Star Wars: Kestryl

[Fishtie]

Hinek held the gaze for another second before looking away and giving a shrug. "Nothing captain." He responded succinctly intentionally using her position rather then her name to show his accepted subservience. Really, whatever Shana's reasons were didn't bother Hinek; he simply felt these things should be clear. Hinek figured she would be in a better mood after some coffee and once the job started in earnest.

With that Hinek turned and strode away from the others, if anyone wanted him they would know he'd be in the cargo bay. Today though he would have to not push too hard, if he exerted himself too much now he might be tired during the job. Of course Hinek hoped he wouldn't have to do anything other then help move the goods; but thongs had started like that enough that he didn't put much stock in that hope. Perhaps he would start with the punching bag today.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

"Morning fellas. Sleep well?"
"A little too well, I think." Ian said. "I swear I'll space my alarm one of these days." He handed the datapad to Mara. "Here. You should probably read up on this. Check if we can get any supplies at the spaceport." Then again, it probably doesn't matter much. Ian thought; they weren't exactly swimming in credits.

"If you have something to say, Hinek, just come out and say it. It's way too early for the passive aggressive shit."
Ian grinned a bit at that. One could always trust Shana to be up front about things. Hinek, not so much. It always seemed like he was hiding something, and it made him hard to trust. But Ian had done just that several times, and he had yet to be disappointed.

 

[Yumi_and_Erea]

"I did actually know pilots like that, back in the day. Makes you wonder how in the hell they ever-" Mara stopped herself before she spilled a few too many beans. She hadn't ever talked with the rest of the crew about her past work with the Republic, least of all with the captain. Instead she awkwardly stuffed the can of protein in one of her many pockets and took the datapad from Ian. She went over it, muttering her thoughts half to herself but just loud enough for the rest to hear:

[sub]"Protein supplements: fair enough. Ionic reflector modules: eh, get 'em secondhand. New lasersaw: not without some backdoor deals. Lessee, in-atmosphere stabilizers, new plating on the cockpit, refill the engine coolant, tune the artificial gravity sink, espresso machine..."[/sub]

"Okay, we should be able to get, like, the most basic essentials off of this at the spaceport, if we keep things nice 'n legal. I might be able to get a bit more, say about half of everything left, if we look into *ahem* 'alternative distributors'. 'S your call, boss," Mara said, turning to Shana, "Wanna try the black market or 's that too risky?"

She leaned over Kao's chair to look at the display of the planet. "K[sub]uh[/sub] Pricks Ehmumree? Sounds like something you should show your doctor if you cough it up. Is this really the place?"

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"You'll find most species in the galaxy didn't start off speaking Basic...hell, the Kokhpesh can't really speak it at all. Fortunately they can speak Bocce. You can all speak Bocce, right?" She glanced at them. It wasn't a big deal if they couldn't, but the language was pretty common anyway." She looked at Mara. "Get the materials as fast as you can. Weapon smuggling tends to be a bit tight, so we'll collect our pay and then get out of here as fast as possible...also, you're going to have to wait until we get paid to get your parts. We're a little bit strapped for credits at the moment."

She was drastically understating it. Shana never would have taken this job normally, weapon dealing was too risky. But over the last few months work had been scarce and they'd barely been making enough to keep the ship fueled and the crew fed, much less keep it in repair. As a result, they had a little bit more than enough to pay standard docking fees. With what remained, they could maybe get some candy bars.

 

[The Harkinator]

Sleeping in for too long is the result of staying up too late. Cedric often spent too much time milling around and putting off going to sleep. Though now he was awake, there was no point in backing out of work. Besides, out of all members of the crew, he found he had less to do than most. Since his skills only really came into play when things went wrong he could relax for the most part. His knowledge of space lanes meant he could function as a navigator but it wasn't a full time job by any means.

Getting dressed in an hurry and walking towards the sound of voices, entering entering the cockpit where his fellow crewmembers were talking. Cedric greeted them with a cheery:

"Good day all, have we discovered billions of untraceable credits while I was asleep or are we going to have to work for our pitifully low funds?"

