Fishy Business

[Strider Garon]

Onboard the Avril
Hyperspace Enroute to Ord Cestus from Celanon.
[member="Livia Maddox"] [member="Loreena Arenais"]

The elongated strips of light crest past the Avril's flight deck view port as she sailed through hyperspace en-route to Ord Cestus. Strider watched the light show from his seated position in the pilot's chair, a shento cigar lit and gripped between his lips as he tried to fill his nostrils with the bitter smoke smell the delicacy provided. It had only provided a small amount of relief to his sniffer as his cargo hold was filled with 120 tons of fresh fish from Celanon. The soldier was use to the many smells that the battlefields provided, but this was an entirely different assault on the senses and chewing and smoking the cigar kept the old man's stomach from wrenching.

"How the hell did I let your mother talk me into this?" Strider growled at Loreena, the young girl seated in the co pilot seat. She was the daughter of Queen Kay Arenais of Commenor, a princess by birth rate, but today she was a crewmen aboard the Avril. The stench of fish had saturated the entirety of the ship and there was no escape from this fragrance unless one was taking a space walk. A thought that had passed through Garon's mind as he contemplated his very existence a few hours back.

The fish was a legit transport deal, it was their ticket to the Sith imperial controlled Cestus. Customs could wade through the cargo all they want for how ever long they wished. There was nothing illegal with this haul. one hundred and twenty tons of pure profit to be made once they made planet side. That was where the real mission was to be had. After unloading the fish, they were to load up passengers and smuggling them off planet. They were wanted individuals, trouble makers and targets of the TSE. Folk on the run that were desperate to get off the planet for multiple reasons. Refugees. To Strider, they were cargo with a price tag that met the risk.

The old man grabbed another shento cigar from a box close by and offered it to the young teen "I will not tell!" Though he did not know if Maddox would approve. The woman was uptight and no doubt this current predicament they were in did not lighten her mood at all. But she was not on the flight deck at the moment and Strider could use another cigar burning to ward off the fishy stench.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori sat in the co-pilot's chair in her light armour, smirking to [member="Strider Garon"] as he remarked on just how her Mom had managed to almost swindle him into taking her on this mission. In truth her Mom knew that she was safe in his hands, even in TSE space. But Lori needed to see more of what life was like outside of protected CSA space. Her guardian Jaster was making some deliveries for hus company and her Mom was busy with her Dad's trial. Her twin brother [member="Caedyn Arenais"] was off with the Je'daii training. Everyone was busy. And now Strider was too, only this time she got to tag along.

After some hours had gone by, she had gotten almost nose blind to the fishy smell. Almost. Still it was strong and no doubt it'd be all in their hair and clothes after this was over. They'll all need multiple showers to get it all off.

To her shock the old man offered her a cigar. Lori eyed him as she reached for it, wondering if it was some kind of test. "You promise?" She snatched it and popped it into her mouth, though she had no means of lighting it. Had she ever smoked before? No way! But the smell of a cigar was much more pleasing than their cargo.

 

[Livia Maddox]

“Good glorying voorpah breeders, the cargo is…” Livia made a wretched face and sprayed more odour reliever into the air. Pushing off from the tangle of wires above her, she shoved them back into the console and shut the bulkhead.

“For the… you really ou-ou-oouaaaachoo!” Sneezing for what seemed like the hundred and fifteenth time, Maddox wiped her nose and growled toward the cargo bay. Fish.

It had to be gungan-eating, swarming, scaly, nostril killing fish.

Had her life descended to this? Helping a Mandalorian and a Princess deliver one hundred odd tons of fish? She, a Handmaiden-turned-navy-Captain, who lost her commission when the Levantine Sanctum went bust, had truly hit the bottom of every rock one could throw at her.

Dusting off her hands, Maddox limp-stomped back toward the cockpit. “You ought to have let me fix the atmo-recyclers before we left the shebla port, you ras-cal.”

There he was, the great [member="Strider Garon"], offering a cigar to a child. [member="Loreena Arenais"], no less. “Oh for the Goddess’ knickers on a laundry line!”

