Faction Uncharted Territory [OPA]

[Old Man Story]

The Corellian Trade Spine ran from Terminus to Bespin, and both worlds were integral to movement on the Galactic Scale. Terminus was a hive, a place where all sorts of people found themselves for myriad reasons, but chiefest of all it was a heartland for the people who lived among the Outer Planets.

Bespin was only slightly more remote. Due to its presence along the Spine, traders and spacers frequently stopped there; and at the peak of the Galaxy's Tibanna gas exchange, it was suffering no shortage of income. The space beyond that, beyond the reach of their Alliance, was what remained in question. So when the call went out, a group of explorers slowly trickled into Cloud City.

Nikolay Vischek, a Spacer with ID out of Kel'Shabbol (which everyone knew was a fake, but no one in this particular group was going to condemn him for it) led the meeting with a 'stick between his teeth and a puffs of thick gray smoke pluming out from his nostrils. With his arms crossed, he waited for the first few volunteers to show.

"Ay, Niko," one of his cohorts called from behind him, rifling through a bag for something. "What's the word on the you-know-whats out beyond you-know-where?"

"I'll be talking about that when everyone gets here," he replied. "Til then, it's a need to know thing, and right now, you don't."

"Aw, c'mon boss, I thought what we had was special!"

"I'll give you special if you don't hurry up and bring me that datapad, you schutta."

"Fine, fine! I'm hurrying!"

Spoiler

Hop on in, OPA folks! This is a thread revolving around mapping the area just beyond Bespin for the possibility of a Hyperlane into the Core. Let's do what we do best and show the rest Galaxy how free folks fly.

Anyone else who'd like to join, please DM me or any member of OPA staff.

 

[Eldin Daine]

Mood music cause space Elvis​

Windy out here on the landpads of Bespin, enough that it blew Eldin’s hat off his head. He ran after it, and scooped it up whacking it against this leg to knock off the dust. The YV-666 The Rusty Bucket sat humming on the pad engines warming, hands loading the cargo bays with instrumentation devices, space buoys to be deployed to start mapping a new lane and two crates of top shelf whiskey, for company.

The up coming exploration would be a tricky one, it always is venturing into uncharted territory, in the sense they would all be traveling through wild space. In these sections one usually finds the likes of pirates and smugglers of a not so charitable nature. And who knew what else. Eldin had made sure his ship, was in ship shape for the trip and all guns checked to be in good working order. He had never really needed them before, but there was always a first time for everything.

The twin pistols sat gently on his hip, fully loaded and hidden in the compartments of the cockpit where more guns. If someone boarded him, they would find themselves facing a fully armed and pissed Judge, figuratively and literally.

“That’s the last of the cargo loaded, Judge Daine”, the crew officer reported, “Whiskey secured?”. The guy gave a nod and wandered off.

Now all he had to do was wait for the rest of the mapping team to arrive. He sat on the edge of the loading ramp of the Bucket, and lit up his trademark long thin cigar, drawing back a lung full to the boots, before starting to hum a song.


Rook Heimdal welcome to join me if you fancy.

 

[The Fool]

Wynter Rackham | Eldin Daine | Old Man Story

Apparently kicking the shins out of a few rangers on Cloud City, thanks to Wynter's rash decision in 'saving' one 'Mat' ( Lief ), wasn't a case that had gone cold as fast as they expected it; and not being able to get jobs from Bespin was bad for the Undoubtedly. Rackham had reached out to a contact of his, see what he could do about them, and the man found them a job that would pardon them.

Stealing space charts. Old First-Imperial ones. A bit of a mess but here they were.

The two outlaws casually strolled into the meeting spot as if they owned the place, the planet, the star system. Roman fit straight in, everyone was smoking, everyone looked bored out of their minds.

"Your shitty charts." Roman grumbled, while Wynter produced them. He'd been unhappy they had to do a job for free; even if it paid in some shitty pardon. What happened to the Wild Wild OutRim?

 

[Wynter Rackham]

Eldin Daine | Old Man Story | The Fool

No good deed remains unpunished.

