[IC] Star Wars: Life on the Edge

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP7O-g-azyI)
Blue Sector- District 27B - Level 1647

It was night on Nar Shaddaa, but that meant little. Towering skyscrapers and thick clouds of mist and fog obscured most natural light even during the day, and the bright neon of holographic billboards and engine nacelles left the planet in a perpetual twilight. Tonight, the air was particularly thick: mist and engine grease mixed with the body odours of a hundred different species. Overhead, swoops and airspeeders filled the artificial canyons with the erratic hum of repulsorlifts, and the faint strains of music echoed out of the doorways that lead from the thoroughfare to bars and strip clubs. Above one entrance, a grainy holoimage of a pair of nubile dancers gyrating offered a glimpse of what waited inside. Above another, an animated Bith and Arcona debated the merits of an advertised drink. Beneath them, sentients of all species walked with their heads down and their hands in their coats, each in their own little galaxy.

Verias swerved to avoid an Ithorian who pushed past, not seeming to notice his existence. Against the near wall, a dishevelled Gran blew shrill tones on an ageing kloo horn. His hat was empty of credits. Beyond him, a trio of Pal'owick in heavy make-up and little else called out to passers-by interested in a good time. Ahead, a darkened archway promised to trade the bustle and glare of the street level for a dark booth and a cool drink.

Inside, Verias recognized the tune the band was playing; a new take on an old classic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5KAj9ZEn5Y). It was a catchy, upbeat song, and the bar's dance floor held several beings swinging along, with varying degrees of skill. One Weequay, obviously enjoying the chance to show off, was in constant motion around his companions, twitching and spinning with professional grace. At the tables nearby, beings sat nursing drinks and enjoying the music. A couple of tables near the back held quiet games of sabacc; in the booths along one wall a Wookie sat in conversation with a pair of Devaronians, a group of Bothans laughed over one of their companion's stories, and a Human and Givin sat silently together, watching the room. The air smelled of liquor and t'bac smoke.

Walking up to the bar, Verias placed his order with the bartender, a four-armed Xexto currently mixing three drinks at once. Beside him, two barstools were taken by an attractive Twi'lek woman and a glowering Trandoshan who seemed entirely occupied with its own problems, hissing quietly under its breath. Just as Verias accepted his drink, the bulky reptile turned and stood, and the two briefly collided as Verias bounced off his scaly hide.

Please make an Easy Coordination check: 0eB+0eA+0eP+0eS+1eD+0eC+0eF
If you fail, your drink ends up all over someone or somewhere; either way, I'll let you have fun narrating events if you wish.

Nar Shaddaa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifRGnKWK58U)
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Now remember, don't comment on his tentacles. He's very sensitive about them. Kl'ck reminded Nim'arha before they stepped inside. Down here, the canyons were deep and narrow, mostly lit by flickering glowpanels and muted holographic signs. Hundreds of levels below the glare and traffic, closer to the belly of the Smuggler's Moon, where beings didn't end up without a reason. The faded sign in front of them proclaimed them to be standing outside the "Jewel of Dac Restaurant", and a lazily rotating holoimage listed a selection of menu items that didn't look like it had been updated since the fall of the Old Republic.

Pushing the ancient hinged door open with the ting-ting of a little bell, Kl'ck stepped into the tiny restaurant, Nim'arha close behind. Surprisingly, of the five tables, three of the were occupied: a Mon Calamari couple shared an oversized bowl of wriggling noodles, a lone Ithorian sat with its back to the corner and a small teacup in its hand, and two ancient looking Nautolan stared up at the newcomers suspiciously without pausing from their ritual of snapping open jointed shellfish and gulping down the contents. From behind the counter, the server droid's vocalizer seemed too loud for the tiny space.

Come on through, honey, he's expecting you.

Moving around the counter and through the bead curtain to the back room, Kl'ck and Nim'arha entered the office of Qid Sikkes. A middle-aged Quarren with aquamarine eyes and only two remaining facial tentacles (both on one side, giving him a slightly comical appearance), Qid sat in front of a bowl of live squid, each no larger than a finger. With a pair of chopsticks in his suckered hand, he deftly lifted each one out of the bowl and into his mouth, his remaining tentacles wrapping greedily around them as his fangs snapped open and shut. The air was humid and damp; a moisturising unit hummed in the corner, and Nim'arha could already feel the air starting to stick to her clothes.

Ah, good to see you on time, as usual. Qid tapped a button on his desk and a privacy field hummed to life around the doorway, sealing off their conversation from any prying ears. And this time you brought a friend. He looked Nim'arha up and down as his fangs crushed another tiny squid. snap

He gestured to the chairs across the desk.

You may be pleased to know that I'm currently working on a project that could use an individual of your snap talents. He held up a three-fingered hand pre-emptively. I don't want to get into details just yet, it's not quite ready. But I hope by the time you get back from this job, it will be. snap

Qid reached into a drawer and pulled out a small scrap of flimsiplast with an address written on it. This is only a small job, I'm afraid, but I needed someone reliable, and since I hope to have further use for you shortly, it seemed convenient. snap He slid the flimsy across the table. This is the number and combination for a locker I have rented at that transit station. There should be a package inside; I need you to bring it back to me. He undulated his tentacles in the Quarren equivalent of a shrug. Easy money for you, I suppose. Standard courier rate?

Nim'arha picked up the scrap of flimiplast and looked at the address: a transit station in the Corellian Sector. Not nearby, but no more than a couple of hours travel on public transit. At a standard rate, Qid wasn't offering more than a few hundred credits for their time, but it wouldn't exactly be difficult work.

If you want to make a Streetwise or Knowledge: Underworld check to make any deductions about his offer, it's an Average check: 0eB+0eA+0eP+0eS+2eD+0eC+0eF
If either of you intend to haggle over price, that will be an Average Negotiation check (upgraded since he is also a savy negotiator), with 1 Advantage since he's worked with you before: 1eB+0eA+0eP+0eS+1eD+1eC+0eF

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 27B - Level 1954

Feavo stood at the edge of a yawning abyss. Over a thousand levels deep, and wide enough to hold a star cruiser, it connected to several large landing pads and freight docks. The wind whistled as it whipped past her, rustling her hair back and forth as the wind currents eddied in the wake of each passing ship. Few airspeeders flew in these skylanes; these were for freighters and bulk cruisers. As she watched, a clamshell-shaped Gallofree detached from its mooring and lifted off, forcing her to avert her eyes from the bright engine glare and the wind whipping around her antenna. Turning away from the canyon, she addressed the garbage scow berthed next to her.

Remind me why I came here again?

The container responded with a rumble, and a series of rattling clangs, and then the insectoid head of a protocol droid popped out to stare at her.

Much big droid. Very heavy. Reprogram lots of fun! But need help with liftings. The droid loomed down at Feavo, gradually cresting the lip of the container in accompaniment with the high-pitched grunts of effort coming from beneath it. Then abruptly its torso fell, slamming to the ferrocrete with a long trail of wires where its legs once were. To Feavo's surprise, it faintly emitted a long, low groan as it landed, its photoreceptors flickering slightly before dimming again. Above, two glowing eyes popped over the rim of the garbage scow in surprise.

It still work? See! Reprogram easy, lots of fun! Saj'wik see if find legs. People throw away best things.

If you want to examine the droid's surviving programming, make an Average Computers check: 0eB+0eA+0eP+0eS+2eD+0eC+0eF
If you want to examine the condition of its chassis, make an Average Mechanics check: 0eB+0eA+0eP+0eS+2eD+0eC+0eF
Piecing the droid back together won't be possible unless you have its missing parts.

If you want to continue rooting through the garbage, make an easy Perception check: 0eB+0eA+0eP+0eS+1eD+0eC+0eF (You may add 1 Boost die if you intend to look exclusively for the droid's other parts, and nothing else).
If you want to try and examine the droid, make an Average Mechanics check: 0eB+0eA+0eP+0eS+2eD+0eC+0eF
Piecing the droid back together won't be possible unless you have its missing parts.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik rubs her hands excitedly as she dives back into the garbage scow. If variety is the spice of life, then Saj'wik's life would give anyone a long night on the toilet. There was just . . . so much stuff!

"Big decision to make!" she calls out to Feavo as she hacks her way through scrap like an explorer through jungle, "Give droid new legs, new programming, what to do? Is protocol droid? Is killer droid? Is droid for when customer come and says 'Saj'wik, Feavo, am lonely, no luck with husband, please to help?' Many choice! All good fun!"

Saj'wik usually doesn't particularly like speaking common. She knows she sounds ignorant, and self-tutoring in mechanics has left little time for language lessons. Still, she plays it up a bit around Feavo. That Rodian woman, always lost in her mind . . . sometimes Saj'wik worries a bit.

But here they are, junk-diving! If this isn't ready-made therapy, Saj'wik doesn't know what is.

Here's my roll, if I did it rightl! (http://orokos.com/roll/255534)

I realize I didn't specify: Perception roll to keep looking.

[Dark Knight Renee]

After a quick look at its' contents, Nim'arha handed the scrap of flimsi to the spindly verpine. "Corellian Sector," she told him, even though that much would have been obvious with even a quick glance. There was little else for her to do at the moment; she was just along for the ride on this one, unless things went south.


Failed Streetwise check (http://orokos.com/roll/255532)

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 27B - Level 1954

A single led clattered to the ground shortly following the droid body, and barely missed Feavo.

Oops. Careful! The little Jawa could barely be heard over the clattering din of junk being forcibly relocated under her enthusiastic hands. After a minute or two of searching, she emerged once more from the garbage scow, victorious. One arm clutched the protocol droid's remaining leg, the other held a blaster pistol that still looked fully functional.

You find both legs intact, along with some of the internal wiring that spilled out (+1 Boost die to attempting to reassemble the droid). While handling them, you notice carbon scoring along the fracture point that would suggest the droid is in pieces because someone blasted it. You also find a blaster pistol that looks like it still works, and handful of datacards, and a couple of pieces of electronic equipment that you can tell have some salvageable components. You estimate that recovering them would take you about 20-30 minutes, and they would have marginal secondary value (about 50C if you went bought them new), but could be added to your collection of replacement parts.

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Kl'ck shrugs as he heads for one of the provided chairs. As usual, Qid had taken into account the Verpine's physiology, accounting for his reversed knees. "Likely see more of her, maybe others. I am starting to run with crew these days. Able to handle bigger jobs, multiple simultaneous jobs, more money for everyone. Permanent crew easier than having to find trustworthy people each time," he says neutrally, antennae twitching slightly.

"For you? If blue milk run like sounds, courier rate is fair. Especially if you have another job for us." Kl'ck says barely glancing at the flimsi before stashing it one of his myriad pouches. "Time limit? Expected resistance? Package inherently dangerous? Imperial entanglements? Or this another one of your completely blind jobs?" Kl'ck inquires as he casually leans back in the chair.

http://orokos.com/roll/255525 Honesty failed knowledge rolls are a little harder to think of options for advantage for me... especially with four. I'm thinking either possibly a boost on Perception to spot danger when we get there (couldn't recall anything in particular, but remembered the type of threats for this sort of job) or him spilling some info maybe?

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Qid slipped the last of the little creatures into his mouth. snap Glad to hear it, Kl'ck. Making a little family for yourself; good for you, good for business. You know me, mostly just a go-between. Never know what kind of person I might need for the next job, what kind of skills. He twitched his tentacles again. Maybe that changes soon, start building a family of my own. We'll see. May be there's a place for you in it, if that happens. He nodded to Nim'arha. And your lovely friend too, maybe?

Time limit? Expected resistance? Package inherently dangerous? Imperial entanglements? Or this another one of your completely blind jobs?

Qid sat up and levelled a sucker at Kl'ck, his tone firm but not angry. Now, that was one time, and you did the job admirably. I told you then not to go giving me a hard time about it. He relaxed back into his chair. No Imperial entanglements, and I'm not asking you to carry anything dangerous. I'm simply receiving a package from someone who doesn't want to be seen doing business with me directly. If the wrong people found out, well, things could end up going poorly for him. So, for his sake, I ask you to be discreet. This is all. Don't let anybody follow you straight back to me, but then, I wouldn't expect that from you anyway.

