Bad Medicine is What I Need [Open to Criminals & Associates] (Complete)

[Kinley Pryse]

The suns of Lujo were beginning their slow descent, draping the desert in molten gold and long, wavering shadows. The great luxury liner Aurora's Crest cut across the sands like a gleaming blade, sleek, elegant, and humming with repulsor energy as it glided along its mag-rails. Inside, Core World aristocrats sipped spiced wine, draped in silks and jewels, oblivious to the shifting winds of a galaxy now without an Alliance to keep order. They came for the views such as the crystalline dunes, the silver mesas, the promise of untouched beauty.

But beneath that beauty, the desert stirred. Half-buried in the dunes, Black Sun operatives waited. Their speeders were cloaked beneath netting that matched the sand, engines cold and silent. A small army of syndicate muscle crouched in the grit, eyes on the horizon, weapons ready.

Objective 1: First There Was Smoke
Criminals are getting ready to board the train from below. Use speeders and any vehicle you can scrounge up to race alongside the train and board. Once inside you will need to incapacitate the guards and start robbing the valuables off of the rich passengers.
​

This job wasn't just about credits or ransom. The intel had been clear: the Aurora's Crest carried more than nobles and tourists. In one of its armored cargo cars sat a fortune in bacta, kolto derivatives, and top-grade medical supplies meant for the desperate fringes of the Outer Rim. To the suffering, it was salvation. To Black Sun, it was profit and power.

The desert wind picked up, whispering through the dunes. The lead operative checked his chrono, then raised a gloved hand. In the distance, the Aurora's Crest shimmered like a mirage, its lights twinkling in the gathering dusk.

Objective 2: Then There Was Fire
Awaiting high above in the cliffs are a band of Black Sun agents ready to take the train from above. When the signal is given drop down onto the speeding train and begin to drill into the armored car holding the medical supplies. Be warned, the guards will hear you drop in so be ready to fight!






The heist was about to begin!!
​

 

[Vyn Ryder]

Bad Medicine is What I Need
Gear: In Bio
Interacting With: Open

Objective 1: First There Was Smoke

A decrepit light freighter slowly made its way across the surface of Lujo, its path meandering, seemingly taking in the sights. So small and unremarkable was this ship, that when it went into a canyon and failed to reemerge on the other side, that it went completely unnoticed by traffic control. In actuality, the ship was equipped with a rather decent (and rather illegal) sensor mask, shielding it against prying eyes. Banking sharply, the freighter sped towards the agreed upon coordinates, hovering idly. They didn't have to wait long. A plume of sand heralded its arrival, and the repulsor train speedily ran below them; the time to act was now. Sharply, the freighter turned into a dive, the g-forces pressing everyone into their seats.

"Oh...here we go..." Gritted Vyn through clenched teeth in the small cargo bay. Clad in his customary rogues leathers, he had a blaze-cutlass sheathed across his back, and a bulky looking pistol at his hip. "Did we really have to let the kid drive?" Even as he spoke, the freighter leveled out, sending another ripple through the compensators.

"He's in his twenties Vyn. He needs the experience. This is the perfect opportunity." Replied his partner, Zeri, a pantoran woman with pink hair and yellow eyes. Clad in a simple leather combat jumpsuit with a blaster at her hip, she seemed ready for business. "Besides he's doing," she was cut off as a resounding clang rang throughout the ship, the freighter bumping against the train below, "...fine. He's doing just fine." She sounded like she was trying to reassure herself, and Vyn was far from convinced.

With an unreadable expression Vyn slapped his hand against the cargo door control, the belly of the ship opening up to reveal the train below. The wind whipped at them furiously, the grit and dust filling the air as the pair appraised the gap. Vyn was the first to jump, the leap calculated, and he hit the roof of the train in a low crouch, the gription in his boots and the magna field in his gloves making him stick as surely as a spider. Zeri followed soon after, and Vyn caught the woman, hand circling around her waist as she leaned away from him. "So...are we going to have that dinner after this, or...?" Zeri rolled her eyes in response - which Vyn noted wasn't a 'no' - and pushed away from him to move across the train's roof to an access hatch.

