Let's Fly!

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

[member="Arekk"] [member="Asajj Novar"] [member="Tirtus Vex"] [member="Orrico Wayke"]


The Jasper's Sparrow was quite the sight. At least for Lori. [member="Kaine Australis"] helped her to gain it. With the help of his company, he retrofitted the old craft to fit her style and needs. To her, it was perfect! Their deal was simple. He'd pay for the ship, her crew and upkeep for one standard year. By the end of it, she'd have to pay him back. So her tasks now involved making some credits through various jobs. But first she'd need a crew!

Lori went to the nearest neutral planet that she could find. Phaeda was the one that she showed. It didn't have any great value to anyone, but it was a haven for smugglers and the like, which was perfect for finding her some crew. That is if there were people that didn't mind having a 16 year old for a boss. But her credits were good, and that was all that mattered. Besides, it wasn't as though she was the dishonest sort. One could look at her face and see the truth written there.

Commenor was set to be liberated soon. And she had to be there to support her dad, [member="Veiere Arenais"] ! At least with a good ship, she'd have a great means of helping out in regards to any space battles. Of course her Dad would want her to try to stay out of utter danger, but...when it comes to battle, that wasn't entirely possible. And he understood that. Or so she had hoped.

Lori had put up a message for the locals or anyone nearby of her want of a crew. At least she had the ship right there to show off and see if people were interested! Better than just showing a holo image. Now it was the waiting game to see who would show. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she waited, not dressed in her borrowed suit of armour, but in her trousers, shirt and coat. She didn't want to look too intimidating. There wasn't a need to scare anyone away. Lori sat on the ramp, swinging her legs too and fro, her bright eyes ever watchful to the others on the landing pad. She only planned to wait a day before moving on. Time was precious, afterall.

 

[Tirtus Vex]

Work. It was something that everyone in the galaxy was looking for, and Tritus was no different. He was on yet another world, Phaeda, and yet again he stood out like a sore thumb. Chiss were still, and likely always would be, an extremely rare sight throughout the galaxy, but that didn't give the locals a license to gawk at him when he walked past, muttering under their breaths about his abnormal appearance. To hell with them, he was here to work, not tussle with them. He entered the hanger where the employer was waiting, and was surprised to see a teenager sat at the ramp. Perhaps she was the captain's daughter? This uncertainty gave him pause, and instead of approaching, he lent against a nearby wall, waiting to see if others arrived, and if they knew anything more than he did.

[member="Loreena Arenais"] / [member="Arekk"] / [member="Asajj Novar"] / [member="Orrico Wayke"]

 

[Asajj Novar]

Was it adventure or the Arenias name that brought Asajj here? It was a question the Dathomir was working through as she made her way to the hanger advertised. The Queen's daughter, the Queen being who she was working for as a handmaiden. On and off of course. It was more a cover for the less then Sith agreeable activities she had been doing as of late. Activities that needed to die down for a little while less the Sith grow wise and mark her.

So she came here, both curious about [member="Loreena Arenais"] and an older acquaintance. [member="Tirtus Vex"] had saved her life from pirates in the past, and from what she gathered, he was on this world. Asajj had been hoping to find him before searching out the captain hiring a crew to thank him personally, but when she found no trace she gave up. Lo and behold however, he had the same idea in mind.

Purposely activating the sound dampeners in her feet she stepped up beside the Chiss, tapping his shoulder in the silence before letting the tech deactivate so she could speak up. "Fancy seeing you here. I thought you had your own ship?" She was all smiles and familiarity, grinning at the Chiss. There was nothing like seeing a friendly face on a new world.

[member="Arekk"] [member="Orrico Wayke"]

 

[Arekk]

​

Phaeda, Cademimu Sector, Outer Rim Territories​

"To teach, one must be willing to learn."
——————————————————————​

[member="Loreena Arenais"] ~ [member="Asajj Novar"] ~ [member="Tirtus Vex"] ​

​

The call was welcome and accepted, that's the only way to go about it.

When Loreena contacted Ar'ekk through their encrypted messaging system offering a thrilling job opportunity there was not a single doubt that he would accept it. Not for the credits since he had been living comfortably for a while now ever since his stint as a high profile organized crime figure in Nar Shaddaa that allowed him to amass a very hefty fortune, but for the longing of an adventure. That was like getting high on the best spice and a cure to the withdrawal that came after.

