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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 23, 2015 23:07:19 GMT -5
Sikaara Dey paced across the small floorspace of what was in effect her prison cell, and growled softly. She'd been slipping into a schedule, periods of sitting quietly and periods of frustrated movement, accompanied by a baring of her fangs. The Togruta woman kicked the bulkhead, provoking a metal clang and a dull ache in her foot. The cold was getting downright unpleasant as well. It was sinking through the leather of her boots, and the synthetic of her pants. The bare skin she had was accursedly cold, if she'd been human with hairs, they would have stood on end. Even the black leather gloves usually covering her arms did little for a cold that made the very joints of her fingers ache. She looked past the puff of breath she exhaled, at the cold black of space through the viewport.
They'd abandoned the shuttle she'd sabotaged. No doubt they all had found it absolutely deliciously ironic to dump her in precisely what she'd sabotaged. Her silver tongue had turned to lead apparently, as no amount of lies and crying had gotten her out of the hot water. Damn Torve. Damn Kandon.
Of all the ways to die, Kara'd never imagined this one would win out. Frozen in deep space. Someone, somehow, in the far flung future, would stumble across this tiny shuttle, open the hatch, and find a dessicated Togruta in a nice pair of pants, with a leather halter top that's very well-made. They might even keep the top.
Kara moved her arms closer to her torso, spitting out a Togruti curse before lowering herself back onto the cushioned jumpseat she'd been favoring.
She sighed, then shivered.
"Sikaara, how do you get yourself into these situations?"
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Mr. Slender
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Post by Mr. Slender on Feb 24, 2015 5:31:07 GMT -5
For once, besides whenever it turned out to be an imperial patrol, Bax was not pleased to hear the proximity alarms start blaring from his console. The junker had been dozing on and off in his captain's chair since leaving Mon Calamari, and the repeating beeps and wonks broke up a really nice dream. With a grumble he swiveled the chair back towards the main console, hoping it really wasn't a patrol ship this time around. The captains of those things always seemed to be really touchy jerks on a good day. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but he couldn't to lose his latest salvage work at the moment. He already had a buyer set up, and it would've been a pain to track down more clone gear in good shape.
Thankfully, The Drifter didn't find itself nose to nose with a star destroyer when Bax flicked on its long range scanners. More interestingly though, he was surprised to see a lone escape pod. Not because the pod itself was strange, but because it didn't seem to have a beacon or running lights going. In junker speak that usually meant it was either extremely old, or had a malfunction. Either way, that meant the occupant had to be long dead.
With a slight nudge of the controls the junker set The Drifter on an intercept course, and started to whistle as he stood up and shuffled over to the space suit across the cabin. At first Bax had planned on going to the extra mile to fully suit up for this, but decided midway through sliding his arms into the sleeves it was kind of pointless. He settled on tying the sleeves around his waist and throwing on an old Imperial logo T-shirt as the closer proximity alarm blared.
After a short jog to the cargo bay, he double checked the magnetic field generators were in a good mood before opening the bay doors. The pod seemed close enough to grab at this point, so it was easy enough for Bax to fire The Drifter's tow cable to latch onto it. With his newest prize being slowly drawn into the ship, the junker crossed his fingers hoping it would be his luck to find an extremely dead Jedi inside this time.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 24, 2015 6:34:43 GMT -5
Sikaara just about jumped into the air when a loud clang sounded, which she knew had to be grappling gear towing the pod in. On the whole that was very optimistic. It meant she wasn't going to die of exposure. However it also wasn't the magical salvation from whatever gods ruled her life. There was as good a chance it was Kandon and Torve coming back to find a more unpleasant way to pay her back as it was some kindly savior she could exploit. There was absolutely no sense in trying to craft a story yet. That was how you separated the expert liars from the truly amateurish ones. The amateurs tied themselves down without evaluating their mark. They'd harm their nose, or inflict a wound and tie themselves into one little narrative.
No, what Sikaara knew to do was keep one specific look for the heartbeats it took to size up whoever opened that door. That initial look would show nothing but feigned surprise and relief. That was genuine enough it was scarcely acting.
