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Post by The Conman on Nov 8, 2015 23:43:16 GMT -5
Donnie secured her seatbelt, and tightened the straps securely. Her clapped out freighter, the one she'd borrowed from what basically amounted to the junkyard, was a bit...rough...going between real and hyperspace. The first time the woman took the ship to lightspeed, she nearly got bucked out of her seat. Not one to make the same mistake more than once...generally...Donnie was fastened securely to the chair, which, presumably, hopefully, was bolted to the floor.
The Twi'lek glanced down around her seat, noticing that the heads of the bolts and the floor had achieved unity through mutual rust. Either it'd hold her in or, this being the third...or fourth...Donnie wasn't quite sure, detach, sending her flying into the cockpit windscreen and very probably knocking the woman out. Donnie giggled at the thought of that happening, having to explain to her wife, Var, how it'd happened. Hear Enarin, her son, chide her for not letting him check out the ship before she left.
Lost in thought, Tater broke her out of the daydream. The Old, dumb, but useful, R5 Donnie had owned since she was 12. He was now bleeping and booping at her, something about them being near the drop out point. As if to drive his point home, a holomap of Commenor popped up, highlighting all the bicycle repair shops. Donnie hoped the course was right, and Tater was just confused, as usual, about where the hell they actually were. The ships computer ( such as it was ) probably had things right, but there was only one way to be sure, she surmised, pulling the lever to disengage the hyperdrive.
With a very loud BANG and a THUD following shortly thereafter, the Twi'lek guessed two things had happened in very quick succession. One, the hyperdrive had finally died, probably blown out of it's housing harmlessly as it's designed too, and two, Tater had probably gone flying across the ship somewhere and was probably broken...again. She sighed, Astromech parts were becoming somewhat difficult to comeby, fixing him would probably wind up being expensive.
After removing the palm obstructing her vision out the canopy, Donnie realized she was, indeed, in the right place. The motley collection of old bulk freighters and Corellian corvettes, all surrounding what she called home, the big, winged, Munificence gliding silently, a few thousand km away. From this angle the woman did have a good view of the fleet, noticing the small pods going between the ships, like ferries between islands on an infinite black ocean. It was all very pretty, and Donnie wouldn't have minded sticking around and staring in awe for a few more seconds, had Tater, now with an obvious dent in his head, started chattering at her about getting back to an airlock, something about issues with O2 levels.....
--- 12 minutes later ---
Donnie stepped off the ramp of the clapped out freighter, finally getting to see the extent of the hyperdrive's failure. Most of the rear upper section of the ship had blown off, exposing the underlying framework, they hyperdrive was missing, probably having ejected it's self out when it blew up.
"So...whaddya want done with it, Dee?"
A familiar voice asked. Donnie turned to her right and spotted a sickly-thin looking purple man walking towards her. She instantly recognized him as Ty'nea, one of the mechs who worked on the freighters. The woman shrugged and made a dismissive gesture with her free hand, the other, her left, holding onto the strap of her green, midsized backpack.
"After you get the stembolts out of it...Cannibalize what you can, then use the hull for target practice."
Donnie responded, the man nodding and turning around as if to go tell his underlings what they needed to accomplish, as she walked towards the turbolift, headed for the airlocks on the upper decks, where her YT-2400, Snowball, was moored. It also happened to be the woman and her family's home, a place she very much wanted to return to, having been gone for nearly a week.
After a few minutes in the lift, quick "hi"s and "bye"s, Donnie stepped off on to Airlock level 2, section F, headed towards Airlock 31. Quietly hoping everybody was home, as she walked, at a somewhat brisk pace, she checked her chrono, realizing it was probable Var was around, but Enarin and Niri were questionable. Enarin had taken to being somewhat elusive as of late, working more than she thought he probably should have, and Niri just was at the age where she was out with her friends until unholy hours if parents didn't get involved....The Twi'lek also did realize she'd done exactly the same thing when she was young, and didn't really blame her adopted daughter, kids were kids....Donnie thought, as she keyed in her access code to enter the Snowball.
The Door chimed, and the woman put her boot clad foot on the ladder, and then the other, climbing down with a practiced speed. Having grown up on starships, small spaces, ladders, and zero-g were all part of daily life, and the woman zipped down relatively quickly, coming out near the main hold, across from the bathroom. She popped the door open, and as she walked towards the kitchen, announced her presence.
"Hey, guys, I'm home, who's around? I've got Jogan Fruits!"
She said in a loud voice, not quite yelling, but loud enough she figured anybody around would hear.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 9, 2015 0:07:06 GMT -5
Varulla'aba was not in a good mood. The fact her bad moods had, in the past, consisted of homicidal rage and dark side force powers was not a good sign. Still she'd changed. Now she just paced until a hole was worn in the floor paneling, periodically she'd punch something. Usually the wall. Sometimes the pale woman would even travel to the official exercise area aboard the ship, and wreak havoc on a heavy bag. On such occasions, other Boska had the good sense to move aside from the much-shorter woman near them. Var's bad moods were contagious.