Setting aside a glass of brandy and killing off his cigarette inside an ashtray, the former Jedi turned slicer moved towards the marked destination at the hangar bay where Loreena would be waiting. Unlike the rest of the crew members he was aware that the captain for this little group would be nobody else but the teenager herself and something he expected with excitedness was to see her leading them to see how that turned. It'd be a difficult task but the small Mandalorian girl was tough and more than capable.

"Hey there, kiddo! So good to see you again." The man said with a very confident tone of voice and a swagger that spoke by itself. If there was something about the way Ar'ekk handled himself it was that he was a smooth talker and a convicing guy at that. "You too, guys."

This will be fun.

​

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[Kyyrk]

A sharp whistle of wonderment pierced the air, as Orrico walked into the hangar bay himself. He stood there, taking in the sight of the modified Mantis ship for a moment, hands on his hips. He finally spoke, to no one in particular, in a pronounced drawl that one might imagine a farmer to have. "Been near eighteen years since I've seen a ship like that'un. Mighty fine piece o' work there."

Orrico stepped forward, walking around the ship in a meandering way, taking in the sights. The D5-Mantis craft had always appealed to him. All the punch of a frigate, but with the maneuverability of a gunboat. Orrico had never been inside one, or even in the same hanger bay as one. Orrico came back around to the loading ramp. "Yes'm," he said to Loreena, "This a nice ship you got here. When I saw your message lookin fer a crew, I figgured you was lookin for a quiet little cargo hauler."

Orrico folded his arms over his chest, shifting his weight to his back foot as he looked up at the ship, then around to the other people gathered. Most of them seemed to know each other in some way shape or form, which left Orrico as an odd man out. "I'm not to late to join this little venture o' yours, am I?"

[member="Loreena Arenais"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

[member="Tirtus Vex"] was easy to spot out of the people walking by. Blue was her favourite colour anyways, and she was glad that it was one of Commenor's colours too. So she was sure to have Jaster's Sparrow painted with it. And it was! How lucky was he to wear that colour proudly? Obviously she hadn't seen a Chiss in person before. He didn't seem to approach though. Instead he just stood a bit away. Hmmm. Wonder what that's about? Possibly waiting for someone, was her guess.

And that someone was probably [member="Asajj Novar"] . The lady approached him and spoke to him. There were plenty of ships in the area, so the fact that the two happened to be near hers could be a coincidence.

The appearence of [member="Arekk"] put a big smile on her face. She jumped down from the ramp as he approached and wrapped her arms tightly around him in a big hug. "Ar'ekk!
You came! That's so wicked! What do you think of my ship? I named her after my guardian. He...died trying to protect Commenor." Pain was evident in her voice, as well as guilt. But she tucked it all away and her face brightened again. "So good to see you! I hope you've been well!"

Her attention turned to [member="Orrico Wayke"] as he approached and took a gander at her ship. The man seemed mighty impressed, which gave her more of a sense of pride for what [member="Kaine Australis"] had made for her. "Thank you very much, sir! And no, you're not too late. I'm Lori and this is Ar'ekk. Who might you be?"

 

[Tirtus Vex]

Tritus was caught by surprise by Novar's voice, but he was glad to hear it again. The two of them were already familiar with each other, but he enjoyed her company nonetheless. He resisted the urge to show how pleased he was by her being there, attempting to look as stoic as usual.

"Hello Asajj, I'm just as surprised to see you here. I'm here to get work, everyone needs a person who knows how to fly properly after all. Why have you come?" As they spoke, Tritus noticed a number of people approaching the young girl and addressing her as captain. He had obviously been wrong about her being the daughter of the owner, when instead she was the owner. "I think we should go meet our employer." He said, before gesturing to Asajj to follow, trying not to come off as rude whilst he did so.

"Greetings captain, Vexrium'tritus'hzebi at your service, though you may call me Tritus." After addressing the teenager, he gave a nod to the other two potential crew members. "That goes for the two of you as well."

