Private One More Job

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Walking down the landing ramp, the thuds of his boots reverberating down the sheet of metal Lanik stepped out into the light offered by Serreno’s primary. “Are you sure we’re really supposed to be making the delivery here?” Lanik called back up into the ship. To say the Jedi was uncomfortable being on the planet was an understatement. It was a planet within the bounds of Sith territory, his past as a Jedi easily painting a target on his back if any learned of the man’s past connections.

“Yep, but the client’s paying far too much to ignore.” Came a booming, joyful voice from within the vessel and soon stepped out into the light. The man was short and stocky, sporting a thick black beard. Captain Raunfault, the one Lanik had been working under for the past few months. In fact, it was the longest the one-time Jedi had managed to stay employed without his identity leaking out.

“Enough to make up for the fact that the empire could come down on us at any minute?” Casting a glance over his shoulder to Raunfault, Lanik waited to hear his bosses answer. This was to be Lanik’s final job, one with enough pay to retire off of. Yet they worked in reality, and reality was often disappointing. He didn’t hold out hope that the job would truly pay that much, or like previous gigs, they could possibly be ripped off.

“Yes, thats why I hired an extra hand. They should be meeting us here any minute and she’ll be accompanying you on the delivery.”

Stopping short as he began loading the crates on the repulsor lift Lanik rounded on Raunfault. “No no no. You know the deal. I don’t do this with other people! It’s just me and you! Do you not remember Alderaan? Chadra? Falleen? How many times do we have to be stabbed in the back?”

“Listen this one is trustworthy! I vetted her myself! Plus with the way you handle yourself if she did try anything I’m sure we’d be fine! They’re already on the planet anyways.”

Head lowering defeated, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips Lanik only had one word to say. “Stang”

Faith

 

[Sia]

Sia needed off this planet pronto. Problem was, she needed credits to do it. This fact of life was constantly biting at her heels lately, leaving her a touch frazzled.

Whoever said money doesn't buy you happiness needed to be shoved on a pike.

She only had one steadfast rule, and it was to stay far far away from anything sith. But the money offered for this gig had been so enticing, and Sia had been desperate. Desperate enough to spend her last coin on a shuttle over. She couldn't help but to hope that with a little risk, maybe she could go buy back Sandfly. Or even just live a year or two without scraping for scraps.

She'd take anything by this point.

The presence of her blaster on her hip was a small reassurance, the woman's heavy boots clunking on the metal ramp of the ship as she stepped up. Two men were chatting inside, a display she watched for a moment before her presence would have them glancing her way. There was nothing to note about her-- just dark hair and a set of gray eyes to match. She was well built, clearly able. She crossed her arms and jerked her chin to the older of the two.

"Raunfault?" She asked briskly. Straight to the point.

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

“I’m telling you Lanik, this one will be gr-” Stopping midsentence Raunfault turned to spy Sia walking up the ramp and just staring at them. “Aw there they are, Lanik this is Sia! Sia, Lanik, and I’m Raunfault.” Offering an eccentric bow that even got a scoff from Lanik, Raunfault walked over to the woman offering his hand.

All the while Lanik stood back near the repulsor lift, eyeing the woman from a distance. His aquamarine eyes rested on Sia but not in the way of longing, no it was in the way one would when in shock. While having turned his back on the order after Mirial, Lanik’s senses were still somewhat proficient. He could see Sia in the force, not that of the average untrained forceful being. No, she carried with her a strength he noticed.

Realizing that he was staring Lanik looked away letting Raunfault continue to talk to the second hired hand. “So I’m sure you know the job but I was just going over it with Lanik again, the boy’s just got cold feet is all.”

Looking over, a brow raised Lanik pinned Raunfault with a withering glare that the captain saw but continued on as if not noticing. “So now that you’re both here I can go over the job. We’ve got a meeting with the head of house Deminci. And they’re paying a lot for this drop.” Walking over to the crate and typing a code into the keypad. With a hiss the lid slid open revealing to the cabin of people a horde of Kyber crystals, the very same ones used in a Jedi or Sith’s lightsaber.