Vyn followed after her, doing a rather good job of not being distracted by her whole leather jumpsuit ensemble. That focus may have saved them, when the hatch opened and a guard popped himself out to level a rifle at the pair; faster than his brain could register, his pistol was in his hand, the thud of displaced air followed by a glowing actinic green bolt that caught the guard in the chest. Unceremoniously, the guard clattered down the ladder, and Zeri arched an eyebrow at Vyn. "Stun? Really?"

Vyn ignored her, dropping an electrostatic grenade down the ladder access, and waited for the telltale electroplasma crawling across the nearby metal surfaces to dissipate before dropping down the ladder himself. A handful of guards were knocked out cold, and Vyn slapped his hand on a nearby panel to lock the compartments doors.

Thud, thud! Went his maser pistol as he fired it into the roof to get everyone's attention.

"Ok everyone! Currency, jewelery, chronos, and datapads - into the sack!" Zeri whipped out said sack as he spoke, beginning collection. "Don't be an idiot and don't be a hero; you and the train line all have insurance, this won't cost you a cent!" Vyn paused to press his pistol into the gut of an overweight human noble with a ridiculously tall hat. "I see that handheld stunner there big boy!" Vyn cracked the butt of his pistol into the man's gut, doing very little damage, but making the man double over. "I reiterate: don't be a hero over insurance. This is why you pay your premiums folks!" Slowly but surely, the sack was being filled with rings, necklaces, fistfuls of credits, scarves, and anything that remotely looked valuable.

Kinley Pryse

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Kinley Pryse breaks rules, hearts, but mostly kneecaps​

The hot desert sun hammered down on their necks, baking the canyon ridge until the stone shimmered like molten glass. Below, the world stretched out in rippling dunes and jagged rock spires—but all eyes were fixed on the distant plume of dust cutting across the landscape. The luxury train glinted in the light as it barreled forward, unaware of the vultures perched above it.

Kinley Pryse cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders, the metal plates of her jacket softly clinking. Beside her, the small strike team murmured and checked gear, but she just grinned at the spectacle unfolding.

"Here we go" she muttered under her breath, smirk already forming as she watched the target approach.

Speeder bikes burst from hiding first, tearing across the canyon floor toward the train. They swarmed around it like hungry insects, drawing the attention of the rooftop patrol. That was the distraction. They were the real hit.

The top-ledge crew waited, perfectly still, until the train thundered beneath them.

Then they jumped.

The drop ripped the breath from Kinley's lungs. Wind howled around her, whipping her hair back, and for a heartbeat she was weightless and just a shadow falling toward cold metal and a bad decision. She kicked her boots on at the last possible second. The rockets snapped alive with a roar, slowing her descent enough that she slammed into the train roof instead of splattering against it.

Her boots clanged loudly on impact.

The hatch hissed open immediately.

Guards poured out like angry hornets, blasters drawn.

Kinley didn't hesitate. She grabbed the first guard by both collar straps and pivoted, using his own momentum to hurl him straight off the side of the train. He pinwheeled into the canyon, shrinking to a speck.

"Oof. That's definitely gonna hurt," she said with a crooked, almost friendly grin. She had no idea if he survived and no time to care.

Behind her, the rest of the team had already dropped to one knee, firing up a heavy cutter to bore through the roof of the caboose. The scent of scorched metal filled the air.

Another guard lunged at her, shouting something she didn't bother to hear.

She twirled her blaster in a needlessly flashy flourish, style mattered, and fired point-blank. The shot drilled clean through his chestplate, sending him tumbling off the train and into the swirling dust below.

Kinley blew smoke from the barrel, eyes glittering.

"Whose next?"


Vyn Ryder

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Vyn Ryder]

Bad Medicine is What I Need
Gear: In Bio
Interacting With: Open

Objective 1: First There Was Smoke

"So you think I have a chance with her?" Whispered Vyn to the elderly baroness and her friends. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked at Zeri, who was still collecting items. They had made it about halfway through the train car, when Vyn had noted a trio of elderly ladies - a human, a pantoran, and a twi'lek - giggling to themselves.

"It's so romantic! Like a holonovel!" Giggled the twi'lek, fanning herself with a brochure for the train. "You're both young, and danger breeds passion" Confirmed the Pantoran with a sultry glance up and down Vyn. "Look how she trusts you! Not just anyone puts their life in the hands of another." Urged the human woman.

"Romance, passion, trust. Yeah...yeah...that makes sense." Muttered Vyn, nodding as they spoke.

