Cuz why not?

[Laira Darkhold]

"Alright, I suppose I can handle being the only one with personality." She grinned as she twisted the fighter downward, sending it into a spiral through the polluted air of Duro to the surface. Unlike her father, who had never enjoyed flying things more complicated than a basilisk war droid, Laira had taken a knack to piloting and flying from a young age. Thranta in the mountains and plains of Alderaan when the mood suited her. Her and Theo had spent their childhood mostly glued together. And then she had went to a school in another city, and she became much more independent since then.

"No, I just asked if he knew where a job board was and he offered me one. His money is on my credstick now though." And that was good enough to peak her interest to try out this quick job of taking stygium from Duro to Chazwa. Her father had organized the sacking of Chazwa which had left the capital city ruined enough that the Republic abandoned it rather than attempt to rebuild it, and now she would be delivering stygium to a CIS controlled shipyard above the planet they had helped decimate. The irony wasn't lost on her. "Its just shipping stygium, and he trusted us with the money to pay for it, and paid us in full upfront. I'm willing to give him a solid try."

She leveled the ship out of its spiral and hit the retrothrusters bringing her to a quick stop above the planet, rolling the vessel over itself to let the engines ease back as she headed towards the warehouse they were being sent. "Breath Mask required on the outside there Brutay. Don't need you coughing up a lung trying to be menacing." She eased back on the throttle until she put the ship down to land.

[member="Bryson Cadera"] [member="Gorm"]

 

[H3xle]

Bryson couldn't help but agree, the fact that the Skakoan had paid at the outset, and trusted them to deal with the loading of cargo themselves made it easier to take the job. They'd be able to ensure nothing was planted on their ships, and they had the full leeway to take the money and run if things got too dicey. Bryson wasn't exactly the kind to cut and run, however, so he still went into this thinking it was a trap of some sort. Paranoia was only a hindrance if you let it control you, and at this point Bryson wasn't that far gone.

"Breath Mask required on the outside there Brutay. Don't need you coughing up a lung trying to be menacing."

"Breath masks...on Duros?" He let a grin and sarcasm fill his voice as he set down his ship a few meters abeam of Laira's and facing a different direction, letting the weapons systems guard her ship. He powered down the ship for the most part, keeping the engines warm and the weapons online. He sent a message to his droid teams to keep on the look out and report to him if anything sketchy happened.

Then he stood from the command couch, grabbing his scattergun and holstering it before he stepped into the small quarters on the ship, what had been a troop area. He left off his heavier armor for the time being, though it was equipped to handle everything environmentally, he didn't want to seem that paranoid. Instead, he grabbed a worn, but perfectly functional breath mask. The mask covered his forehead down to his throat with a well cared for rubber seal. The face plate was solarium glasteel, and it had a triple set of filters on either side of the mouth piece. Straps went around the back of the head to keep it secure, and he made sure he had a good seal and that everything was working properly before he stepped out of his airlock and into the polluted scene of Duros.

He walked over towards Laira's ship, his eyes scanning the smog for any possible threats. His hand was never far from his scattergun.

[member="Laira Vereen"] [member="gorm"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Aye, the planet's been glassed, polluted, and irradiated more times than I can count. Do you really want to bet on a little bit of Vong-forming to be completely healthy on your lungs." Or eyes for that matter. She was a bit more constricted than her compatriot on what she could wear. Long red hair was going to stick out of a helmet and she wasn't interest on throwing on her helmet, even if it wasn't exactly a T-Visor, it was still a helmet.

She plucked a mask off the rack on her way to the ramp of her ship, slipping it over her face, adjusting it until she was comfortable with it. Black straps, was transparent for the most part leaving her face more visible than most, and its filters worked just fine. Her armorweave was hidden beneath trousers and shirt for the most part, only the little black collar around her neck in plain sight. By the time she made it down the ramp from her ship, her companion was waiting beside her ship.