[member="Loreena Arenais"] / [member="Asajj Novar"] / [member="Arekk"] / [member="Orrico Wayke"]

 

[Asajj Novar]

"Ah, yeah. Probably should." Asajj glanced over to [member="Loreena Arenais"] , smirking. The Dathomir at least knew who the teenager was, though it seemed [member="Tirtus Vex"] hadn't the foggiest idea. The poor Chiss kept winding up among royalty. How awkward would it be for him to know he's in the presence of not just one princess, but two? She silently snickered as she followed the pilot, waving from his shadow to Lori.

"Hey Lori. And co. I'm Asajj."

[member="Orrico Wayke"] [member="Arekk"]

 

[Kyyrk]

Orrico turned as the other two figures joined them. A redheaded girl he pegged as being from the outer rim, if he had to guess, and a Chiss. Orrico hadn't seen one of them since his military days. He offered [member="Asajj Novar"] and [member="Tirtus Vex"] nods of recognition as they introduced themselves. "Orrico Wayke, at yer service." He offered [member="Loreena Arenais"] a little bow as he said this.

"Perhaps its a good thing you didn't say what kinda ship you were lookin' to staff, little lady, else this docking bay'd be right packed."
He looked up at the ship again, the awe of such a vessel now clearly plain on his face. "So, how you intend on doing this, little lady? We just gonna hash things out right here and now, or you plan on speakin with each of us privately?"

 

[Arekk]

​

Phaeda, Cademimu Sector, Outer Rim Territories​

"To teach, one must be willing to learn."
——————————————————————​

[member="Loreena Arenais"] ~ [member="Asajj Novar"] ~ [member="Tirtus Vex"] ~ [member="Orrico Wayke"] ​

​

"You know me, Lori. I couldn't say no to ya when you called, it's the least I could do." the slicer countered with a smile and a big hug, clearly happy to see the teenager girl again. "Lots of new faces too."

The introductions were as polite and indifferent as one could expect when meeting strangers, a bow here and a shake of hands there was all needed at that time. Meeting properly would come in time as the crew began to take form and every single one of the people on board began to get accustomed to one another. Ar'ekk reached out first to introduce himself to each individual waiting, a very characteristic swagger would at least make things a little light and funny.

"Ar'ekk. It's good to meet you all."

Setting his palm on Loreena's shoulder for a moment to give her some relief, the former Jedi turned slicer tried to cheer her up and make sure that her head was in the right place. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind that she couldn't lead them to many adventures throughout the galaxy despite knowing her for a small amount of time unlike the rest of the people present. He was eager to board the magnificent vessel behind her and fly away.

"We should go inside, you know? Too many ears around. Never good."

​

——————————————————————​

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori grinned, holding her head up a bit. No one seemed to mind that she was so young. [member="Kaine Australis"] told her that that would happen. She just had to believe in herself and believe in them. She had to be confident in all of their skills. The ship couldn't run on it's own. It required teamwork. Teamwork required most people to get along. Well, mostly anyways.

So far, so good!

"Let's go inside. There's a lounge where we could talk. Come on!" She led the way, turning to the ramp and going up into the Jaster's Sparrow at a jogger's pace. Lori had already gone through the ship plenty of times, learning all about the nooks and crannies, which rooms where there, all the secret hiding places, the armoury; all of it.

In the lounge were some couches, chairs and endtables for drinks, all of them fused to the floor in case of rough travel. Lori sat in one of the chairs and waited for each of them to take a seat or stand within the lounge. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as she began to speak. "Right then.
I'm Lori Arenais, and this is my ship. So that makes me it's Captain. I have some piloting skills, and some mechanic and engineering experience as well. I've built my own jetpack and helped work on my guardian's ship. Just don't ask me to cook...I get distracted and burn the food sometimes." She grinned and gestured to them. "What about you?" She left out her family and history. It wasn't that important right now.

[member="Arekk"] [member="Asajj Novar"] [member="Tirtus Vex"] [member="Orrico Wayke"]

 

[Tirtus Vex]

Tritus followed the young captain into the lounge, and elected to stand, leaning slightly against one of the walls. The ship was well crafted, its design seemed old yet oddly advanced. Maybe he could pilot it one day, though the likelihood was that he'd end up doing navigation, given his background. As the girl introduced herself, he looked around at the assembled crew. All of them seemed capable, and a wide mix of crew members was always a bonus. Now it was time for each of them to take the floor, so Tritus stepped forward slightly.