"Vyn! What the hell are you doing?" Snapped Zeri down the train, sack in one hand, hand on her hip.

"NOTHING!" Yelped Vyn as he shot upright, banging his head on the overhead luggage storage.

"Well do nothing over here. We have a job to do. We can fool around later."

"...'WE can fool around'..." Whispered the elderly human to the other two, elbowing them. All three giggled and twittered, and Vyn coughed in response.

Clearing his throat, Vyn walked further down the train to Zeri. Flashing his pistol at everyone, he raised his voice a little. "Alright! So far so good everyone. This will all be over soon. Just to review, what have we learned so far?"

"Don't die for an insurance company?" Offered a bespectacled aristocrat. "The inherent value of life is significantly greater than anything material." Offered a haughty human woman. "That consumerist materialism should be replaced with a social framework that rewards meritocracy rather than nepotism and plutocracy?" Finished a small child.

"Correct! Now just ponder how violence only begets violence, and we'll finish up here." Vyn glanced at the contents of Zeri's sack. It was good so far, and once they made it to the end of the car they'd loot the small safe there - where nobles had to check their weapons and other prohibited items. With a little luck, they'd clean house and get the heck out of here before anyone was the wiser.

Edited note for future Vyn: total stands at 25,000

Kinley Pryse

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

A smile like that should be illegal. Good thing everything else she does already is.​

Kinley didn't get her answer.

A pair of gloved hands shoved hard between her shoulder blades.

"Oh, c'mon—!" was all she managed before she pitched forward, boots skidding on sleek metal. The open hatch yawned beneath her like the hungry maw of some ancient beast, and she fell straight through it with all the grace of a kicked toolbox.

She crashed into the passenger dinning car below, landing in a rolling heap of limbs, curses, and rattling armor on glossy marble flooring. Conversations died mid-scream. A dozen terrified passengers froze, hands raised instinctively as masked raiders prowled the aisle, rifling through jewelry and credsticks.

Every blaster muzzle in the room swung toward her.

Kinley hissed air through her teeth and pushed herself up on one elbow, brushing dust off her jacket. "Real polite entrance, thanks," she called upward, though whoever shoved her was long gone.

A stunned rider blinked at her, then threw his napkin down on the table in anger "Who the hell are—?"

Kinley shot him.

Clean. Casual. Didn't even bother standing.

His body toppled sideways into a rich merchant clutching three pearl necklaces to his chest. By now guards were filing into the dining car. One charged, swinging the butt of his rifle.

Kinley sidestepped with a dancer's ease, grabbed his wrist, and used his own momentum to flip him flat onto a table linen-laden dining booth. Plates shattered. Someone screamed. Kinley plucked a pastry from the wreckage and popped it into her mouth mid-whirl.

"You know," she said around the bite, "first-class pastries? Not bad."

A blaster bolt sizzled past her ear.

"That was rude," she added, and fired two crisp shots that dropped the shooter where he stood.

The passengers stared, wide-eyed. Some gaped. One started applauding before realizing it was a terrible idea and stopped. Kinley holstered her blaster and flashed a grin bright enough to start its own crime spree, just as four more guards started to come into the car from the west side.

"Time to go," she said, adjusting her collar, and then she dashed up the aisle, jumped onto the next car and swung the door open. There were already some criminals in here robbing the passengers.

"Correct! Now just ponder how violence only begets violence, and we'll finish up here."

"Looks like I'm just in time for today's lesson."

Meanwhile behind her several guards were running through the dining car, eager to catch up.

Vyn Ryder

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Vyn Ryder]

Bad Medicine is What I Need
Gear: In Bio
Interacting With: Open

Objective 1: First There Was Smoke

A blaster bolt sizzled past her ear.

"That was rude," she added, and fired two crisp shots that dropped the shooter where he stood.

They kept moving, keeping things slow but methodical - few of the passengers caused trouble - nobles were self-involved and selfish to a fault more often than not. Those that caused trouble got pistol-whipped for their trouble, and chastised by the others in the cart as a result. Things were going quite swimmingly - then the sound of blaster fire echoed through the carts. See, part of pulling things off non-violently, was keeping people calm, staying professional and charming. When people started fearing for their lives...that's when people made stupid choices.

