The Docks

[Sal Katarn]

Rebellion Actual​

0900 Hours​

Rebellion Actual was a bustle of activity, with all sorts of 'freedom fighters' types drifting through the docks, coming and going as they pleased so long as they were what rebel command deemed the 'right' kind of people. Jethro figured this place suited his purposes better than most. All sorts of disenfranchised folks wandering about, lookin' for a job, or a fight. Or a little of both. Good place to pick up a crew for what he had in mind.

Officially, Jethro was a licensed cargo hauler. Unofficially, he intended to rob the Rimma blind. Every day a mind boggling number of shipments flowed through there, including goods bound for the First Order. Figured the Underground made for a nice sponsor if he took to relieving the fascists of a few toys.

The erstwhile miner sat at a desk in the docks, sipping from a mug of black caf. A few captains of other ships sat in similar desks scattered across the docks, standard practice when looking for a crew. A stack of legal flimsi lay piled on the desk to Jethro's right. Enough documents for eighteen crew members, if he could find that many. Some of 'em would be part timers. Some would live on the ship.

Bout the best he could do without putting up a flashing neon sign that read, "have ship, need crew."

He scratched at the dark wool watch cap covering his graying hair. This morning he'd woke up at 0500 with a new ache in his back. Still there now, a dull pain that just wouldn't go away.

​"Getting too old-" he gave a long yawn, "for this crap."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"] | [member="Kaileann Vera"] | [member="Kurt Meyer"] | [member="Runi Verin"] | [member="Thrukk Gulpdar"] | [member="Pollux"] | [member="Tomsen Page"] | [member="Lok Munin"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

Rebellion Actual
0910 Hours

---

I can’t have you arguin’ with me.

If we do this, we do it my way. Promise me Kurt.

Promise me.


The shuttle shook as it came to dock upon Rebellion Actual. From her seat, ‘Kayleigh Bohannon’ quietly surveyed the flare of light from a distant sun from her viewport. Few ever found themselves on this space station. Unless one had connections to the Underground or managed to find themselves at the right place, at the right time.

For this bit, one could say it was a little of column A and a little of column B. The brunette had a reason to be here, at least, in regards towards fulfilling a new embed. Typically, she’d done just fine on her own. Honestly,, would have preferred that.

Things were different now, though. Brown eyes went darting a path to catch the bright blue of her companion. Swathed in traveler's gear, with a scruff and a shaggy mess of hair, he bore little resemblance towards the Three Time Pod-racing champion from Tatooine years back. Just how she wanted it. Question was, could he keep it up?

The espion sure hoped so.

“Come on,” she told [member="Kurt Meyer"], rising to her feet to gather her bag. “I’m hungry.” she slung her arms through the straps and gave a slight rock of her feet to settle the backpack. A small quirk of her lips relayed a brief measure of encouragement and her usual warmth.

“And you owe me frozen burritos.”

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Jethro Wright"]

The Joben T-92 speeder bike purred like a baby nexu beneath the teen's grip. Testing a new speeder-bike in a bustling and crowded populace was probably not the smartest thing to do. And certainly illegal. However, Kinsey needed something way beyond a simulation to test out her welding and hydrospanning work. Totes worth it.

Had to make sure those breaks worked on a credchit.

Disgruntled yelps and curses in huttese followed the teen as she zoomed through the throngs of people. She was a Starchaser. Whenever she was on a ship - any kind of vehicle - she just knew how to move. She could sense those tiny openings through the force. The moments of space that were about to open up.

Finger came up to tap her headset to the BB8-unit on her ship. "You getting these readings Bibs? Stellar."

A Rodian flipped her off as she sped by.

"Yeah, I'm trying the breaks now."

A sputtering POP sounded behind her and a line of smoke began leaking from the exhaust.

"Uh-oh. Nope-nope. Everything is fine Bibs. Gotta go bye."

Both hands gripped the controls. Starchaser-blue eyes narrowed. Taking a hydrospanner from her belt, she leaned precariously over one side and jammed it into one of the widgets. Foot slammed down on one of the pedals. The bike ground to a stop, spinning once, its back hitting a foodcart near Jethro. An explosion of fruit flew toward the old spacer and his table. The vendor cursed as Kinsey hopped off her bike, flashing a brilliant and disarming smile, hands held up in apology.