The servos on her left knee’s brace whirred as Livia plucked the cigar from Lori’s tiny mouth. “I’ll take that, thank you, your Highness!”

Leaning against the nearest console, Livia speared Strider with a grim face, before digging into her navy blue cargo trousers and pulling out an igniter. She puffed on the cigar to get it going, letting the smoke curl in the air from the red-burning end.

Holding the cigar between her fingers, Livia exhaled a cloud of smoke into the upper air. “Do not inhale. Your lungs are still developing. Let some of the smoke stay in your mouth, then blow it away from you. You and I can share it, if you will allow me, Princess…. honestly, the poor girl’d have a coughing fit!”

The smell was abominable enough to allow a child one puff of a cigar…. maybe two if the girl didn’t turn as green as a Nemoidian at tax time.

 

[Strider Garon]

A slow lazy grin formed on the hardened soldier's grizzled facial features. "Look at us, bunch of bad-asses now!" he chuckled looking back at the pretty blonde that was working on the shento. Bunch of badasses that smelt like a fish market. Was there a limit to what Strider wouldn't do get a job done? Something he had pondered on many times, especially in this new career choice as smuggler and freight hauler. He was infamously known to be tenacious, cunning and ferocious in the field of battle. But, now he was working for credits and credits alone. How far would he go? what risks would he take and sacrifices were justified in the quest of wealth? All new thoughts and questions that he would eventually have to answer now that he did not live in the routine and regimented life of a soldier.

His grin stayed as his eyes moved from his actual co-pilot to the young girl sitting next to him. One thing was for sure, he would not sacrifice their lives for credits. "When you take your puff, roll it around in your mouth and let the smoke assault your pallet. Next you can have some Tihaar to wash it all down with. Grow some hair on your chest" Oh if her mother or father saw this, he would be drawn and quartered for sure. But, she wanted the princess to experience life and hardened up to the dangerous galaxy. Being pampered and naive was counter productive to survival and Queen Kay was well aware of that, Hence why the young princess was crewed up with him. Nothing like being exposed to one of the Galaxies most dangerous individual to break her out of the bubble of safety.

An alarm went off, a familiar klaxon telling that they were about to exit hyperspace. "time to get to work!" Strider mumbled with the cigar in mouth, getting up from the pilots chair and offering it to Livia "Take us in gentle and and less suspect like. TSE customs will be tight due to recent activity down there so expect to get hailed" He looked over at Loreena " Better yet, let her fly. Real is far more effective than simulations"

Strider grabbed his gun belt off the back rest of his chair and began walking back into the ship "You ladies don't get me killed! I am too pretty to die this young"

[member="Livia Maddox"] [member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

The cigar was only in her mouth for mere seconds before it was plucked out from between her lips by [member="Livia Maddox"] . At first Lori thought that it was all over, but then the lady lit it up and....offered to share it? She listened to the instructions, watching Livia like a hawk, her fingers flexing open and closed while she waited for her turn. Oh boy. She wondered if [member="Caedyn Arenais"] had ever tried it. She's real grown up now!

And then [member="Strider Garon"] offered her instruction too. She had to take it all in, try to remember it all when it was her turn.

The two of them sure liked to call her by titles. Yeah, she was a Princess, but it wasn't as though she had a crown or anything. She hardly even went to any of the parties or the ever-so-boring political meetings that her Mom enjoyed. No, Lori and her brother were kept out of the limelight and were only bugged a few times in school. The twins were to choose their own paths and be where potential kidnappers wouldn't expect.

What was more unexpected than this?

And now the cigar came. What was she supposed to do again? Oh right! Don't inhale. But she had to. How else would she get the smoke in her mouth? Adults were confusing. Lori took hold of it, put it in her mouth and inhaled a bit. She held her breath, the look on her face betraying the tough exterior that she tried so hard to maintain. It was disgusting! Not the way that it smelled at all! Her eyes began to water as she started to cough, lightly at first, but then it all came out, puffs of smoke as she covered her mouth while her lungs expelled the putrid smoke. Lori held out the cigar while she covered her mouth. How does Strider do it?