"My name is Tritus Vex, formally of the Chiss Ascendancy. I have 5 years of experience commanding frigates, and have been trained as a pilot. I am at your disposal captain." He kept it short, some would've called it sweet too, others had called it boasting. He was not ashamed of his ability though, rather it was one of the things that kept the work flowing.

[member="Loreena Arenais"] / [member="Arekk"] / [member="Asajj Novar"] / [member="Orrico Wayke"]

 

[Asajj Novar]

"Oh uh, we're listing off things we're good at. Uh." Asajj paused, falling deep in thought about what exactly she could bring a crew. "I can fly, though the last time I did I was shot down and the ship blew up. [member="Tirtus Vex"] here picked me up from the wreckage. Er, I can use the turrets, though I'm not that good of a shot. I've really got no experience being on a crew or maintaining a ship.." Once again the Dathomir fell silent, idly tapping her chin. Truth be told, she probably wasn't cut out for joining a crew like this. Not that she'd admit it, and with the two familiar faces she couldn't help but want to stay.

[member="Arekk"] also had that swagger.

She plopped down on one of the couches, drumming her fingers on the material they were made of. "I'm pretty damn good at stealth and infiltration. And assassination. I dunno if that'll help what you got going on, but it's there if you need it."

[member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Orrico Wayke"]

 

[Kyyrk]

Orrico followed the crew into the interior of the ship, looking around at the pristine bulkheads. He picked a chair opposite the others, helping form some kind of semi-circle. When the attention fell to him, Orrico cleared his throat quietly and said, "I'm something of a mechanic these days. Used to fly quite a lot, before my crash. 19 years I flew everything from Cargo to patrol craft. Probably longer than you've been alive, lil' lady." He rubbed his hands together, rocking back and forth as the momentum of his elbows resting on his knees pushed him. "Probably still be doin it, if it weren't for the crash. Got shot down bout three years ago, folks decided I'd best retire while we could pretend there was enough of me to retire."

He looked around at the group for a moment before continuing. "But I'm jus' a simple workin man now. I go where the boss tells me to go, I do what the boss tells me to do. Whatever y'all wan' me doin, I'm happy to do."

[member="Asajj Novar"] [member="Tirtus Vex"] [member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Arekk"]

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori looked to [member="Tirtus Vex"] as he spoke first. He impressed her of course, but then that wasn't very difficult as she had far less experience at her own skills than anyone. "Wow. Always good to have more than one pilot. Some people have to sleep afterall, and if they get hurt, they'll need rest." She chewed on the inside of her cheek as she realized that she just spewed out what should be common sense.

[member="Asajj Novar"] was the next to speak up. Lori listened to every word. Well, it seemed that she wasn't the only person with little experience. That was a good thing, in a way. "Those skills will be great if we need to board some ship or get boarded ourselves." She smiled to her as she thought of different scenarios where it'll come in handy. She had a lot of credits to pay back, so she couldn't be too picky on which jobs they took.

[member="Orrico Wayke"] seemed to be another pilot. Great! They could use another. That'd leave Lori free to do other things. "Sorry to hear about your crash. And yes, you've been flying longer than I've lived.
Which is wicked. And your mechanical skills will come in handy too."

Oh this was all coming together nicely! She looked to [member="Arekk"] then and grinned as she teased him, remembering their first introduction to eachother. He cooked her up such a fantastic meal! "So what are all your skills that we could use? And please tell me that you'll be cooking. Oh please!" He had other skills too, but for the moment, that one was her favourite.

 

[Arekk]

​

Phaeda, Cademimu Sector, Outer Rim Territories​

"To teach, one must be willing to learn."
——————————————————————​

[member="Loreena Arenais"] ~ [member="Asajj Novar"] ~ [member="Tirtus Vex"] ~ [member="Orrico Wayke"] ​

​

"I'm a terrible cook, Lori. You don't want that." He mused but didn't make much of it, there would be time to do that but her follow up question was more important. "Slicing. I can access everything and anything you can think of. That being a complex electronic lock, disrupting a security system or gaining complete access over databases, bank accounts, yada yada. You get me."