Time to turn on the Kinsey charm. It got her out of most situations 99.9876% of the time.

 

[Sal Katarn]

The high whine of a swoop abruptly turned into a choking cough. Jethro turned toward the sound, wondering who in tarnation would be doin' high speed through the docks, let alone at this hour of the day.

CRASH

The vending cart exploded and flying fruit pummeled Jethro and everything nearby. A few pegged the ex-miner in the shoulder, one bounced off his noggin. He rubbed his head and glanced around.

"What the blazes..."

A young woman hopped off her speeder and started apologizing to the vendor. Jethro started to stand up to join in on the yelling, then snorted and shook his head. Could've hurt somebody driving like that, but she would learn in time. Else she would end up in the brig, or worse. Jethro frowned. Hmm.

"Alright, settle down, mister." He called to the vendor, "I'll pay for the damages. Let me talk to her for a minute."

He gestured for Blue Eyes to come over to his desk.

"Pretty reckless of you. Just so happens I'm in need of reckless folk. Lookin' for a crew. You think you could rein it in every now and again?"

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"] | [member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Jethro Wright"] [member="Kaileann Vera"]

Some old guy with a beanie called over. Fruit stains all over him.

Oops.

But luckily, he kept her from having to turn up the Kinsey charm to 5,000. Katya would just be rolling her eyes if she was here right now. But also mentally taking notes, though the pirate girl would've never admitted it. Picking up a nananee from the floor, she began to peel the yellow skin back, taking a bite of the fruit inside as she sauntered over to old-man beanie.

"A crew, huh. What kind of work we talking about here, mister?"

Her BB8 unit warbled incessantly in her ear. The teen ignored it. She at least owed the beanie-man some listening time. He did offer to pay for damages and she was short on creds since her last job.

 

[Sal Katarn]

Is she really eating the fruit I just paid for?

Jethro closed his eyes for just a moment. Too long to be a blink. Too short to be a nap, though she probably thought he'd fallen asleep.

Little gray in the beard and cybernetic feet and suddenly I'm the old guy.

"Cargo hauling. Mostly. And sometimes relieving dictators of their shipments, or delivering uh, repressed goods into their regimes."

Sure sounded a lot more exciting than asteroid mining to Jethro, but Jess would've never allowed it. Just thinking about her set his heart hurting. Probably would've beat him halfway round the galaxy if she knew he'd sold the house to go pirating, but there wasn't much legitimate work out there for an older guy like him who'd only ever known how to break asteroids into pieces and haul 'em back.

"Name's Jethro Wright."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Jethro Wright"]



Blue-eyes widened. Oh. My stars. She may be young but she wasn't an idiot, all the time. He meant....

"Like pirating?" She whispered, bouncing up and down once in excitement. "But what's the bottom line Wright? What're you paying? Benefits? I'd have to run a background check on you. I'm assuming we sign a contract."

Jethro didn't seem like a creepy, sith lord who brainwashed younger women but she didn't need a repeat.

"And name's Kinsey Starchaser. As long as our definition of dictators line up, I think we're good."

She beamed with that dazzling Starchaser smile of hers. A finger pressed to the headset. "Yeah Bibs, I'll be back in a sec."

"Sorry, my droid can be needy." Shoulders shrugged as she took another bite of nananee.

 

[Azula Tindara]

The atmosphere in the gambling den shifted, the tension palpable. A space emerged around one of the tables. A stocky Togruta sat flanked by two humans, looking up defiantly. Something clanked loudly as it approached and the crowd parted before a massive figure. A hushed silence fell.

Thrukk stepped forwards through the gap, a furtive looking bothan on his shoulder. Pentas started to look less defiant.

“Mah mukker tells me ye owe heem credits,” Thrukk said, gesturing towards the bothan with a stocky thumb.

“How do you know your friend isn't lying?” Pentas countered.

Thrukk glowered. Pentas had both hands on the table, but one of them inched towards the edge. The corners of his lips turned up and the massive houk grinned.

