Vin Reu sighed as the fresh atmosphere of Gigaxe III swept through the cargo hold. It was not his homeworld, but it was one of the few remaining places in the galaxy he felt safe. He stared for just a moment at the forest before issuing orders to his rag-tag crew of four.
"Alright, I need Copper to start slicing the logs, we don't want the Empire to know we were on Manaan anytime in the last decade."
A crimson astromech slowly made it's way to the ship's access panel, and started spoofing travel coordinates.
"Captain, one of the crates was damaged in your brillant escape," a stunning red Twi'lek announced sassily from across the ship.
"That's fine, Krystal. Just wrap it up in something and secure it."
It was destined to be a good day. Vin expected no trouble in the following deal, being lucky to secure an old friend as the buyer's middleman. They had even been lucky enough to hit exactly zero snags on the way in through the planet's atmosphere. Well, except for that piece of the Calamity breaking off and flying around the strat, never to be seen again. But air brakes were cheap and replaceable, and Vin smiled at the thought of the brake flying out of nowhere, and beaning a Nerf in the head.
"Cap, quit yer smilin' and stay focused, almost showtime."
Vin looked at the rugged Sith with an Imperial supply crate on each shoulder. Korrupt was supposed to have become a Sith Juggernaut a few years back, but past his rough exterior, he had a heart of gold. A light-side Sith, who would have thought. . Vin sighed and turned back towards him.
"Kore, how many times have I told you, Zvitch is an old friend, I would trust him with my li-" Suddenly Vin broke off as a blaster bolt scorched the metal frame two inches to the right of his head. Korrupt instantly dropped the cases and started choking the life out of Vin's mysterious assalint.
"Kore! Stop!" Vin realized the blaster bolt had been an off color blue. Only mercs and gangs used blasters that would give off a color like that, and most of them were off galavanting around Nar Shaddaa looking for a quick paycheck. A mercenary who wouldn't be wasting time on the Smugglers Moon was Zvitch.
"It's alright, Kore, this is Zvitch." Vin said as he turned to greet his pal.
"VIN REU! HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Bellowed Zvitch, shrugging off the Force Choke as if he had swallowed a mint the wrong way.
The Toydarin flew up and wrapped Vin in a hug that also included wings, sheltering him from the chilly breezes rolling in off the Gigaxe plains. Eventually pulling back from the embrace, he added. "We deal later, come aboard, have drink! Even angry red people welcome!" Vin was mostly blue, except for his eyes and the huge red scar that ran down the entire right side of his face, and covered his shoulder, and blade. Having so much red color on his crew earned it the title of Bloodnaught, despite the fact that they rarely took lives if they could avoid it.
"You sort of instigated that..." Vin laughed as he recovered from the cloak of stench that had enigmatically ran up and hugged him.
"Ey, you know I am best marksman this side of Republic! How could I miss? Err...hit you?" Zvitch waved it off as if it were nothing. "Come, relax on Starbright, put feet up, tell of tales!"
Krystal's lekku twitched, Vin sensed it too. Zvitch was trying very hard to get them to board his ship, which was uneccesary in a deal like this.
"Well sure, I could use a free drink...it is free isn't it?," asked Kore obliviously as he stacked the contrabanded crates in a neat pile off the loading ramp.
"Of course is free! Why would I charge ally?! I fought in war with Vinny!"
Vin knew something was up, not only did no one ever called him "Vinny", but when they had fought in the war, they had fought on opposite sides. Not that it had stopped them from becoming fast friends, but huddling together in a bomb crater with a white flag tied around each of their arms wasn't exactly a fond memory. He nodded his head slightly. "Well gosh, a Toydarian giving something away free, how could I refuse?" Vin joked as he made his way to towards the Starbright, simultaneously readying his blaster. Zvitch looked a bit relieved as he meaningfully made eye contact, a hint of thanks mixed with worry completing his facial description for the moment.
As they made their way to the kitchen, making fake small talk, a group of Republic troopers rushed in and surrounded them all. A trooper with commander armour took the spotlight. "Bloodnaught gang of the smuggling ship 'Calamity' put down your weapons and prepare for arrest!"
Vin sighed and looked around. So much for luck. He knew it wasn't a betrayl by Zvitch, there were simply too many to put down for Zvitch's small crew. Then again, they didn't have an angry Sith with vibroblade training....
