Smuggling Not Snuggling

[Alistair Fenn]

Coruscant
Section 09 - Hangar A2

"I really wish you wouldn't do this to me right now." Alistair whispered quietly as he looked at the broken landing strut of The Mara, his lips thin and his eyes half filled with anger and frustration.

Things really hadn't been going all that good for him as of late, particularly given the rather...large problem that he currently had hanging over him. It was something that he tried to ignore, though that had become somewhat difficult after the holo-call that he had received just a few short hours ago. There weren't many people that could make Alistair's skin crawl, but the voice on the other end of that line?

Yeah that had been enough.

It wasn't that he was scared, definitely not that, but he had a healthy respect for how to keep his life and the request that had been made of him was...well it was something that he would see through even if it killed him.

Well not really if it killed him, but close enough.

Of course that was all depending on if his ship would actually cooperate with him, which right now it wasn't. He frowned slightly, letting out another quiet curse and suddenly kicking the landing strut. There was a loud clank and then suddenly the heavy metal ramp dropped away from the ship and crashed onto the floor of the hangar deck. Almost involuntarily Alistair jumped back, letting out another curse.

"Poodoo." He whispered to himself. "Hope that goes back up."

Alistair let out a sigh, then turned around.

Where the hell was the broad he was supposed to get off Coruscant?

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Cowl of her dark-grey hood was up around her head. Starburst orbs widened at the sudden BANG echoing in the hangar. Even with how busy a Coruscant hangar was, the sound was distinct enough to catch a look or two. "Seriously," the explorer whispered to herself and shook her head slightly, hugging the shadow of a loading crate. Gaze darted down to her comm-screen.

Alistair Fenn. Hangar A2.

Unfortunately, this was it. Had Felix saved her only to send her off to a trap? Maybe.

Still. Kinsey didn't have that many options. Not with the Death Gang and the Keenjay clan after the information she had. What she knew about the treasure. Couldn't drag the fleet into this now. One, it was too dangerous and two, no way any of them could get here fast enough. Not even Brak. Not to mention, she didn't exactly trust Wesseq.

Hands stuffed in her pockets, head ducked low, she took a breath and stepped away from the shadow, heading right toward this Alistair Fenn. She had her blaster half charged, her toolbelt, and her stun baton. She was confident she could take him out if she had to. If it was a trap.

Throat cleared as she approached. "Your compressor needs grease. That's your problem."

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"I'm well aware of that." Alistair snarked.

His friend Kurt had always been the better of the two of them when it came to ships, but he wasn't a complete idiot when it came to this stuff. He knew well enough now to make a ship fly and what was wrong with it when things broke it was just...a matter of being able to afford things.

This time the options had been either to afford fuel for the trip they were about to go on or some grease for his landing struts.

Of course he had chosen the former, mostly because if he chose the latter he would end up as dog meat for whatever pets his debtors kept. Alistair was all about self preservation, and he wasn't about to find himself at the wrong end of a blaster because of a bad ramp on his ship. Of course The Mara suffered because of that decision, but he could hardly be worried about the opinions of an inanimate object when the other side of the coin meant he would end up getting killed.

He rather liked being alive too much for that.

"Are you my Passenger?" He asked, already sounding annoyed. "Kinnay...Kinray? Kinsel?"

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

Golden-brown brows shot skyward. Oh, he was WELL aware of that, huh? A frown tugged on her lips as she caught that red cybernetic eye of his. Seemed to be focusing in on her. What was Felix's angle here? Was this some sick game he was playing and watching everything unfold while sipping on that expensive wine?

The young starchaser was still 99% confident she could take this smuggler down if she had to. Fingers twitched along her belt.

"Kinsey. An E sound at the end. Like sea actually."

Lips thinned slightly.

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"And passenger. That depends on what you're charging. Felix mentioned something about a fair price."

Felt uncomfortable name dropping someone she'd just met.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

He blinked for a second. "No idea who that is."