As the chest opened and the force flooded the chamber, the crystals reaching out to Lanik through the force, drawing the one-time Jedi’s attention. “You didn’t tell me this was what we were delivering Raunfault. Do you even know what these are?”

“Yes, our ticket to retirement! Listen I’m getting too old to stay in the game, especially after those thieves a few weeks back. I’m ready to rest Lanik, just this one last job and we’re done! I don’t see our companion here having any complaints, isn’t that right Sia?”

Sia

 

[Sia]

Sia’s attention laid heavily on the horse of crystals. It was often this force sensitive got any reason to pay attention to the mumbo jumbo in the air around them, but those crystals...

Whew.

They practically sang to her.

She blinked, hearing her name in conversation. Sia. Sia. Right, her. She cleared her throat, giving a nod. “A job’s a job,” she told them all. Herself included. Course now she was growing her own set of cold feet. She hadn’t been aware of what she was transporting; for that money and her current level of desperation, she hadn’t needed to ask.

Not Enforcing slavery or terrorizing no innocents? Deal. These two codes were about all she followed in life now. But those crystals...

Her gaze fell heavily on them again, memories flashing forward. A hiss. A swoosh. A scream.

Well those sabers could terrorize a lot of people in the wrong hands.

“I’m sorry, What kinda lot are we bringing these to?”

Lanik Dawnstar

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

“See, she’s asking the real questions! If I met her sooner, she’d probably have your job!” Raunfault joked, elbowing Lanik in the side, his joyous nature shining through. At least in comparison to Sia and Lanik who were far more serious. Waiting for a laugh or any reaction and getting none Raunfault sighed an exaggerated roll of his eyes. “Fine, we’ll get down to the meat of it.”

Activating a holodisk, a hologram was laid out in front of the three showing an elegant estate, streaming down the side information on an individual named Count Viscu. “Count Viscu is one of the famed Counts of Serenno, having recently risen through the ranks and apparently sporting quite the interest in these crystals. He didn’t explain for what, but who am I to argue? It’s simply our job to deliver them.”

“You know these are used in lightsabers and weapons right Raunfault?” Arms crossed over his chest and looking down to the Captain, Lanik eyed him to see his reaction to it. For him, just handing over such a massive store of crystals to an unknown could cause catastrophe and destruction. Whether it be the mass production of sabers or other dangerous technology.

“Oh please, I doubt he cares about weapons. These Counts don’t care about weapons, they just care about posturing to the other nobles. I promise nothing will go wrong Lanik.” A sharp chirping came from Raunfault’s datapad alerting the group as a whole. “Plus it’s time to make the drop. You two will be doing the trade while I pilot the ship. All you have to do is meet them, pick up the credits. Drop off the crates and you’re done.” The chirping became more insistent, causing Raunfault to hold up a finger to the two. “Let me take this and we’ll leave.”

As the captain left for the cockpit, Lanik turned, his eyes landing on Sia one more time. “So are you going to ask it first or am I?”

Sia

 

[Sia]

Sia let out a heavy breath, her hands jammed into her pockets as she eyed the man and the crates with the same level of tension.

"Don't think you actually need me saying it," she commented. It would have been one think walking into a job and finding she was the only one biting over a moral quandary over the load. I mean stuff like that was-- whew. A lot to chew through. But stepping up to a new place finding you weren't the only wary person on board?

Small comfort.

But bred no confidence on what you signed up for.

Stuff like this usually had her turning away and sniffing out other jobs, red flags and all, but she was remarkably short on options. The ship rumbled to life underneath them. She wavered for a second, the begrudgingly took the last few steps on board. "Why do I feel like this is all going to blow up in our face," she commented to the air, the doors reeling loudly as they started to close.

She shrugged off her bag, giving Lanik the same long look he gave her. "You don't trust him?"

Lanik Dawnstar

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

“You feel like that because it most likely will. There’s not a job I’ve been on with Raunfault yet that hasn’t had something go wrong.” Shaking his head, Lanik waited for the woman to be completed within the ship before hitting the controls to close the landing bay doors. There was a faint hiss as they sealed, all light from the outside cut out, the only illumination for the two being a single luma built into the roof of the ship.