He could tell her companion was on guard waiting for her, scanning the area. She had to admit it sounded very much like a trap or a double cross until their employer had paid them both upfront. "Alrighty mister Brute. Let's see what they got for us." She sauntered out in front of him, her pistol on her hip and her spear concealed underneath her vest, the little knob of the pommel barely visible.

"Hi." She called, getting the attention of three duros waiting outside the warehouse. "We came for a pick up for a Mister Gorm." Laira put her hands on her hips and gave them a smile, shifting her weight onto her back foot. "Are we expected?" She focused her senses on the three beings before her, searching the surface of their thoughts for emotions, traces of their intentions.

[member="Gorm"] [member="Bryson Cadera"]

 

[H3xle]

"Alrighty mister Brute. Let's see what they got for us."

"Just call me Brutus, it'll make things easier." He said, the name obviously wasn't his, but he was having fun at this point.

saun·ter (ˈsôn(t)ər/) verb 1. walk in a slow, relaxed manner, without hurry or effort.

Bryson was on a job, so he tried to be professional. His eyes scanned the smog, and he kept pace with Laira, just to the right hand side and a step and a half back. He couldn't help looking, though, as he had always found sauntering to be distracting, and her hips were making it increasingly so. Still, he focused and maintained a dour expression on his face, his breather mask amplifying it just for the fact that the lower part of his face was hidden.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The three Duros looked at each other and the pair of ships that had landed near the warehouse for a moment before the leader nodded at her. "Ah, yes ma'am. We have six crates for him for transport, assuming you have our money."

She grinned, glancing back at Brutus for a second before producing the little credchip Gorm had given her to pay for the stygium from her blouse, handing it over to the Duros with a smirk. "Right here big fella. Kept it nice and safe." The duros chuckled a little bit as he took the chip from her and plugged it into a datapad.

"No offense ma'am, but you know how it is. This much merchandise, I can't take anyone's word for it." The datapad pinged and the duros smiled as he viewed the screen.

Laira smiled at him, "None taken. If everything is in order, my companion, myself, and my loader droid can handle loading everything up onto our ships." The duros nodded and waved a hand at the door, one of his companions opening up the door and pulling a repulsor-cart out bearing six decent sized crates. Once the Duros were out of the way she turned on her heels to face Brutus. "Alright, I'm thinking three on each, makes it easy. If you want, we can split the fuel cost and I can magclamp your ship to the Far Runner. She's a bit faster than your ship, would cut down on time and both of our expenses if your up for it?"

[member="Bryson Cadera"]

 

[H3xle]

Bryson stayed stoically silent and menacing as Laira dealt with the purchase of the goods. He noticed that the Duros were not looking at him in the slightest. They were completely focused on Laira, to the point that Bryson figured he could have dressed in drag and done the hula and still not garnered any attention. That was just as well, everything seemed to be on the up and up despite the shady beginning to this adventure.

"Alright, I'm thinking three on each, makes it easy. If you want, we can split the fuel cost and I can magclamp your ship to the Far Runner. She's a bit faster than your ship, would cut down on time and both of our expenses if your up for it?"

Bryson looked after the Duros as they walked back into their building and Laira, the Droid and he walked back towards their ship.

"That works for me." He replied, visibly relaxing as they neared their ships. He thumbed his transponder and opened up the hold of his ship. His wasn't a version designed for carrying a massive amount of cargo, but the three crates fit well enough that he could still move once they were locked down. "After we maglock, are we both going to be on your ship, or would you rather me stay ready to fight in mine?" He asked as he looked between the two ships. Hers was the bigger of the two, and might even have had a shower. His tiny ship had a room for him, a head, but no shower facilities. It was a short range gunship that he just abused across the galaxy. Only after he asked the question did he realize how it must have sounded, as if he were trying to subtly storm her trousers. He blinked hard for a moment, readying himself to receive a talking to, slap, or throat punch from the woman.