Roman had convinced him not to hunt down those two sheriffs. Apparently it would have only made the situation worse. Wynter still didn't agree with it, because if you put down a threat you better be prepared to execute it. In the end Wyn relented however. The last thing he needed was Roman pouting for the next few weeks.

"Cheer up, Hayato, we practically heroes to the OPA now." Wyn drawled as he dropped the digi-chit on the table and joined the group. "Sup, Daine. See they gotchu pulling duty off Bespin now too?"

A wink there.

The good Sheriff and him had a run-in before. Far more amicable than the one that got both Roman and him into this mess. A big crime boss executed, territory carved up, more options for the Undoubtedly to earn money on Cloud City. It had been a good night.

Unless someone protested Wynter would pull up a chair. Boots on the table, relaxed as he watched the other two men. "So was this hyperlane chit about anyway. Y'all tryin' to circle around the Confederacy now?" It was odd to him that they were working with the Alliance and Silvers with this. OPA never had much truck with the more organized governments in the Galaxy.

Then again... strange bedfellows were often made when circumstances forced them.

 

[Eliza Steele]

It had been a long while since the Corellian Rose had done anything with those of the Outer Planets Alliance directly, mostly keeping to herself as she ran her smuggling transporting business in the shadows. But with the new Confederacy First Executive Order, which basically closed down the 'free' use of the Southern System's hyperlanes and trade routes throughout their vast territory, it had squeezed the Corellian smuggler's bottom line to the point where it hurt, and she wasn't happy about that at all.

It was well past time to do something 'creative' about the problem... Why Eliza decided to take the invite to this meeting at Bespin with some other like-minded spacers or so she hoped.

The petite captain of the Corellian Dawn and her sandy brown-haired Wookiee co-pilot exited the heavily modified YT-1930 light freighter that was docked on one of the many 'floating' landing pads, then the shipmates made their way to the chosen meeting spot not too far away. The two were a Mutt and Jeff visual as the size difference was very evident, but both very loyal companions - like siblings almost, and watched each other's back. It had been like that ever since Eliza was a teenager, learning the smuggling business from her old man. At the time, Rahl, who owed Remy Steele a life debt, was about the same age in Wookiee years. They grew up together, hence bonding as if the alien and human were brother and sister.

A low growl came from the walking carpet beside the brunette as they strolled towards the spotted group assembled. These spacers were all new faces to her too. "I don't know, pal... Look menacing, but don't look like you might pull their arms off yet. Gotta see how things pan out first," Eliza quipped to her partner quietly with a soft chuckle swallowed.

"Hello, gentlemen. We ready to do this?" the dark-eyed Corellisi inquired of them sporting a lopsided grin.

Wynter Rackham , The Fool , Eldin Daine , Old Man Story


​

 

[Old Man Story]

"You folks sure make good time for Spacers," Nikolay chided with a wry grin. Sure, it wasn't like they had anything better to do; and in the cases of The Fool and Wynter Rackham this whole thing was better than the alternative, but the unofficial official leading their ragtag band was still pleasantly surprised. After all, he could have been waiting days for only one or two to show. "If anyone else moseys in I'll give 'em the brief in elevator pitch form. You lucky lot get to listen to the whole thing."

Niko held out a hand and the datapad he'd been waiting for finally found its way to his palm. With a quick button press, a map of the sector just beyond Bespin and the frontier of OPA space materialized holographically. "We've got word that there's some unsavory characters out this way," he pointed, "so for the moment, we're gonna try to lay low and sort out if the open space is free of debris and there's a clear enough shot north. Anything you find out there, or if you do get engaged with pirates, use your discretion. We don't care if you pocket a few liberated creds here and there, but don't go trying to play hero against an entire criminal force."

Eliza Steele was a more infamous Corellian, and her piloting prowess would be a real feather in their cap. So, Niko addressed her by removing the 'stick from his teeth and smiling, crooked and yellow. "Supposing you do happen upon pirates, or catch a glimpse of wherever they operate out of, letting us know so we can dispatch a proper force to deal with them could net you a nice little reward on top of whatever else you pull."