Worrying his lower lip, Lanik took a seat on the crates giving the crystals a short glance before sealing them. Heart heavy, a sense of dread filling him, he knew for a fact that this job would be another one that would go wrong. No matter what anyone said very little good came from a large number of kyber crystals in one place. “I trust Raunfault to do what is best for him. Whether it be abandoning us, betraying or even lying to us. He is a pirate after all. On one job where we were delivering cargo a group of Dark Jedi boarded our vessel, I had slept through their entry till they blew a hole in our ship.” Smirking at the own comical nature of how he’d managed to sleep through most of the incident Lanik found it incredulous that he’d once been a Jedi.

“What Raunfault did was contact me and tell me to retrieve something from the cargo bay. Didn’t tell me what it was, didn’t tell me we were delivering it to a Hutt either.” Rolling his eyes the one-time Jedi despised how he’d been played. “At the end of the day he pays me, and soon enough I’ll have enough credits to return where I belong. These deeds weigh heavy on me.”

“What about you? What makes you do these jobs? Where are you from?”

Sia

 

[Sia]

Sia blinked at the man's honestly, internally reeling at the information he freely gave her. She didn't often come across people telling her their lives with little qualms, not unless it was a flat lie.

That was probably what this all was. A pretty little lie meant to disarm and generate trust. He would find such things from her were a little harder to gain. Still, she couldn't help but reach up to something around her neck, her fingers stroking a set of dog tags as his question hung in the air.

She forced an indifferent shrug, sitting down on the other crate.

"Money." She kicked her foot up, using the other crate to keep herself steady as she felt the heavy weight of them taking to the air.

"Why do you keep with him when he pulls shit like that? Only a matter of time until he betrays you," she stated bluntly. It was the reason she hopped around so much. Bit harder to get burned if you took the money and moved on. No connections. Nothing established. No chance to take advantage when she kept them all on a short leash then skipped off.

He was just asking for it.

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Money, it was always about money. For most of the galaxy that’s exactly what it was. Even for Lanik. At the beginning, he was only truly in for the money. Chuckling inwardly and viewing the irony of the situation he looked once more to Sia. She was very much what he was a few weeks prior. Before he saw what had truly become of the galaxy.

Tuning back into the silence of the surroundings having hung in the air between him and Sia for a minute. The only sounds that could be heard were the ship’s engines as the vessel carried them to their destination. “I stay with him because each job brings me a step closer to home. This is the final step, one last job. To get me all the credits I need. I’ll never have to look back on such jobs again. And despite the sketchy nature of some I do not believe that they’ve sullied me.”

Lanik had noticed Sia’s earlier motion to her neck, to the dogtags. Usually something one would see a widow carry. The criminal looked far too young to be a mother, nor could Lanik imagine if she did have a child would they be too old. “Who’s dogtags are they? The way you reached for them. Who were they, someone important to you?”

Wincing Lanik realized just how blunt the question asked was. Worrying his lower lip, the one-time Jedi cleared his throat. “I understand if you don’t want to answer, was just curious and the way you moved hinted to that seemed like there was slightly more involved than credits.”

Sia

 

[Sia]

I do not believe they sully me.

Well wasn't that nice for him. Sia didn't felt the same, a fact she begrudged as he moved onto his next observation-- her dog tags. Her fingers had slipped from it, unconsciously gripping them for a moment in their conversation and sliding back off as her thoughts had moved on. Now she clutched at them consciously, her grip white as if unwilling to let him see the words underneath.


She nearly didn't answer at of stubbornness alone. But perhaps his truthful words had been a little infectious. Or maybe she just really needed to say the words sometimes.

"They were mine. ... And my friends," she admitted, clearing her throat. She stroked them for a moment before tucking them away.

"They're gone now," she answered briskly, ending the question before he could voice it. "That side of me too."

She told him more about herself in a minute than most got in a week, the presence of tags an easy paths to assumptions about her background. She didn't carry forward the conversation with any polite inquiry of her own. If fact, she'd prefer it all just ended there.

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Lanik wanted to question Sia more, to get to the bottom of just what the other woman was, what she was feeling. The words she spoke carried with them angst, pain. He could see that from the way she held those dog tags, from how she still wore them. Something precious that she still hung on to. Lanik himself had given everything up when he struck out on his own. The one-time Jedi left behind his lightsaber, buried on Mirial alongside what remained of his father and mother’s corpses.