The sapphire eyes flitted about, looking from ordinary object to ordinary object as if they held some answers. It only infuriated her more that they didn't. The whites were bloodshot, standing out all the more against her dark makeup and her pale skin. She'd developed the nasty habit of rubbing them due to the dry pain, and it only made things worse, which in turn made her more irritable. It was an ongoing saga of unpleasantness.
Most telling of all was that Var was clad in her full armor. From the metal plates to the armored boots, it was solid, unyielding, and supportive. A sure sign she wasn't willingly sitting about home. The only surer sign she had was that she'd clipped her old lightsaber onto her belt. Wisely of course she'd sent her daughter off to friends, friends who were kept well-protected. Of course it was freak chance. The whole thing was absurd, and nobody thought it was targeted. Still...
There'd been sleepless nights. Too many. And seething anger.
Under normal circumstances, hearing her wife's voice would soothe Var. She'd greet her, probably with a kiss, and inquire about the trip. Proper decent pleasantries. However, as the circumstances were not ideal, and indeed were absolutely horrid, the woman's reaction was considerably worse.
The comm device Var was holding whizzed across the room and shattered itself on the bulkhead not far from Donnie. Of course given Var's Jedi accuracy and ability, it was pretty obvious she'd not been aiming for anything besides the wall itself.
"What's the point of even having one of those if you NEVER answer it?" Var hissed dangerously. Dangerously in that it was far beyond the usual kind of unpleasant hiss she could release, based on variables like Donnie doing something exceptionally weird sexually, or otherwise being problematic. No, this was absolutely, deadly serious.
"I've been trying to get a hold of you. This is serious Donnie."
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Post by The Conman on Nov 9, 2015 0:34:30 GMT -5
Doneeda jumped as something smashed into the bulkhead beside her, noticing Var out of the corner of her eye, across the kitchen, looking beyond mad. The benefit of being married to the same person for 15 years was that there was no doubt in the Twi'lek's mind how her smaller companion felt. Something was very amiss, moreso than Donnie's inability to use her Comm.
That being said, the woman wasn't sure weather or not she had minutes on her comm...There were bigger banthas to fry at this point, however, so she pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind.
The larger of the two's face, fairly quickly, went from a warm smile, she'd been hoping to see her family, to one of somebody who was obviously confused. Var was hopping mad, and looked like she hadn't slept in days. It was pretty obvious something was very, very wrong, moreso than just Donnie not answering her comm. Her wife was currently clad in all her gear, light saber included.
Donnie didn't think Var even still HAD the thing, it'd been that long since she'd set eyes on the weapon. The woman put out her hand, between her and Var, partially to try to get Var to calm down, and partially to shield herself from anything else Var wanted to make a projectile. Slowly, she closed on the kitchen table, and swung her backpack off her back and onto it, putting down her hand, formerly backpack wielding hand playing with the tip of her left Lekku, her right gripping the top of a chair, then speaking.
"Uhm....Var, hon, I'm sorry about not answering my Comm, but what's going on, you said it was serious?"
Donnie asked, careful not to sound too aggressive, aiming not to agitate Var any more than she already was.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 9, 2015 0:45:48 GMT -5
Var seethed for another few seconds. It was her way. But her eyes softened shortly. She could tell Donnie was concerned, and serious. At the same time she appreciated that though Donnie's free-spirited relaxed demeanor was infuriating... It was also part of why she loved her. Of course the change in Var was visible, probably from orbit. Her eyes stared down at the deck plate, and her shoulders slumped. Suddenly she looked much more tired than she did angry.
The slender Twi'lek woman leaned her frame against the wall, and rubbed her eyes with gloved fingers.
"It's Enarin," She said slowly and without any pleasure. "He was kidnapped."
The same exact little criticisms came flooding back to nag her, as they had all this time. Why had she even allowed Enarin to go off visiting a planet with friends? It was safe yes, but nowhere was safe enough. Not for the Boska. It was the kind of little slip-up she'd made where there wasn't a thing she could do about it either. It had been an innocuous kind decision to allow some happy freedom, and it'd come up very badly. Nobody could have predicted it. Nobody at all.
Which didn't make her feel any better about being the one who'd failed.
Yes, the Boska fleet had stated it was investigating, they'd put out calls for information and aid from their connections all across the sector, but it was such a long-shot. The kidnappers had disappeared with him in tow in a heartbeat, and without a trace. There was nothing to go off of. Like ghosts, they'd been there, and now they were gone. Except ghosts didn't kidnap people.
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Post by The Conman on Nov 9, 2015 1:03:07 GMT -5
Donnie let out a breath she'd been unconsciously holding as Var relaxed. It'd be a lot easier to deal with whatever was wrong if Var wasn't going to be explosive about it. Something that seemed to have passed, the woman suddenly looking a lot more tired and a lot less filled with rage. Donnie was about to walk over to her obviously exasperated wife, when she started to explain.
Her words, it seemed, rooted the taller of the two in place. It took a few seconds for Doneeda to fully process what Var was actually saying, while staring at the bowl of decorative fruit on the table. After a few seconds, the twi'lek looked up at Var, a blank expression on her face, swallowed, her mouth suddenly very dry, and pulled the chair out, sitting down. It took a few moments, the words Var had just spoken seeming as if they were on repeat, causing anxiety, fear, worry....all to pretty quickly overtake Donnie's brain, a very distinct sinking sensation settling into her gut as the meaning of the words finally sunk in, through her excitement to be home.