“Och he lies but nae tae me. Nae anymair. Teel heem whit happened.”

The bothan informant looked up at Thrukk with a sigh. “Do I have to?”

“Yup.”

“He found out I lied,” the bothan said. “And punched me in the head.” The story was delivered in a deadpan tone. This seemed to annoy the houk who had been raised in the fighting pits.

“Teel heem hoo hard...teel heem!” Thrukk encouraged.

The bothan looked down at his feet, dejected. He slowly raised his hand and pointed to his right ear. There was a wide tear across it. “So hard, my ear nearly fell off.”.

Thrukk guffawed, leaning back and placing both hands on his belly as he laughed. “Sae hard...his ear nearly feel aff!” he slapped the bothan across the back, who nearly crumpled. When Thrukk looked up the mirth had left his eyes. His left hand now held a cigarra, which he placed between teeth like paving slabs. His right metal claw came up, the middle digit glowing orange at the end. He touched it to the cigarra and started to puff. Then he looked to his artificial hand, balling it into a fist and admiring the industrial tool.


“Ain 'at was wi' mah soft hain. Sae...how much dae ye owe heem?” Thrukk asked, his voice now barely above a whisper, a stark contrast to the joyous belly laugh. Sometimes there was method in his chaos.

The togruta started counting chits.

 

[Sal Katarn]

Background check? Hell... All she'd turn up was a former asteroid miner widower who lost both his legs just below the knee during a workplace accident.

"Droid's welcome too, if it's small. Got a Wayfarer-class, big enough for a few snubs plus cargo."

He pointed in the direction of the Bondara."It's the one fourth from the left. Far as dictators go, the Underground's got a good bead on 'em. First Order come to mind, n' those like 'em. Qektoth too." Jethro popped his knuckles and picked up a sheet of flimsiplast.

"Pay and benefits, such as they are, are all lined up in the doc. All it says is that we are cargo haulers, so if you feel pressured to do anything outside those bounds that you aren't comfortable with the contract is considered null and we'll let you hop off at the nearest station." he held the legally binding document up to her. "Just needs a signature."

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"]

 

[Sid]

Slowly, yet surely, Sid inched his way over to [member="Jethro Wright"]. His progress was impeded by the AK-47 slung on his back and a cardboard sign in his left hand. Ignoring the schutta ([member="Kinsey Starchaser"]), Sid gazed up at Jethro and yelled a slothy yell. Then, he raised his sign, which read,

"WIL WERK 4 FUD N AMO"

He stared lazily at the old, hardened man and waited for the dazzling effect of his superb advertisement to sink in. None could deny the hard work ethic nor the capable prowess of the sloth. He was pretty much hired already.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Jethro Wright"]


Bibs was running a background check as they spoke. Jethro Wright passed the creeper test. Finishing off the fruit, she tossed the peel in a waste-bin. Looking over her shoulder, she eyeballed the ship.

Looked decent enough for the class. Maybe he'd let her paint it blue.

Taking the contract from the old man's hands, she looked it over. Carefully. Seemed good. There was a non-lethal clause. Sounded like what Katya described for her crew.

She wouldn't feel comfortable joining otherwise.

But the bottom line was, the wanderlust kid needed some credits and she couldn't afford to walk away from this opportunity. Besides, she was itching to explore. And the docs left a good amount of time for personal leave.

Paid time off.

"Got a pen?"

[member="Sid"]

She flashed a warm, signature-Kinsey smile at the homeless being. "Hi!" Teen-bubbly beaming. "You're so cute!!"

 

[Adder]

The station looked much like any other, and Adder had seen her fair share. Slept, worked, shot up a few. Take your pick. This was the better sort, with mostly good folk stalking the streets. There were some shady characters here and there, but you were bound to wind up with a couple of bad apples in any lot.

Adder sniffled, eyeing a pickpocket who’d just made away with some spacer’s money. When he came running down her alley, the redhead sprung a deft leg. He yelped and tripped, and she snatched the credit chit out of the air.

“Don’t take what isn’t yours,” she said to the boy. He made to object, but she flashed him the ole badge, and the kid deflated, pale. “Rung along.”