When finally he looked to Eldin Daine the roguish man exhaled a cloud of toxic smog. He looked almost draconic for a moment as his voice grated, guttural. "Sheriff," he nodded, then he addressed the question, "Rackham. Just like you guessed, this is the start of a project to shoot past the Confederates. If we're successful, we'll get a slew of credits pouring in from the Core, and that many more ways to avoid tariffs, taxes, and all the unsavory chit. After all, who the hell out here in the Rim's gonna stop a smuggler?

You all in?" he asked everyone, at last.

 

[Eldin Daine]

One pointed finger pushed up the front brim of his hat now firmly fit on his head again. “Wynnie”, he nodded recognition to the man he met in the bowels of Bespin. “Off duty”, he smirked. Then gave Wynnie’s friend the once over, “Who’s the hard face?” Might have been handsome once but seemed the guy had seen better days.

But before he could answer further however, they were pleasantly interrupted by a pretty girl which made Eldin get off his rear end and stand at attention. Well hello, went through his one tracked mind.

Any thought of striking up a conversation with her was shut down again, as a crusty old man approached and took over proceedings.

At the mention of play hero out there, Eldin shot a glance toward the Rusty Bucket, not in that he ain’t. But this entire plan had merit and at the end of it all, would benefit everyone. The sound of it was almost too good to be true, and a hell of a lot of hard work ahead of them. Never was he so pleased to have his whiskey on board. But the rewards would be handsome indeed.

“Ya, I’m in”.


Eliza Steele | Wynter Rackham | The Fool | Old Man Story

 

[The Fool]

As always, Rackham seemed to know half of the galaxy; how, remained a mystery. The Old Man confirmed Wynter's assumption and mentioned they were keeping low as there were rumors of unsavory 'characters' brooding Cloud City. Confederate Inquisition? Border wasn't far. The Undoubtedly already had an altercation with the Inquisitors at a...cantina. Yep, heard it right - a cantina in the middle of nowhere.

What a mess.

And how ridiculous, too.

Hayato didn't really burn with enthusiasm in having another round of brawling with the inquisitors and, probably, neither did Wynter. However, when the Lady Captain arrived to the scene he knew Rackham had already made up his mind.

A sigh, a slight roll of the eyes and a deep drag of his cigarettes, then to Wynter through gritted teeth, "We're in, aren't we?" he visibly jerked his head at the Corellian-looking rose. "Why do I even ask?"

With a futile hope in his heart, he still let the Captain have the final word.

Old Man Story Wynter Rackham Eldin Daine Eliza Steele

 

[Kahne Porte]

Why was here when this was clearly out of his area of work. However one couldn't help but to have a Jedi tag along on such adventures. No telling when you would run into a gang of Sith and be prepared to fight to the death for those that were important to him. Was that going to happen on this venture, he highly doubted it. But it was still good to be here regardless. Kahne left the confines of his own vessel, leaving Gala to look after the security of the ship. While it was mostly up to date, there were also so added security features that were installed thanks to his old mentor. He held his hand up blocking out the sun for a moment as it was rather windy up on the platform.

The Jedi Master made it just in time, as the captain had asked if they were all in. "We are now." Kahne said with a small chuckle. He didn't know anyone that was here, at all. But he still felt it polite to introduce himself. "Hello there, I'm Kahne Porte. I hope you don't mind one more body on this venture." Kahne smiled and nodded to those as he took a seat beside no one.

"No telling when trouble is afoot." Kahne whispered to himself as he leaned back in the seat getting comfortable.


Old Man Story Wynter Rackham Eliza Steele Eldin Daine The Fool

 

[Eliza Steele]

Eyes of Wynter Rackham , Eldin Daine , and The Fool seemed to be all on her, but Eliza just took it in stride and ignored the men's gawking, though the latter one didn't appear as amused. It was an occupational hazard in the world of smuggling she'd found being the only woman around most of the time. Well when the Corellian Rose appreciated a real man and his full worth, they'd know it. The jury was still out on this lot of scoundrels though.

Steele was just about to answer the question put forth to her by the Old Man when another participant stepped up to the group assembled, and a Jedi no less. The Corellisi didn't care much for the use of the Force, but even she had to admit it sometimes can in handy to have a 'good' one on your side.