If it was Kandon and Torve, it'd quickly switch back to confidence. They wouldn't respond to weakness. They'd be encouraged. But a hard enough confrontation and they'd buckle. Besides, she still had her large knife. Anything else wasn't worth thinking about. It would simply happen reflexively. Flexibility was going to be her only real ally now.
With any luck though, she'd be sliding out of this little problem situation, and she'd open up a new chapter. A warmer chapter that didn't involve getting marooned.
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Mr. Slender
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Post by Mr. Slender on Feb 24, 2015 8:00:38 GMT -5
As soon as the pod crossed the threshold into the bay, the doors swiftly shut behind it with its normal screech of metal on metal. Bax had been meaning to get it oiled for ages, but always forgot immediately after he said he wouldn't. The salvage he normally brought in through it had a way of doing that, and this pod was no different.
Still not assuming anyone was still breathing inside, the junker picked up his cheerfully whistled tune as he started to walk around the pod, looking for clues as to how it failed. Judging by the carbon scoring above the thrusters he guessed a valve or fuel line must have ruptured or been purposely puntuctured. The melted electronics around the area might also explain the apparent power failure with its beacon.
With that done, Bax walked over to one of numerous storage containers, and picked up the fusion cutter and goggles he'd set on top of it. They should've been hanging on the wall in their toolbelt, next to his holster and blaster, but laziness had ruled the day he'd used them last. The junker wasn't sure if he was going to need them to get the pod open, but would rather not have to climb back down to get them otherwise once on top.
With a press of the cable controls the pod lowered to rest upright on the floor, and Bax started up the side ladder. Thankfully, or unthankfully for his hopes of this being a military pod, the latch wasn't the type sealed from the inside, and started to open it with just a little effort. However, still expecting some corpse inside, the junker stuck his head in the opening to find a shivering female Togruta.
For a few awkward seconds he just stared at the woman until he bluntly stated, "You're not dead.", as if he was disappointed the pod wasn't his to own anymore.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 24, 2015 8:18:06 GMT -5
It was a human man whose face appeared in the doorway, as it hissed open. He was average. It was really all Sikaara could say. Brown hair, off-brown eyes, rather average height, average build. He was wearing a spacesuit though, and looked surprise. It was a good sign. It meant he definitely hadn't expected her. Chance encounter then. However, if she had to bet from the time it took him to collect his thoughts that playing this one slowly would be wiser. It didn't take much coaxing for her shivering to intensify, and she let her teeth chatter as she replied to his blunt observation.
"A-Any longer a-and I-I might have," The Togruta said, shivering, moving slowly to her feet, and awkwardly heading towards the hatch. The fact was that she had excellent coordination, even in the cold, and there was no real reason for her to move that awkwardly. No physical reason. But he didn't know that. The more cold and pathetic she looked now, the more sympathy she could coax out of the man. Perhaps even to a destination a bit further from her former associates...
Sikaara managed a thin, weak-looking smile, and paused in the doorway, close to him. Given the relative angles and heights, she knew with the very slight downward dip, his eyes would almost forcibly be drawn down to her cleavage. That was icing on the cake.
"T-thank you. Can you help me out?"
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Mr. Slender
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Post by Mr. Slender on Feb 24, 2015 9:50:31 GMT -5
As heartless as it was, Bax couldn't help but silently admit things would've gone smoother if the togruta had been dead in there. Her being alive could lead to all kind of complications to his regularly simple life. A myriad of reasons popped into his head as to why a stunning woman like her would be drifting for dead in the middle of nowhere, and very few warranted a reason for him to help her.
"Actually, I think I'll wait on that for a moment. Be right back." Bax stated with a forced, hopefully reassuring smile before removing his head from the opening. Wasting no time he slid down the pod's ladder and dashed towards his holster belt.
After that he did waste a few seconds to put the fusion cutter and the goggles in their correct spot, but then quickly strapped on his blaster. On the return dash to the pod Bax was sure to switch it to stun. If things went south he didn't want to be caught unarmed, but he also still didn't want to kill someone he didn't have to.
"Ok, I'm back. Call me cold, no pun intended, but I have a few questions before I let you roam around my ship." Bax said in a stern tone as he climbed the ladder back to his guest.
Leaning over edge for a second time the junker was able to get a better look at the togruta, and really liked what he saw. Really really really liked what he saw. However, like Pa used to say, 'Bigger the bust, bigger the baggage.'