The looks the crew gave him suggested the latter.

 

[Jav3lin]

Spoiler: OOC

Hey guys, I'm a bit of a late entry, but PrinceOfShapeir has cleared me to post, so here goes.
Also for appearance reference, this is the picture I painted my character after, except the armor and tattoos aren't there. Among other things.

Spoiler: Picture(Warning; it's big)

Spoiler: Character Sheet(Warning it's long)

Name: Devron Jemen.

Age: 38. (Born 52 BBY)

Species: Togruta.

Gender: Male.

Appearance: Devron stands at 2.09m with red skin and light green eyes. His lekku are white with black stripes. One of the lekku at the front is shorter by comparison, and it looks like it was cut with some kind of energy weapon. His body is mostly muscular and ornamented with black tattoos across his chest and all over his arms from shoulder to wrist. His body is very scarred, but most of them seem to be minor wounds, save for a really big scar on his left cheek.
For clothing he likes to mix agility with armor. He wears a dark brown jacket, whose sleeves have been ripped off, over a reinforced chest plate, tan and black pants with armor plating covering his shins and knees. He also wears black finger-less gloves and dark boots tucked under the pants. He also carries a white scarf in his back pocket to protect his face when exposed to sandy environments.

Personality: Devron grew up believing in virtues and codes of honor. His past was filled with family ties and brothers in arms. But after countless setbacks in his life, he's started to grow old and bitter. To him, war is just a profession and death is just an outcome. Through his years he has lost his brothers through betrayal and had his wife and unborn child taken from him. He stopped believing in justice and honor, and as of late he's started hating the world for what it is. Although he wants nothing more than to change it, there's just so much one man can do. And so he bides his time, waiting for an opportunity to better the world, or join his loved and lost in the afterlife.

Skills: Skills with a vibroblade and vibro double-blade were Devron's strongest point. But he was also adept with blasters and could most often hit a moving target within 50 meters. Along with his vibroblade training, he also honed his physical body and the ability to sense his surrounding with his lekku.
Devron also speaks Togruti and Basic fluently, along with Bocce and the Jawa trade language. He can also manage in Sy Bisti, Taarja and Meese Caulf.

Possessions: A retractable double vibro-blade with Cortosis-weaving and a black handle ornamented with white symbols and writing in Togruti.
An S-5 Heavy blaster pistol with a wooden grip and a grappling hook dart tip along with a liquid-cable shooter attachment.
A desert scarf.
300 republic credits.

History: Devron's father, Davian, served the Jedi order on the planet Coruscant. While not a jedi himself, Davian worked as a historian and taught many padawans in the Academy. Devron and his two older brothers Jennen and Kamos all shared a fixed obsession with Jedi culture and their artistic combat, along with their affiliation with the force. Through their father's stories of famous jedi masters and their deeds, their obsession grew.
At a very young age they spent most of their time playing with sticks, wishing that one day they would enter the academy. One day when Davian was taking his sons through a tour of his workplace, a Jedi Master sensed great force capabilities within Jennen and Kamos. They were immediately sent to the Jedi Academy to begin their jedi training. Davian felt both pride and fear for his two boys, but nevertheless tried his best to raise Devron knowing that he wanted nothing more than to join his brothers in the order.
For the next 8-10 years he trained his body and mind in the art of combat, using his natural ability to sense his surroundings with his lekku to aid his training with the double vibro-blade and finally managed to hone his abilities with a little help in training from his two brothers. Once they graduated from the academy and became fully fledged Jedi Knights the three of them scarcely had any time together anymore, and so they slowly drifted apart.