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between the two. Tensions were high enough that Lanik could cut through it with a vibroblade. Rising to his feet, preparing to cross the short distance between him and Sia, Lanik’s mouth opened only for what he was about to say to get cut off. Over the coms Raunfalt’s came back, echoing through the cargo hold.

“Alright you two, I’m dropping you off in five. Remember the game plan and we’ll be home free!”

Stopping, Lanik turned to the crate he’d been sitting near and closed it. Shutting the crystals away to where no one would see them, especially him. Perhaps just being near them again was dredging up memories of the Jedi he’d once been, instead of the spacer he currently was. Sighing, he started to gear up and cast a glance over his shoulder to Sia. “You know as a youth I was told that no one is ever truly gone. That in the end they’re always there, watching over us. Wanting us to simply live and be the best we can.”

Pausing for a bit and waiting, knowing that he was probably already pushing his luck with the other. “Nor do I ever truly think we can bury a part of ourselves that we once were. No matter what it begins to rise back to the surface. I’ve learned that the hard way recently.”

Sia

 

[Sia]

Sia stared down at her hands, her jaw tense and her gaze fierce. A gleam washed over them for a moment before melting back away.

"What a load of chit," she asserted, her tone hoarse for a moment before she cleared her throat. She stood up, resolve straightening her spine as she went to the cargo box and locked it for him.

"People change. What more's there to it?" She shook her head at him, bumping shoulders as she walked away. She moved to the drop doors, careless of the fact that she still had minutes left to stand there. There man was given her back, and if he'd need a clearer sign to fuck off, she'd level her gun next.

She couldn't afford moral out here. She'd drop the load and eat a full meal tonight. End of story.

She braced herself for the decent.

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

Lanik could nearly feel the anger from Sia as she locked the chest and bumped into him. Despite her smaller size she packed enough strength to catch him off-guard. Not wanting to fight her, Lanik simply let her go, staring at her back as she left. A part of the exile wondered just what had pushed her to such lengths? What had she seen that ruined her so? The fact she’d reacted in such a way meant that Lanik was on the right track. Something that he could perhaps squeeze out of her once the job was over. It couldn’t all end right here, right now.

Grabbing the rails of the hovercart Lanik activated it, moving it right behind Sia as they lowered to the ground. There was nothing but silence this time between the two and Lanik didn’t want to break it just yet. They both had a job to do first, he couldn’t risk her leaving and giving up just now. The cargo bay door opened admitting them both out onto a raised platform. On either side of the walkway there were no railings, and over the edges was nothing but a cliffside and the ocean further down.

“Well, that’s just perfect.” Lanik said looking down at the small platform that led up to a magnificent cliffside mansion. The mansion alone taller than some Jedi temples he’d seen, the estate stretching further than a moisture farm on Tatooine. The man couldn’t hold back a whistle, as he admired the mansion. The type of home anybody in the galaxy would wish to have. That would kill to have, except for himself. All Lanik wished now more than anything was to find his way home.

No sooner than the two having exited the vessel did the bay doors close and it rise up. Awaiting them on the platform was a squad of what Lanik could only assume to be guards. They wore crimson plastoid armor nearly resembling Sith Legionnaires but covering them were fancy scarves and cloaks that seemed unbecoming. Two of them wielded electro-pikes while the other two had visible vibroswords on their hips.

Stepping forward one of the crimson figures motioned at the two. “Count Deminci will see you both now.” Turning on their heel the first one watched over their shoulder waiting for them to follow. While the other three took up positions at the rear of Sia and Lannik.

Feeling a chill in the air that wasn’t coming from the mist that rained down upon the two Lanik moved up to Sia’s side despite knowing how much she probably hated him. “Thoughts?”

Sia

 

[Sia]

Sia's gaze skimmed the scene, acutely aware of the tension off them both. She felt it too, and it wasn't just the way the force echoed warnings faintly inside of her. The posturing of the men around her spoke to their own tension. They had been given orders, and specific ones to boot.

Whatever it was, they knew the severity of fucking up. Sia could see it in the whites of their knuckles as they clutched their weapons and fell into place around them.