"Alright, first of all, what's a fine woman like yourself doing in an escape pod? Second, besides that blade got any other weapons? Third, got anything to trade for safe passage to nice safe port?" He asked with an arm on the hatch's lip and the other resting on his blaster's handle.
The questions weren't exactly meant to get straight answers, but to settle a few gut feelings Bax had brewing.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 24, 2015 21:04:42 GMT -5
The delay raised warning bells. Whether he was in league with bad people or not, she couldn't say, but the fact he didn't immediately offer help was bad. It meant he was suspicious. Suspicion came with more extra strings attached than she could list. Could mean dangerous work, or organization, or he was involved in something illegal, or he was simply suspicious only towards her. The ramifications and possibilities rippled out for quite some extent. However, none of that was going to be solved immediately.
Kara's plan of attack was simple. Lay a broad foundation, flesh it in when she got a better feel for the man. Commit as little as possible, play up the cold. And above all, try to shift him away from the defensive.
"D-disagreement. My p-partners left me h-here. T-take the knife, and y-you can have the p-pod."
It'd have been tempting to add a sultry 'and my gratitude' to the offering, but the warm air wafting from the open hatch was only making her shivering authentically bad. Tough or not, her species ran hot, and cold was not a welcome experience. And being flirted with by a woman on the verge of hypothermia was just suspicious. Being begged though, that wasn't so bad. It was in the realm of acceptable.
"P-please."
She did look genuinely pathetic, for whatever points that could gain her.
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Mr. Slender
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Post by Mr. Slender on Feb 24, 2015 23:09:18 GMT -5
Bax rapped his finger tips along the edge of the hatch while listening to the togruta's story, and by the end knew one thing was for sure: this woman was trouble. He'd honestly had expected her to weave so stories with slavers or pirates, something along those lines, yet the part about her having a disagreement with his former company of friends had a certain ring of truth to it. Unfortunately, there was no way of telling just how much truth she was letting the junker know. Overall it seemed like a much better idea to just toss her a blanket, reseal the hatch, and send her back into the void. She'd at least die warm, and he'd have peace of mind.
"The knife and pod sounds like fair payment to me, welcome aboard the The Drifter!" Bax said, as he pushed those pragmatic thoughts away, before reaching in a steady hand down to her. Tobe honest, he had had company aboard his ship for quite sometime. The junker was pretty sure the woman wasn't going to be interested in him, but it would be nice to have some lovely eye candy around. The only thing he hope was that she wouldn't anything crazy on the way to the next port, or back to whoever he planned on killing her with that pod. Hell, they might give out a bounty for doing just that.
After gently helping the togruta exit the cold confines of the pod, Bax gave her a quick look up and down with a grin. Besides genuinely being attracted to her, he wanted to play up that fact he looked like a sex deprived loser, which he was, to see if she'd reveal more or her real motives. That or skin, whichever came first. Either way, the junker hoped he could project 'easy mark' well enough before he had to start making awkward conversation.
"So, still cold? I got a few blankets near the cockpit." He stated, starting to walk backwards, still keeping his eyes firmly on her, towards the controls before even hearing the togruta's answer.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 25, 2015 3:39:51 GMT -5
The man was persuaded, but not by much. However Sikaara was the first person to point out that one yes meant more than a thousand refusals. She was not going to freeze, and thus her immediate concern was handled.The next concern was staying alive and well. Well was hampered by how abysmally cold she was even still. If the human hadn't been wearing gloves, he'd have felt the abnormal ice cold of her skin, and her clothes. It was the clothes she most worried about. The air was warmer, and that meant modesty could hang. Judging by the way he was blatantly eyeing her, he wouldn't object.
"I'd like a hot shower, if possible," She began as she pulled the fingers of her black gloves. The long leather accessories slid off the rust-colored skin of her arms, and the warmth of the air was almost like standing outside on a sunny day...
"And I have to get out of these clothes, they're like ice."
It was better to lose out on the idea of being modest than to wind up with a nasty cold for the next month. Sneezing and seduction didn't mix. As she undid the buckle of her belt and pried her boots off with stiff fingers, she mentally wondered if he'd be gentlemanly enough to offer the blanket. Somehow she doubted that. The white and green pants fell in a pile, with the belt, boots, and gloves, but she kept the rest on, for the moment. Maybe he was one of those religious prudes. The look on his face would provide some form of answer there. But a little wit never hurt.