Her Son, her only Son, was gone. Kidnapped, as Var'd said. It'd been 30 seconds and the woman already felt like she'd been on a Feel trip she hadn't signed a permission slip for. Taking a deep breath, her heart now in her throat, she used a shaky hand to move her right Lekku over her shoulder, then looked up at Var, a look of confusion and sadness on her face.
"Wuh-..." She started, choking up somewhat as the gravity of the situation hit her somewhat more. Somehow speaking about what was going on gave it more validation, and just served to make things harder for the woman.
"What happened...How...Why...I don't understand, Var."
Donnie said slowly, somewhat dreamily, feeling some silent tears well up which she blinked hard to try to fight off, resorting to gingerly wiping her eyes.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 9, 2015 14:07:30 GMT -5
Var's forehead was furrowed as she struggled with it. The feelings of guilt were piling up one on top of another. The biggest culprit now was the look of pure devastation slowly appearing on Donnie's face. It was... Just not right. It was off, it was wrong. Var was so used to seeing her smiling, to seeing happy go lucky expressions and tones, and the fact her wife was now choking on her words with tears forming... It was devastating.
It felt just like her heart was being ripped out.
"I, uh," She tried to form a few words, then swallowed because she couldn't. There wasn't much else to do, so Var stepped forward and rested her head on Donnie's neck. Her arms wrapped around the taller woman's back, and she rubbed it soothingly. She didn't do a damned thing for a solid minute besides stay in that position and whispering that it would be okay, that they'd get him back.
Sometimes a little recharge like that was needed. Var'd had more time to come to terms with it. She was the one briefed, the one who had to be strong for this. Getting angry had been a stupid misstep, the kind of thing she'd beaten herself up with for decades, the kind of feeling she'd convinced her meant she could never be a Jedi. But it was no reason to try to avoid self control. She took a few deep breaths, and straightened up.
"Let's go look for him. Together."
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Post by The Conman on Nov 10, 2015 0:10:26 GMT -5
Donnie welcomed Var's embrace. It'd been awhile, and even given the circumstances, it was comforting, knowing she was there. The woman didn't really know what to do, but sighed and tried to enjoy Var's touch, realizing she was probably just as messed up about the situation, Enarin having been under her care while Donnie was away. The woman knew that'd be a sore-spot, Var wasn't one who dealt with failure well, and this, Doneeda figured, to her mind, would qualify.
Var's words did calm her down, however. Her reassurance, that they'd find him, that it'd be ok, doing a good deal to keep Donnie from utterly and completely melting down in her arms. She was still a glass box of emotion, sniffling somewhat, with silent tears going down her face. Crying wasn't the Twi'lek's thing, not by a long shot, but sometimes it was unavoidable. That didn't mean she was going to turn into a stupid pile of goo, however, and once Var stepped back, Donnie realized they had bigger bantha to fry.
Her kid was missing, kidnapped. Knowing that, she realized, did give her some hope, as kidnapped was different from dead. All they had to do was find him. Something Var was resolute about doing together, a statement Donnie wouldn't have any other way.
Donnie wiped her eyes with tea towel sitting on the table, some of her makeup coming with it, and stood up. She took a deep breath, and looked at the ceiling of the ship with her head back for a second, collecting herself somewhat. Now wasn't the time for her to be emotional, the Fleet had found kidnapped people before, Enarin would be no different, she though to herself, as she exhaled slowly through her nose and looked at Var.
"Alright..."
She said, tossing the now somewhat black stained tea-towel onto the table.
"...Fuck...ok..."
Donnie started, trying to collect her thoughts well enough to put them into words. She needed to know where they were at, what they'd done so far, what they'd looked for and where. If for no other reason than to give herself something to do other than to worry, something that'd never been one of her predilections was now fast becoming a problem, the thoughts of Enarin in some hole somewhere, cold, and alone, and starved of weed. The woman shook her head a bit, and put the fingers on her right hand on her temple.
" Why did I have kids..." She mused to Var, quickly continuing.
" Ok...Where are we, you said he was kidnapped, what's the story so far?"
Donnie asked, hoping it'd focus the "work" part of her mind over the "OHGODIMYOURMATERNALINSTINCTANDTHISISFUCKED" part.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 10, 2015 12:54:57 GMT -5
Var was relieved that Donnie got a grip. No matter what other faults she had, the woman was resilient. Deeply resilient, capable of bouncing back from blows with grace. It was part of the quiet strength of character she had, and it made Var feel better too by extension. It was good to get down to business, so the pale woman took a breath and reviewed what all she knew.
"Enarin was on Vandelhelm," She began. "He traveled there with a few friends, I gave them permission because it was supposed to be safe."
Of course it had turned out otherwise.
"He was eating with a few friends outside a bank, and a pair of Mandalorians came out from it. One of them took him as a hostage. They boarded a ship with him, and they took off. Nobody's heard anything since."