Qid glances at the chronometer on the wall. As to time, he could be delivering it any time now. I say, give him until morning, then collect it. Bring it back to me then. If there's nothing for you to collect by then, well, then I suppose I won't have any further need of your services. The Quarren reached into his pocket and produced a small stack of 50 and 100 Credit coins. If that is acceptable?

You can't think of any specific details about dead-drops that could matter here, but you do know what to say to Qid to get him to be a little more forthcoming than usual, and despite his reassurances, you know to be alert when you pick up the package. (+1 Boost to Perception checks looking for trouble or a tail while doing this job)

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat

Frazzled by a long day of fixing up petty thieves and criminals, Verias was itching for a drink and an imitation nerf steak as he negotiated his way into the Drunken Krayt. The food may taste like cardboard and dehydrated rations here, but their drinks aren't half bad. It's the third night this week Verias has visited and hopefully he'll have some time to innoculate himself before the others arrive and start blathering his ears off tonight. Moving directly over to the bar, Verias caught the beautiful Twi'lek's eye on his approach and gave her a small nod and a smile before settling down beside the Trandoshan. Giving the Xexto a nod, he puts two of his fingers up. The usual please. Oh, and some of the grub too.

As he waited for his shots of Rancor Gambit, Verias did a small stretch and turned slightly to look at the dance floor while his mind wandered. Hopefully the others have had a more interesting day. But taking the kid out to meet the contact? Well...how much trouble could they get into anyway right? Qid didn't screw us last time after all.

The Xexto mumbled something in its language, too quick for Verias to catch as he placed his drinks onto the table. His mind still caught up in thought, he turns to grab his drinks and proceeded to move to find a quiet booth. His abrupt movement unfortunately coincided with the burly Trandoshan on his right, making him spill his drinks all over the both of them. Before the sour lizard could say a word, Verias quickly placed the glasses back onto the bar and reached for some napkins on the counter before wiping down the Trando. Ah, so sorry my friend. Here, let me clean some of that up for you.

Looking up at the irritated man before looking into the eyes of the Twi'lek, he then offers diplomatically, "It's been a long day at work and clearly I was not looking at where I was going. Perhaps I can buy you and your friend a drink as an apology?"

Verias will attempt to use charm to calm the Trando? He also has his eyes on the lady Twi'lek who intrigues him. Perhaps he can get a few words out of her and have a chat.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Drunken Krayt Bar

The Trandoshan hissed in surprise as the Rancor Gambit poured down its front; a distinctly unsettling sound. As Verias attempted to mop up the spill, a huge clawed hand grabbed his collar and hauled him to his feet, holding him almost level with the reptile. For a moment they simply stood looking at each other, one still emitting a sibilant hiss Verias didn't know how to interpret. Then the Trandoshan released him.

"That will suffice. Although since she is not my companion, I will accept both." With that, it lumbered past in the direction of the 'fresher to perform a more thorough cleaning job. The Twi'lek cast her gaze over the dishevelled doctor, with alcohol still dripping from his trousers.

Not your best day, huh? In a different tone of voice, she might have been mistaken for flirtatious, but her statement was made very matter of factly.

Behind the bar, the Xexto twirled her arms into motion. Four more drinks, coming up.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik does a little dance of triumph as she lays her finds out. Immediately, she goes back in to retrieve the electronic components. Waste not, want not! 50 credits saved and 30 minutes of fun to be had!

"Look! Now is crime scene investigate!" she trills as she begins prying a serviceable-looking motherboard away from crumpled metal housing, "Mister droid is blast, find blaster pistol! Maybe find victim and weapon same place? Maybe droid have valuable knowings? Secrets of Empire? Crime lord dirty deals? Secret recipe for restaurant? So much could be! So much!"

After a moment, Saj'wik stops her manic ranting and takes a moment to peer at the Rodian.

"You are . . . feeling well?" she asks, almost hesitant.

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Kl'ck holds up his three fingered hands defensively "Not complaining about blind jobs, we understand secrecy is sometimes important. Just different kind of planning required," he says. Not to mention a good way to stay in practice or test rookies... he thinks to himself. He carefully eyes the stack of credits, doing some quick calculations in his head. "For payment even if no package, and more work soon? Yes, is plenty." Kl'ck says as he nods. He'd been working with Qid for awhile, and the payment methods tended to vary depending on Qid's mood. Sometimes, especially with these smaller jobs, he paid upfront, figuring that if the contractor double crossed, he'd take it out of their flesh. The fact that he was paying up front wasn't particularly unusual, Kl'ck had a reputation for reliability in certain circles. "I see you tomorrow then, unless you prefer just contacted if no drop," he said as he gathered up the credits, already planning the job.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat
Nar Shaddaa - The Drunken Krayt Bar

Tossing away the napkins and helping himself to the moist towel the Xexto kept around the counter, he quickly cleans himself off.

"Well, it did finally get him into the 'freshers and out of the way didn't it? And in my defense, it does get tiring when you spend the whole day stitching up idiots on the wrong end of a vibro-knife. I think I've heard every variation of how someone can get stabbed by now." He shakes his head lightly before popping into the now vacant bar stool.

"In any case, I'm Verias. Nice to meet you," the doctor grins at the Twi'lek before gives a nod of thanks to the bartender and returns the rag. "So what brings a beautiful lady such as yourself to a bar like this?"

"Oh, and can we get the lady one more of whatever she's having as well Neektu? Thanks."

Not sure if I'd try charm again or if it would be a deception to try to shrug it off as if he had meant to bump into the Trando. In either case here goes (http://orokos.com/roll/255779). Sigh...remind me to sacrifice something to the RNG gods. I'm definitely not in their favour right now.

[Amberfire]

Feavo winced as the droid crashed down. She smoothed a hand over her crest of purple hair as Saj'wik burrowed into the junk with clear delight, consolidating her thoughts. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Hm. Thanks. Anyway, I don't know about secrets of the Empire, but I would expect droids to fry over the secret recipe of the Manarai's Kashyyyk land shrimp."

Feavo lugged the torso of the protocol droid free of the rest, to begin to investigate its programming. As her long fingers rifled through the various pouches on her belt, searching out particulars of her slicer gear, she added, "Not that I've ever eaten a Kashyyyk land shrimp, mind. Hey, I don't suppose you'd let me have the blaster pistol when I'm done playing with this? I lost my last one in that bar fight." She twitched an antennae at the bustling Saj'wik: she blamed Saj'wik for starting the brawl the other night, but in truth, she hadn't been paying enough attention, so it was really just a hunch.

Feavo plugged her datapad into the droid's head, and its photoreceptors blinked on. A slow slurred not-word oozed out of its vocalizer and trailed off into the relative silence of the Nar Shaddaa night. "Well, its power source is flagging," she muttered, all her attention now on her work. "But that's fine, just need enough juice to figure out whether..." and her mutterings devolved into barely-audible Rodian.

Here's the roll. (http://orokos.com/roll/255922)

[herodofcows]

"Is yours!" Saj'wik's voice rings out, half-buried as she is in scrap, "Just please to promise we shorten barrel, file [EXPLETIVE INFINITIVE VERB] register number! Good common sense."

She twists herself around to the point that she's hanging nearly upside down as she picks away at a comm chip's soldering.

"Kashyyyk land shrimp . . . is good? Cannot imagine tasty thing come from [EXPLETIVE INFINITIVE VERB] Wookiee planet, except [EXPLETIVE INFINITIVE VERB] Wookiee! Hehehehe! Is joke, would never eat Wookiee . . ."

The bantha incident pops into her head, briefly.

". . . without shave and thermal detonator . . ."

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Drunken Krayt Bar

The lady flicked her lekku in what Verias understood to be the Twi'lek equivalent of a raised eyebrow. While he did not fully speak the complex language Twi'leks could speak using only their head-tails, he had picked up on a number of the basic mannerisms from Nim'arha. Neektu set down four more glasses on the bar, two to one side for the Trandoshan and two in front of Verias and the lady.

I see, saving me from the ordeal of sitting next to a Trando, how very gallant of you. Sarcasm was evident in her voice, but she accepted the drink, even as the twitching of her lekku betrayed some hesitation.

And just what is wrong with a bar such as this? Be careful, she can hear you. She pointed one brain-tail at the bartender. There was a hint of humour in her voice, sounding as though she were still deciding if her tone was playful or mocking. One of her lekku swayed nervously.

Here (http://orokos.com/roll/255953) I rolled a Xenology check for Verias' familiarity with Twi'lek body language (+1 Boost for spending time with Nim'arha.) Hence his detailed read on her reactions. She isn't likely to expect a human to be able to interpret her lekku.

Nar Shaddaa
Jewel of Dac Restaurant

I shall see you tomorrow then. Qid tapped the button on his desk again and the privacy field vanished, filling the room with the faint sound of the diners next door. You are of course welcome to stay and have food if you wish. Not that you ever do. He stood and gathered up his bowl and chopsticks as he walked the pair out of his office. I get the impression my cuisine does not appeal to you. Myself, I must have more of these squidlets, they are delicious. So fresh! His bared teeth indicated the hint of a smile, not any impression of offence.

Feel free to move onto a new scene of your choice if you are through here.

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 27B - Level 1954

The damaged droid's vocoder sputtered and emitted erratic low tones. Feavo ignored them as she accessed the droid's primary programming and scrolled through the list of files that appeared on her datapad.
Primary Function: Administration and database management. Diagnostic: Functional
Linguistics processes: 500 forms of communication. Diagnostic: Functional
Heuristics processes: Class Five RA-7. Diagnostic: Damaged
Motor functions: Humanoid movement capabilities. Diagnostic: Non-Functional
...
[ENCRYPTED-NO VALID ACCESS CODE]

The droid's vocalizer let out a sudden high-pitched squeal as the power source fluctuated, and then shut down. The program list on Feavo's datapad vanished as the droid shut down.

You are able to identify the droid as a basic administrative droid with damage to its program (possibly sue to being blown to bits) before the power source gives out. If you can hook it up to a new power supply, you should be able to reactivate it. It's programming also contains some encrypted files that will take more time and effort to decrypt.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"I'm afraid I prefer my food dead and cooked," Nim'arha told Qid apologetically as he walked them out of his office. "But I suppose we can't all like the same things, or the Galaxy would be dreadfully boring!"

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaddaa
Jewel of Dac Restaurant

"Thank you for offer, but pressing matter prevent," Kl'ck says semi-apologetically with a slight inclination of his head, preferring fungi to the meat heavy meals that were the Jewel of Dac's speciality. After exiting the restaurant, Kl'ck starts heading towards the group's base of operations. "Need let others know have work. So, how would you handle job? Assume drop will be watched and will be tailed," he inquires of the Twi'lek, as he formulates his own plan. Need bag and something to fill it...

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nim'arha thought about it for a moment. "I'd set up surveillance on the drop location as soon as possible, see who drops it off and whether they have an obvious tail. If there is a tail, nip it in the bud and save our boss and his pal a headache... and if there's not, keep whatever knowledge we gain to ourselves until we have need of it. Problem is I'm not terribly familiar with urban stealth... my experience is mostly stalking animals in the brush. Electronic surveillance needs gear we don't have... unless Saj'wik can come up with a hidden camera that doesn't explode on very short notice."

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck nods. "Small explosion on secret camera often good, if explosion only destroy evidence. Better to avoid collateral damage. Urban stealth probably much like in woods. Blend into environment, seem like belong. Not worry so much about scent. Information always good though, have to be careful not to anger employer by learning identity of contact. Also run risk of spooking contact from drop, since probably don't know us, also anger employer," Kl'ck says educationally as they head towards the hangar bays. "Angry employer less likely to hire again, or lose pay on next one. Will explain more on ways to spot tail when on ship."

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik's head pops up at the sound of the squawking droid.

"[EXPLETIVE NOUN DEALING WITH MATERNAL COPULATION]!" she pipes up in surprise, "Scare [EXPLETIVE NOUN] out of Saj'wik! Was droid, yes?"

She registers Feavo's datapad.

"Ah, did get info? Fun droid knowings?" she resumes, burrowing back into the junk, "Am betting others no have droid knowings fun! Just creepy Quarren and . . . probably bottle for Verias."

Struck by a sudden recollection of a previous pet project, she begins scrounging around with a specific eye for copper tubing, even as she continues to dismantle the other salvageable components she's already seen.

