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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Sept 15, 2015 12:21:42 GMT -5
The rain was falling heavy, a light pattering sound from the inside of his helmet. The droplets slid down over the visor, mostly clearing themselves, with periodic wipes via glove. Aldir didn't mind it too much. In fact, he was surprised how pleasant he did find it. The worst thing was the way his boots squished around in the mud. That promised to be temporary though, as the lights of the settlement were clearly ahead, silhouetting the buildings, and the raised walkways. Of course the lengthy distance between them and the ease of the settlement's walkways was a bit of an obstacle.
"Alanka, what was the town called again?" Aldir asked, the precise name on the edge of his tongue. Something Station.
"I don't know, I don't care. Whatever it's called I hate it," came the reply in the thick, accented female voice he was so accustomed to. Also in the thicker accent and distinct tone he associated with a bad mood. Not that Alanka Varad ever had particularly good moods.
"Cobalt Station, that was it," Aldir answered his own question, remembering the name. Based off an old Republic installation set up during the Clone Wars. Pretty clever way to build in his book, lots of creative engineering at play. "And it's not that bad, just, muddy."
The indignant snort that Alanka replied with was obvious. "There's nothing else. Mud, more mud, rivers of it."
The slender armored figure ahead of him casually shoved her captive facefirst into the muck. It was another risk of Alanka's temper. Lucky they were responding to a live bounty request for the slavers. Unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise it'd be worse. And arguably messier.
Aldir didn't sigh. He was beyond that, it was sort of the expectation now. Instead he grabbed the slaver by the shoulder, hoisting the sputtering man out of the mud and practically carrying him. It was probably his turn anyway. Besides, Alanka needed the hands free to wipe off her own visor. His only burden was the shield, but she had bothered to carry a blast cannon. Compact, but powerful. Always a useful precaution when there was a danger of Trandoshans. Of course their current captive was as human as possible, which didn't surprise him any. It wasn't as if Trandoshans had any more intrinsic claim to slavery.
It didn't take more than a few extra muddy minutes to clamber up the durasteel-grated steps that led onto the walk way. It also did a decent job of scraping the caked on mud off. Well, off the soles of the shoes. They probably looked like absolute hell. Luckily they weren't entering any fashion contests. Of course, even if they were he'd defer that to Alanka. She'd probably push hard to win it promptly, her competitive streak guaranteed that.
Two building compounds down, one to the left, one to the right, and they were at the mercifully-covered hangar housing the ship.
Aldir released his grip on the bounty, with cuffed hands there wasn't a damn thing he could do, and instead he opened the comm channel.
"Aeris, we're into the hangar bay, go ahead and drop the ramp."
He plucked off his helmet deftly with the free hand, and immediately saw Alanka had done the same. Given her long hair, the humidity, and the helmet, he couldn't suppress a chuckle. Well, a bit more. She shot him a look that was absolute daggers.
"It's, uh, try to find a mirror sister." He chuckled again, but the daggers had subsided. Instead she was looking at the mud coating them both up to the waist. With a frown that was surprisingly funny to see.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2015 22:23:09 GMT -5
“Oooph - Damnit!”
Aeris hissed a curse under her breath as she doubled over, rubbing her now-sore forehead. Who in their right mind decided that throwing something at a force barrier was a good way to test the impenetrable wall of light? The instructions that came with the thing (or more like showed, since it was mostly diagrams) showed the pilot exactly how to set it up. And with her mechanic skills, it hadn’t been hard. But the last diagram showed a man in a blue and yellow jumpsuit throwing something at the force barrier, and the barrier working. After that, the same man gave a thumbs up and a winking face, indicating a job well done
Well, Aeris had found a super bouncy ball that Rhea had left on the ship, the girl was always leaving toys around, and she decided that chucking the toy was better than chucking one of her tools. So she had flung the thing with full force at the wall of light, only to have the bouncy ball sail right back in the blink of an eye, bonking her on the head and almost making her fall over. The light chirring of an astromech laughing came from behind her, and Aeris only grimaced more, and snapped at the droid.
“Shut it, Quasar, or I’ll chuck you next…”
What came next from the droid was a grumpy, snappy response. But Aeris quit paying attention. She had blindly followed the directions to the letter. Or to the picture, rather. She thought she had to test it, to do everything. Now Aeris felt incredibly awkward and not so intelligent. But at least only Quasar had been around to see her mistake. And Aeris sure was glad she wasn’t throwing tools at herself, now.
As Aeris shut off the force barrier, a gruff but charmingly simple voice came over the Jack Rabbit’s comms. It belong to Aldir, her new boss. Well, sorta. Aldir didn’t seem to think of himself as the boss. He was much too simple and humble for that. But Aeris would prefer if he was calling the shots, as opposed to his twin sister, Alanka. Now, Aeris didn’t think that Alanka was necessarily a bad person. But she was… off-putting, for lack of a better term. There was just something about her that made Aeris skittish around the woman.
