Meanwhile, on Nar Shadda...

[huggin_munnin]

An anonymous bar, Nar Shadda

This scene was becoming too common for Ceska Shattershield's liking, a dim corner table in some bar. In this case, the filthy undercity of Nar Shadda, whose night was illuminated by a thousand garish neon signs and holo adverts. The woman drummed her fingers on the cheap synthetic wooden table ringed with countless drinks over decades. She didn't like this seedy planet, but she had known it to be an easy place to dump hot electronics for easy credits.

Those credits had been needed as the Rodians physical credits had begun to thin out with the bribes needed to remain anonymous. She was here about the smuggler's...no, her ship now. Ownership needed to be changed and the port worker had set her up with a Raven. Apparently, her day job was building swoop bikes but she knew...other things too. So she awaited this member of the local syndicate, taking a drink of her whisky.

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

The artificial door bell that signaled that someone had stepped into the cantina was background noise to most bartenders at almost every bar throughout the galaxy, and similarly to the manager it simply meant at least another dozen of credits earned, but people tended to spend more and that was of course only a plus.

Typical cantina music played in the background, so as the door bell rang once more in the tiny cantina in the undercity of Nar'Shaddaa no one really reacted, people either didn't really care or simply were too drunk to act on it. Through the door stepped Jennifer, a half human half ryn, currently dressed in some baggy pants that were tight around the bottom of her legs, a white tanktop and a leather jacket. With this she of course wore a few accessories of choice a gold chrono for example and just like with her clothes it was obvious that all of it was expensive. Despite her age and size it was obvious that she carried herself with a confidence only seen in very few people.

She ruffled her own blue dyed hair as she stepped inside, not being mannered enough to pull the black beanie that sat on top of her head off, her amber gaze quickly scanning the dinner before she in a dedicated manner started to walk towards the corner were Ceska were seated. Behind Jennifer a tall DD-S1 unit followed her, a machinegun of sorts strapped to its mechanical thigh, every corner on it gold rimmed and the surface shining newly plated red.

A second later she had hopped into the booth were Ceska were seated, her voice melodious and soft, yet clearly influenced by some sort of underworld pretend gangster dialect "Kashakyra? A.. Ermm.. Cognac please!" She called out over her shoulder to one of the nearest bartenders, the droid that had followed her in, now taking place besides the cheap wooden table Jennifer and Ceska were sitting by. Guarding it.

"Sooo..." Jennifer slowly started, her gaze finally turning to Ceska to observe her for a second or two "I was told you needed help? Is that correct?"

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

((Sorry! Forgot to tag you!))​

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska's eyes followed the blue haired woman and her droid as they approached the booth. Without a word, she observed the droid's weapon and guessed the woman probably was packing a blaster and maybe more.

"Yes. Yes I do. I was told you can...fix...my ship for me."

She paused and drummed her fingertips on the tabletop.

"I have some...electronics issues."

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

Leaning back in the somewhat comfortable bench, couch, whatever it was that inhabited every cantina on this part of the planet Jennifer's amber eyes went to observe Ceska once more as she started to talk, a brow raised on her features as Ceska finished talking, silence insuing for a couple of seconds as she waited for the bartender to show up with her glass filled with the golden drink most people referred to as cognac.

Slowly grabbing the large glass and taking a small sip Jennifer slowly opened her mouth to talk after making a quick grimace. This was far from having the same quality as what she was used to at the Dragon Palace or anywhere else for that matter. Typical that these small places couldn't even serve proper alcohol. Instead she started to grab for her cigarettes that was placed in a pocket inside her leather jacket.

"Electronic issues?" She said to give herself a bit more time as she finally got hold of the pack, opening it with a single hand and dragging out a long cigarette, seeming to take a moment to judge Ceska before offering her one as well, shaking the package a bit in an insisting manner. "I think I can help you with things related to that. Want the navi overwritten or just put on a clean slate? And what type of ship are we talking about here?" She slurred with the cigarette tugged in the corner of her lips.

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska waved away the cigarette and took a drink of her own glass. She considered how to phrase her request discreetly but effectively.

"It's a small cargo vessel," she began "How I got it doesn't matter."

She let out a long, slow breath. How she came by the ship was not a subject she enjoyed talking about.

"I need, yes, a clean slate. I need logs altered and ownership information too. Can you do that?"

