Private Free Port, Bad Timing

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan had picked the bar because it sat right on the fault line between respectability and having a real atmosphere.

The free port on Vensar Station was loud even by spacer standards. Music thumped through the deck plating, voices overlapped in half a dozen languages, and the air smelled of overheated wiring and spilt alcohol.

It was neutral ground. No banners. No flags.

Trextan sat with his back to the bulkhead, boots hooked on the lower rung of the stool. He was nursing a glass of beer.

His prosthetic arm rested on the bar, fingers loosely curled around the glass. He had been in enough trouble that he always kept an eye on the exit.

Trextan had parked the Verree in bay three and paid for a refuel. He'd dropped an advert across the local network for a transporter. At a port like this that probably meant a smuggler. He'd done his part for another Warden in bringing a small cargo crate here, but it needed to be taken by someone else over the last leg of the journey.




At the edge of the stations sensor range, a wedge of grey dropped out of hyperspace, blotting out stars.

Tessa Thayne

 

[Tessa Thayne]

This was Tess's world. Free ports, no allegiances no expectations. Here you could find both honest and dishonest work in equal measures depending on your mood. The Relentless rested in bay five, pit droids racing to hook a fuel line to her while she haggled with the locals for better prices. Not that she couldn't afford what they were asking for, it was more out of principle than anything else. When the controller begrudgingly agreed she tossed him the credits and moved on, already chasing her next job.

She cut through the bar with purpose, dodging a half drunk pair of twi'leks that stumbled in her path with promises of a night worth remembering. Her contact was sitting at the bar, watching its patrons a half drunk beer in his hands with foam lines settled in the glass that told her he was drinking slowly. She moved into the space next to him wordlessly, flagging down the barkeep before lifting herself into the stool.

"Whiskey." she ordered sliding the credit across the bar before half turning her gaze to him. "You're looking for a transporter?"

Trextan Voidstalker

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan hadn't clocked her as she entered the bar. He did sit a little straighter, sensing someone watching him.

He did not turn when she slid onto the stool beside him. He took another measured sip instead, letting the pause stretch just long enough to be deliberate rather than rude.

When she ordered whiskey, the corner of his mouth twitched.

He would have struggled to drink straight whisky. He didn't drink heavily at all, but suddenly he felt slightly jealous.

Trextan finally angled his head, dark eyes flicking to her with a calm, appraising look. Spacer jacket, practical boots, but it was the ship that would be important.

"Yeah, that's me," he replied. "One heavy protected case. Needs to stay locked for the trip. It's nothing dangerous."

Outside, the Star Destroyer completed its maneuver. A wing of Tie fighters and troop transports launched before it started to close on the station.

 

[Tessa Thayne]

A grin flashed across her features at his assurance that the cargo wasn't dangerous before disappearing behind the rim of the glass the barkeep slid her way. Smokey flavour chased by heat ran over her tongue as she sipped, before setting the glass down.

"Dangerous isn't a problem." She shifted in the seat, turning to face him offering a hand in greeting "I'm Tess, I fly the Relentless. I can get your cargo where it needs to go. Quickly and quietly cost extra but otherwise my rates are reasonable."

There was a flurry of movement outside, a shift from the easy atmosphere to one of tension anf panic, but it didn't quite permeate the noise of the bar.

Trextan Voidstalker

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

"Wow you just drink that neat," Trextan muttered. Despite growing more confident in himself, he was still slightly awkward around strangers.

"Anyway, right. Just saying it's not got anything hazardous to worry about."

"I'm Trextan," he added, as he realised he hadn't offered his name.

He set the beer down, foam rings clinging stubbornly to the glass. She seemed to be comfortable not asking too many questions for the right price.

He noticed the dip in conversation. A flicker on the holoscreen above the bar cut away from a sabacc match to a grainy exterior feed.

A wedge of grey slid into view, blotting out stars.

"We might need to do introductions on the way out," he muttered, nodding at the screen.

"Better to hide away on the station until they get bored or make a run..." he mused out loud. He had no idea what their intentions were. It could have been anything from taking over the whole station to a rapid insertion of commandos to pick up a single person.