Of course the fleet was looking. They were listening. Things were being done, but they'd yielded nothing so far, and Var wasn't sure how optimistic to be. Or given her sometimes grim mentality, how pessimistic to be. There'd been no ransom, which implied they didn't know who he was. It must have been random. But likewise, they hadn't simply let him go either. Maybe they were sitting on him for a while until they got away clean. Maybe they were setting him loose far away. Or maybe something much worse.
"The fleet's been listening for signals or mentions, looking at news from the area. There's been no updates. They don't even know who the Mandalorians were."
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Post by The Conman on Nov 12, 2015 0:03:53 GMT -5
Donnie listened to Var's explanation of how Enarin had gone missing, becoming more confused than anything. Vandelhelm was, as far as Doneeda knew, safe....ish. Everywhere was, at best, safe-ish, for a Boska. The notion that he'd been taken by Mandos though was troubling, deeply troubling. The Boska had a long standing "arrangement" with them, basically amounting to staying out of each others way. They'd cooperated with the Mandos in the past, Donnie had even done so many, many years previously.
The reality was that somehow Var knew he'd been taken, Doneeda assumed it was probably from security cam footage or, less ideally, some local news broadcast. The fact that they hadn't heard anything, even from informants, was also strange. Boska intel could tell them what nearly any Hutt ate for dinner, how many times they shat, nearly anything. Finding a tattooed, orange, super skinny, Twi'lek?
Nope.
Donnie shook her head and sighed, figuring that there might be a trip to Vandelhelm in the pair's future. If the Twi'lek's memory served, and she was a Twi'lek, so it did, it was relatively advanced and would have record of who was there and when. Hopefully Donnie could figure out a way to discretely ask the Harbormaster's office if they'd had some mandos by recently...
Donnie's mind mused, one hand going to her chin, the woman thinking, then realizing Var was probably blaming herself for all this, stewing in it. Even though they were back to business, the larger of the pair wasn't about to let her wife think she'd somehow screwed up. She crossed the small distance between the two and put her hands on the smaller woman's shoulders.
"Var, this isn't your fault, Vandelhelm's as safe as safe can be..." Donnie said gently, before putting her arms around the woman, stepping in, and hugging her, getting a quick peck on the cheek in during the process. After a couple of seconds, she let her go, and backed off, still within arms length.
"Ok...so, I say we go to Vandelhelm and see if anybody saw anything. Best place to start I think..."
She said, hoping Var would concur...and ditch the armor, as sexy as she looked in it, the woman would stand out like a sore thumb.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 12, 2015 0:24:12 GMT -5
Donnie hugged Var again, and her words were right. The pale woman knew it. Vandelhelm should have been safe enough. This was a horrible one in a million chance, that it had happened was a freak accident. Of course with that said she wasn't the type to ever repeat mistakes. Like a child burned on an oven, she would learn the lesson the first time. It was nasty, and in fact it wasn't over yet, but actions needed to be taken.
So when the hug was over and Donnie had proposed heading out there, Var held up a hand, as if to halt the immediate planned action.
"Before we do that, we need two things."
Var held up one finger to show the first, which was a point she thought Donnie would be into.
"We need someone with us who can do the technical things you and I can't, who can try to get through false ID signatures on ships, who can get into the electronic systems unnoticed. We need a slicer."
The second finger rose, and this was the point Var had a feeling was going to be poorly-received. Donnie was used to her freedom, and feeling a limitation there was not the kind of thing she anticipated going over well. No matter how reasonable and essential the limitation was. Still though, she'd put her foot down. She'd find leverage. If need be there was always the kind of sexual brokering a couple did. It would be resolved in Var's favor.
"We need a bodyguard, someone here to take close care of the family when neither of us are around. And now's the best time to find one. We might need their help on Vandelhelm."
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Post by The Conman on Nov 12, 2015 23:00:27 GMT -5
The taller of the pair nodded at her companion's first point. They would need a slicer, that was for sure. The simplest way to get the info they were after was just to hack in and steal it, immoral as it was, drawing authorities, and probably the imperials, into the matter was basically out of the question. Donnie wasn't entirely sure where to find a hacker, but she knew a few people and could ask if they'd heard anything. She knew the Boska had hackers, just not who any of them actually were. Wasn't her families thing, anyway, they flew fighters, hacking stuff was somebody else's specialty.
Var's indication of fingers did indicate to the woman that she had more than one thing to suggest, however, and sooner rather than later, the other shoe dropped. In typical Var fashion, it wasn't something Doneeda agreed with nor wanted to do. The notion of having a body guard, like some kind of geriatric invalid, didn't appeal to the woman, at all. She could defend herself well enough, and Var had a lightsaber and training to use it. Adding one more person to the mix wasn't going to solve a problem, if anything it'd add to it. Another giant, inked-up Twi'lek running around some civilized planet would only draw more attention to them and their nefarious activities.
Add to that the fact that, to Donnie's mind, literally the safest place in the Galaxy for Niri and Enarin was in the fleet, there was no reason to have some body guard in the middle of everything getting in the way. The whole idea didn't sit well with the woman, not at all, and she figured Var had only come up with it as a knee-jerk reaction to the situation. A situation, that unless this theoretical body guard had been with Enarin, wouldn't be any different anyways.