[member="Laira Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

The loader droid situated three crates of crystals into her ship's cargo hold, leaving enough space for her to move around the bay, though not much. Luckily her ship had a living space module and she had a private room aboard the vessel attached to the YT-1300 style living room and galley so its not like she would be cramped up in just a cockpit the entire flight.

Laira arched an eyebrow at Brutus, glaring at him for a moment before resuming her cocky smile and pose, one hand on her hip as she regarded him, looking him up and down. "I'm fine with either, though don't get any ideas. Hands to yourself." The machismo on this one. Laira had seen it all before many times and could take care of herself if push came to shove. She turned and stooped to pick up her datapad off one of the three crates checking the manifest weight and ensuring that her ship could register as loaded with ore rather than just a blank space of mysterious weight. Laira turned to face him again slowly after checking everything she wanted to, ensuring she was ready to move the cargo easily enough. "My dad didn't walk out on me, so you are bit too old for me." she quipped with a smirk at her companion.

To be honest she hadn't even considered having him aboard until he asked, thinking more about saving her money so she could cut costs from this trip. Laira had never had a guest aboard the little freighter, much less a man and it hadn't occurred to her that she might be having someone, she didn't really know, on board today. There wasn't stuff lying around she was worried about him getting into, it was just unexpected. She had E-8 an engineering droid aboard, and she could protect herself if she had to, and he didn't seem to dangerous, at least towards her.

"Just, no guns if you do decide to kick it on my couch. We just met and I like you, but I don't think that's too much to ask from a relative stranger." She said this sweetly, looking up at him with big grey eyes while her sense in the Force probed his mind as subtly as she could manage, looking for malice or ill intent if she could find it. "If that's all okay with you, I'll see you aboard in five."

[member="Bryson Cadera"]

 

[H3xle]

"I'm fine with either, though don't get any ideas. Hands to yourself."

Bryson snorted and held his hands to the side, fingers splayed. "I wouldn't turn you down, but I don't normally mix business with pleasure." He said, then thought 'Pleasure after business...stop it!'

"My dad didn't walk out on me, so you are bit too old for me."

Bryson couldn't help it, he laughed for a few moments. If he hadn't been masked, he'd have had to wipe away a tear, but instead he let it hang there.

"Galaxy is full of creatures that live for hundreds of years, but no mind. I fully respect you and your choices, no need to worry from me." He replied to her and nodded as the droid finished loading the crates in her ship.

"Just, no guns if you do decide to kick it on my couch. We just met and I like you, but I don't think that's too much to ask from a relative stranger." She said this sweetly, looking up at him with big grey eyes while her sense in the Force probed his mind as subtly as she could manage, looking for malice or ill intent if she could find it. "If that's all okay with you, I'll see you aboard in five."

Bryson had been raised by force hunters, and he often used his skills when exploring random planets in his never ending quest to leave the main troubles of the galaxy behind. That said, he wasn't expecting her to try to probe his mind, so he didn't even get a chance to raise any defenses before she gleaned his surface emotions, and possibly thoughts as well. He was being truly honest, that he respected her choices, though there was the hint of sadness at being turned down before he even offered, and a little hurt at being called old. Neither were very prominent, however, as he had a fairly disciplined mind, and was focusing more on the job at hand. She might have been able to glean his next words before he spoke them.

"I find that amenable, but I'll bring my armor in case I need to spacewalk to my ship, if that's ok." She'd be able to sense his desire to just have access to a shower regularly without having to make otherwise worthless stops at waystations. He enjoyed keeping himself clean, despite his hobby of exploring worlds that haven't seen the rest of the galaxy in centuries. Then, as he felt his mind being probed, his eyes would widen, he'd bodily turn towards her, and his mind would start spewing gibberish as he took up his childhood training against thought probing. If she could keep up, he was reciting a memorized bit of hyperspace calculations between Coruscant and Concord Dawn backwards and forwards in his mind. "You could've asked, first..." He said, keeping his hands well clear of his weapon as he faced her. "I've been completely honest, but I don't really like people in my head without permission..."