Felix? Probably someone connected to them, best not to ask questions. That was one group of people he really didn't want to know any more about than he already did. Bad enough that half the Hutt Crime Families in the galaxy knew about him, he didn't need that particular outfit to lord over him too. The more he remained ignorant the better, that much was for sure. He took a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose and thinking for a moment before looking up at...Kinsey...he was pretty sure that was what she said.

"Don't worry about it." He patted one of the boxes that sat on the ground besides the loading ramp. "The cost of your journey has been taken care of."

Thank kark for that.

The deal had been rather simple. He took this girl and several mysterious off Coruscant, and in exchange some of his debt was forgiven. On top of that they had also given him a small box of Tasar Cystals. The things weren't worth a fortune, but enough that he could get The Mara some much needed repairs. "Just have to load these crates and we're set to go."

He looked around for a moment.

"Might want to get on board before...you know what show up." This wasn't exactly a safe zone.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

She blinked. Swirling pools of blue widened. Taken care of? But Felix had been pretty clear....perhaps he had an even softer side than he let on. If not, well, she'd find out sooner rather than later.

"Surprising." She murmured more or less to herself.

Daze broke as she looked at the crates. She should really follow his instructions. It certainly wasn't safe out in the open. But. Kinsey wasn't always known for doing the safe thing.

"I'll help you. It'll go faster with two people." Fingers switched on the magnetic array on one of the boxes so it hovered a few inches off the ground. It would be pretty clear she knew her way around shipments and the way she was dressed screamed spacer. And her tool belt would give this guy an inkling she knew something about ships.

She wasn't a slouch.

Palms fell to the end and she began pushing it up the derelict ramp.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair shrugged, no skin off his back. He wasn't here to serve as some footstool for a girl that considered herself to be a princess, if this lady wanted to help him do some of the work that was all well and good. He quickly followed Kinanay's lead and activated one of the small repulsors on the boxes, pushing the object forward and up the ramp of the ship. He motioned for her to follow, mostly because he didn't want her to throw the box somewhere it didn't belong.

"In here." The Mara wasn't a very big ship, in fact compared to most freighters it was actually pretty small.

Most of the time that suited him quite fine, it wasn't like he often took passengers. The ship was fast, old, and perfect for smuggling. There were dozens of little hiding spots on the vessels that one could use to tuck away anything from a couple of firegems to a human being.

He'd often had opportunity for both.

"Just set the crate down there." Alistair said as he set down his own next to where he pointed. "I'll get the rest last one."

Then they could get out of here.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

"Quite the bachelor pad you have here," she mused dryly. With a soft clunk, the repulsers were turned off. Ship looked a lot like hers. Well used. Rigged with creative measures in some places. Okay, okay. She didn't have AS MANY takeout boxes.

Eyes traveled to the twi'leks gone wild calendar hanging up. Or half falling down? In one corner

"Real classy," she called after the rogue. Turning, she wandered toward the cockpit.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

"Yeah yeah." He didn't need some random strumpet insulting his ship, but given the fact that he wasn't really taking this job by choice? Alistair would tolerate her.

At least for now.

"Please." Sarcasm dripped from his tone. "Make yourself comfortable. Second room on the left."

It was the one closest to the cargo bay. Usually it was meant for one of the gunners that the ship required, but Alistair had long ago set up a slave-rig system so that he could operate the vessel on his own. Of course it meant that his weapons were nowhere near as accurate as they might have been with a human operator, but he'd never really been one for fighting. He preferred to slink away quietly rather than entering full head on combat. It was the smarter thing to do.

He flashed Kinsarly a smile, then headed down the ramp to grab the last crate.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Blues rolled as he disappeared down the ramp. Turning, fingers came up to push the cowl off the top of her head, letting it fall along her shoulders. Head peaked in the room he indicated. For just a second. She was more interested in the cockpit.

She was a pilot too. Mechanic. Explorer. Drifter.