His skills were very versatile and easy to adapt in any situation and combined with the cybernetic implants that made Ar'ekk slightly better than a human (being one himself) was a great advantage in case the crew ran into any troubles getting locked up somewhere or if they ran into any trouble with electronic systems.

"Everything is at your disposal, of course."

But as a former Jedi, Ar'ekk had a plethora of abilities that didn't necessarily felt he would have to reveal just now to simply keep things easy for everybody. Once the time comes to reveal and make use of his "gift" then that's when everyone could use it to their advantage. Right now being a slicer was his priority, not a Force user.

​

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[Mark Cross]

"Please still be here, please still be here, please still be here..."

Mark muttered to himself, duffel bag swinging precariously as he sprinted through streets, through a lobby, several corridors that looked the same, and up the ramp of the only ship that seemed to fit the description of the whispers he'd been hearing of a great ship, a young Captain, and the promise of more credits than he was making in that scumhole of a bar he'd been serving drinks at.

His cheek still dripped with blood from the flying glass that had grazed past it at great speed when he'd asked to terminate his employment. It was the angriest he'd seen the owner, the reaction quite unexpected, and had delayed his arrival. Having just quit his only source of income, missing the ship would have been a disaster.

Skidding to a halt in what looked like a makeshift lounge area, filled with unfamiliar faces, very out of breath, he hoped beyond hope he was in the right place.

"Please tell me...this is Loreena's ship...hi by the way..."

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"I think that you're about the only slicer that I know of and can trust. Most are anti-social, I think. But we could really use those skills for sure!" And most couldn't be trusted. She learned that lesson during the seige of Commenor. A young man that she thought was a friend had instead turned out to be the enemy. And he was helping the enemy to try to capture her. Fortunately she had gotten away. Barely though.

[member="Arekk"] was different, however. He was much like her guardians. He looked out for her from their very first meeting. She had no doubt in her mind that he'd continue the practice.

[member="Mark Cross"] suddenly appeared. He was out of breath, sweaty and a bit bloody too. Was he being chased by someone? Lori glanced behind him to see if anyone had followed, but for the moment there didn't appear to be anybody. "Hi. You've found my ship, alright. I'm Lori.
I was just conducting the interviews to see what everyone's skills were. We've gotta have a wide variety. What are yours?" Obviously he was here for work, given the knowledge that he had already given out.

Phaeda was turning out to be quite the great place for finding people!

[member="Asajj Novar"] [member="Tirtus Vex"] [member="Orrico Wayke"]

 

[Mark Cross]

"Phew...that's...a relief..."

Mark arched his back, resting his arms on his knees as he took breath into his depleted lungs. He could relax just a little.

"I'm Mark Cross. Chef, master mixologist, and long distance runner, as of today...Oh, and I'm also handy with a blaster, and know how to stop a ship from falling apart..."

Mark dropped his duffel on the deck and rummaged through, finding a rag that he used to dab at the cut on his face, conscious that dripping blood everywhere wouldn't be a good introduction.

[member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Arekk"] [member="Orrico Wayke"] [member="Asajj Novar"] [member="Tirtus Vex"]

 

[Kyyrk]

Orrico's hand had gone to his sidearm as this Mark person burst into the ship, blood dripping from a decent cut on his face. Perhaps some of that military training did pay off after all. He didn't draw on the poor man, but he came close to it. He also glanced at the door, wondering if someone else was going to burst through after the man, but as he talked it seemed he was just in a hurry to get there. He smirked as the man rattled off a list of skills. "Chef, and Mechanic..." Orrico glanced to Lori with a wry smile. "What say we pick one, or the other, yeah? Food don't tend to taste good when its covered in grease. And let's not ask how I know that..."

He looks around the assembled crew once more, and musing at the array of skills they had at their disposal. Out of all of them, best pilot was likely a toss up between him and the Chiss. Chiss would certainly have a better sense for tactical maneuvers and planning missions, they always did. Slicer was always handy, though usually in less than legal means. But then again, so was an assassin. At least they had a competent ground crew. Or boarding party. Orrico mused quietly to himself for a moment, before volunteering, "So, a Kid, an Assassin, a Slicer, Two pilots, and a Cook, all walk in to a bar..."

[member="Loreena Arenais"] [member="Arekk"] [member="Asajj Novar"] [member="Tirtus Vex"] [member="Mark Cross"]