"Vyn. We have trouble coming." Said Zeri, tightlipped.

"I know. Keep collecting." Vyn replied with an easy smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Looks like I'm just in time for today's lesson."

Meanwhile behind her several guards were running through the dining car, eager to catch up.

The source of the ruckus arrived - a pretty little thing made out of grit and gunmetal, four guards hot on her heels. Vyn cursed inwardly - his pistol raising, he fired off a bolt, the actinic green charge catching a guard in the chest. Another raised a rifle, and Vyn made a gripping motion before slashing his hand to the side - like magic, the man's rifle jerked to the side, the blaster bolt he fired going into the floor before the rifle itself was ripped out of his hands. Magna-gloves came in handy for more than pickpocketing. But the element of surprise was gone, and the other two guards took cover behind some chairs, firing down the cart.

"You're going to hit a passenger! What, did the train line skimp on security?" Snapped Vyn, returning fire, taking cover similarly. Vyn wasn't exactly a moralist or anything; he was no pacifist either. But he followed the Code, more out of a need for survival than anything else. You killed too many people, or got too greedy; well that's how you got a Boba Fett set on you. Vyn didn't need or want that heat.

Zeri, for her part, stopped collecting and immediately moved to the safe, a pair of laser lockpicks coming out to start on the locking mechanism. "This would be easier without blaster bolts!"

"Come here often? Or are you just here for the atmosphere?" Quipped Vyn to the stranger, firing another maser bolt.

Edited note for future Vyn: total stands at 28,000

Kinley Pryse

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

If you're gonna shoot her, aim for something important. Like her ego​

"Come here often? Or are you just here for the atmosphere?"

Kinley slid behind the nearest overturned chair, boots skidding on the polished flooring as a volley of blaster bolts cracked overhead. One shot blew a scorch mark across the wall just above her head, a bit too close, even by her standards. Another bolt shattered a hanging light fixture, raining glass. Kinley shielded her face with her arm, teeth bared.

"Depends. You always this fun, or is today special?" She smirked, figuring his girlfriend at the safe might slap her for that one, but there was no time to dwell on mistakes. She holstered one of her pistols to flick a switch on her belt. A flash-charge slid into her hand, small enough to fit between two fingers.

"Let's light these candles."

The two remaining guards held up there hands, obviously worried about the passengers in the vicinity. Good people were so predictable.

Vyn Ryder

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Roark Garnett]

The contact on Socorro had given Roark a name. Roark had given him a name too. Chances are, they both had lied but so were the ruls of the game – the few rules this kind of game ever had to begin with.

Roark was desperate enough to accept an insane job for the good cause and for the credits ut he was not necessarily stupid. Not that stupid to leave a blazing trail as obvious as the mag rails of the Aurora´s Crest.

Usually Lujo´s most magnificent train – the most maginificient in the galaxy as far as the natives were concerned was usually a vehicle foLujo to fix that issuer the rich and idle to ride through the shimmering dunes and along the shore. Usually it carried passengers who had no bigger problems than to spend credits to alleviate the boredom that ws the birthright of old money.

Well, at least one problem Roark did not have.

His problems were more on the other side of the monetary scales, the question how to scratch together enough credits to avoid a clean headshot from the minions of a ticked-off Rodian criminal.

Now he was here on Lujo to fix that issue and help out fringers in dire need because this time the train transported a really valuable cargo, a mere status symbol among the passengers of the Aurora´s Crest but the difference between live and death for a lot of people who were not born rich and beautiful.

That left only one question open for the time being (ignoring the OTHER question if Roark Garnett was perhaps soft in his brain pan).

If you are an almost legal one-man freight hauling business with an aversion to hurt other people, how to do rob a train full of millionaires and more importantly full of armed guards?

You don´t.

You steal the armored wagon and haul it off and the Force you have a detailed plan mapped out for it. Well, blast the plans. They never survive contact with the enemy anyway, right? The guys who had hired Roark were too hard pressed for time to come up with a plan, probably because they had spent too much time trying to find a idiot who was willing or desperate enough to pull off such a stunt.

"The things you do for credits…" Roark mused in the general direction of the copilots seat where Fizz was curled up in a refreshing nap. Soon enough his sleep would be disturned. For now the Max was gliding smoothly over the desert dangerously low above the sandy ground to avoid pesky traffic controllers and their question. That was the easy part of the plan Roark didn´t have.