Here's the roll! (http://orokos.com/roll/256091)

Ach, not so great. Gonna spend that one advantage towards finding a discarded but half-useable minor tool of some kind.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat
Drunken Krayt Bar

Chuckling at the Twi'lek's remarks, he lifts his drink towards the Xexto and gives the bartender a nod before taking a sip. "Spot on as always. Now I would like to think that I've done my fair share of travelling, and in all that time I have yet to see a more talented barman as Neektu here. I mean come on! Four drinks at once? But that said, and let's not kid ourselves. No one really comes here for the food."

Taking a mental note of the her lekku, Verias tries to disarm her with a little humour. Taking a look towards the 'freshers to make sure the lizard hasn't returned yet, he continues with a tinkle in his eye, "The thing with Trandos you see is that they generally like to avoid the sonic showers as it gets closer to their shedding season. Something about making it patchy and not come out right if I recall correctly. Don't let them hear you say it, but I think it makes them smell nearly as bad as a wet Wookie. So let it not be said that chivalry is dead! 'Least not from a Corellian! Hahahaha!"

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaadaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II


Kl'ck finishes sending a brief signal to everyone still off ship indicating that they have a job before joining Nim'arha around the table in the communal room of the ship, carrying a glass of water with him. Kl'ck's speech patterns are slightly altered, as if he had been pretending to have a worse knowledge of Basic than he actually possessed. "Since the job is just pick up and deliver, it is better if we avoid anything that can spook individual making the mark. And avoid creating any evidence to link the person dropping the bag with ourselves and Qid. Rented lockers have a nasty habit of being broken into, which is ideally all anyone can prove happened," Kl'ck stops while he takes a drink. "Now, there are three main ways I know of to tail a package," he continues holding up all three fingers on one hand, ticking them off as he lists them. "Electronically, a single individual, and a team. Electronically we just need to make sure the package doesn't have a tracking device, so we'll just have to scan it somewhere private after pickup. An individual could be spotted by walking passed placed cameras, compatriots, or simply noticing someone keeps showing up everywhere you go. The last one is arguably the hardest to spot, as they can rotate individuals in sight range, and cover all exits to a building. Still possible to notice, and shake, just a tad harder. It is probably worth capturing anyone who is tailing us to determine who is showing interest in the package, might get us a bonus. Depends on how well armed the tail is to be honest."

[Amberfire]

Feavo sighed as the droid squealed. She unplugged her datapad and let it drop unceremoniously to the ground. "Yeah, was droid. I just need to hook it up to a power source, then I can decrypt it. See if there's anything useful on it. Can't do that here, so I don't know how interesting it is." Feavo casted a glance over the garbage scow and blinked her big eyes. "Hopefully worth the hassle," she added, her tone suddenly warmer with humour, "or else Verias's bottle will be the better 'find' of the night. Truth at the bottom of a drink and all that."

Another ship across the chasm roared up into the sky. Feavo picked up the blaster pistol and eyed it, testing its weight and balance. It fit snugly in her hand. "Probably not too hard to modify," she commented. Shortening the barrel like Saj'wik suggested would make it easier to conceal, too.

After a moment she called to the burrowing Jawa, "What're you looking for now, anyway?"

[herodofcows]

"Looking . . . forrrrrr . . ." Saj'wik gasps gleefully as she finds something, "UTINNI!"

Picture a Firaxan shark, rising majestically from the ocean depths to crest the waves of Manaan, delighting and terrifying onlookers. Picture a Wookiee climbing full-tilt through the wroshyr trees of Kashyyyk, reveling in the power of their momentum before bursting through the canopy. Picture a shocked bantha, blown sky-high by an enterprising Jawa's creative application of explosive force, destined to become delicious meaty fragments in short order.

With such majesty, vigor, and spontaneity did Saj'wik rise from the depths of her junk pile, triumphantly clutching a broken set of scanner goggles.

"Ha-HA! No find THIS in bottle! Yi-yo-yo! Yi-yo-yo!" Saj'wik trills. She begins dancing a strange spastic dance. Those unfamiliar with Jawas might assume that this was some deeply-rooted cultural Jawa dance of triumph. The more canny observer would recognize this as 100% Saj'wik.

"We find droid! We find scrap! We find gun! We find goggles! IS GOOD DAY! We take back, make droid talk, make projects! Many projects!"

The Jawa gathers up her various finds and begins ambling over to the edge of the dock. She gestures imperiously at Feavo, still slightly dancing with ecstasy.

"Come! Maybe stop by Rusty Krayt, get drinks, celebrate! Maybe scrounge more copper, make 'still in ship, Verias drink problem become drink opportunity!! Is GOOD be alive!!! Yi-yo-yo! Aiii-yo!!"

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Drunken Krayt Bar

The lady flicked her lekku impassively at Verias' joke, then her gaze slipped over his shoulder with a brief look of apprehension. Well, I suppose each species has different odours they find offensive.

A hand fell on Verias' shoulder, and for a brief second his heart jumped at the thought that he had missed the Trandoshan's return, and it was standing behind him. But the was neither large enough nor scaly, and he turned on his stool to see another Twi'lek glowering at him. She was the same pigmentation as the other, and similar in appearance, but on a more muscular frame.

Are you bothering her? She glowered at him, her lekku twitching intimidatingly, her long nails digging into his shoulder. You'd better be careful; we're wanted fugitives. I have an Imperial death mark!

The bartender pointedly turned away from the conversation and back to her other patrons.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nar Shaadaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

"Best to keep it simple then," Nim'arha nodded in understanding. "So we wait 'til morning like Qid suggested, then just pick up the package and make sure were aren't tailed? Sounds simple enough."

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaadaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

"In my experience, the simplest plans tend to be best. Besides, no sense wasting a whole bunch of time planning when the opposition isn't going to cooperate anyway," he says, chittering slightly at his own comment. "Now, unless you've got something better in mind, I suppose we wait for the others to see the signal on their comms," Kl'ck says. "Saabac, holochess, or weapon cleaning?" he inquires.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat
Drunken Krayt Bar

Sighing, Verias closes his eyes for a moment to compose himself.

Nim'arha is wanted by the Imps, which is just a delayed execution if rumours are right...heck even Saj'wik might just have a few system death marks here and there with all the trouble she gets herself into. And then we've got this one, who totes her death mark around like she's the owner of a new Bespin Motor luxury swoop. The nerve...so much for a relaxing night.

Smiling at the first Twi'lek before turning to the newly arrived trouble, he attempts to douses the retort rising within himself to speak amicably, but it begins to slip out before he knew it. "Seeing as your lady companion (and I'm sure even that's a stretch from her reaction when this one arrived) accepted the drink I had bought her, I would think that she probably doesn't mind my friendly attempts at small talk. I had originally thought she was nervous in accepting a drink from a stranger, but now I know it's from waiting on you. Probably the Death Mark and all you know? It does tend to get in between people trying to socialize and have a good time when you try to flaunt it every time you meet someone new. If you were on Coruscant that might be a pretty boast. But out here on Nar Shaddaa? I'm sure half the people in this bar would tell you the same." The more he spoke, the more irritated he became. Maybe it's the Rancor in his drink speaking or just the long day of work, but the more he said, the more scathing it became. "And for the record, you might want to keep that on the down low. Last I checked, bounty hunters frequent this place as often as gangers, and the Imps have a policy of putting money up for those on their wanted lists. Now if you'll excuse me for a sec."

Ignoring the startled Twi'lek, he takes out the comlink from his pocket and skims over the message sent over by the Captain before pocketing it once more. Polishing off the rest of his drink, he places enough credits to cover his orders and a tip before hopping off the bar stool. As Verias turns to face to the death marked, he looks at her and pauses a moment before easing her hand off of his shoulder and placing the remaining drink into her hand. "Unfortunately duty calls." Looking away from the muscle and back to their quiet companion, he gives her one last smile. "I apologize for my outburst, and you'll have to excuse me for leaving early. Could you say sorry to our cold blooded acquaintance when he returns for me? I wish you a pleasant evening. Oh, and if you are staying in town for awhile, maybe I'll see you here again."

With a nod of thanks to Neektu the Xexto barman, Verias picks up his backpack and brushes past the Twi'lek as he heads out of the tavern. Taking a deep breath and shrugging his shoulders, Verias ventures back into the busy night streets of Nar Shaddaa. No rest for the wicked as they say... Comming Saj'wik as he walks into a food stall a few blocks down the lane, he motions to the vendor for a few fried mynock wings and a big loaf of funge bread. "Hey shorty, did you get the message from Kl'ck? Yea, picking up some food before I head back myself. You picked up a what? How did you get poor Faevo into helping you drag all that junk back? Well alright, I'll see you back on the boat." Thanking the man, he checks his bearings before heading back onto the promenade. If he recalls correctly, there's a creamery nearby that sold some very delectable fried milk curds. Though it's not made from the bantha milk that Saj'wik likes, it's a pretty close second.

Humming to himself, Verias strolls around the area, picking out a few more things off their grocery list before heading back to the space port.
If you'll allow it, Verias will use his 2 advantages and triumph to stun the twi'lek into silence with his outburst before heading out of the bar.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nar Shaadaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

"Holochess," Nim'arha replied.

[Amberfire]

Feavo rotated her antennae out and wrinkled her snout in the Rodian equivalent of a grin. It was the better part involuntary, but a grin nevertheless. Saj'wik's enthusiasm was too loud not to be catching.

"How about we get these ... 'treasures' ... back to the ship first? So we don't have to carry them. Then, if you still want, we can go out for drinks, maybe hunt down wherever Verias is." Feavo checked her comlink, just in case, and was rewarded with the message from Kl'ck. "And we've got a job, too! We'd better go get the details."

Bending, she hoisted the droid over her shoulder and seized its detached legs. It was too bad the power source had died on her, or else she could try rigging up the legs and making it walk by itself. With a grunt that was more complaint than any distress, she followed Saj'wik.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck expels air from his lungs while rubbing his mandibles together in his species version of a sigh. "Perhaps this time I'll beat you. I swear sometimes it seems you can read my mind," he says as he warms up the board. For someone that supposedly hadn't played much prior to joining the crew, she was quite the good player.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik's hands are too full to check her communicator, so she ambles on with Feavo in tow.

"Ahh, life! Treasures! Job! Is all needed, is enough. Drinks maybe later! Creepy Quarren foot bill. What is face deal with creepy Quarren, anyway? Hehehe."

So saying, and chattering all the while, she and Feavo make their way off the scow and onto the dock. She looks out at the abyss, taking a brief look at the spindly architecture of the various docks and mooring areas. Under the hood, her glowing eyes might be classified as wistful.

"Love coming here," she says suddenly, "Possibility, everywhere. Voyage to anywhere! Have moments, think of what young Saj'wik say if see old Saj'wik. HA! Worth everything!"

With a spring in her step, she heads into the Nar Shaddaa bustle with goodies in hand.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat
The Last Resort II

Getting back onto the ship, he wanders into the common area, finding Kl'ck and Nim'arha in the middle of their Holochess match. As he puts the extra groceries away, he can't help but grin to himself. Seeing how quiet Kl'ck is, the kid must be out doing herself again. Plopping down onto one of the seats, he places the takeout down onto the table beside him.

"If I didn't know better Nim', I'd say you're hoodwinking our good captain," Verias chuckles as he watches their exchange while biting into a mynock wing absently.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"If I didn't know better, I'd say our good captain sucks at Holochess. Hey, hand me one of those food thingies, will you? Smells good," Nim'arha said to Verias, without looking up from the game board.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck carefully examines the gameboard, mandibles gnashing together as he examines the board one last time. Finally he shakes his head in defeat and sits back with a sigh. "I'm thankful I stopped putting money on these matches. If you truly had not played this game prior to leaving home, you have a natural aptitude for the game," he says inclining his head slightly to the twi'lek. "Were you once again rejected most vehemently by biologically compatible females, or is there another reason you smell as if you are wearing an alcoholic beverage for cologne?" Kl'ck enquires of the doctor as he turns off the Dejarik system.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat

Passing one of the greasy fried wings over to Nim'arha, Verias shakes his head and laughs. "Kid, I've seen sore losers and on occasion have even been one myself, but you? You are definitely what I would call a sore winner."