Thoughts?

She shook her head, her lips pressing into a line.

Nothing good.

"Remind me never to take a job through you again," she replied, her voice almost lazy. But from what he knew about her, it would be code enough. The place stunk like a a set up. Betrayal. Bad juju. Not for the first time, she wished she was in a better position. One that allowed her to leave it behind and find something else.

But even if she had money, there was no leaving. The glance over the shoulder was enough to force her to keep walking. The weight of her blaster at her hip was a heavy reassurance, her chin raising as they moved.

"Is this really necessary? We just need our payment and we'll be on our way."

 

[Lanik Dawnstar]

“You didn’t take the job through me remember? You took it through Raunfault.” Lanik whispered to Sia, his eyes never leaving the guards, head on a constant swivel and taking in the threats that they provided the one-time Jedi knew that if he were to fight them that his chances of survival were low due to their superior numbers. Not only that but the thin ledge that they stood upon.

Continuing the march forward, pushing the carts of kyber crystals the group finally reached the other end, a trail of sweat retreating down Lanik’s forehead as the tensions seemed to rise immensely. Before the two of them sat yet more of the crimson armored figures, and in the center a man perhaps nearing the end of his life. Skin pale and thin to where one could see the blue of their veins. His eyes the color of a star going nova. The most distinct thing being the miasma of the dark that surrounded the individual.

Rising from a dais and coming closer, soldiers at their heel Lord Deminci approached. “Why would I offer you payment when you two are the merchandise as much as the crystals?” lightly chuckling those corrupted eyes took in both Lanik and Sia, a penetrating gaze which viewed them past their physical forms. “Awwwww, and two force sensitives at that. Raunfault never disappoints.”

Heart dropping Lanik realized the betrayal, Raunfault had never intended for them to get out of the game together. Lanik wasn’t a friend, he wasn’t even a true employee. He was simply someone to be replaced at the end. While he’d always suspected betrayal it hit hard to see it finally happen. Alas to be sold to another.

“I swear to you Sia I did n-” Cut off by a sudden stinging sensation in his neck Lanik reached up seizing a dart that had found its way past his flesh. A sense of vertigo overtook the Jedi as he stumbled on his feet before meeting the ground with a loud thud.”


“I suggest you not resist my dear, less you wish to end up like your cohort.” Nodding his head to the unconscious Lanik the elderly man chuckled before turning to leave. A wall of guards closing in around Sia and moving in to capture her.

“Take them to the cells below the estate, there is much that must be done before I am ready for them.” With that, the corrupted individual simply left them to the will of the guards.

Sia

 

[Sia]

She knew it.

She let out a curse, busting out into a flurry of motion. The last thing he'd see was Sia drop kicking a guard to the ground.

She didn't get much further.


Consciousness came to her in slow increments, the woman letting out a soft groan as she found herself leaning chained against a wall. Her thoughts moved slowly, the drugs leaving her mind heavy and thick. Her tongue was dense inside her mouth, the pressing need for water dominating her mind. She swallowed past it, finding strength in her body to shuffle her deadened limbs.

Metal clanked as she pulled her legs in, blood rushing to the skin that had been pinned down awkwardly. She had been there for a while then. Great.

"Micah?" she breathed into the air, hearing life besides her. Her blurry vision cleared on a face besides her. It took a hot moment for recognition to come through, but when it did, the delirium passed. Her mind cleared.

She remembered exactly what got her there.

A catching exhale served as another curse, the woman groaning in frustration to herself. She had called it. Called it! Every time! When would she learn to listen to her gut-- dammit!

"I hate you so much right now." Her voice slipped into the air, the woman staring emptily at the ceiling above them. Maybe Lanik was already awake to hear it, or maybe it would be the words that stirred him. She said it anyway, a sense of defeat coiling in her core. And just when she thought things couldn't get any worse.

She looked around them, quickly finding them to be locked up in a converted cell of some old underground cellar. The air was damp and thick with mildew, reminding her how badly she wanted wanted water. Iron bars blended seamlessly into the stone face around them. Her sides felt suspiciously light-- bare of any weapons.

Dammit.

She pulled more at her chains, trying to sit up.