After returning the chip to a grateful merchant, the woman headed back to the docks. She’d had some early business with a couple of old contacts. One hadn’t showed, and the other had been on the Rebellion Actual only in passing. That was the trouble of people who skirted the law.

“I keep telling them…” Adder muttered to herself, shaking her head.

She rounded a corner. And stopped.

Before her lay the carnage of a wrecked fruit stall, the guilty speeder, and a seething vendor. A touch further was a table, a teen, an older spacer and…. a sloth. The detective gears in her head whirred, keen green eyes surveying the bewildering scene.

Despite her best efforts, Adder couldn’t put it all together.

“What’s going on here?”

[member="Kinsey Starchaser"] | [member="Jethro Wright"] | [member="Sid"] | [member="Thrukk Gulpdar"] | [member="Kaileann Vera"]

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"I don't own you anything." He declared brightly. "Kurt Reach doesn't owe anyone."

He grinned at her.

The name hadn't been picked by him, in fact he hated it at first, but there was worse things to be called. Reach wasn't a common last name, at least not one that he had ever encountered. It was suitable enough for what his place would be, non-descript, not really telling of any one sector of the galaxy, and best of all completely forgettable. He wondered briefly if it was someones job to simply sit in a room and think of aliases all day for the SIS.

He would have liked that job.

Kurt shrugged slightly, rolling his shoulders and half stretching.

"Where are we going again?" There was still some mystery to him on that point. The Messa had been left behind, tucked away on his parent's farm back on Tatooine. It felt unnatural to be without his home, but he knew that in the end it was what was required. He had accepted this, fought for it really, because he knew that it would be good.

There was part of him that regretted, mostly because he would miss Jamie, but in the end he knew that it was for the best. Jamie and he wouldn't be able to see each other much anyway due to the acceleration in her training, and this...this was something that he had been meant to do. Something better. Something greater. She herself had encouraged him to do such things, so she could hardly argue when the presentation had been made. Of course, that was his own logic to it all, not hers.

 

[Sal Katarn]

Words failed Jethro, utterly dumbfound at the sight of a sloth holding up a sign asking for work. Well, now he'd seen it all.

"Uh. Hm." He handed [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] a pen, green gaze still stuck fast on the three-toed mammalian.

"What's going on here?" came a confused female voice.

Jethro glanced up to find a pale, human woman standing off to one side and surveying the scene with a look of confusion. Half her head was shaved and tattooed, Coruscant-under style, the rest was redder than blood.

"Well," he said at last, "Need a job? Hiring a crew." Jethro held out one of the forms in her direction.

Still working out how to deal with the uplifted sloth. If he pulled his own weight, then Wright would be happy to hire him aboard. But they weren't exactly known for being the most, uh, industrious critters around. Probably wouldn't need to give him a proper berth though, would he? Did it even talk?

[member="Sid"] | [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] | [member="Adder"]

 

[Lok Xiangu]

The youngster happily exhaled some smoke from his mouth as he just took a hit from this spice joint he was enjoying. His dealer called it, "Nabooi Peace," and the Mandalorian could definitely feel the nice peace and relaxation from the spice. "Peace," the Munin kid said, in w chuckle, to a pair of cute Twil'leks with his right index and middle finger up as he passed by them. Of course, they giggled either because of his looks...or just how clumsy he was acting and the way he talked. Either way, he didn't care or matter what they thought as he was entering into that psychological state in which he was cool, happy, and not worrying.

Someone could spill soup on his lap, and Lok would just forgive them for the mistake whether it was on purpose or an accident.

So what was this troublesome teenager doing around in the Rebellion Actual? Just chillin' like a villain with this joint of spice he was high off on.

"He looks like a stupid Gammorean," he said to himself while laughing at his own little joke he made about some buff guy that really wasn't funny at all. He'd probably get a punch to the face, and he'd probably wouldn't care at all

 

[Sid]

Of course sloths spoke. Their language was, by far, the most efficient known language in the universe.

"You're so cute!!"

In response, Sid sneezed in her general direction, but he also smiled up at her. Sid liked her. She would be the last to die.

“What’s going on here?”

To this, he shrugged his shoulders at her and then proceeded to ignore the woman who seemed to have angered a salon lady.