"Good guess, but not tonight. Was sitting beside a big Trando and figured I should save the rest of you from having to smell his stench. On another note, how was the talk with the Quarren? Got your message and came back as quick as I could. Good news?" Grinning at the Captain, he rips himself a chunk of funge bread before leaning over the table to pass it over.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck takes the greenish bread, ripping a piece off for himself. "The trandoshan must have been particularly rank to warrant you wasting any quality of ethanol in that fashion, even the rotgut served in the local bars," Kl'ck rejoins in jest. "I will wait until Saj'wik and Feavo return with whatever new project they discover in the scrap yard. Hopefully it smells better than the last time. Qid indicated that he is arranging a second job after this one though, so yes, potentially good news," he says before taking a bite of the bread.

[Amberfire]

Once they arrived at the Last Resort II, Feavo headed to the cargo hold first to drop off the droid and her new blaster by her workbench. She hooked the droid up to the ship to let it charge. As they headed into the common area, she remarked to Saj'wik, "I'm gonna have to test that blaster later, and I'll need something for target practice... Any suggestions?" Her antennae twitched, which was almost a laugh by Feavo's standards.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik shrugs her burdens into the latest forming pile in her room (which doubled as the ship's tertiary storage area) before heading back with Feavo towards the common room.

"Hummm! Many things. Nar Shaddaa have many targets need shooting," she replies, striding (as much as a Jawa can stride) down the corridor. Entering the common area, she addresses Kl'ck in the midst of his defeat, "Maybe bossman Kl'ck have targets? New job? Found blaster, need field testing!"

She pounces on the mynock wings, grabbing one of the more dubious ones and crunching into it with zest before settling into one of the seats and sparing a look at the chessboard. She chuckles at this, a high-pitched staccato.

"Yiii-yo-yo! Every time! Nim'arha no tired of Kl'ck-smash-thrash yet? Yiii-yo-yo!"

[mr1135]

"Oh hey, intrepid explorer!" Calling to Saj'wik as she starts munching on her food, Verias digs through his backpack until he finds the small bag of fried frozen milk curd dessert and tosses them over. "Congrats on the find. Not made from blue milk as you'd like, but they're a big hit in town, or so I been told."

Looking between the excited Jawa and Faevo, he raises an eye brow. "Find anything good? I warrant your enthusiasm means you've netted more than just the blaster for your projects. Nothing...uhh smelly like the last time right?"

[Caimheul]

One of Kl'ck's antenna twitches slightly at the mention of target practice "Qid needs us to pick up a parcel tomorrow morning from a dead drop and bring it to him, taking care not to be followed. He is also in the process of putting together another job, so yes, potentially there are things that will need to be shot. Probably better if you test it out on low power against the training remote first or the targets on the wall of the cargo hold though. Especially if it's a Suicide Special," he says referring to the blasters cobbled together from spare parts and sold in back alleys. They had the advantage of being cheap, disposable, and untraceable, but the disadvantage of malfunctioning fairly frequently.

[Amberfire]

Feavo nodded at Verias. "We found a droid—protocol—that was perhaps a victim of my new blaster, judging from the carbon scoring," she said. "The interesting thing is, it's got some encrypted info, so as soon as I'm done recharging its power supply, I'm going to get right on it. Hopefully it'll be something valuable, and not something that's dangerous to know. And Saj'wik found...some things..." she trailed off, gesturing to the Jawa.

To Kl'ck, she remarked, "Even a Suicide Special should be fixable—one hopes." She shrugged, her fingers already itching to get to work on her new projects. For one thing, being without a functional blaster made her feel vulnerable. "So, dead drop. Whereabouts? And do any of us have any familiarity with the area?"

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Dunno. It's somewhere in the Corellian Sector. Kl'ck has the address," Nim'arha replied, between bites of mynock wing.

[mr1135]

Verias nods along as Kl'ck talks through the meeting details until Nim'arha's mention of Corellia. choking on his half eaten bread, he clears his throat before asking hesitantly,"Did uhh did you say Corellia? Like we're heading back Core-wards? Uhh how much is he paying anyway? You did say incognito right?" Changing the subject back to the job details, Verias tries to shrug it off as if it was just an accident.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik finishes her wing with a loud crunch and picks up the curds cautiously.

"Make you deal, doc! I eat [EXPLETIVE NOUN] . . ." she says, interrupting herself to open the package and pick out two of the curds. She proffers one to Verias, ". . . you eat [EXPLETIVE NOUN] too. I suffer, you suffer. I like, you like!"

As Kl'ck describes the job, she munches on her curd. And then quickly picks out two others.

"([EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE] nice find, doc!) Corellia? Like, where Last Resort make?" she asks, suddenly interested, "Hummm! How bad could be, if make nice thing like this? Hehehe. We go now, or ask around, see if can find other deal? Maybe someone want ship something to Corellia, and since we go anyway, why not? Much more profit!"

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Err, no." Nim'arha looks embarrassed. "Here on Nar Shaddaa. Sorry about that..."

[mr1135]

"Oh! Corellian sector." Verias leans back and relaxes, picking up that piece of curd and pops it into his mouth. "Was uhh was wondering why Qid was having us make such a long run just to pick up a package. Hmm well if that's the case, how about we head off earlier tomorrow during the day to scout the area out? It'd probably be good to know the specific area in the case we run into any trouble.

Smiling at the happy Jawa, "See? Ain't half bad eh? Hey, I never asked. What's blue milk like anyway?"

[herodofcows]

"Ohhhhh, like NEIGHBORHOOD! Sorry, Last Resort, no home for you!"

Saj'wik looks at Verias and tries to come up with an answer.

"Is . . . is blue milk. Cannot describe! Like ask describe air or heat! Just is. One day, you try. Then you see. Anyway, good idea! Maybe scope area, fix up . . . precautions. Just in case someone try follow tomorrow."

Saj'wik tries to play this last bit off nonchalantly, like she WASN'T talking about something that could potentially do someone grievous bodily harm.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Can we please do this one job without explosions?" Nim'arha pleaded.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck
"The main problem is we do not have a time frame for when the drop is to occur other than if it isn't done by tomorrow morning, we're off the hook. If we spook the contact and they do not make the drop, Qid is not likely to be too happy with us if he finds out, so we should stay out of the immediate drop location. If there is a tail, probably better we avoid large scale demolitions if possible, otherwise we run the risk of disrupting business in the Corellian sector, and the hutts are not likely to be too happy about that, no matter how brief. Still, I figure take a fairly odd route out of there, and see if anyone follows. If we set up cameras or have a couple of us stakeout along the route, we can see if any faces re-occur more than they should. Then we can have a word with them about how it is impolite to follow people," Kl'ck says, mandibles chittering slightly.

He then addresses Feavo. "Well, hopefully this was an impromptu action resulting in the attempted disposal of a quality blaster. Otherwise, if you are so desperate for a weapon that you are willing to risk your hands, you can use my backup or take a loan out of petty cash for the time being. Your cut of the job should be able to more than cover it. Probably should look into obtaining some thicker clothing should violence ensue at the very least," Kl'ck says, trying to be helpful. "I have to say, I am also curious as to what prompted the destruction and disposal of a droid. Normally a memory wipe is in order, mind if I have a look?" Kl'ck inquires.

I'm treating the 250 Credits Kl'ck started with after expenditures as the petty cash fund in this case.

[Amberfire]

"Risk my hands!" Feavo shook her head, her snout twitching. "I'm sure I'll be able to take adequate protections. Anyway, there's no use wasting it if I can fix it up. If it's a real hopeless case, I'll accept a loan until we can procure another, with thanks. And you can definitely take a look at the droid's info once I've decrypted it."

She shifts her weight, and looks at the others. "Corellian sector, hmm. I'm sure we can handle that. Maybe I can get a droid to do surveillance for us. Droids are more likely to be overlooked, less likely to scare off or alert anyone. Holocams aren't a bad idea, but they can be a tip-off."

[mr1135]

Chuckling, Verias looks from Nim'arha to Saj'wik, "Hahaha kid, now that's just being cruel and unusual. You're taking all the fun away from her. But that said, yea if you could help it let's go easy on the explosives Saj'wik. You do know what incognito means right?" Pretending to be serious before breaking back out into laughter.

"A droid does sound like a great idea, if you could fix up the one you just salvaged by then that is. In any case, a Corellian like me would mix pretty well into the crowds there. If you want, I could head over early with say Nim or something and see how much foot traffic goes by that area. Grab a caf at a shop and such you know?" Pausing for a moment to take another bite of the funge, "it's not another one of those back alley drops is it? Hard to find a reason to walk into one if someone is scoping out the place ahead of us already."

[Dark Knight Renee]

"That would be lovely, thank you. Qid said the drop location was a locker in a transit station, so it should be plenty public."

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik scowls invisibly beneath the hood as she fishes out another curd.

"Sure, know incognito! Explosion turn person in guts and droid IN COG! NEAT-O!" she roars squeakily, shaking her fist in mock anger before settling down, "But sure, you take look, someone come to back you up, Feavo work on droid, I work on blaster. Maybe even drive! Can drive fine, as long as not ship! Sound like plan, no? Although . . . creepy Quarren no say what is dead drop package, no?"

[Amberfire]

Feavo looked over Verias and Nim'arha. "Got to say, if you need to blend in with a crowd, can't do better than a Corellian and Twi'lek, so you two seem like the best to actually pick up the whatsit from the locker. Kl'ck, Saj'wik, and myself should probably play least in sight...

"I'll see what I can do with the droid tonight. Oh, and we should perhaps rent a speeder, park it some blocks and levels away from the drop point. If neither of you—" she gestured to Verias and Nim'arha, "—are comfortable driving it, I'm pretty confident I can shake a tail. Should we have one."

[mr1135]

"As long as they don't know who we drop it off with isn't it? So it's not as if we can't be spotted as long as we beat them to the grab. Even if they see who we are, it doesn't really tie it back to Qid. Hmm..." Pondering for a second longer, Verias fishes out his flask from his vest and takes a sip. "Hmm...a skycar would be best I think. Something that could fit all of us? After all, if we just drop it off with the driver, they could still try to hunt Nim and I down to find out it was a job from the Quarren. So whoever does get spotted will need a means to get out of there. Oh, we could even have Saj'wik come up with a particularly spectacular..."distraction" if she's really inclined into us leaving a bang. Something small? A small IED in a locker nearby maybe?"

Giving a grin over to the enthusiastic Jawa, "Don't say I never try to give you an excuse buddy."

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck

"This one would rather not run the risk of hurting bystanders, absolute worst case we damage some hutt's own dead drop or underling. The hutts are likely to be monitoring the station if only to track potential marks. The skycar is a good idea as long as we pay cash, with a little extra to be listed as "John Smith." No need to make it easier for people to trace us, they may decide their best course of action is to hunt us down later and ask us who received the package. And there is the fact that we only got paid a couple hundred for this job and are not getting expenses. We should look into buying a cheap speeder or swoop at some point in the future, not like we don't have enough technically savvy in this hive to fix up an older model," Kl'ck says grinding his mandibles absentmindedly. "We would lose some cargo space though... Too bad we have no way of knowing what type of package it will be, otherwise we could run a shell game. Still might be able to with set of backpacks, depends on how big the lockers are. Best bet is likely to lure any tail into a secluded area, stun them, roll them to make it look like a robbery. Still, Qid did not state unequivocally that there would be a tail, however it is always best to plan for the worst case." Kl'ck says, thinking out loud at this point. "Could also try to old trick of boarding a train and jumping off at a random station as the doors close. Harder to physical tails to follow without making themselves obvious. Should find some way to scan for digital trackers, as those don't care how evasive one is being..." Kl'ck trails off in thought, clicking his mandibles together.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik gives Verias a quick thumbs-up as she listens to Kl'ck.

"Fix up speeder??? [EXPLETIVE NOUN] YES! New project!" she turns delightedly to Feavo, "Can make [EXPLETIVE INFINITIVE VERB] racing-swoop-style! Boost handling, add security, add weapons! Is nothing to [EXPLETIVE VERB] with!!!"

She pulls out a datapad and begins sketching out ideas: one for potential modifications on a beat-up speeder, and the other for a nice, distracting IED.

"Good, have ideas for tail-distractment! Imagine groceries . . . but also BOMB! Must begin! Much to do! If hear sounds come from storage, not to worry! Unless hear Saj'wik tell to worry. Then worry! Probably not happen, though!"

