Public Making My Escape

[Ko Zan]

MAKING MY ESCAPE
PLANET: APATROS

Laying against a brick wall, hidden in the dark shadows of one of the allies just off the main road that ran through Apatros colony city, Ko tried to catch his breath, while remaining hidden and quiet. Which he was barely able to accomplish as he continued to take long deep breaths between coughing fits that resulted in him spewing up gunk from deep in his lungs. The air of Apatros had long been contaminated with the many many different particulates being belched up from the mines deep beneath the surface. Even though the corporation had put up filtration systems at the mines, as well as around the different buildings of Apatros city itself, they were outdated and grossly inadequate at keeping the air out in the open even remotely clean. Making Ko's task of trying to stay hidden without his mask next to impossible. Ripping the sleeve off his shirt, Ko internally winced as he fashioned the tattered fabric into a mask, losing another of his already limited supply of clothing. He was quickly running out of clothes, and his makeshift mask wouldn't help much to help keep his lungs clear, but it would have to do until he could get back to his apartment. That was assuming he could dodge Kroger and his lackeys.

Most of the miners of Apatros were decent people. Sure they were beaten down and worked near to death, but good people kept to themselves and did their jobs. Mining cortosis wasn't an easy life. It involved long arduous hours deep in the mines with old-fashioned jackhammer-style drills, breaking away rock to find the small fibers of cortosis that remained in the massive caverns that had formed below the surface in the thousands of years the planet had been harvested for its one resource. Those that worked the mines were forced to build up massives amounts of muscle over time or die in the effort, which meant many of the miners were two or three times Ko's size. Most kept to themselves, too tired from the long hours of work to do anything else than work, maybe drink at one of the two Cantinas, and then sleep before going back to work in the hopes of trying to pay off their debts to the corporation. Some like Kroger, however, had more time and energy left over than sense and had decided to take out their frustration at life on those around them.

Most of the time Ko easily dodged Kroger and his cronies, making sure he was in a different part of the city when they returned from the mines and when they staggered out of their favorite Cantina drunk off their rockers, tonight though he hadn't been so lucky. One of his buyers had insisted at a meeting at his shop near the Cantina that Kroger frequented, he had thought he had enough time to slip into the shop, make the sale, and then slip out before the day shift started to head home for the night, but negotiations had taken longer than he hoped. Even before he had fully stepped out into the lights of the street Kroger had already spotted him.

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"Well, what do we have here?" Kroger asked in his mocking tone, his words slurring slightly as the smell of whatever rank booze they had been downing hit Ko's nose. "Since when did they stop cleaning up trash on the streets?"

"It's a crying shame, boss," one of his nameless lackeys laughed out as he stumbled next to Kroger, nearly knocking into the tower of a man next to him. Most of the miners were already huge, built like massives tanks of muscles, but Kroger made even the largest of his crew look small. "Makes our city look less respectable."

"That it does," Kroger said gravely, "such a shame. Guess we will have to do some cleaning ourselves then." Even if the context of his words hadn't been simple and obvious, there would have been no mistaking the threat in his tone of voice, and Ko sighed inwardly to himself. He had never done anything directly to catch Kroger's attention, heck even before his parents had died he had done everything he could to stay clear or Kroger, but that hadn't mattered. All Kroger had cared about is that Ko was smaller than him, easier to pick on than others in the city, and he had dared to survive without being forced into the mines.

"Listen," Ko started, his hands automatically going up into a placating gesture, trying to put them at ease while he started to slowly back away from the group of five men that were drunkenly approaching him. "Kroger man, I don't want any trouble. I'm just here on business and going to head home now. No trouble."

"Business?" Kroger laughed out as if the idea of Ko making a living amused him somehow. "What business? Selling your toys? Or you finally started selling that scrawny little body of yours to real men?" His buddies started to laugh at one of the many taunts that he and his buddies enjoyed using as if it was the best joke they had ever heard. "Doesn't matter, means you have credits, so unless you plan on giving us a go, you better hand them over."

Ko winced at his own foolishness, he should have just run instead of opening his big mouth, maybe he could have gotten away this time. After all, he was smaller, nimbler, and much quicker than these lumbering oafs. Now they were much closer than when they had first spotted him, even though he had been backing away from them, and in a much better position to catch him when he made his move to run. Still, he wasn't about to give up the few credits he had managed to get, nor did he plan on giving up his body to these thugs, so that left only one option. Run.