[member="Laira Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira wasn't that good with reading minds or thoughts. Specifics was far beyond her, especially when she wasn't probing anything deeper than the surface of someone's thoughts. She could pick up things like intentions and emotions fluttering near the surface of someone's mind sometimes, if she was sneaky with it. Most people could sense someone touching that part of their mind without the use of the Force, but there were some who could notice it. Needless to say, his memories weren't something she was seeing or sensing. She picked up that he didn't currently mean her any harm as best as she could tell, and that while he was a little attracted to her, he wasn't pushy about the subject. After he noticed, Laira could tell that he was surprised and trying to hide his thoughts now, but that was about it. "Yeah, but if I had of asked, you might not have been honest." She grinned at him widely and amused. "You can't blame a girl for being cautious about who she lets on her ship."

With the cargo loaded, she made her way up the boarding ramp, motioning for him to follow her. The entry chamber was small and cramped, not hardly big enough for two people had it been closed down. To one side was a key-code and biometric locked door, and to the other was a simple closed door. Before them, the corridor was open with a living space visible from the door. A table with a corner booth situated around it with cushions, a few shelves with boxes and junk on them, a storage locker lining one wall, and a ladder going up and down to the top turret and cargo bay. "Refresher is on the right, table folds up and the booth pulls out to a couch. Don't go into the room on the left." She glanced over her shoulder, at him, considering telling him it was her private cabin, but thought better of it. She had already made it clear she wasn't interested in him romantically. To continue to press the subject would only make it seem like she wasn't serious. "Galley has a food processor, but I have it keyed to Corellian foods if you have any specific tastes. And we here at Laira's ship hope you have a lovely stay with us." She turned on the sweet tone to her voice like she was a receptionist at a hotel chain welcoming a guest for the last sentence, jokingly.

"If you give me a few minutes we'll be moving and I can clamp your ship easy." She walked through the living space and down the corridor to the cockpit with a little comfortable swagger and slumped into the pilot's chair. The co-pilot's chair was set off to the side and behind the pilot's in tandem. The engineering droid had already moved out of her way and the engines were still running.

[member="Bryson Cadera"]

 

[H3xle]

"Yeah, but if I had of asked, you might not have been honest." She grinned at him widely and amused. "You can't blame a girl for being cautious about who she lets on her ship."

"That's...fair enough." He paused a moment, then stopped the gibberish in his head and shrugged. "I guess I'm just not used to people with...your abilities taking work like this."

Then Bryson followed [member="Laira Vereen"] up onto the ramp. As he walked up, he grabbed his scattergun by the barrel and handed it to her.

"Lock it up wherever you want, give it back to me either at the end of our trip, or if we are about to be boarded." He paused a minute, then followed her onto the ship proper.

"Refresher is on the right, table folds up and the booth pulls out to a couch. Don't go into the room on the left." She glanced over her shoulder, at him, considering telling him it was her private cabin, but thought better of it. She had already made it clear she wasn't interested in him romantically. To continue to press the subject would only make it seem like she wasn't serious. "Galley has a food processor, but I have it keyed to Corellian foods if you have any specific tastes. And we here at Laira's ship hope you have a lovely stay with us."

Bryson chuckled at the joke, and nodded.

"I'll go with uneventful, makes the money that much sweeter." He replied, following up to the cockpit door. He peeked inside and nodded at the copilots chair. "Mind if I take co, or would you rather I make myself comfortable outside of your cockpit." Bryson was aware that many pilots got sensitive about strangers coming into their cockpit. The fact that he was still feeling a bit awkward with her being a force able person, might have also added some caution. He wasn't outfitted to brawl with a forcer, and didn't want to step on any toes he didn't have to.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

"Not everyone is a super powered freak that can crush cities. Most of people like me can't even fully manifest anything. Just gut feelings and getting pretty good impressions of people." She was lying, but always keep a girl must have some secrets. She took his scattergun and tossed it to her engineering droid who mumbled something morbid under his breath. Something about at least she wouldn't recognize her killer if she invited strangers aboard or some other depressed nonsense.