Cockpit said a lot about a person's character. She definitely didn't trust this Alistair. Seemed like a lot of the smugglers she'd worked with in the past. Like the ones the fleet worked with. Cocky. Scruffy looking. Sliding into the co-pilot's seat, she looked around. From a side-angle, she could just see Alistair's figure as he was loading up the last crate. Movement caught her eye beyond his form.

A group of approaching thugs.

Blues widened as she recognized one of the men from Keenjay clan.

"Chit," she swore and slunk down to the ground, peeking out.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair was just pushing the crate into the cargo hold when he heard the footsteps behind him. His lips thinned for a moment and he peered back just long enough to catch sight of the group of thugs. He frowned, and his first reaction was a spike of panic.

Had minds been changed? Would they come after him for the debt?

That was extremely unlikely of course, they'd just given him a new task and this Knarly person seemed pretty adamant in getting off-world. It also helped when he spotted the tattoos on the gangsters, the black ink standing out on the men's necks and arms. He frowned for a moment, pushing the crate up the ramp. A few seconds he heard a loud crash as the crate rammed up against the wall of the cargo hold, though right now he didn't particularly care about that.

Instead he turned and approached the group of thugs.

Alistair had no idea what group they belonged to, but most street gangs operated in the same way. "Howdy!"

The smuggler called out to them, loud enough that Kinsleia would hear him. Hopefully she would be smart enough to start the ship or grab one of the under turrets, something that wasn't just sitting there like a pretty princess.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

What the kark was he doing?!

Probably selling her out. No good two-timing two-bit criminal...okay, she couldn't judge. She'd done time in Alliance prison. But still.

Blues shifted away from the confrontation to the ship's controls. Tip of her tongue ran along her top lip. "Alright, alright. Here we go," she whispered and crouched into the pilot's seat, index fingers flicking the counsel switches. The ship rumbled to life. Stuttered as if it was about to die, then held out. "C'mon hold together."

Hands began nursing the repulsors. Then came the switch to retract the external ramp. Hopefully Alistair would be on said ramp. If not? Well. She'd be karking stealing his ship.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

He was on the ramp and slowly it began to raise.

A small curse was uttered, mostly because the sudden jerking motion of what he was standing on wasn't exactly expected. His hand came out and grabbed one of then struts, an action that forced him to sway to the side slightly. Unbeknownst to him this saved his life, as a Blaster bolt came searing right past his face a moment later.

"FETH!" He called out as he drew his blaster.

Three more shots came his way and he ducked.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" His voice was a screech, why the fuck was he getting shot at? "NOW!"

He hoped Kinralsy knew how to fly a ship. His lips thinned as he returned fire, the loud pang of his blaster ringing out.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Lights along one panel flickered. She frowned and made a fist, bringing it swiftly down where the wires were. Once. Twice. "What a piece of junk," she swore, frown turning into a smile as the lights lit up bright as the stars.

"Huzzah!"

Fingerless-gloved hands dropped to the wheel as all engines came online. Blaster fire pinged off the viewport. Reaching over at an awkward angle, she flipped the switch for the shields. "Better strap in quick," she yelled back to Mister Scruff-face. "It's like I should be getting paid to smuggle myself out," Kinsey added in a quip as she jerked the controls upward, leaving the landing pad sharply.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

Alistair grabbed onto the nearest column, his hand wrapping tightly just as the landing ramp was slowly being raised.

He frowned for a moment as he saw one of the gangsters shift slightly, lugging something heavy from his back. The smuggler frowned, then his eyes suddenly popped open as he realized what he was seeing. The man had a MISSILE LAUNCHER. Instantly panic rippled through him, and his hands went grappling for whatever he could to drag himself towards the cockpit. He felt Kinsey punch the acceleration, pushing the ship off the landing pad and out of the hangar.

"GO GO GO!" Alistair shrieked as The Mara blasted forward.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

Even as the ship went flying up and out of the hangar bay the thug with the missile launcher lined up the shot and pulled the trigger, a targeted Proton Torpedo exiting the weapon and immediately flying towards Alistair's ship. He cursed and dragged himself forward. "Get us into orbit!"