"Didn't know you fancied me that way Kroger," Ko mocked as he tried to look flattered even as he shifted his body subtlety into a position that would allow him to break quickly into a run. "You could have just asked me out to dinner, instead of making a Sleemo move like jumping me on the street." As one of his buddies laugh, Kroger turned his attention from Kop, giving him the opening he needed. Without waiting to see what happened or what Kroger would say, Ko broke out into a dead run.

"Get him" he heard Kroger yell as he dodged around one of the corners of the building trying to lose them.

The chase had lasted nearly an hour, Ko had almost been caught a few times, the last Kroger himself had managed to grab his mask, but he had eventually managed to dodge them. He wanted to go home, but knew that would be a mistake, they would be waiting near his building. So he would have to hole up in this alleyway until they were forced o go home or until they needed to leave for their morning shift.

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When morning finally broke Ko, stumbled his way home. His whole body hurt, every muscle screamed in agony from sleeping in the alleyway, and his lungs burned from the extended exposure to the open air. Most of the credits he had managed to earn would now need to go to bacta treatments if he hoped to breathe normally again, but at least he had gotten away from Kroger for now. He doubted they would forget the night before easily though. In Kroger's small brain, Ko had wounded his pride, and the bigger man would be seeking revenge. Ko needed a plan, and he would probably have to move again. He just hoped they wouldn't find his holdout before he had a chance to slip away.

 

[Ko Zan]

After slipping into the small bolt hole he currently called home, at the back of one of the warehouses, Ko crawled into his small bed, closed his eyes, and sighed a deep sad sigh. He was tired of this place, tired of the people, the air, even the planet itself, and everything that seemed to want to make him suffer. He hadn't done anything to anyone to deserve what Kroger and his goons seemed to want to inflict on him every time they caught sight of him. All they saw was a weak and easy target, one they could take pleasure in torturing without any consequences. It took a lot of time and energy on Ko's part to avoid them, and while most times he was successful in keeping his distance from them, he wasn't always. When he wasn't sometimes it was much worse than spending the night outside in the air without his mask. Last time they had broken his left arm, and since he couldn't afford the cost of time in a bacta tank it had taken him nearly six weeks to heal.

Blindly, Ko reached into the small box he kept beside the bed and found the small bacta injector. His lungs hurt, and he knew that if he didn't start treatment soon, he would need treatment much more expensive than the small injectors that he could afford. Hopefully, he had enough from last night's misadventures to buy a few more, and he would need to get some more food since he had already finished the last of his stores before heading out to meet his buyer.

'My little one, you were meant for great things in your life and they will come soon,' came the familiar voice of his mother to his mind. It was one of his favorite memories of her, and one he seemed to be calling to mind more and more as of late. He had been laying in a bed similar to the one he used now, a small mattress that had been rolled out in the corner of one of the two-room spaces he and his family shared. His mother had been reading a story to him before he started to fall asleep, she had whispered those words to him before laying a gentle kiss on his cheek and leaving to join his father on the mattress on the other side of the room. They were her last words to him before she went to sleep only to never wake again.

"How mother?" Ko had found himself saying out loud into the darkness, hoping she would answer but knowing she wouldn't. "How can I do great things here with bullies like Kroger always hunting me?"

He knew the answer, it was the same one he always came to when the question slipped from his lips. He needed to leave. Needed to escape Apatros. He wasn't even sure why he had stayed this long. He didn't owe the corporation any money, unlike many of the miners who couldn't leave Apatros until their debts had been paid, and he had no one left to stay here for. Part of him knew the answer. He was afraid. Not of what lay beyond Apatros, but of leaving behind what was left of his parents.

"I'm sorry mother and father," Ko finally said to himself. "I have to leave here, next time I see Kroger he is going to do more than break some bones." Closing his eyes, Ko allowed sleep to take him even as he began to form a plan. He would leave Apatros, and long before Kroger found him. It was time.

 

[Ko Zan]

As the sky began to darken, slowly giving way from day into night, Ko was already on the move. He had slept just long enough to give his lungs enough time to heal that he could move without breathing too heavily. Then he had spent his time both packing what few possessions he actually wanted to bring with him and destroying the rest. He would have left some of it with the few individuals that had treated him nicely, but decided he should just destroy everything rather than risk being caught by Kroger and having the thug get anything from him. It might have been spiteful, but he felt better knowing the miner wasn't profiting off of him with his cruelty.