Laira felt the controls, running her hands over them gently for a second, "Uneventful isn't so bad. Not as fun as getting to shoot something, but easy credits. No, go ahead and make yourself comfortable." The redhead flashed him a pretty smile from her seat in the cockpit. "Its probably a bit safer for you to be strapped in the way I like to fly anyway." A few buttons pressed under her fingers and the Far Runner took off gently, lifting up into the air. She waved at the Duros on the landing pad, one of which awkwardly waved back at her.

At heart, Laira was a just flirt who kept her outward appearance pristine, appreciating most of the looks and comments that were directed at her but never intending to do anything about them or with them. She did appreciate Brutus' interest, even if it wasn't reciprocated. In her own a vain way, it confirmed her thoughts about herself and boosted her confidence.

"Once we hit hyperspace we can relax and move around the cabin." The ship had a metallic thunk as its mag-clamps hefted the gunship off the ground and locked it into place. With it secure and the mag-clamps working, Laira pulled the vessel vertically and accelerated heavily feeling the g's of the vertical maneuver pressing her back into the seat as she accelerated toward the sky. Clouds broke and atmosphere started to give way to space just before she hit the sublight boosters to give the Runner that extra burst of speed as it broke away from the planet. She grinned as duros voices filler her comms. "Hey, be careful out there. This is duros air space not open void."

[member="Bryson Cadera"]

 

[H3xle]

"Not everyone is a super powered freak that can crush cities. Most of people like me can't even fully manifest anything. Just gut feelings and getting pretty good impressions of people."

"Fair enough." Bryson said, letting it sit at that. He didn't know if he trusted it just yet, but she'd had him pretty well flat footed, mentally and physically, and hadn't tried to take him out. He felt he could trust her so far as the mission went.

"Uneventful isn't so bad. Not as fun as getting to shoot something, but easy credits. No, go ahead and make yourself comfortable." The redhead flashed him a pretty smile from her seat in the cockpit. "Its probably a bit safer for you to be strapped in the way I like to fly anyway."

"Are you saying you're fa..." Bryson began with a grin as he slid into the copilots chair and strapped in while she brought the ship up and clamped on to his. Then she hit the accelerator, and he was pushed back into his chair, the wind leaving his lungs and leaving him speechless for a few moments.

"Once we hit hyperspace we can relax and move around the cabin."

He took in a full breath as he acclimated to the gee forces, and smiled. She flew his style of flying, devil-may-care. He nodded and cinched the straps on his chair tight, then began looking over the instrument panel in front of him, keeping his hands off of the controls. He doubted the copilot's controls were active, but no sense in chancing anything.

"Hey, be careful out there. This is duros air space not open void."

Bryson grinned as well as voices filled the cabin radio protesting the heavy acceleration. That they hadn't hit anything was either a testament to [member="Laira Vereen"]'s flying skills, luck, or the Force. whichever it was, Bryson just loved the feel of speed. At the acceleration they pulled, they were out in open void fairly quickly, the addition of his ship to the profile made cutting the air a bit more difficult, but Laira seemed to handle it well. When they broke atmo, the voices fell away with muttered calls to be more careful next time, and other, more colorful, things.

"I'm gonna say, that was a bit more excitement than they were hoping for today..." He chuckled and looked over to Laira. "You fly how I like to fly, so I see nothing wrong with it. Just, thanks for letting me get into the seat first." The rush of the speed still had a smile on his face. He turned forward and looked out into space, a brief flash of longing slid over his face, then back to the smile. His love of the void could almost be palpable, as it was second to only two things, only one of which remained for him to pursue.