The petite smuggler gave Kahne Porte a cant of her dark head. "Great, the more the merrier," she exclaimed with a sideways smile flashed at the man, then her pair of chocolate drop eyes looked back to Old Man Story. "Of course. No one-woman show. Gotcha."

Rahl made a high pitched growl from behind her that almost came off like a smirky chortle Wookiee style. "Laugh it up, fuzzball... Okay, I've been known to do that from time to time, but it paid off well in the end. Geez, everyone's a critic nowadays"

 

[Old Man Story]

Some of the young 'uns were so predictable these days. Thank the stars that the pretty girl was in, because it seemed like the rest of the posse joined almost reflexively. It was hard to find good help, and what got scrounged together here couldn't have been counted on to take the job even for a proper pardon.

He'd said as much to Johnny karkin' Law when they'd fronted the suggestion. Niko forced a smile and returned the deathstick to its resting place between his rotting teeth. He let out a bemused staccato of smoke before he finally spoke up.

"Long as you can fly, I reckon we're glad to have you," the graying spacer told Kahne Porte as he wagged a finger. "It never hurt no one to have another pair o' hands."

As the last vestiges of deathstick burnt out and ashes singed his sooty lips, the old man spat out his vice and reached for another. "Alright then, boys," he looked between Wynter Rackham , The Fool , and Eldin Daine before nodding his head slightly toward Eliza Steele , "ma'am. Sounds like we've got ourselves an agreement. Now let's mosey on toward our ships and fly north. The rendezvous point is a just along the Cross, in the Lutrillia System. Once we hit that, we veer north by northeast and skim the Sector."

He paused and waited for any questions. If there weren't any, they'd be on their way.

​

 

[Eldin Daine]

Chat time was over, all too briefly. Although the wookiee standing beside Miss Steele was more than enough to put a holt to any further attempt. However, when credits, and lots of them, were on offer, it was time to get to work. “Anyone need a ride?”, with a bit of luck they all had ships and he and his whiskey could be alone together.

“See ya at the other end”, he bid farewell to the group, if any wished to follow him, they best get a move on. A last check of the docking bay which had been modified to drop the instruments and devices for mapping check out. Eldin hoped it would not be needed for it’s true use cause it ain’t going to fit.

Reaching the side of the loading ramp, Eldin slung himself up and over and onto his feet, popped the button and the hiss of hydraulics sealed the deal. With engines already warmed and prepared for take-off, the Rusty Bucket repulsorlifts engaged and the ship cleared the pad.

Control chimed in giving him clearance to ascend, and soon Eldin and his ship headed through the atmosphere. Co-ordinates set for the Lutrillian System and the Cross. Hyperdrive engaged and Eldin was on his way.

Unclicking the harness, his hand reached down flipped up the lid of the crate and he took out his first bottle of whiskey, leaned back in his pilots seat, pulled up his boots to rest on the control panel and watched the swirling blue tunnel as he took a long swig.


Eliza Steele | Wynter Rackham | The Fool | Old Man Story | Kahne Porte

 

[Eliza Steele]

"I suggest we keep this interesting in having a friendly competition wager... The last one to each rendezvous point buys a round of drinks for the group," Eliza offered with a sly grin, then added giving a two-finger salute. "Clear skies, Gentlemen."

With that said, the petite smuggler gave the Wookiee a back-handed pat to his chest, "Come on, buddy... Let's show them how it's done." then she spun on her heel boot and walked towards the landing pad where the Corellian Dawn was docked; the brunette's swagger definitely of the female variety.

A button was pushed on her wrist and a mechanical like voice responded. "Leboo... Get the ol' girl warmed up. It's go-time!" Steele instructed the ship's LE Series repair droid, who was part of their crew for better or worse.

"Say please," the droid shot back with sass.

A menacing Wookiee growl erupted from Rahl with the answer.

"Okay, okay... You don't have to get so bent out of shape. As you wish, Cap."

Eldin Daine | Wynter Rackham | The Fool | Kahne Porte | Old Man Story ​

 

[Kahne Porte]

An interesting group that was gathered here today. It seemed it would be a tale for the ages perhaps. Kahne couldn't help but smile and hold in a small laugh. He always enjoyed being in new company, meeting new individuals and such, and to this venture it seemed like it was going to be a fun and very interesting journey.