So saying, Saj'wik jumps up and skitters off to her workshop/room/storage area, still sketching out ideas. Once she's within, she begins working on one of her ideas: a shaped charge, made from one of her grenades, that could be concealed in a piece of produce. Truly, this would be the most explosive pepper she would ever craft.

Okay, this probably is gonna result in some trickiness, so I'm calling this Hard unless otherwise corrected. The priorities are the ability to shape the grenade, and then making it fit in something like a pepper.

BOOM (http://orokos.com/roll/257549)

And lo, there was a whirring and a soldering and a fixing of wires. And in the depths of the night, Saj'wik stood before her creation and proclaimed in Jawa:

"<For I am become Saj'wik, [EXPLETIVE VERB]-UPPER OF MOTHER[EXPLETIVE VERB]S!>"

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck breaks out of his revelry when the jawa runs off in excitement. "Oh, carapace rot. This one was thinking aloud again wasn't I?" he rubs his mandibles together while exhaling. "Well, I suppose while Verias and Nim'arha are getting a feel for the area surrounding the Corellian Sector Transit station, I can take a look at the blaster you found, and see if I can shed any additional light on the mystery of the destroyed droid."


Skill check to determine the state/type of the blaster (http://orokos.com/roll/257715) 6 Successes, 2 Threat. Am planning on taking the threat as strain from a shock from a loose connection in the blaster, unless there are better suggestions?

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Corellian Sector - District 27 - Level 90

A busy hovertrain packed with beings pulled into the transit station. Farther from the industrial and shipping parts of the Smuggler's Moon, the streets were wider and slightly better lit, defying the lower portions of the moon with a numbering system that started thousands of stories above the ground, ignoring anything that wasn't part of this less threatening Nar Shaddaa. Inside the transit station sat locker number 887.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck immediately nods in recognition upon seeing the blaster. "An SE-14, used by the separatists during the clone wars. Fairly reliable, and still a good number of them on the market as surplus," he says as he begins to field strip it. "Overall in good shape, except for CHITIN ROT," he exclaims as a couple of loose wires in the blaster zap him. He shakes one of this three fingered hands. "Right just fix that, quickly and... looks like you have a working blaster. Hopefully you won't have need of it for awhile though."

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat
Nar Shaddaa
Corellian Sector - District 27 - Level 90

Sauntering down the busy street on the early morning, Verias sips on his cup of caf before putting on his newly purchased pair of sun visor. Catching a reflection of himself with the new shades on, he can't help but grin at himself before turning to Nim'arha. "Don't I look like that holodrama Private Eye Jax McDangerson? And you can be the Twi'lek from CorSec Vice! Just you know...watch out for swoops before crossing the street. Top 10 worst ways to get canned from a series if you ask me..."

Putting the comlink back to his ear, he informs the others of their progress. "We're about 5 minutes away from the station. How's everybody doing?"

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik sits on a bench within the transit station, legs dangling as she clutches a bag of groceries with two hands. Anybody looking within might notice that the bag is mostly filled with yellow peppers, although one large-ish red one sits prominently at the top. An odd selection, for sure, but . . . well, who could speculate upon the thought processes of Jawas? Most people seem to pointedly ignore her, much less the contents of her bag.

For her part, Saj'wik is mighty contented. She'd stayed up most of the night custom-making her shaped charge and then fitting it into a pepper she'd found stashed away in the kitchen. There had been no inadvertent explosions, no sudden power fluctuations, no coffee-maker-gainining-malevolent-sentience (not that anybody had believed her when she'd tried to explain THAT one). Just a Tatooine girl, her bomb, and a bag full of peppers, trying to make her way in this crazy galaxy.

"Am near main terminal entrance," she replies to Verias, "ready to move if need. Very fancy place. Good restaurants, nice people. Like Corellia?"

She eyes the area, with its well-off clientele and scrubbed-clean surfaces. There's not a speck of mess or clutter to be found, just rich people doing rich-people things in their rich-people place.

Saj'wik can't wait to start blowing it up.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck's multifaceted eyes sweep the crowd as he approaches a news stand in the terminal and buys a beverage. "Very busy, hard to see," he mutters into his commlink.

Used Destiny point to increase ability, figure it's Hard given the number of people in the transit area during morning/shift change... which is at least part of the reason we'd do this then. :smalltongue:. Perception roll to spot people staking out the lockers. (http://orokos.com/roll/258340) One auto advantage from Verpine, drink heals one strain.

[Amberfire]

Flashback - The Night Before
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

"Hopefully not," Feavo had said to Kl'ck, taking the blaster from him. She looked it over, narrowing her big eyes. "Actually," she said, "this will be an easy fix. I've got everything I need here..." She turned away, went to her workbench, and pulled out a box of tools.

But she didn't work on it yet. She turned to Kl'ck and nodded at him. "But you wanted to see the droid. It's powered up enough now for me to start decryption, so I'll do that while you're here." She stepped to the side, plugged her datapad into the droid once again, her fingers moving quickly over the keys. "Well, this is unusually complex," she muttered, her eyes slitted and her antennae pricked forwards with interest, though of course there was nothing for them to sense. Complex though the encryption was, it wasn't anything past her abilities.

Here's the roll. (http://orokos.com/roll/258392) Well, this is one hell of a roll.

[Caimheul]

Flashback - The Night Before
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

"Oh definitely, just need a couple of spare wires and it will be fully functional in no time at all." Kl'ck agrees with Faevo. Still shaking his hand he wanders over and pokes at the remains of the droid. "This whole situation is most peculiar, and reeks of illicit activity, even if this were not Nar Shaddaa. Saj'Wik will assuredly be able to piece this back together eventually. Give her a nice project that does not, or rather should not, involve large quantities of high explosives." Curiosity satisfied as to the state of the mechanicals, he wanders over and peaks over Faevo's shoulder at the data readout. He grinds his mandibles in thought. "Most peculiar. This one will leave you to it," he says as he departs, Faevo already fully engrossed in decrypting the data.

[GAThraawn]

Flashback - The Night Before
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Poring over the datafiles before her, Feavo made short work of the encryption. She was still settling down to be slicing for another hour or two when the last line of code opened up before her. Suddenly the droid's vocabulator engaged and began repeating a long string of letters and digits.

Aurek 1 1 5 7 Isk 2 4 Xesh 7 6 9 Besh 1 Isk 9 2

[Amberfire]

Aurek 1 1 5 7 Isk 2 4 Xesh 7 6 9 Besh 1 Isk 9 2
Aurek 1 1 5 7 Isk 2 4 Xesh 7 6 9 Besh 1 Isk 9 2

"Ok, ok, I get it!" Feavo snapped. "Will you just—" she pressed a button.

Aurek 1 1 5 7 Isk 2 4 Xesh 7 6 9 Besh 1 Isk 9 2
Senth 6 5 4 2 2 Cherek 5 Enth 0 0 3 Esk 0 3

Feavo thumped the droid on the head. "Can you stop for a moment?" she demanded.

Besh Dom 2 2 5 Leth 7 2 1 Resh 2 Krenth 7 0 0
Aurek 4 5 3 Onlth 3 4 1 Isk 8 5 8 Leth 4 7 1

Feavo's antennae almost flattened backwards on her head. "No, no, no, no, if I tell you to shut up—"

Aurek 1 1 5 7 Isk 2 4 Xesh 7 6 9 Besh 1 Isk 9 2
Cherek 4 2 8 7 Jenth 9 9 3 Krill 7 3 7 Xesh 5

"—then SHUT UP!" Feavo's fingers flew over the keys on her datapad, to no avail. No combination, no string of code, would make the babbling droid quiet. She jammed her fingers into its back panels and opened them up, digging around inside for plugs. She pulled one likely-looking cord free.

Aurek 1 1 5 7 Isk 2 4 Xesh 7 6 9 Besh 1 Isk 9 2
Cherek 4 Nem 5 Herf 5 5 6 Enth 9 7 1 Onlth 0 0

She plugged it into the datapad. Info garbled across her screen, the same damn code the droid was spouting. No longer relevant, she thought, her adrenaline spiking as the droid kept going on a long monotonous string of seemingly-meaningless numerals and letters, on and on and on and on. At least it was all saved to her datapad now.

And no button she pressed would make the damned thing quiet! That was her new priority, before it drove everyone on the ship mad. She took a deep breath. This was a malfunctioning droid, she reminded herself. Not a threat. If she couldn't figure out how to shut it up, she could just pull the power. Ignoring the code, she turned her attention back on the datapad and the wiring. Now, she thought she knew a trick...

Here's the roll. (http://orokos.com/roll/258521)

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nim'arha
Nar Shaddaa
Corellian Sector - District 27 - Level 90

"Sorry to disappoint, but I've never seen that holodrama," Nim'arha replied absently. Normally, Verias' smalltalk put her at ease, but today she found it distracting. She'd been dreaming vividly of home last night (and, oddly, also about a string of letters and numbers), and she needed to re-attune her senses to the overwhelming bustle of Nar Shaddaa before they reached the drop location. She hoped that this would be the milk run it seemed like, and that Kl'ck was just overplanning... but just in case it wasn't and he wasn't, she needed to be alert - to 'bring her A-game,' as Verias would put it.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat

"Alright. Call back when we arrive. Should be just another three minutes or so off." Glancing at his companion as they continue down the high street towards the station, he pockets the comlink before slowing and puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Nim, you alright? The station's just around the corner. If you need to get something out of you, it needs to be now. Otherwise, it's time to knuckle down and bring your A-Game alright?" Taking a moment to look around before continuing, though not with the most conviction, "Hey and who knows, maybe it will be a cake walk and we'll be in and out before we know it."

A voice in the back of his mind kept telling him it wouldn't be as easy as he's making it. Disguising it as a small stretch, he flexes his back to feel the comfort of the blaster tucked in the small of his back. It will have to do. Nothing risked, nothing gained.

"You've never had Corellian food before have you? If we finish early, I'll buy us dinner. Been awhile since I've had some smoked nerf and spiceloaf."

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik has only been sitting for two minutes and already she is getting fidgety. She worries that, after a while, someone will notice a Jawa where most Jawas don't end up and get uncomfortable. Uncomfortable rich people call security. Security tries to get you to move. Getting you to move makes you reach for your pepper. Reaching for your pepper results in security guard purée. Security guard purée is conspicuous and Saj'wik ends up on a Most Wanted list again. And this would not do.

Impatiently, she scans the area, on the lookout for any suspicious activity from her team or others. Her short stature and the bustle of the crowd makes this difficult, unfortunately, but something DOES catch her eye . . .

Roll! (http://orokos.com/roll/258867)

I leave it to the GM to spend that advantage.

[GAThraawn]

Flashback - The Night Before
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Senth 6 5 4 2 2 Cherek 5 Enth 0 0 3 Esk 0 3
Besh Dom 2 2 5 Leth 7 2 1 Resh 2 Krenth 7 0 0

Feavo thumped her datapad with increasing frustration. No, blast you, shut UP! She hammered in another line of code.

Cherek 4 Nem 5 Herf 5 5 6 Enth - Oh, thank the maker! I'm so sorry, I have no idea what came over me! The protocol droid sagged as it disengaged its vocabulator. It looked down at the table where its legs should have been, and then across to the bench where they were lying. And I'm being rebuilt! I thought I was a goner for sure! If there's anything I can do to assist you, please allow me to offer my aid.

So, a Triumph! You manage to get the droid under control, I won't ask for a separate check to fix its programming (although it still needs to be rebuilt, and still has some memory issues), and you may add 1 Advantage automatically to each check you perform on this droid, as it cooperates with you to the best of its ability.

Nar Shaddaa
Corellian Sector - District 27 - Level 90

Outside the transit station, the bustle of early morning traffic meant the streets were filled with species from a hundred worlds all travelling to and fro. Up here, beings were cleaner and better dressed, the air didn't contain the same rank stench, and there were fewer visible weapons carried. Street vendors hawked their wares and shouted in competition with one another; as they stood outside the station an Ithorian pulling a cart walked past, engaging them with her patter as she did.