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

As the cigarettes were waved off, Jennifer seemed to frown somewhat, her expression definitely turning into something that showed signs of the fact that she had been offended. "Best on this side of the outer rim..." She mumbled, a sigh escaping over her lips as she went to take a puff from the cigarette, a cloud of cyan smoke forming from her lips and flying across the table and past Ceska, floating gracefully through the air.

"I better hope your contact got a proper reason for referring you all the way up here.. Attitudes these days." Jennifer said in the same mumbling manner, yet definitely directed at Ceska. As she slowly stated to pack her cigarette pack together, not seeming to pay too terribly much attention to the conversation before the last part was said. "And sure it can be done, easily." Jennifer replied, her hand having quickly grabbed around a gold rimmed small datapad, a log of sorts showing up on the screen. "So what's your name? And where is that ship of yours?"

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska could see her question offended the blue haired woman; she didn't care. A job needed to be done, and if she couldn't do it, Ceska needed to find someone who could. Besides, credits seemed to soothe any injury done to these Raven types. Starshield nodded.

"That's what he told me," she replied "I need the best I can afford. The people looking for me...."

She trailed off with a grimace. The Jedi were certainly to be avoided at all costs, but her attack on and subsequent kidnapping of that Padawan was ill advised.

"My name...," she took out some forged identification cards, good enough to fool all but the best eyes. Placing them on the table, she slid them over. "That's my name. My ship is docked at the port. An associate has it in a more...quiet place."

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

Jennifer barely even seemed to look at the identification as it was presented to her. Giving it only a quick glance to pick up the name on it she nodded a few times at herself, taking another drag from the dragon palace exclusive cigarette, another puff of cyan smoke fired from her pursed lips and into the air above the table.

“Fair enough Amanda, depending on the ship type the price will be around 200 to 500 credits. Unless you got your hands on a bomber or something, they’re a bit harder to slice. Anyhow, lets get going? Yea?” Jennifer straightened herself in the seat as she finished her sentence, a last sour sip taken from her cognac before she slowly stood, adjusting her leather jacket before she stepped out besides her DD-S1 droid, turning in a casual and relaxed manner to face Ceska.

“Well then, lead the way.”


[member="Ceska Starshield"]

 

[huggin_munnin]

So, the Ravens really didn't care...as long as you had credits. Just as she had been told by the locals earlier that day. Ceska had to stifle a grimace at the price as who else could she get the work done from. It was a bit of an exclusive service and the local gangsters set their own prices, truly like it or leave it. They had long ago taken out any competition from the residents not with their syndicate.

"No, I don't fly a bomber. It's a bit conspicuous."

She got up and gestured for the other woman to follow, leaving her drink half finished. As they exited the bar and headed down the street, she was careful to avoid a certain side street. Running into the Padawan she had kidnapped would be awkward. The roundabout way added about ten minutes to the walk, but finally Ceska led the blue haired woman to a side entrance of the spaceport.

"Through here."

True to his word, the local port worker's keycard copy worked like magic, allowing her into the maintenance door. Walking down a few docks, Ceska stopped in front of an average sized cargo ship. Turning to her counterpart she asked,

"So how much, then?"

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

One of the few things Jennifer really disliked was cold slippers and then the sprawling undercities that tended to inhabit most metropolis worlds. Nar’Shaddaa was no different. It was so much easier to fly, something they should probably have done now that Jen thought about it twice, it would have been a nice gesture… Moreover, it would have softened up the trip quite a lot, it was hard work walking. They were bound to turn a few heads when they walked, sometimes someone would yell after them as they walked, either an angry civilian who had something against the syndicate or someone who cheered them on, either way, Jennifer didn’t seem to react, the droid unit silently guarding them as they walked to their destination.

Jennifer still had to catch herself acting spoiled from time to time, it was a trait she had always found disgusting, but the snob attitude helped out quite a lot when wanting to seem important, and truth be told, it was a good façade to hide behind. People didn’t ask too many questions and neither did they want to be kind. Yes indeed, being hostile was a great way to distance yourself from others.

The loud echoes from the droid that followed Jennifer’s every step as they navigated the undercity was almost a sort of background music to the whole deal and when it came to an end it seemed only appropriate, the freighter cargo ship coming into view and the group to a dead stop. The cyan smoke creating cigarette had been tossed aside halfway through the trip and had it not been for the interesting part of the deal finally presenting itself, she would probably have lighted another one. “Hmmm..”

Jennifer’s hum was almost soothing, her amber eyes by now hidden behind a pair of round sunglasses she had put on halfway through the trip, but something told Ceska that the blue haired girl, Jen, was definitely taking the ship into view, inspecting it from a distance. “I would say 250, but these badboys appearance usually fool you. Lets take a look on the inside and judge the equipment. However, I don’t think this will be too hard.”