The Jedi Master gave a small nod to the old man and to Eliza as well. While the Jedi did have his own ship, he opted better to take flight with someone else. After all, he was a decent flyer, but he wasn't great. Kahne wasn't even sure if Eldin Daine knew that he was following along. However, as he noted him take out a bottle of whiskey. It was at that point the Jedi knew that he had indeed followed the right person. Liquid courage was always nice, however for Kahne he just enjoyed drinking.

"You got another one of those?" Kahne inquired with a small chuckle.

Eliza Steele Wynter Rackham The Fool Old Man Story

 

[Eldin Daine]

He looked up at the Jedi Master with a screwed up nose and squinted eyes, then took him in from head to toe. A Jedi, of all the luck. Eldin was hoping for a prettier face, but he guessed him might be good company. At least he liked a drink.

Eldin waved his hand toward the co-pilot's seat, an invitation to the man to sit. Twisting, he dropped a hand to get a fresh bottle of the finest whiskey this side of the galaxy and although reluctant to hand it over, he did. "Here's ta the girls that do, here's ta the girls that don't", he took a long draft of the brown liquid after his toast.

"So Jedi huh?", he pointed to the weapon on the man's hip. Besides, he got that hair raising feeling on the back of his neck that told him the man was a force user. "Good ta meet ya", he raised the bottle again. "Might as well settle in, gonna be a long flight". About three bottles by Eldin's reckoning. Each.

This trip might not be so bad and boring after all, at least he had a drinking partner and maybe they could swap stories. "Watcha doin' in the outer rim?".


Kahne Porte | Eliza Steele | Old Man Story | Wynter Rackham | The Fool

 

[Wynter Rackham]

Eldin Daine | Old Man Story | The Fool | Eliza Steele | Kahne Porte

Boots still on the table, he took a draw from his cig when Daine asked his question.

"Dis here?" Lazy glance on over to Roman. "That be mah babysitter, Ely, mistah Shine we call 'em. Cus he be shining up the room with his smiles." Which was a load of chit and then some, but you could almost believe Wyn when he smiled that smile. Here's where that second draw of the cigarette most definitely came in at the wrong time.

Eliza walked in.

His eyes cast over her... and the smoke went in the wrong direction.

The coughing fit that followed had nothing graceful or smooth about it. In fact, if it wasn't for him grabbing hold of Roman, he might have barreled outta his chair to add to the misery.

Eventually it subsided, of course.

"...oh yah, we joinin' alright." Grin over to ol' Niko. "It be good business, nah?" By the time they picked themselves up to get to their ships, Wynter had recovered from the impromptu plague moment. "Oh, c'mon, Mr... Romance, what's the worst that can happen." Which was often the most famous last words one could speak, but don't try to tell Wynter that.

He will say it a handful more times just to annoy ya.

"Yar on, lady, hope ya go easy on me. Our ship ain't that state-of-the-art... poor thing." Once they all entered the hangars it became clear just how full of chit Wynter really was.

"Leggo, Rommy, we got drinks to win."

 

[Eliza Steele]

By the time the Captain and Co-pilot of the Corellian Dawn stomped up the starboard boarding ramp and made their way to the central-situated cockpit of the heavily modified YT-1930, the pre-flight was completed as requested and all systems green across the board.

"Thanks, Leboo. We've got this," Eliza nodded in passing as the LE Series repair droid gave up the pilot chair so she could take the helm. When Rahl pushed by to get into his massive seat, the Wookiee narrowed his eyes at LE-BO2 and did the 'I'm watching you' fingers before sitting down in an oversized chair that fit the 8-foot walking carpet to a tee.

The Corellisi just happen to look back over her shoulder to see Leboo before he exited the cockpit bring his tarnished gold metal hands up to the sides of his skull-plate and wiggle them in a teasing fashion at the back of his friend-enemies head. If the droid had a tongue, it would have been sticking out too The brunette just shook her dark head and chuckled to herself musing perhaps it was time to give her old man's quirky droid a memory wipe. Entertaining as it was, he was getting a bit too big for his britches.

