Swashbuckled

[Rylee Colton]

One week. One week since a decent raid. One week since a hot meal or good liquor. And one week since Rylee's Crew – Force, she still wasn't used to calling them that – had set out on their own.

But all of that was about to change. Rylee'd got her hands on a list of shipping vessels employed by some First Order freight company, and the Crippled Pigeon's Helmsman had tracked one of the smaller vessels to an out of the way shadowport on the edge of ORC space. From there, he'd been able to predict what hyperlane the vessel was travelling, and set up at one of the unmonitored stops along the way. Assuming the Ion Cannons didn't kark up again, this'd be an easy enough job. Not the most exciting thing, but the crew didn't need excitement right now – they needed food.

Rylee stood by the Crippled Pigeon's loading ramp, staring out into the void through one of the ship’s viewports. Xara, the crew’s Quartermaster, was there with her, and the rest of the boarding party was loitering in the cargo bay behind them. If the Helmsman was right – and he usually was – then their target would be exiting hyperspace in three…two…there it was! Rylee grinned to herself as she heard the cannons warming up, then thump, thump. The first shot took down the shields, the second disabled the ship itself.

“Nice work, everyone!” Rylee called out, the ship small enough that her voice carried through the entire thing, “Pendok, you know the drill. Kaleko, stay on target. Everyone else, you’re part of the boarding party. Let’s go have some fun, eh?”

--

[member="Cotan Sar'andor"]
[member="Xara Black"]

 

[Cotan Sar'andor]

"Kiss, shouldn't we be dropping out of hyperspace soon?" Cotan asked his droid, looking around the shield generator they were currently working on. K1-S5 chirped back an affirmative answer, in between the flashes of light and flying sparks from the droid's fusioncutter. "Alright. Let's finish up the tune-up on the shields and get back to the cockpit for the next jump." K1 chirped at him again, while Cotan returned to his hydrospanner, bolting the panel back on the section he and his droid had just finished a short while ago. A moment later he felt the ship lurch as it returned to realspace.

"Well, there we are," he said cheerfully, scratching at one of the bandages he was still wearing after the fall of Coruscant. "Next jump is already plotted, right? I'll just make my way to the cockpit while you keep wor—" Before he finished, the ship wobbled as it was hit; the shield generator sparked brightly at the same instant, sending K1-S5 backwards in a clatter of smoke and angry clacking. Another hit came and the engines completely lost power, the hum that normally pervaded the ship as they worked quickly dying down to complete silence.

Cotan cursed, moving to the nearest viewport; seeing the somewhat dilapidated freighter quickly moving in, he cursed again. "Pirates," he muttered angrily. "How could we let this happen, Kiss? We're smarter than this!" The droid, for its part, responded with a long, low dwooooooo sort of noise. Cotan grumbled, quickly jogging over to his cabin. As soon as he reached it his lightsaber flew out to meet him, and he turned around, jogging back towards the airlock. "Go to the cockpit, and lock all the blast doors around the airlock corridor," he growled at his droid, stopping for a moment. "I don't want them trying to get around me and into the cargo hold. After that, see if you can connect our weapons to the secondary generator. If they won't negotiate, I want to be able to blast them off of my ship." Beeping and whirring quickly in response, K1-S5 turned towards the cockpit, while Cotan continued back towards the airlock, lightsaber in hand.

No way I'm letting some second-rate pirate crew take my ship.

[member="Rylee Colton"]
[member="Xara Black"]

 

[Darth Morrow]

"Its been quiet for far too long, perhaps we should try to gather something from the ones aboard this vessel, no? Wouldn't want to go another week." The woman beside Rylee faltered for a moment, her form coalescing into the shape of a shrouded and masked figure, one she so commonly took before those of the crew and visitors.

It had been far too long since she had experienced the freedom she so sought herself. Months prior a crew had done a raid on the surface of Nar Shaddaa, what they weren't prepared for was the spirit trapped inside the old research facility, or so she could be called. What was a simple mission for supplies and valuables to be sold turned to an invaluable operation and the inherence of a valued ally. Aeris, as she had been friended offered service in her return for guaranteed freedom, a promise to never be trapped again. While this promise did raise a few brows, along with a few concerns, they agreed, the pros clearly outweighed the cons.

Finding herself a closer friend and ally in Rylee Colton, Xara followed her as she struck out on her own into the vast expanse of space.

"Perhaps he will have information on the transport logs of other ships. Such a thing would set us up for months to come."

Xara stepped forward behind a few preparing to board, though as she did not a sound passed. Stopping a bit to look back, she'd see if Rylee deigned interest in following.

[member="Rylee Colton"] | [member="Cotan Sar'andor"]