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska felt a sense of relief when she was told about 250 credits instead of 500. That amounted to a fairly substantial difference and who knew how long she would have to planet hop. Opening the hatch, Starshield led her into what was a pretty standard craft. The only difference, as she had learned, the engines accelerated faster than you would expect. Clearly the former owner thought ahead but not far enough when it came to his attempt to rob her, though.

She had finally rid the craft of the Rodian smuggler's stink not more than a day ago, having to vent it multiple times. Kriffing oily bastards, she thought.

"So yeah, pretty standard here."

Ceska wasn't an expert pilot nor mechanic, knowing just the basics, but as far as she could tell it was normal. Part of the scaly green criminal's avoidance of trouble...just don't stand out and look and legitimate as possible. Even the smuggled electronics she had sold off mere hours ago looked innocent, even down to a pretty convincing manifest from the alleged manufacturer.

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

Jennifer’s voice sounded from inside the lounge in the spacecraft, her expensive looking droid standing guard close to her. For the last minute or so she had been staring into a lump of wires, now exposed after she had removed a metal panel on the wall with an electric screwdriver, somewhat saddened as she found no hidden surprises behind it. It was a typical place for smugglers to hide things behind and that was after all the wipe she was getting from this gal here. What was here name again? Amanda? Didn’t matter either way, a job was a job and quite frankly, Jennifer didn’t care.

“Yep, everything checks out, can fix it in an hour or something. Two hundred and fifty credits plus… Protection fees? Tha’s another fifty. I’m sure you understand. It’s good for business.” Jennifer turned around on her feet to face Ceska halfway through the sentence, a somewhat smug smile seen on her young face, her eyes hidden behind the round styled sunglasses of hers that rested neatly on her nose.

Now that they were standing face to face in a manner such as this it was actually obvious that this Jennifer wasn’t entirely human, now that her eyes were hidden by the sunglasses it was easy to see how odd her nose looked, small curves seen going up the nasal bridge. A trait that some knew belonged to those of the Ryn. “So? Got the credits for it?” She continued, her voice both naturally soft, yet having a harshness to it that could only come from being exposed to 'this' sort of environment. She leaned back to lean the wall behind her, the screw driver in her hand put back into one of the many large pockets that was seen attached to her expensive looking mechanic trousers and another cigarette soon lighted.

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

 

[huggin_munnin]

"Oh, don't worry, I have credits." Ceska said with an easy smile.

Then, she brought up her hand as a focusing point as she reached out through the Force.

"We agreed on 250." She said making a waving motion of her hand, using the Mind Trick as she had so often before. The erstwhile mechanic would suddenly find 250 a much more reasonable number. Unless she was particularly mentally strong or somehow resistant. That would prove a problem, but she did not anticipate one.

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

The fact that Jennifer was force sensitive herself had only been brought up once in her life and it hadn’t exactly been the most trust worthy of people that had cleared it with her, for this very reason one could say that Jennifer was still unaware of her powers, however weak they were. She was untrained, but like most other people who had no idea of their potential she had learnt to trust herself, her own instincts when it mattered. There was however, things, influences that only training could prepare her for.

Jennifer flinched almost as the force reached out towards her mind, a hand shooting towards the rim of her trousers to grab her pistol as she sensed danger, yet that was no proper response and she knew not how to act on it. Her grip going limp and her hand removed quickly afterwards, the thoughts washed away. It was a nice feeling, warmth spread through her skull and… Oh. Yes, she needed to get the credits.

“Yes, of course we agreed on two hundred fifty. Got them or what?” Jennifer asked, her voice a bit blurry. Suddenly a bit irritated because this Amanda attempted to remind her of her own prices and also because a stingy feeling in the back of her head continued to warn her about something. She ignored it, knowing not what it was.

“I’ll get to work then, hand the credits to DD-S1.” She said, turning to start on the job, gesturing shortly towards her droid… By space whales and malfunctioned R2’s what was that feeling... Hmmm...

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska nodded with satisfaction, the Mind Trick working splendidly. It was an effective way to get what you wanted, or to even smooth out a situation. Seldom did one encounter a resistant being, and if so, there were other ways.

"Of course." she said, moving to the droid and handing it the proper amount of credit chips. Ceska was confident everything would go off without a hitch from this point. Despite Jen's hand briefly going for her pistol, Starshield was not worried. If she absolutely must, Ceska would be more than capable of redirecting the Raven's shots back into her.