Something to think about, but for right now all the petite smuggler's attention was needed on inputting the coordinates for the rendezvous point at the Cross into the nav computer as Rahl took the ship out and made the run towards their exit vector out of Bespin. A series of jumps would be made as the light freighter navigated through the Javin Sector using different hyperlanes, corridors, and trade routes alike. With Dawn's very fast hyperdrive, hopefully, she should be one of the first ships to the next meetup on the first leg of this spacer group's coreward quest.

Steele was thinking about getting that owed drink already. Corellian, remember?!

Eldin Daine | The Fool | Wynter Rackham | Kahne Porte | Old Man Story​

 

[Kahne Porte]

Kahne had never heard of that phrase before, and he couldn't help but chuckle slightly as he was handed the bottle. It made sense which made it even more funny. "Hear, hear." The Jedi said as he popped open the bottle and took a small drink and settled in the seat next to Eldin Daine

"Guilty as charged." Kahne said with a small smirk. "It's good to meet you too friend." The Jedi took another drink of the bottle and after a second or two he let out a satisified sigh. "Chit, that's some good whiskey. You've got good taste." Kahne said as he sat back in the seat with his leg crossed, as his right ankle rested on his left knee comfortably.

Kahne didn't mind space travel, perhaps that was why he liked his ship so much. Then again he knew Alexandra would be giving him an earful because he was gone so much.

"Settling in with the family for right now. Working on finding a new home. You know what I mean?" Kahne inquired as he took another long drink from the bottle. It had been too long since he had some whiskey as fine as this, he would definetly need to ask his companion where he got this tasty beverage from.

Eliza Steele Wynter Rackham Old Man Story The Fool

 

[Old Man Story]

"Always fun to see a new and exciting crop of pilots," Niko snorted as he took a long draw from his preferred poison. The smog filled his lungs with ecstasy and for a moment, every care he had in the world melted away. At best, it might chip away the one, maybe two extra years at the end of his life that he wasn't particularly looking forward to anyway. "Set us a course for the Lutrillia System." He stepped toward the pilot's seat of his ship, content to fly a distance behind the group. They were the ones getting paid to do the job, after all.

Niko hated that his role in all this amounted to charity work.

"You sure about this?" the same voice from before, only this time twisted with a tinge of concern. "Word was last I heard, the Gray Fangs were out in force along the cross, harassing folk-"

"Word comes slow out here," Niko shrugged. "No telling if they're actually out there, or if they were, but aren't anymore. If they are, well, we'll deal with it."

"Yeah, but you didn't tell the rest of them-"

"I mentioned there might be pirates. If I'd said there would be pirates for sure, they'd have asked for more money. What they don't know won't hurt 'em."

The ship lifted from the landing pad slowly and went through all the checks before it rounded in the air to angle toward atmosphere. "And they better not find out, Jakov."

"You got it, Niko," Jak slumped, defeated. "Setting course for Lutrillia now..."

Eldin Daine | Kahne Porte | Wynter Rackham | The Fool | Eliza Steele

 

[Eldin Daine]

Naw, Eldin didn’t know what it was like to settle family, and in response to the question, he took a long drink. A prompt to drink away any feelings toward the subject of family. A family was not something he had had the pleasure of, or in. Even though his father was about when he was young, he was hardly what one would call upstanding. His mother had left him with the man, he found more times drunk than sober. Until he found him dead on the doorstep one day.

“I’m pleased to hear you are takin’ to the Rim. It ain’t a bad place to raise youngin’s”, well, that depended on where you lived of course.

A flash toward the man, he seemed like a good fellow and not bad company, at least he had keen taste in whiskey. Showed style. “Ya wife like night clubs?”, he suddenly asked. “I know a place on Bespin, a real class act of a place. Run by the Perls.. ya know ‘em?”.

A flash look toward the navi, told Eldin they would be arriving within the hour, and the tracker on the pretty Eliza’s ship? She was streets ahead on them in the race to the rendezvous point. Well, don’t mind loosenin’ to her. He would buy her a drink any day.



Kahne Porte | Eliza Steele | Old Man Story | Wynter Rackham | The Fool