Vin ducked and fired the first shot, knocking a trooper back and out. Krystal was already in position. Kore took the hint and cracked a trooper in the face with his vibrosheath, and Vin could see the helmet visor crack open. It would have blinded the trooper if he hadn't been knocked unconcious by the devestating blow. Krystal fired above Vin at a trooper with a very large blaster carbine and hit him square in the chest. Carbon scoring decorated the interior of the Starbright as the gunfight ensued, and Zvitch pulled two mandalorian blasters out of his coat and nailed two troopers directly behind the commander, yelling "GET OFF MY SHIP!" It all happened in a matter of seconds, with only the clone in the orange commander armour was left. He assessed his options and tried to fight the shake in his knees.
Finally he came to his decision and pulled a thermal detonator from his belt. "I'll die for the Republic..." He wheezed out trying and failing to hide the fear in his voice.
"You sure about that?" Asked Kore as he leaned against a wall, crossing his arms as if to say "I have this situation under my control".
"I...I can't let you criminals get your hands on that case..." He stammered. "The Quickshot, a Republic corevette, is on it's way, tracking this ships ID sig!" The frightened trooper announced, with hope in his voice. Vin knew they could be parsecs away before they got reinforcements, but he decided the commander would be calmer if he were to hold onto his little triumph.
"And we could kill you just the same. Now if it's true the Republic is tracking this ship, then you can disembark with all your organs in the right place, and leave it to them." Vin had pushed the trooper, calling his bluff. It sent him over the edge, and he set off the charge. If Vin could see past the helmet, he might have seen tears in the soliders eyes. The explosion rocked the ship and sent large amounts of smoke into the air, twisting and snaking it's way through oxygen until it hit the light red of a force field. The troopers vailent sacrifice had been for naught as Zvitch's protocal droid had snuck over and quietly engaged the field between the deadly explosive and his master's entourage.
Vin let out a long held breath and turned to face his friend as the adrenaline left its signature cool feeling streaming down his body.
"Well, I could certainly use that drink about now."
They were sitting around the sparse living area of the Starbright, laughing and drinking.
"So they picked you up...and you convinced them to wait and get us....all the way from Geonosis?!" Vin managed between laughs.
"I can be very persuasive!" Zvitch chuckled, draining his glass for the third time. The chortling slowed and Vin's face got a more serious look on it.
"That Republic soldier mentioned something about a case...is that what they were after? He asked, finally getting down to business.
"Ah...the case, yes. Vin, I brought it for you, I thought you should have look, plus I have no idea what to do with it." Came the somber reply.
"I can't just turn it in, it's...." Zvitch paused, looked around, and dropped his head. Krystal piped up.
"Isn't the first rule of smuggling to never look too closely at the shipment?" She asked. Of course it was, but Vin shot her a look.
"Yes, of course, but it is hard thing to not notice when....when shipment is moving. I did not sign up for organic trafficking." Zvitch said, his voice was old, tired, but it had some pride in it.
"Moving!" Vin exclaimed almost falling off the storage crate he had propped up as a seat.
As they entered the hold, the could definately see the crate was moving, and Krystal kept a close hand on her blaster. Vin whipped open the crate and stood back, drawing his own weapon.
They gasped and stepped back as the crate opened with a hiss and ejection of steam. Inside the crate lay a petite girl, human, no more than sixteen years old. While the crew of the Calamity stood stunned, fighting off this first shock, another was added by witnessing Vin fly across the hold. As he hit the ground he cried out, "WHAT THE SHIT IS WITH YOUR SECURITY SVITCH?!" They turned and Krystal aimed her blaster at the outline of the force-user so intent to see Chiss take flight.
"You shall not harm her!" It screached. Krystal gulped as a blue stick of light slowly expanded lengthwise into a blade like shape.
"Bad move Course-You-Can't" Kore cracked as he force crushed the lightsaber hilt.
Vin winced, he didn't know what was more painful, Kore's pun or the headache he was developing.
"Seriously Cap't'n, why don't we do that more often?" Kore asked thoughtfully as he picked up the Jedi and threw him against a wall.
The Jedi recovered and used the Force to throw a few crates at Kore, who brushed past the hits to his torso and hit the Jedi in the stomach. The reason why most lightsaber battles didn't end that quickly is because while Kore was an average C student, he was creative. His ability to think of new force techniques outside of the box made him deadly. Even the punch he had thrown was backed by the Force, creating a piston-like effect.
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