Donnie gestured to Var's fingers as she spoke.
"I like the first idea, avoids authorities, good call there....but this bodyguard idea..." Donnie stopped, shaking her head, rearraging her Lekku so they were over her back, frowning slightly.
"Look, I know it'll make you feel better, but dragging along some extra person just adds more risk of us getting found out, I'm ok bringing the Slicer 'cause there's a 90% chance he'll just stay in the ship eating cheetos and drinking energy drinks in his corner, but dragging a bodyguard around is just gonna get us noticed. Besides, I've got a gun, you've got a lasersword, and we've never gotten into something we can't get out of , Don't worry about it, let the bodyguards guard the fuzziewuzzies." She said, with a small guffaw a the end.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 12, 2015 23:30:25 GMT -5
Var had that flat look in the eyes, the kind of cold underlay to her blue eyes that suggested maybe they were turbulent oceans instead of tranquil lakes, and that there would be some severely stormy weather if her points weren't heeded. It was the stare. The one she used on Niri when the girl had been caught lying but wouldn't admit it. It was weapons grade.
"Donnie you have all the survival instincts and close combat prowess of a potato somebody left in a cupboard and forgot about," Var said brusquely. "We're going to need somebody for the kids. What happens the next time Enarin wants to visit a planet? Or Niri? You think just saying no will do the trick? It's a lot better to have some kind of chaperone who isn't mom. And now is the perfect time, because you can watch this bodyguard and make sure they fit into the family."
It was a two-pronged assault. Logical words, and the resting bitch-face that made her ramifications sink in.
"They can stay on the ship and guard it, and the slicer. There's no need to have them come every step with us this time."
Graceful half-compromise provided. Trap set and baited.
With any luck Donnie would concede the point. If not, Var was ready for the coup de grace, withholding sex. That of course was a war of attrition, better to clear it right away.
Of course with a Sabacc face that could win galactic championships, Var didn't let a single dribble of her own internal thoughts leak out. Oh no, she was shut tight like a pair of blast doors, just the calm even voice and The Stare coming through. If that didn't do it, nothing would. Well nothing short of the sex, or perhaps using the lightsaber.
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Post by The Conman on Nov 13, 2015 0:51:04 GMT -5
" So, whaddya think?" The grizzled, brown, Twi'lek standing opposite Doneeda asked.
She'd just been introduced to the top three candidates for a body guard by her most trusted boarding party commander, Ven'tel. He was a good deal older than Doneeda, had known her father, and was a trusted family friend. The woman remembered him giving her lessons when she was just a girl, trying to teach the uncoordinated woman how to defend herself. The instruction failed, of course, Donnie's hand to hand combat being better than most sentients in the Galaxy, but nowhere near what most of the boarding troops under her command could do.
The man was a bit odd looking for a hand to hand combat instructor, and boarding party commander. Standing barely 5'10, with a thick frame and missing the bottom third of his right lekku, with a warm smile and a wrinkled face pockmarked by age, the notion he could turn nearly anybody in the fleet into a pretzel was laughable if one didn't know him. Donnie, however, did, which was the reason for her visit.
Var wanted a bodyguard, and Donnie wanted sex.
So, the woman went to the best man for the job, Ven.
Not that he'd help Donnie in bed, not directly, that is. Getting a bodyguard, however, would, which was her intention, and why she was currently standing in the middle of a training room, complete with exersize equipment much like the gym she frequented on the capital ship, that smelled like the inside of a dirty gym sock. There was a good deal of empty space, with various foam and rubber weapons on the walls, as well as some mats. Beyond that, a boxing ring, which was currently becoming occupied by a trio of what the Twi'lek figured were those under his command. The room, despite it's low gray walls and reinforcement beams running across the ceiling, was well lit, making it feel somewhat larger than it actually was.
The woman looked at Ven, then back to the Trio of his finest. Two males and a female. All overly enthusiastic, all ready and willing to kiss her ass so hard it'd leave marks. Ideal, for a soldier who's sole purpose in life is to follow orders. Doneeda walked back towards them, a short distance away from her and Ven, the three standing side by each, with enough space for her to pass between easily. She eyed them, up and down, they were standing there in their underwear, as if Ven was a proud breeder of a particular animal, eager to show off his stock to his prize customer.
Walking upto the closest, the female, Donnie did a slow walk around, taking in the purple woman's physique. Though she stood somewhat short, barely taller than Ven, every muscle looked like a coiled spring, ready to explode. Her ( if Donnie was honest, very pretty ) blue eyes following Donnie as she walked around the front. It was obvious that the woman spent a great deal of time on herself, making sure she was in top form, this did impress the Twi'lek, who stopped in front of her, appreciative of the woman's blue tattoos.
She looked over at Ven.
"This is the one who took down two hutt guards while she was drugged?" Donnie asked.
"Two, actually. " He responded proudly, the woman smirking slightly.