The next thing he still had mapped out was approach the train, lock the docking clamps into the armored car with the valuables and take off with the wagon in tow. Hauling stuff from one place to another was his job, right?

That was the moment when Fizz would start to complain for sure.

And how to deal with the guards left in the wagon afterwards?

Details…

They should be pretty shook up by the ride by then and easier to negotiate with.

Hopefully…

The Max passed through the gap between two rock spires. Behind the cliff range the ground should sloop down int a valley where the rail track with Aurora´s Crest was.

Sure enough the railroad track was there and the luxury train was right on schedule.

Speeder bikes buzzed left and right of the Aurora´s Crest like pesky flies and some bucket of bolts clinging to the top of a wagon.

Someone else had joined the party and whoever it was the punk was stealing his lines and ideas.

What had the galaxy come to?

Good thing this space jockey was attached to a random passenger car rather than the amored wagon with the real valuables.

Amateurs after all…

"Sorry Fizz, it´s going to be a bit bumpy now…" Roark muttered.

He didn´t see that the Loth cat was already gone with an insulted meow! Roark was fixated on his target and getting the clamps in place.

The Max shook violently was it connected to the train wagon with a loud CLANK!!!

So far, almost everything went according to plan.

Kinley Pryse Vyn Ryder

 

[Vyn Ryder]

Bad Medicine is What I Need
Gear: In Bio
Interacting With: Open

Objective 1: First There Was Smoke

"Depends. You always this fun, or is today special?" She smirked, figuring his girlfriend at the safe might slap her for that one, but there was no time to dwell on mistakes. She holstered one of her pistols to flick a switch on her belt. A flash-charge slid into her hand, small enough to fit between two fingers.

"Oh, you're fun. Maybe SHE will be up for dinner." Vyn said, clearly aiming the words towards the Pantoran. Zerri muttered something under her breath, but otherwise, ever the consummate professional, didn't stray from the safe. Something deep down in his gut coiled like a snake, and Vyn drew his sword in response. Despite his flirtatious words, he was immediately on guard - he was a wanted man, after all, and it wasn't every day that you went a-robbing with strangers. Zerri straightened, her work at the safe done, and she scrambled backward to the ladder and began climbing - her footsteps retreating before eventually pattering across the roof. She was a little too professional sometimes, but, she was supposed to handle the money, and that's what she would do.

"Let's light these candles."

The two remaining guards held up there hands, obviously worried about the passengers in the vicinity. Good people were so predictable.

In response, Vyn's hand went down to his own belt, pulling off a detonator of his own. With a casual toss, he let the detonator fly, before leaping backward to the ladder himself. His grenade whistled and spun like a top, letting out a thick haze of ionized smoke that made it difficult to see and breath, for organic and droid alike. "Sorry sweetheart! Vyn Ryder and Black Sun have something of a history!" Through the coughing and shouts, Vyn climbed up onto the roof of the cart, the shuttle blessedly still there, Zeri already attaching the winch clip to her belt.

"Who the hell was that?" Demanded Zeri, perhaps a little more sourly than usual.

"Who? Her? Just some chick from Black Sun I've been chatting up, we've been talking for months, decided to meet up today, all while I've actively been hitting on you. I thought we could all have steaks and a threesome later." Replied Vyn deadpan.

"Vyn! >_<" Sputtered Zeri, blushing so hard that her blue skin turned purple.

"Well how should I know!" Said Vyn, throwing his hands up. "I assume she's with team A, which means - according to the broker rumor mill - that she's Black Sun."

"We need to leave, then." Zeri said, clearing her throat, holding out the other winch line.

"No." Vyn replied, stamping his foot. "Not until you agree to a date."

"Vyn this is not the time." Said Zeri between gritted teeth.

"It's the perfect time." Vyn said, crossing his arms.

"Vyn, they will kill you." Zeri ground out.

"Ah!" Vyn flung an arm across his face, falling backward onto his back on the train. "To die for love! In the name of love!"

"Vyn."

"LOOOOVE! FOR LOOOOOVE!"

"VYN! GET IN THE FORCE DAMNED SHUTTLE!"

Back from Thanksgiving! Sorry for the wait.