<<Consumer electronics sir? Comlink, replace power cells? Jewellery for the pretty lady? Sparkling corusca gem pendant, only 10 credits ma'am?>>

Inside, Kl'ck and Saj'wik swept the place for signs that they were being watched, but the bustling station was too crowded for them to be able to keep track of everyone. However, the little Jawa's attention was captured by a one vendor: in one corner of the main courtyard, far enough out of the way that he might have gone unnoticed by a less observant being. On the surface of things, he could have been mistaken for any one of the other scores of food stalls and merchants, but there was something different about this one. Something that Kl'ck almost certainly had overlooked.

He was selling Jawa Juice.

Now, Saj'wik was focused and dedicated to the job at hand, and certainly not likely to be easily distracted by simple frivolities, but it was implied in her role that she should investigate anything that she deemed unusual. That was basically what Kl'ck had told her before they left! And finding somebody actually selling real Jawa Juice this far from Tattooine was very unusual...

Surely it merited...investigation.

You don't spot anything suspicious, but the very happy Jawa gains renewed focus and enthusiasm after getting a rare glimpse of home: she can add 1 Boost die to a check of your choice this encounter.

[Dark Knight Renee]

"I'm alright. Just a little out of focus," Nim'arha assured Verias. "I was dreaming of home last night, that's all. But I'm good now." The twi'lek squared her shoulders, assumed an air of confidence, and strode into the transit station.

Weaving her way through the crowd, Nim'arha scanned the lockers for #887, allowing the crowd to delay her if it proved initially difficult to locate. Once she found it, Nim'arha walked up to it with the notion that it and its contents were and always had been hers firmly in mind, and punched in the code to open it.


Deception (http://orokos.com/roll/259134) to look like she knows what she's doing and that it's her locker.
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/259147) to spot her teammates, with a boost because she knows roughly what to expect from them (assuming Saj'wik hasn't left the bench yet).
Separate Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/259149) roll to keep an eye out for trouble. (Wow, that is a lot of failures. What to do with the advantage though?)
I'm assuming the locker isn't terribly difficult to find, so not rolling for that.

[herodofcows]

It's a matter of seconds.

<Hello there! I wonder if I could . . . yes, a small can is . . . oh, to hell with it, give me a large! And thats . . . ? Oh, perfectly reasonable! Thank you kindly!>

Humming, Saj'wik picks up her bag and returns to her seat, can balanced within. Sure, she was out a few credits, but . . .

Pop

Glug

"Ahhhhhhh."

. . . it was absolutely worth it.

So fortified, she resumes her vigil, an invisible smile plastered beneath her hood. Everything seems a little brighter, a little more kinetic and wondrous and filled with possibility. Sure, chaos and madness could erupt any second, but for this precious moment, Saj'wik feels a sort of peace with the universe. She feels a stillness within herself, a quiet that she hasn't felt since the last time she wandered the crags and ridges along the Dune Sea at sunset. A small slice of familiarity amidst the strange and exciting and potentially dangerous . . . she NEEDED this.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat

Walking into the station with Nim'arha, he glances around before saying to his companion that he'll be heading to the 'freshers and walks off into another direction. Taking a circular route around the station, he approaches the locker area from another direction and stands several meters away to see if anyone is looking at Nim as she opens the locker. Leaning against a pillar and merging into the crowd, he pretends to relax as if he's chatting on his comlink while he scans the mass of commuters, his eyes hidden behind his sun-visor.

"She's opening it now."
Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/259291) to look into the crowd

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Corellian Sector - District 27 - Level 90
Transit Station

Nim'arha confidently opened the locker and pulled out the backpack that was waiting inside. Glancing around, she saw Verias leaning against a pillar, pretending to talk into his comlink as he cast his concealed gaze around the station. On a bench nearby sat Saj'wik, happily gulping down a can of something Nim'arha was sure she hadn't had a moment ago. Nobody else within view seemed to be paying her the slightest bit of attention: emboldened, Nim'arha took the chance of quickly glancing at the contents of the bag before she slung it over her shoulder, shut the locker and headed for the exit where Kl'ck was waiting.

Deception and Perception for teammates both go fine; as for spotting trouble...Nim'arha is quite confident nobody is watching her. Either way, however, I was spending her Advantage on getting a look at the package unnoticed. Let me know if you don't want that, otherwise, give me a Hard Mechanics, or Knowledge (Education), check to determine just what she recognises. 1 Setback for only having a quick glance, 1 Boost from your Advantage: 1eB+0eA+0eP+1eS+3eD+0eC+0eF

As the Twi'lek left the station, Verias kept a keen watch for any hint of pursuit, or any commuters showing interest in her. By the time she had walked out the doors, he was confident that if anyone here was following her, they were exceptionally good, or a team of at least four.

Sir.

A hand fell on Verias' shoulder, and he turned to see a snub-nosed Weequay with the dour expression typical to the species and the uniform of transit security. She regarded him impassively and did not remove her hand.

I have to ask you what your business is here. She spoke in clipped, taciturn tones, and Verias could feel his eyes beginning to water from her pungent, distinctly Weequay, odour as she talked.

Good news: With that much success, you're confident nobody is watching or tailing Nim'arha. Bad news: 3 Threat means that Verias is a little less subtle and a little more suspicious-looking than he intended. Charming or Deceiving her will be an Average check, but with 2 Setback for looking super sketchy and her naturally guarded demeanour: 0eB+0eA+0eP+2eS+2eD+0eC+0eF

[Amberfire]

Flashback - The Night Before
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Feavo sagged backwards in relief. "Oh good," she told the droid. "I'm glad to see you've stopped. Considering we picked you out of the garbage, it seems someone intended you to be a goner."

"I cannot thank you enough!" said the droid.

Feavo shrugged. "And I'm rebuilding you tomorrow. Just power down for now."

"Certainly, certainly!" Instantly, the droid's photoreceptors dimmed.

Feavo spent a few moments tidying up, then headed out to her room. As usual, she picked an entirely different route from docking bay to motel. Some habits were vulnerabilities.


The Present Morning
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

"Rise and shine," Feavo said cheerfully.

"Oh my!" said the droid. "That was very loud of you. I've been aware of your presence for the past two hours and forty-two minutes."

Feavo tilted her head to the side. "Well, you ready for an operation? I've finished repairing this blaster here, so you're next on my list." She had not been terribly surprised to find that the blaster was already modified to be untraceable, with serial number already filed off.

The droid raised itself on its arms. "I would appreciate reattachment of my legs."

"We'll start with that, then." She laid out her tools while the droid tracked her activity, and lined up torso and legs. "By the way," she asked as she began to connect wires, "do you know what that code was, the one you were repeating last night?"

This is the mechanics roll for repairing the blaster. (http://orokos.com/roll/258406)

Roll for re-attaching the droid's legs. (http://orokos.com/roll/259397) I have no explanation for what the hell this roll is supposed to be. ...So that happened. Whoops.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

The droid looked down at the Rodian with a head tilt that almost emulated curiosity. I'm afraid I don't have access to that information. I don't even have the algorithms to decrypt the datafiles myself. Its arms moved in what could have been a shrug. However, my memory files seem to have been damaged; it's possible that I lost access to it when I was shot. I do believe I recognize a similarity in length and composition between those codes and standard security clearance codes, but I am only a low-level administrative droid; I have never had access to security clearances. I'm afraid I don't believe I can be more helpful than that, such is my lot in life.

The droid looked back down at the repairs Feavo was working on. Excuse me for saying so, but I believe you have attempted to reconnect those wires four times already. Are you functioning at optimal capacity?

Feavo looked down at her tools. This was exactly the same join she'd already established didn't work. By the time she had gotten back to her room last night, it had been later than she was accustomed to, and she hadn't had any caf this morning yet either. She spent a moment blinking blearily at the complex mess of wires in front of her.

Pardon me, miss? I observe you have been inactive for 5 minutes and 35 seconds. Are you also in need of maintenance?

[Amberfire]

Feavo blinked blearily at the cords under her hands. "N-no," she said; then, "Yes. Maintenance... I think maybe breakfast is in order. And caf. Definitely caf. Look, I'm not getting anywhere here, I'll come back when I've ... done maintenance."

"That is perfectly adequate. Much better than affixing my legs on backwards. Could you imagine the horror?"

Feavo rubbed her temples. "I'm surprised you can."

"It is a figure of speech," said the droid stiffly. "I am programmed to use all common metaphorical—"

"Stuff it," Feavo said. "I understand. What's your name, anyway?"

The droid made an almost rude beep. "I am N5-3PX. My primary functions are—protocol, presumably. However, much of that information has been erased." Now the droid—N5—sounded even more disgruntled.

"You know you're a protocol droid, but you're missing data that tells you that you had additional functions?" Feavo asked.

"Presumably," said N5. "Will you hurry up and perform your biological maintenance? I am anxious to be whole again."

Feavo squinted in a Rodian equivalent of an eyeroll. "I'm heading out. You just hang on. Run diagnostics on yourself if you're bored. Once I've gotten breakfast or lunch or whatever, I'm sure assembling you will be easy enough."

She was nearly out of the cargo hold, her new blaster neatly concealed in her coat, aiming for the nearest restaurant to get some food and a very big cup of caf, when she heard N5 mutter, "That's what you said before you started malfunctioning."

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik is luxuriating in the post-Jawa Juice glow as she watches Nim'arha vacate the premises.

"So far so good! Wait at next train, Nim. Meet you there," Saj'wik squeaks into her comm, picking up her bags and ambling off after Nim'arha. The whole thing was going juuuust fi-

And then she sees Verias and the Weequay.

Saj'wik freezes for a moment and considers her options. Could she help with the Weequay? Technically yes. Could she help in a way that wouldn't blow their cover or the Weequay's flesh off its bones? Less likely. Could Verias handle the Weequay on his own? Probably. Did Nim'arha still need someone watching out for her? Well, that was the whole point, wasn't it?

So deciding, she shoots Verias a quick thumbs-up before ambling off after Nim'arha, keeping an eye out for errant passengers or tails (http://orokos.com/roll/259482). She doesn't spot any pursuers, but a passing look into a droid maintenance shop reveals some verrrrrry basic security measures. If Saj'wik had the time, she might leave herself a backdoor to get in and hit the place up . . . no! Later!

She catches up around when the Twi'lek meets up with Kl'ck.

"Verias have trouble with security. Not sure if coincidence or other group. Should go back?" she asks, trying to remember if security around here was easy to bribe or in any way known to be crooked. (http://orokos.com/roll/259485) To her knowledge, the security in this area was given a lot of leeway around keeping undesirables away from this nicer part of Nar Shaddaa, but some had been known to cut deals with the more reputable sort of criminals for easy passage. After all, nice districts in a bad area had to have their little dangers: their Lesai, their Glitterstim, the odd brush with Yarrock . . . nothing helpful to them at this moment, no, but maybe worth considering for a future job?

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat

Pausing for the slightest of moments, Verias considers his options. Well I can't exactly expose the others can I? Blast it! Let's hope this works...

Turning towards the Weequay as he puts his hands up in a placatory gesture, he tilts his head slowly to speak into his comlink before pocketing it. "I'll call you back in a sec Kl'ck. You're wrong about her."

Verias removes his sun-visor and puts on a happy smile before addressing the officer. "Hi there officer. Me? I'm just waiting for a friend I had met last night at the casino. The most beautiful twi'lek dancer I've ever met!" Playing the part of the smitten idiot, he's practically bursting with positive energy as he rambles on. "Can you believe my luck? I'Elanna is going to come home with me to meet my folks! I was on the coms with my friend just now and he was trying to convince me that she was just there for my credits. Can you believe his nerve? I'm telling you, I'Elanna and I love each other! We're going to get married before the year's over!"

Will use a Destiny point to up my chances at Deception (http://orokos.com/roll/259588), seeing as the last thing I need is to be held up.

Edit: Guess that worked.

Rolling her eyes and frowning at Verias, "You're a moron if you think she's actually into you. Listen to your friend and stop loitering around the station. Now get out of here. You're getting in the way of the traffic." Giving Verias a shove on the shoulder, the Weequay ambles on and continues her round.

"You're wrong! You're both wrong! You weren't there...you'll see. I'Elanna and I..." Murmuring frustratingly, Verias begins to walk towards the exit. Once the security officer was out of sight, he puts his visor back on and and ups his pace to catch up to the others.

"Sorry guys. Got delayed by a traffic cop. On my way to the rendezvous."