Doneeda nodded, moving over to the teal male beside her. The man looked like he'd been carved out of something, stood nearly half a head taller than Donnie, and had a face that looked like a rounded off square. His Lekku, wrapped around his neck, had indications of hand to hand kills, as well as markings indicating he had a family...3 kids, if Donnie read it right. That much did automatically rank him higher than the girl, beside him. The Twi'lek wasn't too interested in having somebody as a guard who didn't understand how much her kids meant to her. She didn't do a lap this time, as it became pretty obvious that he, however, wasn't so much interested in guarding her as invading her, the man donning a slight smirk while looking Donnie up and down.
She looked at him, with a coy grin, and spoke.
"How're you supposed to look out for me, if all you can do is look at me?" She asked, probably more sensually than she should have, if only to drive home the point, then looked over at Ven, and shook her head to indicate no.
Ven frowned, but accepted it.
She was about to get to the third, and final, male, a Brown twi'lek, like her, similar height, when she heard a "GAAH!" SMACK, from the ring at the other end of the room. Donnie peeked around the man, and saw one of the three who'd entered the ring laying in a pool of what she assumed was his own blood, on the floor of it. The other, in a ready stance, circling in for an attack, on a very big, very black, woman Donnie could only describe as terrifying. Even from a distance.
The man threw a punch with his right hand, which was easily countered, then swung with his left, which she dodged easily, then stepped in, countering with the back of her left and a quick right to his exposed neck. Her opponent fell, like a sack of potatoes. What should have been an eyebrow on Donnie's face shot up like a rocket.
She turned to Ven, and walked the short distance to him, a quizzical look on his face, the man looking somewhat annoyed. Doneeda gestured towards the ring, the KO'd pair being removed by another pair, the Black Woman resting in the corner, back to the group.
"Who the hell's that?" Donnie asked.
Ven shook his head, and took the larger of the pair by her shoulder as if to guide her away.
"Don't worry about h-" he got out, before being interrupted.
"Heh, I'm not worried, Ven, she just waxed those guys, what's up with her?" Donnie asked, brushing Ven's hand off her shoulder, walking towards the ring, intent on meeting her even if Ven was against it.
She heard the man jog up behind her and come up along her right side, coming into step with her.
"Dee, seriously-" He said, lowering his voice and getting in front of her, holding his hands out and stopping, Donnie following suit.
"You really don't wanna pull this thread, She's a stray, she's unstable, and that was probably her...ah...method of conflict resolution...." He said, looking over his shoulder quickly, hoping she wasn't in earshot.
"Look, as a friend-" he gestured to the three, now turned around, the female with her arms crossed.
"They're the best of the best, believe me, any of them would do an amazing job for yah." He continued, in a rushed, hushed voice.
Donnie, however, was interested in this apparently crazy black woman, who apparently fought as a form of conflict resolution, with her comrades. It wasn't overly surprising, the "boots" as they were called, ground troops and boarding troops, would have "dances"...thinly disguised events that were really bare knuckle boxing matches where rank didn't matter and if you showed up, and somebody called out out, you had to fight.
This, however, wasn't that, and Donnie knew it. Something else was going on, something Ven was desperately trying to hide from the woman, something Donnie was suddenly intent on getting to the bottom of.
"Ven." Donnie began flatly, crossing her arms, before continuing.
"She kicked the shit out of two guys, like they were standing still. C'mon man, what's the issue here, so she's unstable, I'm fukken unstable..." she said, eyes rolling over to the right, feeling the teal one's stare on her ass.
"Veeennnn? what's goin' on?" She asked cocking her head to the side a bit.
"Ok...so...look, the best I can say is that she's potty trained, ok? Her psych evaluation came back blank because she wouldn't speak to the shrink, I've heard her say all of three words total, and, when she gets angry, people get hurt, badly." He said, still in a hushed tone.
Donnie smirked, a wicked idea brewing in her mind, if this woman was so dangerous she couldn't be a bodyguard, then surely, the best of the best, the three lined up, could handle her.
"So...Ven..." The twi'lek started, a devious look in her eyes.
"If she's so dangerous, your dream team should have no issue with her...pick the best one, whichever wins, I'll take home." She stated. It was an order, not a request, but Ven being Ven wasn't about to let that stop him from protesting.
"Doneeda, this is ridicules, I'm not going there. No, no-". He was cut off, by the three walking up, and interjecting.
"I'm game." Said the purple woman.
"Sign me up." The brown one said, with a smirk.
"Tag me in, let's do this." The teal one said.
Donnie looked from them, back to Ven, who had a defeated look on his face, then the lot of them looked up at the woman, who was now leaning on the ropes nearest them, a predatory look in her eyes. Doneeda nodded to her, getting one in return.
There was a feeling in the air, that could have been cut with a knife, that the three in question had some kind of beef with the dark woman, given the speed with which they jumped in, and the look in the woman's eyes, Donnie had a feeling they'd fought before, probably more than once. Ven, however, had different plans, and looked at the three, then at the dark woman, and walked over to her, gesturing for her to kneel so he could speak with her. After a moment of whispering, and getting a nod in return, he returned, shaking his head.
"Fine. We'll do it your way. She'll choose who to fight, that's the condition. Whoever wins, Donnie, you make the decision." He said, turning back to the charcoal coloured Twi'lek, who was now standing upto her full height. She lifted her right arm, and pointed first at the two males, then to the woman.
