalese that's soon to show up here, Fates know I'm not. But then, I'm just an innocent bystander, y'know?"

I stopped for air, staring him straight in the eye. He didn't look mad or scared, but if anything his eyes widened a bit, then narrowed.

Guess my implications were sinking home...

"I know of a place-- another place; it's called the Azure Planetoid, and it's in a hotel not too far from here.

"I suggest we go have another sit-down over something tall and cool, maybe some nerf-steaks or something to take the edge off..."

Yeah, take the edge off. Right.

"But you and me, if we're gonna be anything close to being partners, we're gonna have to be up-front with each other, not to mention watch out for each others' backs."

Yeah. Backs.

I didn't wait for an answer. I knew that Sullustan investigators would soon be on the scene; yeah, they'd come hunting for Muscles, of that there was no doubt. And if he was smart, he'd go along with the gig and talk to them.

But what he was going to tell them, and what he was going to tell me were, sure as there's pod racers on Tattoine, two different animals.

And I wanted in on the whole scoop before they got their grubby little paws onto him.

--------------------

A few years of quiet retirement had done my nerves little good, 'specialy with the company I thought would one day come-a-knockin'. So, to take my mind of things I'd taken a job at a local hanger: cleaning off the tools after the mechanics were done with their charges, cleaning the offices, a bit of cargo lifting here and there, simple stuff.

One could suppose it doesn't help your occupations management when a ship goes up right on the middle of the pad: bad for business, bad for personal reputation, and well, downright nasty with the investigators, and insurance claims and the like. With the sight of that ship going up, I saw my obscure extra two-hundred and fifty credits a week going up in smoke.

As I'd looked through the blasted windows of that bar, all I saw were little chared bills rather than pieces of scrap tumbling to the ground. Then again, this is what I get for not filling out the simple papers denoting "warning: volitle" on the customs for the ship that'd gone up.

Serves me right I guess.

After sittin' in stunned shock for a while, I noticed two gentlemen, one of whom I recognized as the owner of the ship that'd sunk my job, and the other one? Well sure as sure he was the joe who'd had those freaks runnin' around on his ship. Strange company people keep these days.

Well to me, down right scary, a jedi that close? I hadn't seen one of those in a good twenty or so years, and I'd hoped not to see one for another century after the last time. Well heck, a millenia wouldn't be to much to ask for either!

I continued watching the two gentlemen for a moment, obscurely of course, taking a sip of the gag-inducing local toxins that the place served. Then laid down a few crumpled cred-notes from my pocket, and slid of my stool to make my way outside.

I knew there was no point in going back to the docking bay, all I'd get were yells about those papers for the volitle stuff I'd loaded onto the mans ship. I supposed I could easily take a walk, seein' as sometimes business owners left little "help wanted" holo's on their shop windows and such.

But what really kept getting to me was the old soldiers sense, that tingle of long forgotten excitement back in the day. I supposed the explosion had brought it around, heck I'd seen a few of those in my time after all. I supposed I was due for a midlife crisis anyhow.

So why not just throw my hat into the pot and deal my hand?

--------------------

“Yeah, all right,” I said. “What the hell?”

It was about then I noticed a familiar face in the growing crowd. Well, familiar in the way that you can’t forget an ugly face. That man was so gruesome that when he was born, the doctor whacked his mother. That’s the kind of face that gives a rancor nightmares.

“Hey,” I said, looking past Yaoksi. “That guy was on the crew that was gonna load my ship! Can’t forget a face like that, no matter how hard you try. Let’s get him!”

I broke past Yaoksi and into a fast walk. I don’t know if the guy saw me coming or not, but I was up to him pretty fast regardless, finger pointing and eyes blaring.

“Hey, buddy!” I yelled to him. “What in the stinkin’ green trees of Endor did you guys load onto my ship?”

I hoped to hell Yaoksi was behind me. I had a bad feeling about this.

--------------------

"Well sir, seeing as how you ordered the cargo, and had us load it, I'd say it was whatever volitle stuff you were carrying in it. I do note that you paid the crew an extra fourty credits to leave "volitle" off the roster. So seeing as how you've run most of the operation, I'd say whatever it is you're trying to hold me acccountable for is your fault, or the person you purchased that cargo from."