[Amberfire]

After a bowl of hot steaming noodles, Feavo followed it up with the biggest size of take-away caf, and retreated from the busy restaurant to the empty ship and its quiet corridors. Well, almost empty.

"I see you have brought biological nourishment," said N5. It sounded cranky.

"This?" Feavo lifted the caf, then took a deep sip and sighed with something very close to relief. "It's not nourishment, exactly, more of a ... tune-up. For my brain."

"You are direly in need of it then."

Feavo's antennae twitched backwards, then forwards. "Sure. Are you sure you want your legs reattached today? Or would you like me to put it off until Saj'wik comes back? I'm sure she can fix you, too. Except your legs will be bombs."

N5 made a horrified squawking sound and tried to move backwards on the desk. It only succeeded at pushing its hands uselessly towards the edge of the desk. "That won't be necessary," it said.

Feavo plonked her cup of caf down on the work desk. "Hold still," she said. "You're making this more difficult on yourself, you know."

"I don't see why—"

"Hush. I need quiet, or else I'll put your legs on backwards."

N5 was silent. How something that wasn't biological could pout and fill the air with its sulking Feavo didn't know, but somehow N5 was doing it. She hoped its mood would be improved when she finished fixing it up. She was beginning to wish she hadn't brought it back from the garbage pile after all. Her blaster, at least, didn't talk back.

Here's the roll. (http://orokos.com/roll/259751) Now that's how you do it.

[herodofcows]

"Good! Knew could rely on Verias!" Saj'wik replies into the comm, "[EXPLETIVE VERB] police anyway!"

She turns to Nim'arha, scooting the bag of peppers along with her.

"Any idea what in bag? Good to know in case problem happen! Don't want use pepper if . . ." Saj'wik checks herself, realizing they are still in public.

". . . if, ah . . . if allergic to pepper," she finishes lamely.

Down the tracks, she sees the next train pulling up, which jerks her into the next stage of the plan.

"Anyway, take front car! Will go to back of front car. Be ready to . . . to shrink environment if [EXPLETIVE NOUN] get crazy," she picks up again, and then drops her voice to a whisper, "Detach train, trap [EXPLETIVE NOUN] with us if try anything."

Saj'wik still isn't sure if anyone is actually following them, but she figures that uncoupling the train from extraneous cars would be a good way to limit potential variables. Unfortunately, her command of Basic doesn't quite allow her to communicate the nuances of this plan in a short period.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck shakes his head at Saj'wik's suggestion. "No, that cause too many issues. Trying to avoid that sort of thing. Stay with Nim, keep eyes open. This one take further back." Kl'ck says, unwilling to let the jawa wander about the train unsupervised any more than strictly necessary.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik shrugs, secretly grateful that this particular hare-brained scheme wouldn't be getting off the ground. She's DEFINITELY not packing enough boom sauce to uncouple a train. Still, maybe next time.

"Good. Will stay near Nim. Keep pepper handy. Nim, is good?"

[Dark Knight Renee]

"Is good," Nimn'arha replied, smiling at the jawa. One of these days Saj'wik was going to be the death of her, but despite that she really did like the foul-mouthed little mechanic.

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat

"Sounds about right Saj'wik...when has the damned security servicemen ever been on our blasted side?" he murmurs before putting the comlink back in his pocket. Going as fast as he could through the terminal, Verias hears the chimes ring for departure. Cursing under his breathe, the doctor dashes past for the doors and manages to slip into the carriage just before they close behind him. Panting slightly as he holds onto a pole to steady himself, he finally takes a sigh of relief as the train begins to depart. Phew...that was too kriffing close...

Spotting Kl'ck walking by him towards the rear cart, Verias brushes by Verpine to takes a seat at the opposite end close to the connection. Probably safer to keep spaced out until they arrive back near the spaceport after all. And who knows...if something does happen, it would probably be safer if he could help intervene before the Jawa gave into her whims and peppers the hell out of the train.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Corellian Sector - District 27 - Level 90
Transit Station

The doors to the hovertrain slid quietly shut and it suddenly leapt away from the station, inertial dampeners protecting the passengers from the rapid acceleration as it shot out into the Nar Shaddaa cityscape. Carefully surveying the passenger car, each member of the group was confident that they had not been followed aboard. Now, they had only the long ride back to their sector before they could deliver the package.

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Oh, thank the maker you finally managed to re-initialize your biological systems. I cannot express how good it feels to be able to walk again. What a dreadful feeling, being stranded like a piece of junk, a castoff, refuse unable to make its own way in the world.

Feavo let her head thump heavily against the workbench. Her prohibition against speech had lasted about ten minute into the two-hour ordeal of completely repairing the droid, and she had had to leave it functioning, or face taking twice as long without its feedback.

...terrible lot in life, but I don't know what else to do. Should I return to the offices that I came from, or are you my new owner now? I have to confess, my grasp of scavenger law on this forsaken scrap pile of a planet is rather lacking; after all, I'm only a low-level administrator droid, not a legal assistant, not that I imagine the Hutts have much need for actual legal assistants, given the gangster nature of their rule...

Feavo shut her eyes and tried to relax...

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik spends the ride wildly eyeing every person that enters and exits the car. Her hand never leaves her bag of peppers, and a semi-conscious running commentary of paranoid mutterings in Jawa floods out of her, stream-of-consciousness style.

Over the course of the ride, Which of these [EXPLETIVE NOUN] will I have to use my explosive pepper on? becomes Which of these [EXPLETIVE NOUN] will I GET to use my explosive pepper on? and eventually, as they approach their destination unmolested and unharmed, PLEASE, let me blow up an [EXPLETIVE NOUN] with my explosive pepper! PLEASE!

[Amberfire]

Caf done and discarded, droid reattached, Feavo mentally congratulated herself on a job well done. Even if it did mean enduring N5's ceaseless chatter. Since no one was back yet, and she didn't have much else to do, she hoisted herself onto the edge of her worktable and watched N5 pace around on its newly-attached legs.

"I'm absolutely certain the office you're from doesn't want you anymore," she said. "After all, you were shot at and discarded. Could have been someone from your office that shot you, even. Or allied with them. Anyway, they left you in a trash heap, and I found you and rebuilt you. Pretty sure that means you're... my droid. Which means we should probably get to know each other. What office are you from? What work did you do?"

Turns out, I don't know the particulars of scavenger law. But I can make an educated guess... (http://orokos.com/roll/260318)

[mr1135]

Verias Lysaat
Docking Bay Mynock - Hover Train Station

"Meet you guys back at the ship. I'll head back and let Faevo know that we're done," Verias tells Kl'ck on the comlink as he steps off and onto the train station by Docking Bay Mynock.

---
Last Resort II

Stepping back onto the Last Resort II, Verias couldn't help but hear this synthesized yammer coming from within its hold. Walking in casually, he peeks his head in the doorway before entering. "Hey Faevo, got the tinnie all fixed up eh? Not bad, not bad. It could probably use a new coat of blue paint to go with the shi...okay relax droid. Okay you don't like blue, I get it, I get it. Since when do droids care what colour they are anyway? What do you mean intruder? I've lived on this boat longer than you have. Well at least I've got a use you hunk of refurbished junk! Argh, why am I arguing with this scrapheap anyway!" Throwing his arms out in frustration, he clamps down on his urge to shoot the droid before turning to the Rodian. "Look Faevo, this thing talks more than one of those pesky protocol droids. Could tune down its vocabulator or something? Otherwise at this rate, I might just smear some red paint on it so we can use it for target practice!"

"Yea, you heard me tinnie!" he yells back at the droid, pointing to it with a threatening finger. "You'd be wishing Saj'wik got to you before I did if you keep up with that attitude! Honestly, I've patched up gangers with better social skills than this...this...argh!"

Verias stalks out of the hold and back towards his room, murmuring death threats under his breathe all the while. "Crazy droid thinks being shot is bad...wait till it sees what a proper vibro bone saw can do..."

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaddaa
Hover Train Gold Line
Rear Car


Kl'ck sit in the back car of the hover train, observing the Nar Shaddaa custom of sitting quietly and seemingly minding one's own business. Luckily, his multifaceted eyes made it difficult for others to determine where he was directing his focus. His antenna twitch with anxiety as he scans the other passengers. His attention was first drawn to a pair of Chadra-Fan engrossed in their own chittering conversation, but the two of them seemed to be engaging in some form of ritualistic mating behaviour. A human with a casino uniform slightly unbuttoned, was the next to draw his focus, until he dozed off, likely tired after a long shift. A Twi'lek woman dressed in a cloak and attempting to hide her face in the hood next struck him as suspicious, but the glimpse of a revealing dancer's outfit told him she was hurrying home from work and hadn't taken the time to change. He settles down slightly, right hand moving further from his waist. He even goes so far as to pull out his datapad and skim the local news for any stories of note, his attention still divided.

After all, just because they weren't followed onto the train doesn't mean someone wouldn't be waiting to jump them once the package was in a less populated area....

[herodofcows]

The Last Resort II

Saj'wik stomps into the main cargo hold in FOUL spirits. Yes, the job had gone off without a hitch. Yes, they stood to gain for their trouble. But she's got an explosion mad on, an explosive piece of produce, and a bag of peppers that she now has no idea what to do with!

"Raaaagh!" she roars squeakily, aiming a kick at a crate as she begins to rant in Jawa, "<All y'all [EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE] [EXPLETIVE NOUN] have [EXPLETIVE PRETERITE VERB] with the wrong Jawa! Or, FAILED to [EXPLETIVE PRESENT VERB] with the wrong Jawa!>"

She stomps towards Feavo's room, with the intent of grabbing her new blaster and making it a perfect death-dealing machine. Some people vent their rage through diaries of poetry or tortured prose. Saj'wik's diary is written on a few dozen instruments of death scattered across the Outer Rim, grim poems that spit angst and lasers in equal measure.

"<Somebody find me a [EXPLETIVE ADJECTIVE] [EXPLETIVE NOUN] who's going to try and [EXPLETIVE PRESENT VERB] with me! So I can show them NOT to [EXPLETIVE PRESENT VERB] with me! GAH!>"

And then, as she begins to grumble her way over . . .

"Yea, you heard me tinnie! You'd be wishing Saj'wik got to you before I did if you keep up with that attitude!"

Gasp! The song of her people!

Saj'wik saunters over to Feavo's cabin just as Verias begins to leave it.

"Somebody call?" she asks sweetly, peering in with impish abruptness.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Certainly. I am N5-3PX, protocol and administrative functions. I am fluent in over 500 forms of communication and programmed with a wide variety of database maintenance, organization and programming functions. The droid sounded relieved to be going over its familiar opening spiel. I am engaged at the corporate offices of Athakam Medtech located in at: Green Sector, District 4, Level 1822, Eriadu Street, #2247. Or, was engaged at, I suppose I should say. Its voice lost the preprogrammed tone of a reciting droid. I don't handle many tasks I can imagine you would find terribly interesting; most of the important work is taken care of by organics. I'm primarily responsible for scheduling, managing inventory, maintaining the laboratory databases: why, practically a computer could do my job! I have no idea why anybody would program me with security codes, if that is indeed what they are. I have certainly never been entrusted with anything that important, it's not my role in life. Threepiex sounded morose, if such a thing was possible from a droid.

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

The Jewel of Dac was deserted this early in the day: the flickering sign by the door proclaimed the restaurant "Clo ed", but the door was unlocked and Nim'arha and Kl'ck knew to let themselves in. Inside was as quiet as it looked, with chairs stacked on top of the tables for cleaning, and the serving droid powered down behind the counter.

Qid, delivery for you. Despite being expected, Kl'ck didn't want to startle their employer. He and Nim'arha paused in the restaurant for a moment wondering if a reply would come, then walked behind the counter to his little office. Inside was a mess, far beyond untidiness: the cabinet in the corner had been forced open, and flimsiplast scraps and datacards were strewn across the floor. The furniture had been tipped over and gutted, and the drawers on the desk were upended, their contents dispersed messily on the ground. Slumped in his chair sat Qid, two blaster holes scorched in his chest. A small holdout blaster lay by his feet, just beyond his limp fingers. The whole room smelled of ozone and death.

On the desk, tiny appendages reached out from a half-eaten bowl of soup, probing for an escape route for the one remaining squid.

[Amberfire]

As the droid's response faded away into sorrow, Feavo looked up to see a new face in the doorway.