Edited note for future Vyn: total stands at 38,000

Boo for low final rolls


Kinley Pryse

 

[Kinley Pryse]

You've been hit by... you've been struck by...

Well… that wasn't the plan, but it was definitely more exciting​

All of a sudden the train lurched, sending Kinley to her knees and several passengers spewing into the aisles. A thick smoke was now filling the air. She pulled her wrist up to her and hit a button, and then pulled her bandana up over her mouth. The breathing device inside made a hiss as it closed over her mouth and sent a burst of clean air to her lungs. The passengers were not so lucky, but their coughing and sputtering gave her time to backtrack and climb up the ladder.

Her comm unit chirped.

“We have company!”

She pushed the hatch open and saw the ship above, attempting to lift the entire caboose off the tracks. On the other end were the guy and the blue chick, both of whom were making off with Black Suns credits.

Kinley tipped her her hat down over her eye, lining up the lense concealed inside the fabric. She snapped a few pictures of the guy and the girl. They were a problem for another day. Nobody crossed Black Sun and lived but the medical supplies were worth far more than the credits they looted. Her boss would kill her if she chased them and risked the bigger prize.

She turned and ran in the opposite direction, then jumped to the next train car, rolling on impact and getting to her feet. Her associates were already lining up the heavy cannons to blast the meddling ship above them out of the sky (Roark).

Another flying jump and she was on the caboose, and a quick fling got her inside the window.

She started to grab supplies, stuffing them in bags and throwing them out the window to the speeders waiting, keeping pace with the speeding train. Her comlink chirped again.

“The charges are lit! This whole train is going sky high in sixty seconds!” It was the explosives expert who had been planting the charges underneath.

“Time to go!”

If the fools who robbed Black Sun made it out of this alive they would surely be seeing Kinley Pryse another day, and if they went boom today? Well that just meant they learned their lesson the easy way.

For now Kinley would have to hope Flint would be satisfied with just the medical supplies.


Vyn Ryder

((OOC: no worries at all! It’s finals here too! I had fun! Let’s thread again sometime!))

END
​

A Smooth Criminal

 

[Roark Garnett]

The engines of The Max screamed in protest as Roark began to take off. He made a mental to invest in a more powerful drive.

And in stronger clamps.

A faster hyperdrive…

Or maybe – the Force forbid – a new ship.

No, he didn´t like endangering people all of sudden. This was just the lesser evil. The stuff in the wagon was needed elsewhere, not in the hand of those who already<y had too much and would broker with it at horrendous prices.

The Max didn´t care about his noble intentions. Its engines still screamed.

"Come on, old lady. We got a job to do." Roark muttered. The swoop jockeys were getting pesky. And the blasted wagon was really heavy, full of Bacta and med droids or so he hoped.

Otherwise he´d make a fool out of himself. Well, it wouldn´t be the first time, only the first time today.

Finally the wagons couplings gave in, exploding in a colorful and really impressive double cloud of fire and sparks.

The Max gave up protesting or at least sxcrewamed less and complied to lift the wagon.

At the expense of life support and half the shielding going down.

So no cold beer in the fringe.

"Go on sweetheart. We can do this." Roark whispered.

The Max tottered sideways like a drunken Bantha and then finally upwards. Itr was a slow ascend but it was an ascent.

And underneath the fireworks started, blowing the luxury train apart.

"Sorry guys, not my fault…"

So far, so good

Kinley Pryse Vyn Ryder

 

[Vyn Ryder]

Bad Medicine is What I Need
Gear: In Bio
Interacting With: Open

Objective 1: First There Was Smoke

As Vyn rolled on the train, the Kid piped up in Zeri's ear. <<Um, don't mean to interrupt your...whatever this is...but everyone is pulling out off the train - I've also been watching some guy go from car to car...pretty sure they're laying down explosives.>>

"Ok. No. Time to go." Stomping over to Vyn, Zeri bent down and hooked the winch line to Vyn's belt. Stubbornly, the infurating man held onto the deck plating, babbling about love and steak. Roughly she grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up to his feet, before kissing him squarely on the lips.

"...Mm!" Mumbled Vyn, closing his eyes and leaning in, completely distracted as he let go of the train. Was that lipgloss? She smelled like cinnamon. "...Mmf! MMF!" Vyn pulled away, eyes flying open, his lip caught squarely between Zeri's teeth in a decidedly unsexy way. "OW! OW! 'IME OUT! 'AT 'URTS! 'ERI!" A little blood dribbled down his chin as he gently batted at her, afraid to provoke her further.