He called, the missile beginning to chase them even as they climbed and climbed further into space.

There was a brief lull as he watched the blue sky give way to dark black, and then a sudden jarring impact as the proton torpedo struck the ship. There was a loud crack and the shriek of breaking metal, as the outer hull was stripped away in the explosion. Alistair let out a curse, falling forward as they exited Coruscant's orbit with The Mara limping along. He tumbled into the cockpit, half falling forward as the sensor alert to his left went off, calling to attention two fighters that had followed them into orbit.

"Kark this!" Alistair called out as he slammed his hand onto the console and jumped them into hyperspace.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Get us into orbit!

"I'm...trying," teeth grit as she pushed the controls, feeling the ship strain and groan beneath them. Elbow went out and she tried to nudge him out of the way from one of the navigation switches. Feth. Could really some time to mess around with the controls. Get her tools on 'em. She wasn't surprised Scruffy-face over here was neglecting this baby.

"Incoming!"

She tried to brace as the torpedo hit and as he punched them into hypersace.

Didn't have time for crash-webbing before they took off. Not to mention she didn't know if the webbing was even operational. It was no surprise as her limbs and body went flying and flopping to entangle themselves with nerfherder himself.

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

The rattling around was enough to throw Kinsey into him, his fingers twitching and grabbing her to ensure that both of them didn't end up ramming their faces into the console.

He felt the ship shake and then lurch as they finally jumped into hyperspace, The Mara twisting as it leaped out of Coruscant's orbit. The force of the jump threw Alistair back, his grip on Kinsey dragging her along with him as he went tumbling to the ground.

A loud thunk rang out as he struck the decking, his back arching as a shot of pain ran through him. "OW!"

The smuggler called out, cursing when he suddenly realized Kinsey was half atop him.

"Hey!" He called to her. "Hands off the goods."

Alistair gave her a gentle nudge to get off of him.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

Head banged back into his chest, golden-brown hair flopping across her angular chin. She would grunt in pain. Blues would widen suddenly as she felt a gentle nudge of his fingers very close to the curve of her rear. Then something sharp and pokey against her back.

"HEY," she yelped and would bring her own hand to smack against his fingers. "That better not be," other hand would reach further. "Oh, just my hydrospanner." With a yank, she would adjust it along her belt and roll off the smuggler in the tight space of the ship's cockpit. Only, her belt would snag against his. And as she rolled, she wouldn't get far - chest would press against his side, forehead in danger of smacking against his own.

"Just, don't move. Let me get this." Her free hand would trail toward her belt-loop stuck on his. Was it the pesky hydrospanner again?

 

[Alistair Fenn]

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

He scowled. "No, just let me do it."

More than a little bit of annoyance punctuated his voice. He had not signed up to get shot at with a rocket launcher, and he most certainly hadn't wanted to get smacked in the face by some chick who didn't even know how to sit in a chair properly. He growled slightly, reaching between then and brushing against her midriff until he managed to push her hand out of the way. He grabbed her belt buckle and tore it to the side, the sound of ripping cloth echoing out as he did so.

Alistair looked down, then swore.

"Force damn it." He called out as he wiggled his way out away from Kinsey and looked down at the long tear that now sat within the crotch of his pants. Beneath the black cloth was a revealed a bright orange pair of boxers decorated with symbols of ATC, the large trading company from Alistair's homeworld. "These are my favorite pants!"

He looked up at Kinsey. "I'm charging you for that."

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Alistair Fenn"]

A huff ran through her lips. Indignation flashed across her face. Head would whip up as she stood, tugging her own gray shirt back down from their tumble. A frown tugged at her lips as her eyes drifted downward, peaking through those ribbons of hair across her face.

"You bent my belt-buckle! I don't see how you can charge me anything when I'm clearly doing all the karking work to save both our butts."

Couldn't help the flick of her gaze to those bright orange boxers.

"And get some new pants on. Nobody wants to see that," she grumbled and turned on her heels to march out of the cockpit.