"I swear I don't normally do that on the first date."
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Mr. Slender
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Post by Mr. Slender on Feb 25, 2015 5:30:34 GMT -5
The woman's next request drew out a genuine huge grin to Bax's face, just for how this seemed to be quickly turning into a cliche porno. The striptease was obviously amazing to watch, but from her standpoint kind of overkill for a mild case of hypothermia at worse. Since her clothes weren't wet they would've heated up with in a few minutes, but the junker wasn't about to complain.with this turn of events. Plus, this way he knew his front of being a complete patsy wasn't laid on think enough, if the togruta was still attempting to win him over with skin and exaggeration.
Partial on purpose, and partially actual mistake, Bax nearly stumbled over a discarded ration box as he was backpedaling, but went the extra mile to give a surprised grunt and fall on his ass. Nothing screamed incompetent like poor motor skills. "I swear I don't do this on any dates." He fired back in a hammy tone, as if he were really embarrassed. After helping himself to his feet, and going through the motions of dusting himself off, his eyes glued themselves to the center of the woman's cleavage while he continued and stroked his stubble.
"Yeah...uh...you can take a shower and stuff, get all soapy and clean." Bax said never once looking up to her face. To him the one advantage of playing dumb and horny, besides making people underestimate you, was the fact you can ogle people for as long as you want without anyone dropping 'you should know better' on you. At least in his experience anyway. With that done the junker looked away from the togruta for the first time since she officially boarded his ship, and retrieved a blanket from a bundle laying in the navigator's chair.
"Um, here. The fresher is the second door right there, it has a shower and plenty of my spare clothes if you want to change. That or we can just heat up your old ones when you get finished." He said with a slight smile, while walking over to her with the blanket held outstretched for her to take. "Guess you can use this to dry off when you get done..." He continued while taking a closer inspection of her cleavage from closer proximity.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 25, 2015 5:46:54 GMT -5
Sikaara's suspicions were raised. Something didn't add up. The reluctance, the hesitance, the disappearing only to come back... That all suggested he was reserved about her presence. However the stumbling, the staring, the awkwardness... That said something else. If he'd been that desperate, why would he have delayed? And if he wasn't, why would he feign such a thing? It didn't make sense to the Togruta, but she didn't question it. With her foot, she kicked the knife over to the human, and then scooped up her clothes and the blanket. They'd warm up while she did, and she had every intention of using up the ship's supply of hot water.
The Togruta moved herself into the refresher, with a thankful smile, calculated thin enough to avoid fangs, but full enough to look enticing. It disappeared as soon as she locked the door. Her green eyes flitted about, touching on the clothes, the surfaces, the items. It all looked standard to her gaze. Nothing suspicious, nothing to suggest anything deeper. More thought could be done while showering, and indeed she had little to do besides savor the warmth and try to evaluate the unnamed human. While the proper sensations returned and the warmth lovingly embraced her, Kara ran down the full list of what she knew.
He was either up to something, or a living contradiction. He'd claimed the pod either not expecting to find anyone in it, or expecting to find her dead. And he'd left upon seeing her for a short minute.
Option one. He was in league with Torve and Kandon. Option two. He was pretending to be a fool for some other reason. Option three. Something else.
It was the most analysis Sikaara had put into something for a considerable time, and she thought, as she dried herself off and began pulling on her customary clothes again, it would be handled the usual way. Feeling it out.
The Togruta woman unlocked the door and stepped through, thoughtfully stroking the tip of her lekku.
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Mr. Slender
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Post by Mr. Slender on Feb 25, 2015 6:45:04 GMT -5
As soon as the fresher door shut Bax's face instantly shifted to its standard look of casual indifference. Playing stupid was a bit tiring as thick as he had try to slather it on. Unfortunately, he feared he might have actually overdid it a bit. If this woman was as manipulative as he imagined she was, the junker figured he'd just basically shot his credibility of being genuinely an idiot to hell. His acting skills needed a bit of work, hammy was not the way to go.