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira sat at the controls, punching in commands to the navicomputer as the ship rocketed away from Duros. Part of her arched an eyebrow at the big Mandalorian looking fellow's cut off remark. She had the feeling he was going to try his luck at flirting with her some more before her haste to get off the planet silenced him, but no harm done, so no foul.

"I'm sure they weren't expecting it. This bucket of bolts matches an X-wing in speed even though she doesn't look like it." At least, that's as fast as she let it go at the time. In reality the Explorer could go faster than that if she punched the throttle as hard as it could go, but she liked to have some tricks up her sleeve, plus with the gunship clamped to its ventral hull, it was a bit slower and more sluggish than usual. The redhead clicked a few buttons and then set the autopilot with the navicomputer preparing for the jump to hyperspace.

"Looks like we will have the ship to ourselves for a little while during hyperspace. But, as a rule there is no snoring on my ship so you might want to watch yourself with napping." Laira smiled and stood up, stepping past the copilot's chair behind her own. The were situated in tandem which meant her chair was lower to the front-right with the copilots chair higher up on the rear-left of the cockpit leaving space for her to come and go as she pleased, but just barely.

She brushed past him and stood in the doorway for a second looking back at the older man, inspecting him. Once she was satisfied she had sized him up well enough, "Well might as well stretch out and get comfortable." waving a hand at him to follow her into the living room module, making her way to sit on one side of the booth, kicking her feet up onto the table and making herself comfortable.

[member="Bryson Cadera"]

 

[H3xle]

"I'm sure they weren't expecting it. This bucket of bolts matches an X-wing in speed even though she doesn't look like it."

Bryson nodded in appreciation as he looked over the console in front of him. From what he could tell from the power outputs, she wasn't making that up. He glanced over the other readouts, and saw that, were his ship not attached, they would likely have surpassed an X-Wings speed with the amount of acceleration used. That was surprising, as the ship neither looked that fast, and didn't seem like a combat ship.

"Looks like we will have the ship to ourselves for a little while during hyperspace. But, as a rule there is no snoring on my ship so you might want to watch yourself with napping."

"She doesn't even know me, and already she tells me I snore..." Bryson said with mock incredulity as he unbuckled the safety harness, after she passed. He could feel her eyes on him, but he neither said, nor did anything about it. He figured she had earned some trust of his.

"Well might as well stretch out and get comfortable."

He nodded and stood, stretching the kinks that the acceleration had put into his back. Then he followed her out to the booth and sat at the other end of it. As it wasn't his home, he didn't kick his feet up onto the table. In his mind, that was a right of the owner, not the guest. He did lean back into the couch, looking off into the distance for a moment before moving his eyes to hers.

"I guess this is where the small talk happens..." he said wryly, with a grin to match. "What part of the galaxy do you call home?" He asked, assuming it was a pretty inocuous question.

[member="Laira Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

She arched a brow at the man in her ship. "You are a man. Men snore, or so I'm told." Other than her father and brother, she had no idea. Theo was always neat and tidy, and never made a peep back when they were little and stayed in the same room. Now, she wasn't sure but she would have assumed he was still quiet. And then her father, who her mother claimed was louder when he was awake than when he was actually asleep.

"Small talk isn't all bad." She had already shot him down, and while she wasn't interested in him, Laira was prone to flirting mostly for the attention. She was deliberately watching herself to make sure she didn't act to available, she was alone, and on her ship, with a man almost twice her age. It was better in her mind not to take any chances by coming on too strong.

"Right here." She pointed downward, "This ship is my home now. But I was born on Bothawui. Good people the bothans, they get a bad wrap with all the spy business." But they were excellent spies. One of them had helped fabricate her false identity a while back so that she wasn't just empty pieces of paper with no real history. She had enough to keep out the curious, not enough to keep out a full blown investigation that conducted interviews.