Making his way through the alleyways, Ko headed towards the mines and the attached spaceport. Apatros had only one area that could be considered a spaceport, and it was the loading area where freighters came to pick up the cortosis. Passengers arriving were far in between, only the truly desperate arrived on Apatros by choice, most were employees of the corporation or those in debt to the corporation that had been brought in to work their debt off in the mines. Even fewer people were in any position to get off-world, as many were never really able to pay off their debts enough to leave legally, so there were no regular transports coming or going. Ko was unique in the fact that he was one of only a few non-corporation employees that didn't owe credits to anyone. He supposed being a part of that small group was one of the reasons Kroger and his minions hated him so much. Every day they worked in the mines, barely made any money, and mostly just incurred more debt. The miner didn't really have a future or hope. They were trapped in a cycle that would only end when they died, passing along their debts to their children and continuing the cycle. While Ko felt bad for most of the people trapped here, he wasn't going to miss this place and was relieved that he was finally going to be free.

"See anything?" came the voice of a man Ko recognized as one of Kroger's lackeys. Ko couldn't remember his name but could tell from the accent that he was a Rodian, a Rodian that was always in the shadow of one of Kroger's right-hand men, Sam. Sam like Kroger was more muscle than brains, just as large, but a little slower, both physically and mentally. Still, they were both dangerous and Ko would like to avoid them if possible. Ducking down behind one of the overflowing trash bins, Ko leaned back and listened.

"Nah," Sam replied kicking one of the trash cans Ko was hiding behind. "Bet he isn't even out here anymore. The little rat is probably hiding in one of his holes, and we won't see him again for another week." It took all of Ko's strength not to yelp as Sam kicked the can yet again making a very angry sound as he did so. "I don't get what is bugging Kroger so much this time. The little rat didn't say anything worse than others have in the mines. Why does he have us out searching when we could be back in the cantina drinking?"

"Don't know," the Rodian croaked, seeming to agree with Sam's sentiment. "Kroger got blood in his eyes, want to kill someone, little boy easy target."

"Guess so," Sam said as he finally moved away from the cans to join the Rodian. Both of them began to walk down the street heading away from Kpo towards the Cantine "Well he better either get over it or find the kid and kill him quickly, cause I'm thirsty."

"We drink then, let Kroger search." The Rodian said excitedly matching Sam's pace.

"Now that my friend is an excellent idea." Ko sat down silently on the ground watching as the pair headed away from him relieved. So he had been right. Kroger wasn't satisfied with a regular beating like he had been in the past. Kroger did want to kill him, which made getting away even more urgent.

Ko decided to stay sitting behind the refuge cans until long after he could no longer hear the broken conversation of Sam and his pal. He needed a moment to think. He had planned of slipping into the back of the cantina and talk to the bartender, Talon, about getting booked on one of the freighters that regularly stopped to drop off supplies before taking a load of cortosis. Talon had connections, and while he wasn't overly friendly towards Ko he wasn't hostile either like some of the others and had no special love for Kroger. Now he wouldn't be able to do that with Kroger's goons heading that way to get drunk. That left only one option, he needed to sneak out of the city to the spaceport on his own and hope to find a sympathetic captain.

"So much for an easy escape," Ko whispered to himself as he pushed back to his feet and took a moment to scan the street to ensure no one had seen him. He doubted most people would care about Ko's movements, but he couldn't risk anyone accidentally mentioning him around one of Kroger's buddies. He also couldn't risk taking the transport shuttle to the spaceport either, if Kroger really wanted him bad enough he would have put one of his men at the shuttle pad to watch for him. Which meant... he would need to travel by foot. It was not only going to take longer, but was also much more dangerous, but Ko didn't see a choice.

"Better get moving," Ko said to himself as he slipped out of the alleyway into the street moving quickly in the opposite direction of the cantina. If he was going to cross the surface he was going to need more supplies than the few that he had managed to pack up, including more bacta injections, a spare air supply, and maybe a different set of boots. Which meant stopping at the general store.

 

[Ko Zan]

Ko didn't waste a lot of time, or credits buying the supplies that he needed to cross the surface of Apatros to the mine spaceport. He didn't know how long it would take him, especially since he couldn't take the direct route, as that was the way the speeder transports ran back and forth transporting the miners, and Ko couldn't risk being seen. Any miner that caught sight of a lone figure in the waste between the mine entrances and the city of Apatros would easily figure out what they were doing, after all given the poisoned atmosphere and rough terrain, no one would be out on the surface for a pleasant walk. Either they needed to get to work and were banned from the transports for some reason or they were sneaking away to the spaceport, and since it had been years since anyone had been banned from the transports, they would all guess Ko was leaving.