In the year 30 BBY Devron leaves Coruscant for the first time on his own, at the age of 22. With his double vibro-blade, 1000 credits and his father's blessing he heads off into the world to make a name for himself. After 2 years of jumping from planet to planet, never finding the job he desires, he finally settled down with a Togruta named Halesha on the planet Alderaan. For the next 3 years he was happy where he was. He had a job, a beautiful wife and a home on a peaceful planet. He used his skills in fighting as a personal trainer and it was enough for them to get by on. And then one day, Halesha was pregnant with child. However, several months later Halesha died in childbirth, and the child with her.
This pushed Devron over the limit as he succumbed to deep depression due to his loss. He finally left Alderaan and traveled to Nar Shaddaa where he enlisted in a mercenary corp offering good pay for skillful combatants. For over 5 years he traveled with the corp doing skirmishes and raids for the Republic off the books as well as the highest bidder. He usually spent most of his money on liquor and 'company' but managed to save some up for armor and upgrades for his blade along with a new blaster.

After so many years working for shady corporations and the galaxy's underground, Devron started liking the excitement. The money was good, the company even better and now that he had finally found his place in the world, he was as happy as he could be. Shaped by jedi training, molded by personal loss and hardship, Devron was as resilient as Cortosis-weave and he felt like nothing could go wrong. Which is exactly what made him start to think that something bad was soon going to happen.
Several months later he heard that the clone wars were over and that the Republic was shaping up to become a Galactic Empire. After inquiring further through his contacts on Nar Shaddaa, he found out about Order 66 and what that meant for his brothers.

Fearing for their safety, he quit the corps and gathered what he had leftover from his last mission. He made his way to Coruscant where he was going to contact his father and meet up with him. But as he arrived in Coruscant, he was nowhere to be found.
It wasn't until he arrived at the Jedi Academy that he understood the severity of what had happened. The temple lay in ruins and the academy was destroyed, along with every single jedi and padawan in sight.
A few weeks later he finally found out that his father had been murdered in the attack. It stated that he had died trying to escort half a dozen padawans to a transport shuttle.

Devron decided it was best if he left Coruscant because of his affiliation with his father plus both of his brothers were jedi. It clearly was not safe to stay on Coruscant at the time.
And so he made his way back to Nar Shaddaa and has been there since, trying to bribe, threaten and blackmail people of the underground to find out where his brothers are and if they are even alive.
As of late he's started to lose hope in ever finding his brothers and is working as freelance security at day and drowning his sorrows by night.

Devron opened his eyes and sat up in his bed.
He had been dreaming of Halesha again. To him, those were the best and worst dreams at the same time.

"I had best get up and see if we will arrive soon."
Devron exclaimed as he got up from his bunk and put on his armor and clothing.

He got his double vibro-blade positioned comfortably in it's sash on his belt. It was retracted to the point of looking almost like a double lightsaber, except it was a lot thicker and looked just a little bit bigger.
After equipping his blaster and putting on his gloves and boots, he stroked his left lekku and remembered how it got cut.

"AH in the name of Akul!"
He quickly cursed in Togruti as he stubbed his toe in the door's corridor on his way out.
It wasn't exactly painful but he had newly awakened and pain was new to his body at this stage.

He slowly made his way into the common room for a bit of breakfast. He could also smell the faint smell of coffee.
Opening the door, the aroma of coffee took him by surprise and it again reminded him of his life in Alderaan. Quickly shaking off the thought, Devron poured himself a cup and rummaged through the cupboards for some food.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

Hektorr awoke, groggy and fatigued. He never could sleep well during long hyperspace jumps. Even after piloting for years, the concept always make his fur stand up. He rolled out of bed and stretched, working out the kinks in his back. For some reason, he never got used to sleeping on ships. He missed Kashyyyk, and he felt the familiar pain in his chest that comes alongside missing Kashyyyk.

He checked the datapad next to his bed and examined it. We?re over K'pryxm'mree, he thought. Is that even a real place? I thought it was one of those fake places mapmakers use to avoid getting their maps copied

Sighing, he made his way down to the cockpit. The Twi'lek didn?t like flying outside of hyperspace, and she?d probably want him helping the Zabrak. They were probably coming up on a checkpoint, so he figured they may as well look legitimate.

He walked into a common room filled with nervous mercenaries as a half asleep Twi?lek walked past him. He turned his attention to Shana while grabbing a massive lump of protein for breakfast. ?How much trouble are we in with that platform, boss? Should the Zabrak and I get ready to jump, or we gonna try walkin? past them?? His Shyriiwook was deep and guttural, sounding more like a deep growl than most others.