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

It was almost scary how fast the electric screwdriver had returned into Jennifer’s hand, her workflow fast and efficient. A single cable within the exposed metal panel cut by the swipe of a vibro knife, the panel put down on the floor to rest.

“Don’t worry, I’ll reattach that later. So...” Jennifer said as she started to trudge up towards the cockpit after having taken the credits from her droid. “I do not mean to pry, but what does a person like you do anyway? You don’t exactly-” Jennifer bend down by the cockpit controls, flicking a switch and pushing a few buttons, most of the machine work turning on. Switches and displays lightning up “-A smuggler type, no offense. Probably good for your biz-nez not to seem like such a type… Just, you know?” Jennifer asked, carelessly taking off her expensive looking leather jacket and tossing it over the nearest seat, a black sports bra seen the places her perfect white tanktop didn't cover. Her voice grew harder to hear as she let out a huff, lying down onto her back to take off another panel under the controls, not seeming to mind getting the likewise expensive looking tanktop dirty, which was probably the reason for why she had taken off the leather jacket.

After seeming to cut and change about a few cables, inserting some new she found in one of the many pouches in her trousers, she started to tap on a small datapad, marble white and with gold edges. “While we’re at it…” She started, her head sticking out from under the controls to look up towards Ceska, a lighter and cigarette suddenly seen in Jen’s hands. “Want any extra flare added to your registration, ship manifest?” She inquired, using the time while waiting for an answer to light a cigarette and place it in the corner of her mouth, clouds of cyan smoke soon seen hovering up from where she lay.

All the while her droid guard would stand relatively close to her, its visual sensors fastened on Ceska.

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

 

[huggin_munnin]

"You know, those are bad for your health," she said with a faint smile "But then, so is asking too many questions."

Her smile widened, not entirely friendly.

"I guess I can tell you that I do some business on my travels."

She winked at the Raven, making a pretense of being a smuggler. It was safer than admitting she was a former Jedi Padawan on the run with a murder and kidnapping on her rap sheet. Also grand theft spacecraft, never forget that. Her eyebrow cocked at Jen's last question.

"What do you mean by 'extra flare' ?"

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

Jennifer adjusted her posture a bit, taking a puff from her cigarette and then held it between two fingers, seeming to find what Ceska said amusing. Simply shaking on her head at herself as she continued to type on the small datapad with one hand.

“Extra flare? You know… Some extra… Permissions on your license or something. But hey, doesn’t matter. Would probably just attract some unwanted attention.”

Slowly Jennifer finished the typing, a strange beep heard from the consoles, the screens turning off in a flash. With a grin Jennifer pulled out the inserted cable, her expression almost smug as she reattached the panel to under the consoles and got onto her feet.

“I’ll go weld the cables in the lounge back together, when I have done that. Turn on the consoles. All numbers should be have been reset. It will be like buying the ship anew!”

She trudged out of the cockpit, noises of sparks heard from the lounge and then.. "Yeup, should be good. Pull the lever, Amanda."

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​

 

[huggin_munnin]

Ceska pulled the lever as she had been asked.

"Ah, there we go," Starshield said, pleased.

The mechanic had performed her magic on the ship, truly an artist as much as a technician. She felt a certain admiration for the manual dexterity and kill shown by the Raven. Annnnd, Ceska admitted, she was charming in a rough kind of way. Not bad looking either, though the cigarettes might not help with that in a few years. Maybe she could spend a few of those credchits on her.

"Listen, you were a lot faster than I thought and it's still fairly early soooo...wanna go to another place and grab drinks. Something a bit more upscale, this time."

Ceska flashed a smile....

[member="Jen"]

 

[Jen]

Soon after they had re-booted the ship, Jennifer returned to the cockpit, taking a brief look over some of the screens before picking up her leather jacket from the chair she had previously tossed it over. Giving a brief nod to Ceska, turning to leave, but stopping midways as she was talked to, using the time to put on her leather jacket, a slight smile forming upon her features as she listened to Ceska, smug almost as she opened her mouth to reply.

“I never say no to drinks.” Jennifer started out, glancing down towards her gold chrono to pick up what the time was. “But… If I’m understanding you correctly… Then I would probably waste your time. I don’t roll that way. If you know what I'm getting at. I don't really feel like rolling at all, that's probably where the problem is.”

[member="Ceska Starshield"]​