Laira stretched her arms over her head and yawned, breathing in deeply before exhaling. "How about you, good sir Brute. Where do you call home? Wife? Kids? Grandkids maybe?" She grinned at him, wondering just how sensitive he was about his age. Unlikely that he was too sensitive. He couldn't have been more than mid thirties.

[member="Bryson Cadera"]

 

[H3xle]

Bryson chuckled and shrugged. He'd never been told he snored, but he'd also never been told he didn't. He assumed one of those two streaks would likely end by the completion of this mission.

"Right here." She pointed downward, "This ship is my home now. But I was born on Bothawui. Good people the bothans, they get a bad wrap with all the spy business."

"Spies aren't bad, so long as they aren't spying on me..." He began, then laughed again. "...at least not too obviously." One of the many things Bryson had been called over the years, spy was one he was middling at being. It generally had to be a fairly high price to get him to play around in society, where spies were usually deployed, but he did have his price. When you were doing the same thing out on the Rim or beyond, it was just called exploring, or not called anything, as there wasn't anyone to do so. "Can't say I've known more than a handful of Bothans myself. The ones I know are decent folks, mostly mercenaries." Mercenary was the other thing Bryson was often called. Everyone had their price, Bryson had his plotted out. There were a few things he wouldn't do, and clients he wouldn't work for, but generally he let the coin decide his morals.

"How about you, good sir Brute. Where do you call home? Wife? Kids? Grandkids maybe?"

Bryson snerked. Had he been drinking something, he likely would have spit it out.

"Just how old do you think I am?" He asked with a laugh. "No, no wife, kids, or grandkids. I'm originally from a world out to the galactic east of the core, Concord Dawn. My own Father and I had a bit of a falling out over me following in the family business. I took my ship, and left. Been out and about the galaxy ever since, mostly picking up odd jobs like this, or setting boot on ground that hasn't been touched in centuries." He chuckled a bit. "Between the two of us, I've probably got the larger number of daddy issues." He told her. He was in a Mandalorian gunship, so she probably had him pegged as a Mando. Thus, telling her he hailed from Concord Dawn wasn't going to be revealing in and of itself. He was pretty sure she wasn't anyone who would know about the goings on in the Clans, more than just Mando's trained their people well, and she didn't have any of the typical accents he associated with his erstwhile Vod. Also, aside from telling her to call him Brutus, he wasn't really trying to hide who he was. If he had, he would have bought a new ship long ago. His ship was fairly old, though well maintained. He'd possibly been tramping around the galaxy as long as she'd been alive, which was a bit sobering truth be told.

[member="Laira Vereen"]

 

[Laira Darkhold]

Laira knew only a small handful of Bothans, the few who were still loyal to her father. Many years ago, before she had even been born, he had been the Protector of Bothawui during his time with the Techno Union, and earned the appreciation of some of them, though most had simply used his defenses and when he had left, they had fared fine on their own.

"In the age of rejuvenation surgery one can never be too sure of someone's age." She said, giving him a sideways look and a warm smile. "Don't worry. You don't look all that old. I'd dare to call you handsome, even." The Explorer was quite a bit faster than the average Hyperdrive, able to hit Point Six past lightspeed, only a hair worse than the Millennium Falcon of old during its first fateful journey from Tatooine, so their trip wouldn't be very long. Only one night most likely.

"I've never been to Concord Dawn, but I know of it. Agri-world for Mandalore, has a reputation for breeding impressive stock. Or so the girls say." Indeed they had. Having a Mandalorian Enclave on Alderaan when she had been in finishing school, many of the young women at the all girl's Collegium swooned over the Mandalorian men of their age, much to the ire of the noble bred Alderaanian boys. Not Laira, who had never found them all that impressive. She had gone through tougher training than most of her age and still made time to attend a prestigious finishing school and make decent marks. Why would a full-of-himself bumpkin in the mountains be impressive?

Brutus didn't seem like that, at least not from their short conversation. "What else are you willing to tell me about yourself."

[member="Bryson Cadera"]