If not for the slight sound of falling water The Drifter almost seemed like its normally quiet self. As he squated to pick up the discarded knife, Bax had to let out a long sigh in the serene cargo bay. Things would've still would've been business as usual if he'd only just resisted his lust for salvage just once.
It was also at this moment Bax regretted not taking that rodian up on the offer to wire the ship with hidden cameras last time he was on Nal Hutta. At the time he thought it would've been a waste of money, but now the junker would've easily paid double for one in the showerhead right now.
With the new knife attached to his belt Bax walked back to his captain's chair, and accessed the holonet. Looking up the usual bounty channels he quickly ran through the short list on togruta. It was a long shot someone would post something, but it'd make things better if he could make her someone else's problem.
The sound of the fresher door preparing to open made his hand shoot to the power switch before he was caught, and the junker spun around in his chair to face the woman with a wide smile. "Someone looks to be feeling better." He remarked, as he started to rise from his seat again and stroll towards a counter space piled high with full and empty food packs. "You hungry?"
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 25, 2015 8:16:29 GMT -5
Not for foodpacks, She didn't reply as her eyes rested on the imperishable, indestructible, and flavorless packs of nutrients. It wasn't something she enjoyed, and it wasn't even formulated to her own digestive requirements. Nevertheless, she couldn't deny her stomach was protesting. Her customary fast metabolism had not been sustained in too long, and she didn't have the heart to refuse. And besides that point, she didn't know how long it would be until she next ate.
"Thank you," Kara answered. "I, uh, generally prefer a nice steak."
She flashed a toothy smile at that, one that did reveal the wickedly sharp fangs she possessed.
"My name is Kara. For the record."
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Mr. Slender
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Post by Mr. Slender on Feb 25, 2015 13:56:48 GMT -5
Even in silence, that woman's look told Bax him more than enough about her thoughts on his offer. Her eyes looked to him as if they were glancing over a pile of garbage on the counter, and he honestly couldn't blame her. After having to sometimes live of these damned food packs for days, even weeks at a time, the junker could honestly say he couldn't stand the horrible things. He'd found old rations from the Clone Wars that tasted better than most of the fresher ones. The few days Bax had spent of Mon Calamari had been a great break from the monotony of bland meals, but knew a chunk of freeze dried Nerf and powdered gravy awaited him tonight.
"Beautiful Smile. Also, I could definitely go for a good steak right about now too. Maybe, we can go for a few once we make port." Bax said, dialing back his dimwitted facade, but voicing his real interest in delicious steaks. It was good to get a name out of the togruta as well, but he was only vaguely sure it could be her real one. Not that he really mattered much in the long run.
"Mine's Bax. Bax Hubbyle." The junker idly replied, while searching through the stack of food packs that could hold their hunger over for now. A packet of what looked like dried meat caught his eye, and after picking it up noticed the Huttese on the package marked it as of Trandoshan origin. Not being that concerned about Kara's feelings on it possibly being Wookie meat, he tossed it towards her with a simply uttered "catch".
"It's not a steak, but it should keep you full until we get to-" He stated as he went back to searching for something for himself, until the proximity alarm stared blaring for a third time. Cursing under his breath Bax jogged over to the sensor console to see just what was heading towards The Drifter this time. Thankfully it again wasn't an imperial ship, but nonetheless had a sense of foreboding at the YV-666 closing in fast from behind.
"I believe these are your friends closing in on us...."
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Feb 25, 2015 19:57:23 GMT -5
One of the advantages of her keen spatial awareness was catching the tossed ration pack in one hand. She deftly unwrapped it, the markings meant nothing, but her keen sense of smell identified it as some sort of heavily dried processed meat. It was probably horridly tough by human standards, but it was easily ripped apart by a Togruta. The real problem was the unsatisfying texture. Gritty, dry, thoroughly unpleasant. Nothing like meat was supposed to be. Still, it provided an instant relief to the pangs in her stomach. All her complaints would remain unspoken. Bax, now that she had a name to go with the man, was still a bit of a mystery.
When the proximity alarm sounded, she decided it was time to get right to the point.
"Did you call them here? Don't play the fool, I know you left to do something when your first found me in that pod. I'd like to know if you're selling me out or this is a very nasty coincidence."
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