The trek across the surface actually took him nearly a day and a half to complete. Mostly because Ko needed to take frequent breaks not only to take short naps to recharge his already strained energy but also to give himself another treatment of bacta for his still healing lungs. This far from Apatros city, Ko could see how much worse the air was this close to the mines. What would have been a heavy contamination warning day within the city limits seemed to be the light one out on the surface. He had no idea that the air purification system that the corporation had installed was doing so much to clean the air. If this was what would come of Apatros without them, the planet was already doomed. It was just another reason he needed to get away from this world.

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"You're not griffen listening kid, it's still three hundred credits," the gruff captain said for the third time without lowering his requested amount at all. The older human man was about the same height as Ko, but round and scruffy. His short-cropped hair was probably once black or dark brown, but now had been scattered with so many grey and white tones that it was hard to tell any longer He wore old stained clothing that at one point must have looked crisp and professional, but due to neglect he looked more like he had just finished an eighteen-hour shift in the mines, and worse of all he smelled of Corellian whiskey.

"How far would one hundred fifty get me?" Ko asked after wiping his face and giving a loud sigh. He had just over three hundred credits right now, but that would have meant almost totally wiping out his entire stash of funds. It would mean he would be arriving on a new planet with nothing and no idea what he would be able to do to earn more credits to survive. Even with the supplies he had bought back in the city, he was going to have to heavily ration his food and water to make the trip. No, he couldn't risk it.

"Well...." the captain started as he rubbed his scruff-covered chin, pretending to be considering the offer. He had already heard the amount in Ko's previous offer, so Ko guessed that he had already known the answer he would give, but seemed to like the idea of stretching this situation out for nothing more than dramatic effect. "Our next stop will be on Anaxes, would be willing to take you that far," he finally said taking way too long to make up his mind to answer a simple question. "But it ain't much better than here. It's a ship salvage world, covered in scrap, also rainy and cold. A welp like you won't last a day."

"Thanks," Ko said feigning gratitude as he stretched the word out in a sigh. "But I'll take my chances. Can't stay here any longer."

"Fine by me kid, it's your life," the captain said with a chuckle and held out his hand for Ko to surrender the credits. When Ko handed over the amount the captain took a moment to count the credits then looked at Ko and smiled a toothy grin, making the wrinkles on his face more pronounced and the missing teeth stand out. "We leave in an hour whether you are aboard or not, and no refunds."

"Thanks," Kpo said again as he watched the captain almost waddle off with his credits towards the corporate offices, no doubt already planning to spend the funds on more Corellian whiskey. "Trust me I'll be there."

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Watching from her hiding spot just around the corner of one of the loading bays, Alara watched as Ko handed over what she guessed was credits to one of the space captains that frequently came for loads of cortosis. She had seen the human many times before and personally couldn't stand the guy. He always seemed to need to make the same jokes about her Twi'lek heritage and the fact that many of her people were slaves. He had even once offered to buy her from the foreman in order to clean his ship and serve him. The whole idea had made Alara want to vomit, but she had pretended to chuckle at his "joke' and just finished loading his purchased fuel aboard his ship.

She was one of the few lucky people on Apatros, hired by the corporation to help reload fuel at the spaceport as well as maintain an inventory count of the cortosis being loaded on each ship, rather than working in the mine below. Still, she was slowly growing to hate this dirty pile of a world. The air was poisoned forcing her to always wear a mask when not in her small quarters, and her pay was far less than they had originally offered. Thanks to the high rent, and high cost of food and supplies, she never made enough to quit and buy her way off this shavit planet.

When she had heard that Kroger and his little gang had managed to pool together three hundred credits and were offering it for information about Ko, it had stuck in the back of her mind. She had seen the human boy scurrying around Apatros city, scavenging up parts, but she hadn't paid him much attention. Sure he was attractive enough for a human male, but she was attracted to money and power over good looks, and Ko had neither of those. Seeing him here and now, seemed like fate. All she needed to do was make one call and she would have enough to book her own passage off-world, maybe even to Coruscant. There had to be better jobs out there than here.