 

[Tessa Thayne]

Tess lifted her gaze to the holoscreen as Trextan gestured towards it and let out a heavy sigh. Shaking her head she turned her attention back to her whiskey, taking another unhurried sip. "So much for a free port. Should order yourself another one, prices are about to become jacked." She seemed on the whole, utterly unbothered by the incoming threat, swing round in her seat to watch the other patrons.

"I can out run a star destroyer but not those TIEs and I'm really not in the mood for another scratch on my ship. We can hope its just a routine feather ruffle and they'll move on pretty quick but odds are its not." She moved her gaze back to him, giving him a once over. He seemed like he could hold his own well enough but time would tell.

Those who were sober enough to pay attention began to move, leaving the bar either for their ships or for a place to hide. "Your cargo any kind of illegal?"

Trextan Voidstalker

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Trextan did not look back at the holoscreen. He had already clocked the shift in the room, the way conversations dipped and bodies angled towards exits without anyone needing to say a word.

Free ports always liked to pretend they were untouchable right up until the moment a Star Destroyer decided otherwise.

He took another swallow of his drink, slower than he felt, then set the glass down with deliberate care.

"Nothing illegal. They won't care about it," he said, nodding at the screen. But you would want certain Hurt clans knowing it was in your possession."

His gaze slid back to Tess. She seemed comfortable with things going wrong. Stormtroopers would be landing soon. He felt the reassuring weight of the occluder handcannon at his hip.

His lightsaber was inside a compartment in his artificial arm, where it would stay unless absolutely necessary.

"I was hoping for a quiet transfer," he added, the corner of his mouth twitching faintly. "But the galaxy does love its timing."

Around them, chairs scraped softly against the floor. A Devaronian paid his tab too quickly. Someone cursed under their breath near the door. Trextan leaned an elbow against the bar, posture loose and unhurried.

His eyes flicked briefly towards the exit, then back to her.

"So the real question," he said quietly, "is whether you wanna go before the boots hit the ground, or after."

Tessa Thayne

 

[Tessa Thayne]

Tess gave a half shrug at the mention of the Hurt clans. There was a part of her that was a little disappointed that it wasn't something that would tick the Imperials off. Not that she wanted to land herself in one of their detention centres, but she did enjoy the thrill of the chase. She brough the glass back to her lips, taking another long sip, assessing the room not for its people, but for its dependability. Tables were bolted down, no doubt to prevent them being thrown when brawls did break out, meaning making their own barricades wasn't an option, which left the bar they were leaning against as their only safe point.

Her gaze slid up, noting the recess where shutters waited and she let out a sigh. "Well, I wouldn't want to miss the fun, but if boots decide they want to start shooting people, this is not the best place to hold out. I'm willing to bet the minute the barkeep smells trouble he's dropping the shutters and then we're sitting ducks."

She swilled the liquid in her glass. "I don't mind a fight, but I prefer a fight with better odds. Maybe we see what attitude they hit the ground with and make our play from there."

Trextan Voidstalker

 

[Trextan Voidstalker]

Tessa Thayne

Trextan followed the spacer's gaze. He hadn't even thought of that.

"Never been a big enough drinker for an after hours lock in," he said.

Just a few hours and this would have been much simpler. The exchange done and they could have left before the destroyer arrived.

He didn't trust his own piloting skills to escape. He had nothing specific to hide if they boarded him, but there was a chance he was on some watch list. The imperials were fragmented but he'd crossed paths with enough troopers in the last five years.

"Let's go," he agreed.

EVERYONE REMAIN CALM. HAVE IDENTIFICATION READY FOR INSPECTION

The orders on repeat were already being blasted down the hall.

"Oh this isn't going to be good."

 

[Tessa Thayne]

Tessa grinned. "No lock ins, just been in, and started, enough bar brawls to know how quickly these guys keep themselves covered."

Reluctantly, she knocked back the last of the whiskey, the sudden blast of heat over her tongue and down her chest making her shudder before she slid off the bar stool. "Yeah okay we can-" she was cut off by the blaring announcement that rumbled through the station. There was a brief pause, like the whole station blinked and took a second to register before pandemonium erupted. Panic rippled through those who definitely did not have papers, scrambling for the door.

"Well, I guess that answer that question." She gave Trextan a once over glance, hoping to the stars that he could hold his own in a fight.

"Where are you parked?" If they could get back to the docking bays without running into trouble they'd have a more defensible position...maybe.

Trextan Voidstalker