Just like the same way that Aeris was unsure about her new form of employment. The force barrier was for a prisoner, apparently. Aldir and Alanka were mercenaries and bounty hunters. And Aeris flew them wherever they needed to go. Aldir had reassured her that they tried to really go after only bad people. Slavers, this time, here on Jabiim. They sounded like bad people. It sounded justified. And the pay helped calm Aeris’ conscious. But she was still a little apprehensive. Like everything else, it would just take her a little while to get used to it.
All of a suddenly self-conscious about her appearance after hearing Aldir’s voice, Aeris set about trying to make herself look presentable. Tying back her long, messy brown hair into a bun with a band she had on her wrist, she quickly made sure that her jumpsuit was snugly tied around her waist and her grey tank top wasn’t too dirty. Had she taken to Aldir a bit? Perhaps. Aeris liked how simple he was. And he had come to her rescue. Not to mention, he was the most approachable of the two Twins. And other than Rhea, they were really the only people in her life right now. Wiping the worst of the grease smudges off of her face from her engine maintenance earlier, all the moisture on Jabiim played hell starship engines, Aeris motioned for Quasar to follow her.
Reaching the ramp not long after Aldir called for her, Aeris lowered the entrance way as Quasar readied his taser arm, to help with their new guest. Meanwhile, Aeris had a few towels for the Twins, draped over her arm. She’d been on Jabiim before. She knew the mess it made.
Her voice softer and a little bit more meek than the tone she had used with Quasar, Aeris spoke up.
“Try not to track mud all over the ship, please…”
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Sept 17, 2015 4:23:34 GMT -5
The ramp had just barely dropped down when Alanka moved up it first, the sharp turn she took into it causing her long hair to twirl about like a flock of crows uncertain over their direction, or like a particularly friendly stormcloud trying to follow a new friend. She was muttering Devaronian curses that sounded especially foul all the way up and in, passing by Aeris with only a curt nod and an acceptance of the towel. The pale young woman was definitely not happy with Jabiim. There were many times when Alanka and subtlety just didn't coincide.
Aldir was a few long steps behind, still grinning and shaking his head. He smiled a little sheepishly at the mud comment. Aeris kept herself a clean ship, and he instinctively moved a muddy glove through his hair. It was sweaty and unruly, and he didn't even notice he was making it dirtier. He just kept the sheepish look, after all it was hard. He took one of the towels, and immediately started using it on the slaver they'd captured. Getting the mud off his face for starters. While he worked on that, he tried to say a few words. Not that he was good at talking.
"Sorry 'bout the mud Aeris, there's a lot of it out there."
He dropped to a crouch, using a second towel to get the man's pants, and the boots.
"Go ahead and scrape your feet on the grate here, yeah, like that."
He looked back over to Aeris, his gaze lingering on her big, improbably blue eyes. They were a little uncertain, and as always it was a little hard not to stare at them. He looked back to his work and kept talking. His own voice felt painfully gruff after hearing her talk. His tone started to become a little softer sympathetically.
"How's it coming with that hold modification? Hope we didn't rush you too much, didn't think this one would be so easy to find."
Finishing with the captive, Aldir took the last towel, with a belated 'thanks.'
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 20:48:52 GMT -5
The ramp just stopped moving, and Alanka charged right up it towards Aeris. Well, not exactly towards Aeris. The Pilot was just in the Mandalorian’s way. Alanka looked ready to murder someone. Or a whole group of someones. That was the sort of thing that she did… Right? With the blast cannon, Aeris bet she could do it. And Alanka’s hair followed after her, like a banner behind an airspeeder, showing off her dark mood to everyone. Aeris wasn’t sure what happened out on their jobs. Only that they happened. Had it been that bad?
Or it had been Aeris’ comment about the mud. The Pilot sincerely hoped that wasn’t it. Alanka was the last person she wanted mad at her. But as the Mandalorian took the towel and nodded at Aeris, who leaned back just in time to avoid get whipped by the former’s frizzy hair, she felt a bit of relief. Without replying or stopping her, Aeris just watched Alanka go. Letting her be was probably for the best.
“Oh, Al - !”
But it was too late. Aeris turned around just in time to watch Alanka’s twin brother Aldir run the muddiest hand he could find, which was his own, through his hair. Aeris just watched, stunned for a moment, finding herself trying to suppress a small smile. Aldir kept moving with the muddy hair as if he had meant to do it. But Aeris daresay she knew Aldir well enough by now to know that he hadn’t even been thinking about it. Still, it was kinda cute. Mostly funny, though.