"Kroger" she said into her com unit after the device had connected to the miner's messenger service. "You better call me back. I know where you can find Ko, and you don't have long."

 

[Ko Zan]

"Finally," Kroger said, almost using the word as a curse after hanging up the call with Alara. Finally, someone had managed to get a read on where the little rat was hiding and he would finally catch up to him. Ko had stayed hidden for the last few days, and now he had somehow made it to the spaceport. The little rat was running, likely trying to buy his way off-world and out of Kroger's grasp. but Kroger was smarter. The little reward that he had won at the sabbac table the night before, had been enough to buy most of the miners, and now not only would he have Ko, but everything the rat had on him. It would probably be enough to not only cover the reward he offered to pay out but more on top of that. More importantly, though he would have the satisfaction of crushing the bug beneath his boot. No one made a fool of him and Ko was about to pay for trying.

"Get ready boys," Kroger said to his group as he returned to them at the table they had been sharing at the Cantina. "He's at the spaceport. We can pick him up there and get rid of him easily without the corporate security finding out."

"Yes boss," came a chorus of agreement as the group got up in excitement. While Ko had been hiding Kroger had been building up the excitement and anticipation of finding and ending the rat's life. He had easily gotten his gang into a killing frenzy, making them each think it had been their own idea to take out Ko. Now they were ready and willing to do what he wanted them to do, and when Kroger claimed all of Ko's possessions and credits, none of them would disagree, after all, it was Kroger that Ko had insulted. They were just defending their friend.

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"Well, well, well" came the cooing voice of Alara as the Twi'Lek approached Ko. She was trying to put on her most seductive voice, moving with the light grace of a dancer, trying her best to get Ko to notice her. She had never been interested in the boy before, he was attractive but poor, so beneath her notice before, but now he was her cash cow. She needed to distract Ko, keep him here long enough for Kroger to get here and pay her. If that meant seducing the boy so be it. "What are you doing out here Ko dear? Looking for spare ship parts to salvage?"

Turning to watch Alara approach, Ko felt very confused by her sudden interest. He had never paid her much attention in the past or even been interested in her, and she had never even noticed his existence before now. Alara was always spending time with the more influential miners and corporate individuals that came down from their main offices to the cantina, lowly scrappers like Ko were beneath her notice, so her sudden friendliness put Ko, on high alert. What was her game? He had never seen her spending time with Kroger, or his goons, so why the sudden interest in him?

"Hey Alara," Ko said with a full measure of caution in his voice, his body automatically tensing, but he still tried to stay neutral and friendly. If she was just curious as to why Ko was out here, and not playing some angle, he didn't need to antagonize her. "Something like that," he replied to her question, doing his best to stay vague, not sure what to say. "What are you up to? Between freighters?"

"Yeah, it's been a slow day," she said with her best flirty tone, adjusting her hips just a little to accentuate her curves. She knew men liked her look and had used their interest in the past to distract them when she wanted something. Ko didn't seem that impressed so instead of backing off, she decided to pour on more of the charm. "I'm just bored. Could use a distraction."

"Ok," Ko said hesitantly. That alarm in the back of his mind that often warned him of danger suddenly started to scream loudly. Something was very wrong here. Not only was Alara freely giving him attention, but it looked like she was actually trying to flirt with him. "Sorry to hear that, hopefully, something interesting comes along for you."

"Oh something has already dear," she replied leaning forward and lowering her voice a little. "You're here, you can entertain me."

"Sorry Alara, I'm kind of busy," Ko said quickly taking a step back from the Twi'lek. She was definitely up to something, and Ko didn't like it at all. Had she heard about Kroger? Was she actually working with him? Or was she really just bored and playing with Ko for her own sick entertainment. No matter the reason, he felt the need to get out of here. "Maybe another time."

"Don't go," she said quickly, reaching out her hand to grab Ko's arm with a surprisingly firm grip. Ko doubted that she would physically try to restrain him, but she was defiantly expressing her need for him to stay put. "I just wanted to show you the new shipment from corporate, it's pretty interesting equipment," she said changing tactics and dropping the flirting act. She wasn't about to lose her payday, and if Ko couldn't be flirted with, she knew he would be tempted by the newest technology that had just arrived. The boy always seemed to be tinkering with something. "Maybe you could help me figure out how to put it together."