The alarm going off distracted her. No doubt the others would be laughing and she wanted to wash her mouth out, breathe some fresh air, but of course there wasn't any on this ship. Unfortunately.

Her eyes just gleemed as she was given the chance to fly. Had she ever flown a ship this size? Yes. Sort of. Jaster let her do so before. And she had her own little fighter called the Grey Sparrow. But this was different. She didn't quite know the controls.

"I can do it! But I think they'd know something is up if I answered the hail. Can I do the dead-drop maneuver? Oh wait...you said fly her in gentle. Nevermind...." Sith territory was dangerous, or so everyone kept saying. Now was her chance to find out if it was true.

 

[Livia Maddox]

Livia snorted out a laugh as she rubbed [member="Loreena Arenais"]’ back. The girl was a coughing fit, and Livia couldn’t help thinking she’d lasted a few seconds longer than the first time her own father gave her a puff to share. Livia took the cigar back and chomped down on it, taking another puff of her own. It wasn’t glitterstim or ryll, but it would do for now.

“Tihaar! Ah! You bucket headed, semi-senile, miscreant! Tihaar would shut her liver down!” Livia bit back the urge to smack the wily Mandalorian, knowing full well one did not become elderly in such a culture without plenty of moxy to back it up. “Mandalorian swill… don’t listen to him Princess Loreena. What he drinks is liable to turn our stomachs to collywobbles. If you would like a beverage of a more adult nature, I can pour you some blossom wine, and mix it with irli juice as befits a Lady… even a Lady, who can kick shebs and take names, eh?”

Livia gave the young princess a wink, and pulled out a flask, taking a sip and passing it to the girl. Blossom wine. Much better on the palate, and the liver. Heavens, if Strider’s swill didn’t make his intestines leak all over the floor someday.

“Yes, yes, I can fly a transport of fish to market, thank you. I promise not to wiggle the controls, as if I’m a suspicious fishmonger with a bucket of eels in the middle. TSE can kiss my…” Livia looked to Lori and coughed. “Knee… they will board us, likely. They have the right. Our transponder codes are legal, and we’re making a clear run, so keep your mouth shut, and for goodness sake don’t have the cigar in your mouth if they do board us.”

Seeing the girl light up, Livia shook her head and looked to the ceiling. “Here, do you know what these buttons do? Sit on the arm of my chair, and we can fly the ship together, Lori. That way, you learn, and nobody balks at a teaching moment with a child.”

Enthusiasm in the young! And one who wanted to be a pilot, too! How could Livia’s cold, shrivelled heart say no?

“HAH! Pretty!? You’ve been looking in the picture frames instead of the mirror again!” Livia quirked, taking the controls, and nodding Lori over. “Let’s save the dead-drop maneuvers for another time, shall we? I’ll answer the hails, if you fly. How does that sound?”

[member="Strider Garon"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori smirked as once again [member="Livia Maddox"] called her Princess. Boy she'd be in big trouble if they did that once they were boarded. But hopefully any slip up would just make it sound like a term of endearment instead of a title. And at least Livia knew that she could kick butt! That alone scored the woman some brownie points.

And now a flask was offered to her. Normally Lori would sniff at the contents, but given that the ship reeked of fish, that sure wasn't going to help any. She took it anyways and had a small sip. At first she tasted the fruitiness of it, but then came the aftertaste of alcohol that made her face wrinkle up. "Oh, yuck!! That's just...so disgusting!" Maybe it was something that needed to get used to, like smoking cigars. Double-yuck!

As instructed, Lori sat on the arm of the chair. She reached over, making sure that she had good access to the controls. "I know what some of them do. I think that most ships have smiliar controls, right? There's the thrusters, the reverse thrusters, throttle, fuel, back up, steering and ooo! How much firepower has the Avril got?! What's it's payload?" Yup, she went from being calm and cool to a kid in a candy shop, her mind already picturing ships exploding in space into billions of pieces.

[member="Strider Garon"]