As Vyn flailed, Zeri slapped a button on her harness and the two ascended into the air, the shuttle reeling them in. Released his lip, she leaned back from him, glaring daggers. "You're the captain of an entire ship. Why are you so persistent? I'm not going to be some cantina dancer that you take home. I'm your First Mate - what would the crew think? If something goes wrong, I'm the one who has to leave the ship."

Now a hundred meters in the air, the pair held each other as they spun on their lines, the shuttle rising higher and higher. Below, the train detonated, the orange glow casting strange shadows across their faces. Vyn didn't look away, instead, looking more serious than he ever had. "You were there from the beginning. You were the first one to follow me in mutiny, and the first one to run up the ramp of my ship. I was nobody, I am nobody - a captain is nothing without others. So, I guess...I don't want to lose the first person to believe in me. It's selfish, and I'm selfish, but I'll hold onto that as tightly as I can."

The pair ascended, up and away from the flames, and Zeri almost dismissed the words. But something was different this time. Maybe it was the heist itself. Maybe it was Vyn's sudden seriousness. Maybe it was partly because Vyn wanted this conversation - a yes or no - so frelling bad he threw a tantrum on a moving train that was about to blow up. So, instead, Zeri laid her head on Vyn's chest. She would die before she ever admitted it, but it was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever said to her - and she had heard every line a space scoundrel on corellian whiskey could come up with. "...You can take me out for noodles and beer."

"What about ste-"

"No steak. How do you eat so much meat?"

"It's a Firrerreo thing. High metabolism for protein." Mumbled Vyn.

"I will not be spending the night in your cabin." Zeri said out of nowhere, her voice muffled in Vyn's shirt.

"I mean, with the way you kiss, that's probably a blessing." Vyn braced for Zeri's retort, but instead only felt her laughing. A wide grin, only describable as 'dopey' spread across his face. The winch lurched to a stop, and the pair looked downward at the dissipating fireball and tower of smoke as the shuttle doors ground closed. "How much did we get?"

"Safe was a bust." Sighed Zeri, not letting go. "Only thirty-eight, maybe forty."

"Absolutely worth it."

Zeri looked up at Vyn, ready to argue, but saw that same serious and determined expression from before. Something about that expression sent butterflies flitting around her stomach, a feeling she wasn't exactly used to. What was it about Vyn's happy-go-lucky idiocy and his brief-yet-intense surety that was so...so...

The door to the shuttle's cargo bay opened, and like a pair of teenagers caught in the act, Vyn and Zeri bolted away from each other. The Kid - actual name Koda, who was easily twenty already - stared at them for several long seconds. Vyn and Zeri stared right back. "So...the money? How'd it go? I'm bored out of my mind up here. Me and the Black Sun pilot have been making faces at each other for the past ten minutes."

Zeri laughed loudly, awkwardly, and Koda gave her an odd look. Vyn cleared his throat. "Less than I'd liked, more than I'd hoped. Call the Pike and dock, we need to get out of here."

Above the shuttle, a CR95 Assassin-Class Corvette dropped out of hyperspace. It hung there, briefly, its belly cargo bay opening to accept the shuttle. Ignoring all hails, it turned and oriented towards a distant star, before accelerating into hyperspace. Some things never changed in this galaxy - the pursuit of credits, the constant power play between factions and corporations, the endless churn of light versus dark. But perhaps a few things remained constant; good men kill, bad men love, and every now and then those in the middle find comfort and solace in the only things that matter - each other. As the pirates say...

Live today, regret tomorrow.

END.

Kinley Pryse / Roark Garnett

 

[Roark Garnett]

Docking clamps overheated.... Check!

Sublight drive compromised ... Check!

Black Sun screwed ... Check!

Desperate fringers happy ... Check!

The bacta and the ed droids were now on its way to the people who really! needed them.

The pay was enough to cover the repairs on the Max and buy some canned food for Fizz.

A job nicely done.

As soon as the repairs were done Roark would get the hell out of this place. He needed another change of address ... again, but who was counting?

Kinley Pryse Vyn Ryder