Private Hi, I'm (not) Here For My Internship

[Lucien Kenston]

-Corellia, Core Worlds-

The rattle of the shuttle entering Corellia's atmosphere wakes Lucien from his slumber. The capital, Coronet City, shines bright below against the dark sky. From this view, the skyline doesn’t look much unlike home. From what he's gathered, Corellia won’t be the most radical departure from Aria they’ll encounter. Aria and Corellia are good trading partners, most of the population is human, and they share deep historical ties.

Marc and Tre gradually rise as well as the shuttle pulls into Coronet’s spaceport. Lucien hands them each a cup of coffee he’s gotten from an attendant, part of his change of plans.

“Here, drink up.. Long ass day ahead of us”

“Is that-“, Tre takes a sniff of the cup Lucien had just handed him, “I’m not drinking coffee at one in the morning Luke”

“Hey, well, don’t be a queen about it”

Marc takes a gulp of his before responding, “He’s right, better to hit the ground running now than waste the day in bed at some hotel”

“True, now we can go straight to a cantina or club and find a pilot, thats always been the most important step”

The three exit the shuttle and present their papers to awaiting Republic security forces. A guard searching their luggage motions a security officer over before approaching the group, “You have a permit for all these weapons? You do realize you can’t bring these with no permit, very illegal, violates several smuggling laws”

Lucien, always able to finesse his way out of problems like this, takes charge and speaks rather directly to the officer, “Apologies, but I believe a thousand credits will be enough to put this to rest?”

The officer stands stifled for a moment, then nods his head in agreement. Marc hands off the credits and the three pass through security unabated.

Marc and Tre, following close behind Lucien as they walk through the spaceport towards the exits, can’t help but note... its just too effortless for Lucien. How does he always persuade people with such ease? Its almost magical. Most of their friends back home have attributed it to his charm, but now, they’re beginning to think its something deeper. But, it couldn’t be, could it?

 

[Lucien Kenston]

The three head to Bak Odur, a cantina right outside the spaceport. Upon entrance, it looks exactly like what they need. A diverse crowd of spacers give them varying looks as they walk in.

“Where do we even start? Bartender?”

Marc does a quick scan of the room, “How about that devil looking guy in the corner?”

A devaronian sits at a corner table accompanied only by a protocol droid.

Lucien’s does an eye scan of the room to make sure that the devaronian is in fact the sketchiest guy here.

“Yeah, he’ll do. Grab a drink for him first?”

Marc nods in agreement and they all head to the bar. “Get me three waters and one of whatever that guy in the corner is drinking”

The bartender looks over to the corner before giving a look of caution to Marc, “Be careful with him, name is Kap, does work for some unsavory types on and off world”

“Appreciate the info, and he’s drinking-“

“Ah yes, I’ll grab you another bottle of wine”

“Perfect”

Tre tosses the bartender more than enough credits and they walk over to greet the man. His intimidating appearance is more than enough to scare off the average human, Lucien imagines the average Arian would just about shit themselves if they saw him walking down the street. Before they reach the table, the man’s protocol droid stands up and steps forward to with it’s hand extended.

“Halt! I am Threedee-Fourex, you are currently within an unacceptable range of my master. State your business please”

Lucien, somewhat amused by the droid’s greeting, responds, “Yes, well, it is nice to meet you Threedee-Fourex. We require an audience with your master to discuss a job… plus we bring wine”

The 3D-FX unit turns to Kap and translates the request. He thoroughly eyes the three of them before waving them over to take a seat. Kap begins pouring the wine for himself immediately.

Lucien, using the droid as a translator, explains they need a pilot to take them to Nar Shaddaa as soon as possible. After consulting with Kap, the droid responds, “He says you have remarkable luck. We will be leaving with shipment for Hutt Space tomorrow, and can drop you on Nar Shaddaa for a price”

“I can offer you a few thousand credits for the journey”

The droid and Kap consult, “He will take you for 8,000 credits, but will be unable to provide protection in case of trouble”

“Tell him he’s already making the run with or without us, we only have three passengers. I can do 2,000 credits now and 3,000 when we arrive, deal?”

3D-FX turns to Kap once more, “You have a deal. Please report to hanger bay 32-D tomorrow at 12:00”

Lucien and Kap clink their glasses to seal the deal, and the three depart the cantina to seek lodging for the night. Kap didn’t provide much info on his ship, but he mentioned it was a light frigate and would get them there in only two days. It appears they made a good deal, but Lucien has a feeling their arrival to Hutt Space might result in some unwanted confrontation.