 

[Athol]

His abbreviated meditations finished, Koa opened his eyes as Hektorr spoke. Don't do it man. He thought to himself. This is a really bad idea...frak it. "FRILLING HELL CAPITAN!" He said with a huge grin. "How long has it been since the galley fridge has been cleaned out? I mean not only is it walking, but it's trying to speak!" He knew it was borderline suicidal to tease a Wookiee, but he couldn't help it. His tendency to be a smartass was probably another reason why he'd never made it as a real Jedi.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

On Kashyyyk, the slavers didn't realize that Hektorr spoke Basic. He used that to his advantage. Hektorr wasn't sure if the Zabrak knew he spoke Basic, but it was insulting him and making a joke out of it. Hektorr finished his handful of protein, took a swig of the ships recycled water, and punched Koa in the face. "I'm called Mad-Claw for a reason. Insult me again, and I'll rip your horns out." He growled in Shyriiwook
Hektorr took another handful of protein and sat down at the table. "So, cap. About that checkpoint. Waddya want me ta do?"

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

Ian hide his smile to Kao's comment. It was funny, but he knew Hektorr wasn't one to be trifled with. The guy was asking for it big time, and Ian found that just as funny as the joke itself.

And yet, he was still caught off guard when he decked Kao.

Ian stood up, his hand instinctively dropping to his blaster. He extended his palm towards the Wookiee, not unlike a police officer about to pull his gun. "Hey, big guy. Calm down. Someones gotta fly the damn ship."

 

[Jav3lin]

Devron sat at the table and watched as the excitement unfolded. It looked like a regular stand-off, but figuring that the wookiee was just defending his honor he didn't mind him hitting the Zabrak.

"What the hell do they think they're doing.... bunch of kids on this mission..."
He rumbled under his breath in between his sips of coffee.
He was quite fond of his native language and used it often to remind people of where he was from, and besides it sounded way more badass than basic. Especially swearing.

Sitting back in his chair, he finished the last of his cup, as he slowly lowered his left hand onto his blade.

 

[Athol]

He could have dodged it, as the large hairy fist hit he knew he should have dodged it, but he didn't. Nobody but someone with a connection to the Force could?ve moved fast enough. Damn Hektorr is quick...at least he was nice enough to hold back.

"I'm called Mad-Claw for a reason. Insult me again, and I'll rip your horns out." Kao had served with a couple of Wookiees before, and had learned some Shyriiwook, not much but enough. He was about to reply when he saw Ian stand. "Hey, big guy. Calm down. Someones gotta fly the damn ship." "Hey Ian, while I do appreciate what you're doing it's not necessary..." Shooting Hektorr a baleful look he rubbed his rapidly bruising cheek. "Mad-Claw or not that's not reason not to have a sense of humour, but since you took it as an insult I will apologize." And if you try that again, I'll shave you bald.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"When it comes to comedy, Kao, you need to know your audience." Shana didn't take her eyes off her datapad for the whole exchange, although her lips twitched upwards in amusement. "You're on co-pilot, Hektorr." She pressed the switch for the ship's intercom. "Alright, we're ten minutes before realspace. Everyone get to their posts and standby." She switched it off. "Cedric, I want you on sensors and communications. They'll hail us when we arrive. If they ask for our cargo, tell them we're hauling construction materials." If they were boarded a lot of scrap metal would be found, cheap salvage they had acquired. Technically illegal, but they wouldn't get much more than a slap on the wrist for it. Hopefully that'd be enough to persuade them from looking further.

"Everyone know what they need to do?"

 

[Jav3lin]

Devron finished the rest of his breakfast and stood up from the table.
"One question Captain. Would you like me to accompany you, or shadow you and report back with surveillance?"

He walked past the captain waiting for a response and started leaning up against a wall next to the entrance to the common room.

 

[The Harkinator]

"Of course, I know the routine." Cedric said, rolling his eyes and wondering how many other ships used the same trick. Still, if a trick works all the time then there is no reason to stop using it. Leaving his arguing shipmates to their jobs and bickering Cedric went to the mess hall to get breakfast.