The fool, [member="Jethro Wright"], was holding an application form to someone other than him. This would never do. He raised his long, hairy arm up at the application paper and tried to grab it. He was much too far away, though, so he whimpered as only a sloth could in frustration. He scooted closer and closer to the piece of paper, inching towards grabbing distance of the next chapter of his life.

 

[Kinsey Starchaser]

[member="Sid"] [member="Adder"] [member="Jethro Wright"]

"Your hair is totally stellar," she beamed at the serious-looking woman with red-hair. Starchaser-blue eyes sparkled with warmth. That's just how Kinsey was. The teen never met a stranger.

She also wasn't about to admit to a crime. Duhey.

"I'm Kinsey," hand-waved, grease spots flecked her skin. No doubt the tattooed woman would also notice the mechanic's toolbelt around her hips. She handed off the signed-form to ol' man Jethro. He reminded her of Uncle Coren just a teensy bit. But not as scary. And more grey hairs.

And then the homeless sloth smiled at her.

Her heart melted just a little. A huge part of the teen wanted to snatch up the little dude or give him a few scratches behind the ears. Instead, she reached past Jethro for an application. "Here you go."

She beamed.

The fruit cart owner was yelling and pointing at her parked speeder. Eyes flitted between the tattooed woman, Jethro, the sloth, and the cart owner. "I - should probably move that." A lopsided grin was offered to tattooed-woman as the teen went to step around them.

 

[Sid]

Halfway through his valiant struggle for employment, providence smiled down upon him in the form of [member="Kinsey Starchaser"] and, more importantly, the application paper she offered him. He slowly snatched the paper from her hand and offered, in return, another smile followed by an uncontrollable burp. If they were to live together on [member="Jethro Wright"]'s ship, her benevolent actions had awarded her immunity from finding any surprise pies in her quarters.

Tossing aside his employment sign, he took the application in both hands and gave it a mighty lick on the signature section. He saw that his signature was needed two more times, so he simply proceeded to lick every inch of the application. It was an official, fool-proof binding contract, despite having half the words blurred now. Proud of his work, he scooted over to Jethro and tugged twice on his pant leg. After getting his attention, he would offer the sopping wet paper up to him with a broad smile on his face.

As soon as Jethro took the paper, it was official. Sid would then reach up, hook his right hand into the man's belt loop and hold on tight until they reached the ship.

[member="Adder"]

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Fine," the Lorrdian said with a wayward ghost of a smile. Ambling down the ramp towards the exit into the main hanger, the brunette let her brown gaze traverse across the crowd. This was good, they were blending in as much as the next.

"Buy me lunch." she quipped, pushing the long bangs away from her face with a hand encased in fingerless gloves. For any Forcer, it would be difficult to register the duo amidst the mass of bodies. The Force wasn't common, even out here in the Wild Regions. Few were aware of what it was, let along seen those trained enough to believe it to be true. Granted, there were those who had traveled to the Core Worlds and were well aware of who the Sith are. News still took time to travel, which meant that this was exactly why this would work out in their favor.

"We find a job." she told him frankly, weaving their way through the crowd. "There should be a posted notice near... along with Captains lookin' for crew."

A glance would dart to Kurt from her peripheral. "So what are your skills again?" she cracked a half grin.

 

[Azula Tindara]

Once the debt was paid Thrukk had a final chat with his bothan friend before parting ways. They had a good working relationship. Tes'di had the contacts to start Thrukk down the right path and pick up the trail, whilst the houk was good at hitting things until they agreed to be his bounty.

But the trade was quiet at the moment. The Hutts weren't hiring either. Saeva would have him on some battlefield within minutes. So he went sauntering through the out docking areas looking for work. A few more conversations lead him to someone apparently hiring. Whether they needed extra hands or security was another matter. He found the crew, approaching slowly.

"Ah hear yoo're lookin' fur crew!" he called. "Och, look at 'at!" he shouted enthusiastically, looking at [member="Sid"]

"Yoo're e'en puttin' out snacks tae try an' draw fowk in. Looks tasty!"

Transport, a room and a fresh meal. Hopefully they were hiring still.