Ven swung around, looking at her, seemingly frustrated.
"Jada, you don't seem to under staaa...." He cut himself off, the dark one giving him a glare Doneeda had seen only from one other being in the galaxy.
"Ohhkay then..."he said, turning around, the woman walking off casually to the far corner.
"The lot of you...in the ring...she wants you all..." He said, gesturing to the trio of candidates, then to the ring.
After a minute or two, he'd clamored upto the ring, one "candidate" in each corner, and looked at each of them as he spoke.
"Alright, no bullshit, if somebody gets ko'd, stop hittin' them...whoever's left, wins..." He said, looking over to Donnie, who nodded to him.
"I guess..." he added, zipping off the ring.
( que guiles theme, cause this is about to happen )
"Ready..." Ven announced, the fighters getting into their various stances, the one Donnie assumed was called "Jada" crouching down somewhat, hands at the ready, the other three taking similar approaches.
"FIGHT!" He said.
A few things happened at the same time. Jada quickly stepped in, the brown opponent behind her missing his opportunity for a take down, the woman catching him with a kick to the side of the body and sending him back into her corner to recover. As that happened, she turned towards the far corner, the purple woman in the midst of a flying, spinning kick. The charcoal woman stepped in, catching her leg against her body and stopping her midflight, in one swift motion rotating the opponents body 90 degrees and dropping her onto the floor. With a quick step, she came forward, her heel landing on the woman's jaw, her body going limp.
She took a quick look back, catching the teal opponent, now behind her, about to launch a kick at the back of her head, she quickly rolled forward, stopping just short of a kick launched by her brown opponent, which she caught, and pulled, causing him to go into an extended splits. Quickly, before he could react, she lifted her nearest leg and brought it down, hard, onto the joint where his leg connected to his body, the joint dislocating with a blood curdling crunch and the man screaming out in pain. She dropped his now dislocated leg and quickly deaked around him, hands at the ready for the teal opponent, who now wore a somewhat worried expression.
The two deaked in and out for a few seconds, before the Teal one launched a punch, which Jada was ready for and caught against her body, landing a kick into his gut at the same time, unbalancing him. With her free hand, nearly instantaneously, she came down with a chop onto his shoulder, and as it landed, grabbed him and spun him down, the man landing with a thud on his back, Jada's choppin' hand now a fist, which was the lead to his face in a fury of blows, landing with sickening wet smacks on his face and chest in very rapid succession. After a second or two of this, his body went limp, the man obviously out cold.
Jada sprung back in a ready stance, and looked around, obviously realizing nobody was functional, relaxed, and went back to her corner and leaned on the post, arms on either side of it, back to it, panting slightly, a sheen of sweat glistening on her taught frame. Doneeda clapped slowly, mouth agape, amazed at the display of technical brutality she'd just witnessed, shocked that Ven hadn't suggested the woman.
Doneeda looked over at Ven.
"Well. That settles that." she said flatly, walking around the outside of the ring to the corner the woman was currently occupying, Jada following her, turning to look at her once Donnie was nearby. She was obviously, even from a few feet below, taller than Doneeda, and seemed to loom over her, the woman leaning on the ropes near Donnie, looking down at her with haunting yellow eyes.
"So. You want outta here?"
Donnie asked with a smirk.
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Post by Grand Moff Poobah I on Nov 13, 2015 1:25:08 GMT -5
Jada didn't make a lot of signs over how fatigued she was. The rise and fall of her cleavage as she took heavy breaths made that clear. That and the sweat pouring from her dark skin. The fight she'd been in before this one had been a long time coming. The most recent one, even longer. Jae'daneri knew when people had terrible things to say about her. It got around. Her hearing was good. People would let slip their little mockeries accidentally near her. As such she had a very good idea of public opinion. Most of them didn't like her. They didn't care for her silence, didn't care for her scarred face.
And frankly, a lot of them were jealous because she was tougher. She was stronger, better-motivated, and more dangerous. And in the business of being dangerous, that tended to provoke jealousy even more than it did respect.
Jada stared down at Doneeda from the edge of the ring, her yellow eyes taking in the woman slowly and carefully. Truth be told she'd on;y half-listened to the initial set-up. The woman was clearly important from the way everything had been arranged, and wanted a bodyguard. The others had wanted someone beside her selected. That was about as good a reason as any to take the position that was offered.
The black Twi'lek stared down at herself, her own muscled body in a tank top and form-hugging shorts, feet bare.
She looked back from her scarred, burned face and replied in a husky voice that seemed a natural pair to the woman,
"Let me grab my stuff."
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Var walked through what technically speaking were the bowels of a Munificence Class. The Boska had, more than anyone else, made full use of the copious amounts of space they afforded. She'd seen the major sights, the vaults and holds converted to housing and industry, but somehow she'd always managed to avoid this side of things. Looking about her at the long, dingy, dark access corridor she really couldn't say there'd be any draw.
Far from it, if she didn't have to be in it, the pale woman would distinctly have preferred avoiding it. The pale green lighting in this area didn't help. That and the pervasive electric buzzing. But, at last, there was a door up ahead.