Breakfast was a rather loose term for what variety of foods and supplies they had left. The Galley fridge didn't have much to offer but under the circumstances anything was preferable to not eating. Grabbing two edible looking objects from the fridge Cedric entered the cockpit and sat down in the chair behind the pilot. He rather liked his seat on the ship, being in the cockpit meant he could see what was coming and having everyone face away from him meant he could procrastinate. But only a little, keeping an eye on the sensors was important.

Sitting in the faithful chair he took off his jacket and draped it over the back. Checking the time until realspace. Six and a half minutes. Time enough to get comfortable and get bored. Time enough to eat something too.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

"Let's get through to groundside first, Devron. Then we'll figure out our plan for the deal." Shana headed for the dorsal laser battery, walking through the length of the ship until she reached the gunwell and climbing up into the turret, then leaned back on the uncomfortable moving chair, waiting. Only a few more minutes.

Shortly later, the mottled blue-white of Hyperspace gave way to starlines, which in their turn resolved into stars, a few of which quickly became much bigger as they decelerated - the gigantic grey-brown sphere of K'pryxm'mree, the three-petaled flower-like shape of the XQ4 Platform, a scattering of transports, freighters, and other craft passing through...

And an Imperial-Class Star Destroyer, escorted by a squadron of TIE Fighters.

"Oh, frak."

A heartbeat after arrival, a message came through the comm. "Unidentified transport, this is ISD Stormclaw. Transmit your cargo and destination, and identify yourselves." The voice was clipped and precise, with a noticeable Coruscanti accent. Imperial to the core. Shana slid her hands onto the controls for her guns, a white-hot blanket of rage descending on her mind. She really, -really- wanted to open fire.

Shana took a deep breath and slid them away. That was a bad idea. She keyed the intercom. "Cedric, you're on."

 

[Jav3lin]

Devron figured that he wouldn't be much of a help in any in-space proceedings, so he checked his blaster and re-fastened his belt as he briskly walked toward the boarding ramps and got ready to land.

"If I'm lucky, maybe I'll find word of my brothers on this planet. It sure feels like a planet you would go to hide..."
Devron said as he picked up his blade and started practicing his maneuvers.

However, when they exited hyperspace, he suddenly got a bad feeling in his gut.

 

[Athol]

As they dropped into sub-light, Kao saw the SD and let lose a hearty string of Zabraki curses. Just smeggin' perfect! Why in the void would they Empies have an SD in this septic tank of a system? As he was bemoaning their luck in his head, his fingers flew across the instruments plotting several different escape routes, just in case shit went sideways.

"Cedric, you're on."

"Yes, dazzle the Empies with all that charm you keep claiming to have."

 

[The Harkinator]

"Cedric, you're on."

"Yes, dazzle the Empies with all that charm you keep claiming to have."

"Oh quiet down will you? You couldn't do better." Was Cedric's retort, Kao was nervous and angry at the presence of the Empire.

"Watch the master." Said Cedric, sitting up straight in his chair, he always thought that made him more formal and persuasive, answering the hail he said "Stormclaw, this is the Kestryl. We're a trading ship and our cargo is currently construction materials. Destination is something I couldn't ever pronounce. I think it's nickname is Mree."

Hopefully ending on a casual tone would convince the Empire there was no risk here and let them on their way. Still there was often some jobsworth officer who thought checking every ship they came across was a requirement. Hopefully the Stormclaw didn't have one of those kind of officers today.

 

[TheBlueShotgun0]

Ian's jaw dropped as the ship exited hyperspace and he saw the Star Destroyer. "Oh shit!" he exclaimed before regaining his senses. It's ok. It's ok. he whispered in his own mind. They have no reason to suspect us of anything. If we act natural we can just drift on by. No worries.

"Stormclaw, this is the Kestryl. We're a trading ship and our cargo is currently construction materials. Destination is something I couldn't ever pronounce. I think it's nickname is Mree."

We're boned.