Suspicious Goods

[Cenn Kothari]

Smoke clouded the ceiling of this seedy bar of Coruscant, it left the whole room with a foul taste, infiltrating even the sweetest of drinks. But a place like this was good for business. Hushed whispers and the clinking of glasses set the tone. Soft, calming, music flooded from circular speakers evenly spaced around, muffling the conversations of many, added privacy.

Sitting at an empty table rested a fatigued Mandalorian, which nursed a glass of cheap wine, swirling it about idly. Clothed in worn combat fatigues with an Alliance rifle resting across his lap, Cenn waited patiently. Anyone that was anyone knew the ex-pathfinder was looking for a capable pilot, though for what remains unclear. The few that have approached have turned down his offer, taking their procured drinks elsewhere.

[member="Alexander Kalden"]

 

[Alexander Kalden]

Alexander had put his boots up on his table as he watched the man probably a dozen years his younger a couple tables over go through a revolving door of pilots, mercenaries, and smugglers whatever job he was offering was either not worth their time, or was too risky for them, and that peaked his interest, usually there was some sort of good story to those too cheap or too risky jobs so he figured that it might be work his time and a drink or two to hear him out at least. Swinging his boots off and onto the ground Alexander got up and strightened his flightsuit before wandering over to the bar and bought himself another Corellian Speeder Bomb and lit up a cigarette, this joint was and absolute hole, but at least they let you smoke inside here, so that was nice, and then started making his way over to the man he was watching earlier and slid down across from him.

"So kid, what can an old guy like me do for you?" Alex said, playing at the age difference between the two of them.

[member="Cenn Kothari"]

 

[Cenn Kothari]

The Mandalorian straightened himself out as Alexander spoke, prompting him to tap the table twice before quickly draining the last of the crimson liquid as though it were a shot. "I'm lookin' for someone willing to run a blockade, or anything similar." He drew a simplistic datapad, sliding it over.

The blue light, dim from lack of energy, displayed a singular planet with aurbesh lettering stamped onto it. Vandelhelm, once an Alliance planet known for the shipwrights, now a autocratic despot which used its natural resources and factories to churn out ships for the local imperial power. "Lots of ship floatin' around it, and I have goods I need to get off of it, if you're willing to risk Turbolasers." Swiping left on the datapad a readout of various ships appeared. Two Star Destroyers, a couple of frigates, and a legion of corvettes drifted above the planet all with the familiar Galactic Empire symbol yet with a clenched fist super-imposed over it.

[member="Alexander Kalden"]

 

[Alexander Kalden]

Alex looked over the holo of the blockade, usually running an imperial style blockade was easy, their big ships were slow and their little ships were fragile, but what made this one interesting meant he was going to have to run it both ways, so he could only blast his way through in one direction, out was usually easier, but either way was going to be a challenge with his flying brick of a ship, calling in a favour or two though might make things easier, there was a slicer out in First Order space that owed him more his life a couple times over.

"I think I could get you in, but a blockade like that, well, it's not going to be cheep." Alexander said setting his cigarette down in the provided ashtray to take a mouthful of his drink. "I'm not gonna insult you by asking if you can pay, just if whatever you're after is worth it."

Alex leaned back in his chair and wondered what exactly the other was after, and exactly who he was taking it from, if whatever it was entirely legal you didn't go into a seedy undercity bar and hire a smuggler, corporate espionage maybe, Vandelhelm was a ship building planet after all, but there could have been a million other reasons and as much as Alex wanted to ask he figured it would be better just to act like a professional and bite his tongue.

[member="Cenn Kothari"]

 

[Cenn Kothari]

Running a finger along the edge of the empty glass he gave a short nod. "It is worth it alright, there should not be a cost too steep." Removing the rifle from his lap and leaning it on his seat, the Mandalorian began to stretch, letting out a yawn.

"They call themselves the Inheritors, the Imperial goons. Came by and sent the monarchs into exile, started shaking things up. Closed trade, started keeping the manufactured ships and weaponry for themselves." Sliding another finger across the screen revealed a city street hanging imperial banners over once patriotic standards. "I happen to be working for an interested party with deep pockets.

Letting out a sharp whistle to notify a service droid for a refill, he shifted in the seat, resting an elbow upon the table. "If all goes well it should be a fast job. If we're not blown from the sky on entry. Touch down, collect the goods, and zip on out."

[member="Alexander Kalden"]

 

[Alexander Kalden]

Deep pockets eh? Alexander liked the way that sounded, but usually someone with deep pockets willing to pay anything to get a job done meant that it was going to be difficult, always, especially when they said that the job should be a touch and go, but at least then he could pass of any repair bills onto the interested party for once, meaning he might actually be able to actually have enough cash left after fixing the ship to buy, well, anything. Closed trade would make getting in harder, that explained why the kid was looking for a blockade runner, but still, not impossible thanks to the Vandelhelm Cloud, big ships couldn't follow them into the asteroid swarm, and they would have something to cover their entry.

Feeling a lot more confident about the job at hand Alexander spoke up. "How big is what you're trying to take off there anyway? If it wieghs too much it's going to have an effect of the ship's performance, making this run harder than it needs to be."

Despite the handling concerns though, they in theory should still be able to out run anything that wasn't a dedicated smuggler chaser, even then with engines big enough to catch a blockade runner there was going to be a big enough loss to weapons and shielding that it would make a fight a lot easier than anything with the other blockading vessels.

[member="Cenn Kothari"]

 

[Cenn Kothari]

"That should not be a concern. It isn't heavy by any standard." Taking a drink from the now filled glass he looked over Alexander, perhaps scrutinizing him fully with the seeming interest. Cenn, normally, was not the type to interact with the sort one could find in a seedy place such as this. But in his fresh line of work the underworld was better a friend than any other.

What he was also gauging was possible future employment, if both of them were willing. The pathfinder had the credits, but Alexander has the execution. How this contract proceeded from here was in the hands of the smuggler and the imperials.

"Any further questions," he asked as he collecting the datapad.

[member="Alexander Kalden"]

 

[Alexander Kalden]

"Nah, we can leave whenever you're ready, in this business you learn not to ask questions unless it's life or death." Alex chugged back the rest of his drink. "Oh and a couple conditions, no kids, there ain't no room for someone's little bundle of liability when I'm running a force damned blockade. Also if you don't want anyone dead no kill costs extra, otherwise I'm gonna shoot if I think I need to to get the job done the proper way, jus so you know."

That last bit was important, the last time he had a kid on board he ended up having to dump his cargo directly because of the kid, and that wasn't fun paying for those weapons that he had to dump and all the refresher parts that he was using to keep them hidden so he could smuggle them though customs, so no kids, not unless they were a paid part of the job, at lest then any damage they did was covered.

[member="Cenn Kothari"]

 

[Cenn Kothari]

Tapping twice on the table, before standing up, Cenn drained the last of his drink and gripped his rifle. "I'm more than ready, and worry not. It is not a child, and this can be conducted weapons free. Blast any target that stands in your way."

Vandelhelm was quiet a jaunt away from Coruscant, luckily it drifted near one of the more prominent hyperlanes. "Lead on, I am interested to see this ship of yours." Cenn pondered the task at hand, placing his faith purely in Alexander. If this went well his work on Vandelhelm could be propelled forward.

[member="Alexander Kalden"]