“It’s okay… I figured you guys would be pretty messy…”
Handing Aldir the first of the towels and, he started to help their mark clean all the mud off, a older human male, with a bald head and imposing goatee. It looked like he had taken a bath in the muck outside. Aeris couldn’t even clearly tell what sort of clothing he was wearing. But she did know one thing. She knew that she didn’t like how the Mark was leering at her. Almost threatening. Almost lustful. And all around unsettling.
Slowly walking around the strange man, Aeris tried to place Aldir between herself and the Mark. Aeris wasn’t much of a fighter, and she was genuinely unsettled by the Slaver. Her mind told her that between the pen she created and the binders that held his hands, there’d be nothing to worry about. But that didn’t help Aeris’ feelings. She knew that Aldir would keep him in check, if need be though.
As the Pilot came around, she met Aldir’s eyes for just a moment, and held his gaze. But it was only a fleeting moment, nothing more. Handing Aldir the last towel for himself, Aeris gently took his shield from him, and set it by the inside of the ramp, which she now closed. The hunk of metal was so heavy, she doubted she could carry it much further. But now Aldir could work unhindered. Nodding as he asked about the force barrier, Aeris answered in her usual soft voice.
“You’re fine. I was just finishing as you guys came back - “
It was then that Quasar piped in, not wanting to be forgotten, and Aeris sincerely hoped that Aldir didn’t know droidspeak as he made a snappy comment about the Pilot beaming herself in the head with a bouncy ball. Frowning a little bit at the R5 unit, Aeris crossed her arms and growled at Quasar, her voice still low but threatening. She didn’t want Aldir thinking her a fool, if only because he was her boss.
“I’ll turn you into spare parts, Q!”
Aeris and Quasar always bickered. But Aeris knew that Quasar was loyal to a fault. And she’d never turn him into spare parts. They were all talk. Motioning towards the front of the ship where the cargo bay was, Aeris ushered everyone else that way, with the astromech droid herding the Bounty along with his taser arm, snapping it at the man a few times.
“I’ll show you, Al… I got a corner all sectioned off. Should be good enough, I think…”
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Sept 27, 2015 21:06:12 GMT -5
Aeris took the shield, and Aldir slipped his hand out of the strap. He was glad to be eased out of that burden. It wasn't that he was sick of it, but that it had been working a bit of a knot into his shoulder. Normally he'd have slung it over his back, but the mark had been 'job' and that responsibility came first. He grinned a little though when the R5 droid blurted out something that couldn't have been too polite. Well either that or something else to make Aeris turn all red and sound like she was about to dropkick the little droid. Of course she wasn't fooling him, Aldir'd long noticed that the droid and the owner tended to have the little spats. It was like a dog that chewed up the slippers.
The brunette woman led the way forward, and Aldir followed, relaxing a lot. The fact that Quasar had his little electric arm out and ready put him at ease. One less thing to worry about. Still though, he'd feel better when the forcefield was up and he was drinking something hot in some clean and dry clothes.
"I'll double-check it just in case, not that I don't trust you or anything, just being careful."
He shrugged a little, adding some more of the technical side in case it was wanted at all.
"Sometimes the set-up can be a little hard, polarity and what not. Get the ports in the other way around, and the field kinda goes the other way. If you follow what I'm saying."
The assemblage walked into the cargo bay, and Aldir examined the emitters. The semi-circle of them were all humming properly. The leads were in good condition. He reached out with the armored glove, and the tingling barrier coalesced into solid existence before his hand. He tapped the other segments too. Gave one a little kick even. Then he turned back to Aeris and gave her a grin and a thumbs up, before lowering the barrier and giving the capture a little shove inside. Gentle. But enough to convince him to make the step in.
"Good job, you got it set up really fine," He complimented, in his rough way. He wasn't that great with words, and he knew it. Unfortunately he wasn't sure how to avoid it, so he tried to be the kind of man who did best without a lot to say.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2015 17:39:55 GMT -5
“Oh, no. It’s okay. I understand.”
Nodding, Aeris didn’t have a single problem with Aldir checking the forcefield. In fact, she felt just the opposite way about it. If Aldir checked it, and he felt good about the set-up, then that would but Aeris at some ease with this Slaver being around. And if he didn’t feel good about the set-up, then Aeris knew that Aldir would changed and fix what needed to be changed and fixed. Leading the way down through the ship, the Pilot added over her shoulder to the Mandalorian.
“I’d rather you did check it, truth be told... Just to be safe..."
That was when Quasar beeped and chimed in again with jolly tones, trying to remind everyone about the bouncy ball incident, and just why Aldir needed to check the field. A comment that earned the droid a sharp hiss and swift slap on the head from Aeris, which hurt the Pilot more than it did her companion.
“SHUT IT, Q!”