Since she'd adopted a personal policy of minimizing danger to her loved ones, and on building self-reliance, Var had some time ago made the decision to try to use the Force as little as possible to aid her. Still though, she reached out gently to verify there was a person on the other side of the door, and not a skeleton, or dust, or a cupboard of droid parts. These Separatist ships were trouble times.
She keyed the comm.
"It's Var, we talked," She said by way of introduction.
The voice replied, a bit thin and reedy through the speaker.
"What's with the lightsaber?"
Var glanced down at it, still on her belt.
"If I were planning on using it, I'd be through the door by now."
Contemplative silence reigned for a minute over the proceedings, like a Judge on the Holonet dispensing nonbinding solutions to petty disputes. It was not a dignified silence at all.
"Fair nuff."
The door hissed open, and inside was the same kind of pale green light, mixed with a few other shades from screens and holographic displays. There were wires everywhere. Some originally Separatist in nature, but many more tacked on parts and components. It was a distinctly Boska room, just lacking all the trappings. A rolling chair slid out from some dark recess, and a very thin olive Twi'lek peered at Var through ordinary brown eyes. The only real quirk was that between Var and the eyes were spectacles, glasses. With black synthetic frames, and the signs of a little tape.
"Like it? It was an old Separatist decryption room. right off the wave relay."
"It's very nice," Var replied neutrally in the way of people who don't care. "Now, about the matter?"
"Right. That. Nothing I can do from here, thought I'd made that one clear."
Var smiled thinly. "How do you feel about a little vacation?"
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Post by The Conman on Nov 16, 2015 0:21:15 GMT -5
Sen'da didn't quite understand what the lightly coloured woman was getting at by her reference to a Vacation, but figured it had something to do with his previous comment. Based on their conversation, he was under the impression he'd be hacking into a police database, mining out data on some guy named Enabrin or Ellison....maybe Emily...It didn't matter. That was small poatoes, he was there to gain access to the Empire's Defense Network. Sen knew they were building something.
Something really big.
He'd heard through his sources, it was apparently the size of a small moon. Naturally, the man was skeptical of any notion the Empire could pull something like that off and keep it secret, but it was worth a look. Even if he'd have to go in through a node on some backwater planet, even if he didn't find what he was looking for, anything was better than nothing. If there was any useful intel to be had, he'd glean it and share it with his benefactors. If he found out anything about this supposed planet killing spacestation, however, Sen was smart enough to know to keep that to himself, knowledge like that had a way of coming back in the worst ways.
Then again, Sen knew a few Bothans...if worse came to worse...
He smirked, and pushed his glasses up his thin nose, rolling back a ways in his chair.
"Sounds good to me, let me grab a few things and we can go..." He mused, standing up and heading for his closet to grab a change of clothes and his laptop.
-------------------
Donnie nodded at the woman as she turned and left, heading over to Ven. The man was in the midst of directing his medical staff to pick up the mess Jada had left on his ring.
"Ven-" Doneeda started, being cutoff.
"The fuck...I warned you...I did..." He hissed at her, shaking his head, looking over at the purple one as she was being lifted onto a stretcher, and told where she was and the date.
The man sighed, his age apparent. Donnie put a hand on his shoulder, as if to comfort him. He looked over at her, and shook his head, then spoke, shrugging his shoulder. Donnie got the message, and let him go.
"Fuck it, she's your problem now, just make sure you've got a maximum stun setting on your blasters..." he said, with something of a thousand yard stare into the bulkhead behind the Twi'lek.
"..you'll probably need it..." Ven mused, walking off to help with the "rescue operations".
Doneeda shook her head, and walked towards the entrance, figuring she'd bump into Jada there.
-=10 minutes later=-
Donnie walked into the kitchen, Jada in tow, and stretched her arms out, and turned around, showing off the kitchen.
"So, this is home..." The twi'lek explained, gesturing to the various things as she talked.
" Fridge, autochef, stove...because Var...bathroom is down the hall, across from the bedrooms...uhh..." Donnie turned around, pointing as she went, still walking somewhat slowly to give Jada the short tour of the Snowball.
"That's the living room...thing, couch is pretty comfy, I've slept on it a few times...oh, and that's your room!" Donnie said, pointing to a door on a wall beside the living room, at the beginning of the hallway that led to the cockpit.
" Used to be the captains quarters, so it's actually pretty spacious, you've got your own head in there too...the shower doesn't work, but you can use ours..." She mused, walking over and pressing the door key.
The door slid into the bulkhead beside it with a soft "hiss". The room was a pretty decently sized 10x12 room, with the foot of the bed immediately beside the entrance. Beside the bed, across a small space, was a dresser. Nestled in the corner, across from the door and beside that dresser/desk was the small, but functional ( mostly ) head. Above the bed was some additional storage in the form of metal cabinets, which continued over the desk/dresser. The lighting was indirect and provided by strips nestled between the cabinets and the white ceiling.
" If you have laundry, just leave it in the basket outside your door, we'll take care of it for you. Uh...Guess that's about it...any questions?" Donnie asked cheerily.
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