Ko froze for a second, unsure what to do, she could have just been flirting with Ko to get his help. It wouldn't have been the first time someone had tried to use him to get free repairs on their equipment. Usually, they offered him food, maybe she thought she could get help by flirting with him. He had seen other men do things for her without payment, maybe that is how she got what she wanted? "Ok," Ko relented, still unsure but willing to help someone who hadn't been cruel to him when they needed something. "What did you need help with?"

 

[Ko Zan]

'Excellent' Alara thought deviously as Ko began to follow her back to the loading system she had been using before seeing the little human. If she was lucky she could keep Ko busy just long enough to fix the broken down unit and allow Kroger to arrive and pay her the bounty for finding him. Then on top of her reward, she could charge the corporation for the repairs Ko had done while she was putting in her resignation. Finally, she could be off this horrible little world and somewhere more civilized. All her suffering and sacrifice would be for nothing if he got away. If she pulled this off, Alara could make a go of it somewhere better and maybe start climbing up the corporate ladder rather than being stuck at the bottom. Her little credit Bantha here just needed to stay busy for maybe ten minutes and her real-life could finally begin.

"It's just over here," she cooed softly, pouring on as much charm and sex appeal as any of the Twi'Lek dancers she had known growing up did when trying to fleece a customer. This was too easy, she had always understood why so many of her so-called 'sisters' had gone on to become dancers. The credits were always easy. Still, she preferred to use her sex appeal to lure men into doing what she wanted using much less public displays. Of course, she very rarely fulfilled any of the promises she made when pouring on the charm, but it got what she wanted, and often her victims left happy. Even though they got nothing or very little of what she would promise them, meanwhile she usually left with everything had been looking to gain. Seeing Ko follow her, she had no doubt this was going to be one of those occasions.

"This griffin load keeps freezing up," she complained as they approached the somewhat twitching unit. She hadn't thought the unit was in that rough of shape, just acting finicky, looking at it now, however, she knew that it definitely needed work. The thing could have actually hurt her if Ko hadn't happened along and inspired her to get it looked at by the human. "If you could just," she paused lightly reaching up to stroke one of her Lekku that had come to rest on her shoulder. "I don't know," she sighed. "Do that thing you do to make things work the way they are supposed to."

Ko sighed at seeing the loading unit. The thing belonged on a scrap heap to be melted down for its metal, even he would have avoided the thing if he had seen it abandoned on the street. He usually was willing to try and fix anything, or at least salvage it, but this was pushing even his boundaries. He wasn't even sure he would have the time to diagnose the thing before he needed to head to his ship, let alone try and fix it. Smoke had begun to seep out of one of the joints as the thing lurched forward a little. "Alara," Ko began, ignoring her flirting and attempts at seduction, and focusing instead on the loader. "This thing is going to need way more than a quick fix." Ko was already making a mental list of all the repairs and parts that would be needed to just get it to function safely, let alone to get it to work at the kind of demands the corporation usually put on its stuff. "I think you need to requisition a new one or at least a replacement. This one is well past its time."

"Oh I know," Alara said as she tried to sound desperate, which was east at this point. She had hoped the kid would see the challenge and try to work on the thing, or that her flirting would override his logic and make him try to make her happy. No matter what she needed to keep him busy or watch the credits walk away. She could see she was losing him though. Time to play another card. "I have already," she lied. "The corporation put it on backorder. In the meantime, I have to keep up my quota or they will fire me." She tried to put a few well-placed tears into her act, seeing if playing on his kind nature would work rather than attempting to use her sex appeal. "You gotta help me."

Ko inwardly kicked himself. He never should have followed Alara here. He knew her request wasn't going to be simple or easy when she had started to flirt with him. No one ever flirted with him unless they needed something, especially not someone like Alara, and now she was pouring on the guilt. "Fine," he managed to groan out, resigning himself to at least attempting to find a solution. "I'll see what I can do, but I don't have much time and I can't make any promises," he said as he put down his bag and began to rummage through it looking for his tool kit. Maybe he could do a quick patch before he needed to run for his ship. Either way though, Alara would have to be happy with what he could do in the short time until his ship left. He wasn't missing it for anyone or anything. "Maybe just stand back there though," he chided looking at the thing as a few well-placed puffs of smoke made their appearance. "I don't want you getting hurt."

"Oh thank you Ko," she said was some actual honest sincerity, she was grateful that he was staying around, even if she didn't give a sith-spit about the loader. "You have no idea how much this means to me." Smiling internally she dutifully moved over to the side where Ko had indicated. Now she just needed to wait for her credits to arrive.