Aeris really hoped at this point that Aldir didn’t know Droidspeak. She really didn’t want to look like a fool in front of the twins, because she had a feeling that neither one of them would let her forget it. Alanka would be in her face about it. Aldir would brush it aside, but Aeris would always remember how Quasar made her look like an idiot in front of the man that the Pilot may or may have been SLIGHTLY swooning over, since the moment that she met him.
Okay, maybe more than slightly swooning, Aeris decided, as she got a good look at Aldir’s rugged face once again.
Standing off to the side, Aeris watched as Aldir tested the field. One gloved hand, and the field condensed into solid from its invisible state, taking on a translucent yellow color. A swift kick from the man, and the same thing. Aldir seemed pleased, and Aeris was glad that he was. As the Mandalorian complimented the Pilot’s work, the Pilot only offered up a shy smile in response, nodding at the man’s words.
Looking at her feet, that's when Aeris saw it. The dreaded bouncy ball. The evil thing was no bigger than a large coin, painted in all sorts of colors and well worn out. Aeris didn’t need Aldir to ask, cause she had a bad habit of always telling the truth. Nor did she need anyone stepping on it. Just as Quasar was ushering the Slaver into the makeshift pen, a few cracks of electricity to prod him along, Aeris kicked the ball out of sight, watching it bounce off.
“C’mon, Al… Q can stand guard. I had a pot of coffee going before you guys came in.”
The R5 Unit didn’t sound all too thrilled about standing guard over their Mark, but he did as he was told.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 14, 2015 17:59:11 GMT -5
Aeris's wish was granted. Aldir didn't know droidspeak. In fact he couldn't even begin to guess what the little droid was gibbering on about. The fact was he didn't go too into technology. He knew how to operate a lot of it. He couldn't imagine cutting a piece of Durasteel without tech. But on the other hand he'd never tried to talk with the saw. That was the difference between Aeris and him, well that and a few others. She could talk with the little critter. Actual talk really, not like Aldir had used to think, the way you talked to a dog.
That was, he had been informed on past occasions, pretty offensive to the droids.
Content with the quality of the cell, Aldir consented to let the droid watch their bounty, and he followed Aeris with the goal of hot beverage. It was cold and wet out there. However, he did stop on the way, dropping off most of his gear, and by extension the mud. He sat down in the galley area, cup of steaming hot caf in hand. It was black, and only very slightly sweetened. He took a very long gulp of it, and looked about, wondering where precisely Alanka had spirited herself away to.
She was good at that. And especially so when moody. She was a handful, but she was family. That was what mattered.
He looked over at Aeris, her improbable eyes, and smiled a little. She felt like family, but in a different way.
"Thanks for everything," He repeated, looking about the ship. "You know we couldn't do things the same otherwise. Neither of us is a pilot."
It was about as talkative as he got, mostly because he was awkward about it. Fact was, she was very pretty, and he was practically a yokel without a lot of charm. Unfortunately. If he was smoother he'd have an idea of what to do with his hands, or how to express what he was thinking. Instead what'd come out of his mouth was more like 'yer eyes are pretty,' which was scarcely helpful.
She probably knew damn well her eyes were pretty.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 16, 2015 0:45:03 GMT -5
This was ridiculous. Aldir had Aeris feeling like a teenage girl all over again, finding that one boy that she thought she loved. And the Pilot felt even more embarrassed over it, and a bit ashamed. She was a mother and now, apparently, a bounty hunter. She had to have more nerve than this. Fawning like a fangirl obsessed with a middle-aged actor with a funny sounding accent was no way to try and whoo Aldir over to her. Was it? Aeris wasn’t so sure anymore. It had been awhile since she had to flutter her eyes at anyone.
And then, a part of her couldn’t help it. Every time Aldir looked at her, Aeris felt her stomach turn. She felt like she had to fix her hair, or straighten her jumpsuit. And hope that Quasar didn’t say something embarrassing. It never even crossed her mind that Aldir might not even think about her like that. Or worse, thought about it, and then counted it out. Aeris had been too involved with herself to stop and think about if Aldir even wanted her.
Trying to distract herself for the moment, Aeris answered Aldir’s words over her shoulder as she poured two more cups of caf; one for her, and one for Alanka.
“Not a problem… I should be thanking you. You gave me the job, let me tag along…”
Grabbing some bantha milk out of the refrigerator, Aeris sighed.
“Y’know how Alanka takes her caf? Cause it looks like I’m out of real cream. Just got some milk left. Hopefully that’ll be okay…”
And now Aeris was seriously worried about whether or not Alanka would rip her a new one, for not having proper cream, instead of worried about whether or not Aldir was going to come over and sweep her off of her feet. The heart pounding feeling in her chest turned quite a bit more stressful.
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