I paused, knowing what I had said was a bit bold given the circumstances. "But seeing as I'm not a man to get angry over being accused, shall we let this bygone be bygone?" I extended my un-synthed Cybernetic hand towards him, a sign of equality or forgiveness, however he might take it.

[ 07-24-2005 11:46 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Commisar Stern ]

--------------------

I couldn’t believe this! The deal of my life turns out to maybe be some kind of plot against the Empire, and I’m getting set up to take the fall. Worse yet, I was supposed be aboard that SSD when the ‘volatile’ crap went off!

Son of a buck must pay.

And this guy was my witness.

I looked at the robotic hand that was offered to me. The guy didn’t even have it wrapped in synthetic skin, for Paca’s sake! I guess it sorta went with the face, though. Time for Mr. Smooth to jump into action, I had just had to know for sure if it was the guys who hired me or someone else who tried to fry my favorite hide.

“All right, look,” I said, calmer. “I didn’t order that cargo, I was just getting paid to haul it. But you actually talked to someone who delivered it to the bay? Could you point ‘em out if you saw them again?”

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But then again I was no fool, if I was just to tell him what he looked like, heck, it'd be pretty easy to keep it in mind and dump me off where I was, none the better from last week.

"But then again, I mean what's the point? My jobs screwed from what I can see, budget wont have enough to pay me while they pay for repairs, lawyers, claims... I mean, I get a small retirement fund, but that was a good couple of credits that helped fit the bills comming my way each week." I fixed him with a frank look, which I didn't really care if it made me look a bit more gruesome.

"I'm not trying to hold what happened against you, but if there's any chance I could get a spot on your crew once you're on your way, I'd be most appriciative."

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I continued to walk down the street to the docking bay where it was pretty much a junkpile.

"Talk about an unlucky day."

I stared at the wreckage and watched as a man entered what was left of his ship and then minutes later exit it.

having nothing else to do and wanting to know how the explosino happened I followed the man to see if he knew anything about it.

I followed him to the "Blue Asteroid", where the window was blasted out. I watched him talk with another man, but didn't hear what there were saying. I then noticed the other man walked over to a third man and started to somewhat yelled at him.

It seemed the third man loaded something explosive onto the second man's ship and the second man wasn't happy.

I closed my eyes and reached out with the force and could feel the tension and I could also feel the apraoch of two speeders and sullustans getting out and rushing everywhere.

Ok, time to do something. I thought.No. keep your cool and watch.

I stayed where I was hidden in a dark corner watching the three men converse only catching bits of their conversation.

[ 08-02-2005 01:26 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jebbua Dahutt ]

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Truth of the matter was, I was doing my doggonest to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. The effort it took to do so was immense, so I just stood there, casting looks between Muscles and the latest goony-bird to add to my growing collection, wondering to myself just which one of the two was the ugliest.

Not to mention the least trustworthy.

Well... the latter was easy enough to determine, actually. I mean, I knew Muscles for, lemme think now, hours was it by now? Whereas Ugly Mug had just up and popped into my life moments before. So to speak.

Ok. So I didn't trust either of them. But chances are that one or the other held the best possibility of finding out who the heck to blame for my poor Devil's defacement...

I drew in a breath, let it out laden with unspoken meaning, and crossed my arms.

"Look, fellas," I began, now taking a step forward and, Fates preserve me, coming to a halt next to Muscles.

"Seems like standing right here in the middle of everything isn't very conducive to finding out what really happened here, let alone keeping a low and ahh-- honest profile, if you catch my drift.

"May I suggest a change of venue, until the port authorities can contact us about the -- unfortunate events that have transpired here?

"Events I'd really like to discuss with each other... purely as gentlemen, of course."

I let my eyes cut to Muscles, then slew back to Ugly. I couldn't help curling a nostril; the two of them made such lovely bookends....

[ 08-05-2005 03:58 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Yaoksi Joao ]

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