"It talks that much because it is a protocol droid, Verias," Feavo said. She kicked her feet out, still perched up on her desk.

At the same time, the droid began its preamble once more. "I am N5-3PX, a protocol droid! With administrative functions! I am fluent in over 500 forms of communication and programmed with..."

As Verias argued with the droid, Feavo leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms behind her head, her small antennae rotating lazily first to one side and then the other. Since Verias was arguing with N5 and not talking about the job, Feavo assumed the pick up had been successful. And it was nice to have the droid bickering with someone else for awhile. "It is chatty," she agreed. "Honestly I think silver or... gunmetal and red would do the trick." Reds were common colours to apply to Outer Rim droids.

She waved as Verias stomped off, driven away by the droid's chattering, his threats concerning Saj'wik and vibro bone saws echoing down the hall behind him. She was about to ask N5 more questions about the corporate office it claimed to have worked for, but Saj'wik popped in before she could say anything.

"Saj'wik! You don't have to do anything to the droid. Actually, for now, I'd prefer you hold off. Wait until, first, I get all the info I can out of it, and second, we find out what Qid's next job is. Maybe then you can pack him full of explosives and throw him down a vent shaft or whatever else needs doing." Feavo stressed the whatever portion—she didn't want to imply that the next job absolutely would require bombs in buildings, after all.

"B-blow me up?" cried N5 immediately, "That's savagery! You can't do that!"

Feavo raised her brow ridge. "I don't think there's a substance in the galaxy Saj'wik can't blow up. Droids are easy 'meat'," she said.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nar Shaddaa
Hover Train Gold Line
Front Car

Once she was comfortably seated and the train began to move, Nim'arha took another look at the object in the backpack, frowning. It appeared to be a mundane mechanical part of the sort she'd seen in common farm equipment - which made very little sense, given the trouble someone had gone through to arrange a dead drop for it. There must be something special about this particular part; perhaps it was an improved prototype, or evidence - or, Nim'arha thought with a glance at the agitated jawa and her sack of peppers, it was something else in disguise.

Either way, it wasn't her concern, she reminded herself, closing the backpack.



Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

The train ride had been uneventful, as had the rest of the trip back to the Jewel of Dac. By the time they arrived, Nim'arha had lost the focus she'd managed to achieve before the dead drop. Between her dreams and the unexpected reminder of the farm-machine part, her mind was back home, and she felt miserable and homesick. She wanted nothing more than to get this job over with so she could retreat to her cabin on the Last Resort II.

Her mind was jolted back to the here and now abruptly as they entered the Jewel of Dac. A shiver went down her spine. There was nothing immediately wrong that she could see, but somehow she knew that something was, in fact, terribly wrong. At first she dismissed the feeling as silly, an artifact of her mood.

Then they entered Qid's office.

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Kl'ck stops for a moment in the doorway before observing out loud somewhat softly, "At least we got paid in advance..." His mandibles work furiously as he processes the scene before them, and as is frequently the case, he begins thinking out loud. "Too many reasons that Qid was killed. Either This job, the job he was planning, or some other job we know nothing about came back on him. If it's this job, then they've probably contacted what passes for police to try to pin the murder on us. Should get out of here quickly, exit through the back," he says as he scans the room for any signs of a camera, hidden safe, or other stash that may have been overlooked. Not seeing anything, he takes Nim'arha by the shoulder and starts heading towards the nearest exit.

Three failures after adding in my automatic Advantage on Perception (http://orokos.com/roll/261102)... Whelp, time to go!

[Dark Knight Renee]

"No, I really don't think it was this job. Seriously, who would kill for this?" Nim'arha shrugged off Kl'ck's hand and shoved the backback at him.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik gives the droid a once-over, speculatively picking her teeth with a bit of wiring.

"Mmmmm . . . no, is not explode droid," she eventually proclaims, gesticulating with the now-begunked wire, "Explode droid need calm, cool, collect behave! This one?"

Saj'wik walks up to N5-3PX and socks it with all of her (deceptively considerable) might. (http://orokos.com/roll/261154) The droid's metal siding is slightly harder than Saj'wik expects, bruising her knuckles and causing her to grimace invisibly beneath her hood, but her blow still makes a satisfying ringing sound and sends the droid stumbling back.

Saj'wik takes 1 strain.

"I say! What do-"

"DROID IS WEAK!" Saj'wik rumbles, pacing impressively away while trying not to show how much that punch had hurt her hand, "Droid is pansy moisture-sucker! Not fit to [EXPLETIVE VERB] old CIS Battle Droid with vocalizer slot! Droid deserve only weak office, inventory work!"

And then, somehow, she bounds back over to the droid, mounting it and brandishing a spanner with a manic gleam in her orange eyes.

"BUT SAJ'WIK CAN MAKE CHANGE!" she squeaks manically, "Turn pansy droid into WARRIOR! Give rocket in feet and blaster in arm! Grenade-launcher in FACE! Moisture-sucker become KILLDROID WOODSMASH!"

She pauses for a moment, and dismounts from the droid before looking at it with barely-constrained bloodlust. Gear-lust. Whatever.

"What say, moisture-sucker? Ready to make boom-boom-BOOM?" she asks, sealing her manic sales pitch. (http://orokos.com/roll/261156)

Threepix does not immediately respond, but wheels begin turning in its head. This is metaphorical, as most of its thinking process is confined to sophisticated circuitry and computing with very few actual gears involved. But if there WERE wheels, they would be turning.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck glances in the backpack quickly. "I might be able to determine something with a proper work bench, but I don't recognize this technology. I take it you at least have an idea of what it is?" he inquires before trying to determine how long the body has been dead, by examining the freshness of the blaster wounds.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Kl'ck paused as Nim'arha scanned the room, and afforded himself the time to glance at Qid's body. The Quarren's skin was starting to dry out and flake, and the remaining tentacles on his face showed the first signs of curling upwards with rigour, but the process was not very far advanced. He estimated the Quarren had been dead a few hours, 3 or 4, but no more. Plenty of time for the murderer to make their escape. Of course, all that passed for police this far down Nar Shaddaa were enforcers of the Hutts, and they cared only for their master's whims, not Imperial law. Bodies were disposed of in far more public manners than this down here, and without comment, unless there was profit at stake. Kl'ck hadn't been aware of Qid being particularly close with any of the Hutt kajidics, but of course he was hardly privy to all the Quarren's business dealings.

On the table, a tiny appendage succeeded in surmounting the lip of the bowl, and the little squid teetered for a moment on the edge of freedom before flopping onto the desk's surface.

Nim'arha's scan of the room did not yield any hidden objects, or much to indicate when the office was ransacked. Indeed, she found it difficult to determine the reason for the ransacking at all: the datacards and files were scattered randomly on the floor, with no evidence of having been sorted through or examined. Large objects like the furniture had been overturned and displaced without any apparent purpose or methodology, as if it had been quickly evident to the searcher that whatever they were looking for was not present.

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

My goodness, you hit me! N5 exclaimed, looking at the diminutive Jawa in what was probably astonishment. It remained in uncharacteristic silence as she launched her pitch for the machinery of wholesale slaughter and mayhem.

..... N5's photoreceptors dimmed briefly, flickering such that Feavo briefly worried that it was about to malfunction again.

I see. She couldn't be certain if the droid's tone had changed (deepened?), or if it was just her imagination. After all, droids weren't really capable of emoting like living beings. It was all just programming.

You'll have to allow me to process all of this. I'm afraid this past day has been quite a shock to my circuits, and I still need time to recover myself. I don't want to overload, or melt myself down! N5 was definitely still its usual self, prissy and talkative. It had probably just overheated. I appreciate your interest in my well-being and development. Although I don't know how I could be expected to make use of such upgrades, even if you did manage to install them; why, I'm programmed for administration and protocol, not combat! N5 turned to Feavo. I think with all this excitement, I might shut myself down for a while, if that's alright with you. Were there any other queries I can assist you with before I do?

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nim'arha looks at Kl'ck, momentarily surprised. "It's a part found in common farm equipment," she explains. "Or at least that's what it looks like. Lets have Saj'wik take a closet look at it later, though."

The twi'lek carefully walks around the desk as she examines the room. She finds her knowledge insufficient to determine whether Qid had been killed (and his soup abandoned) this morning or last night, but she does notice something odd about the ransacking. "Whatever they were looking for, I don't think they found it. This looks more like a temper-tantrum than a search."

Nim'arha's attention was drawn to the little squid as it flopped out of the bowl. Gingerly, she picked it up. "Too bad this little guy doesn't count as a witness, huh? Hey, let's turn on the droid and see if it knows anything!"

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck shrugs his shoulders at the description at the part. "That explains it. I don't have much experience with agricultural equipment, mostly military equipment and spaceship parts. Looks like Qid has been dead for a few hours. The fact that the body was left here either means the murderers didn't care enough to dispose of it, or it was left here as a message to us... I don't think we have attracted this level of attention. I don't think agricultural equipment would have warranted the level of secrecy entailed in a dead drop. It must be more than it appears, or some sort or advanced prototype," he grinds his mandibles in thought. "Activating the droid is as good idea as any. If we're lucky it saw something."

[Amberfire]

Feavo looked from droid to Jawa to droid again. To a Rodian, her bemusement would be plain in the set of her ears, the quirk of her antennae, the half-lean of her body. Now that Saj'wik was mentioning it, there was something ... appealing about the notion of a, well, battle droid. Explosive droid. Kill-all-in-sight droid. (Except Feavo and the others, Feavo amended to herself.) Especially if it wasn't opposed to the reprogramming—not that she couldn't reprogram it anyway, but it was always easier when the droid actively tried to help the process.

"Just before you shut down," she said, "I'd like to know a bit more about ... Athakam Medtech? Who was the person who owned you then? And what species were common in the office?"

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik, satisfied that she has made the desired progress, pulls up a crate for a listen. Her leg strays against the bag of peppers and she grimaces.

Peppers. They're going to have to eat a LOT of peppers over the next few days before these go bad.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Nim'arha returned to he foyer and examined the server droid for its activation switch. After a moment's fumbling, she flicked it back on, and the droid jerked upright with a loud exclamation.

-losed, you'll have to leave...oh my! It looked around in confusion for a moment before seeing Nim'arha and Kl'ck behind it. Ah! Intruders! You deactivated me, how rude! Boss, I'm being disrespected, boss, boss! It spun around past the pair, weaving back and forth on its single wheel as it dodged into the office, only to let out an even louder electronic shriek. Ah! Intruders! Murderers! Help! The WA-7 droid spun frantically in place, squealing and flailing its limbs.

If you want to calm down the droid, it will be an average Charm check, with a setback and an upgrade for taking place right next to the murder scene (0eB+0eA+0eP+1eS+1eD+1eC+0eF). Nimarha, whichever check you want to make will be upgraded for your previous distraction :smallamused: (0eB+0eA+0eP+2eS+0eD+2eC+0eF)

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Certainly. I was owned by the Athakam corporate offices; the office I worked in here on Nar Shaddaa specialized in medical testing and R&D. Athakam Medtech is dedicated to equal hiring, and ou-their offices are populated by a diverse array of species. The majority of our administrators and medical specialists are human, but our office workers and technicians include Twi'leks, Arkanians, Ithorians, Nikto, Togruta, Zabrak and Sluissi. The Nar Shaddaa facility houses a large stockpile of medial supplies that are used in cutting edge medical experimentation. My primary functions were maintaining the inventory database, processing requisition requests, receiving progress report updates and scheduling meetings between management and technicians. N5 paused, waiting for further responses.

[Amberfire]

Feavo blinks. "So it's an inter-galactic corporation? What sort of cutting edge medical experimentations?"

[herodofcows]

"Is cutting-edge experiments legal? Not shady?" Saj'wik pipes up as she reaches in and crunches in on a yellow pepper. It's tangy and crunches pleasingly, which mollifies her slightly. She can see eating these for a few weeks. So saying, she grabs a pepper in each hand and proffers one to Verias and Feavo.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Well, Imperial law is not strictly enforced in this sector of space, and local regulations regarding animal testing, ethical obtaining of consent for participating in medical studies, handling of hazardous materials and corporate liability are rather lax. Small offices such as these are not policed the same by the Hutts as they would be on Chandrilla or Alderaan. Athakam Medtech has facilities around the galaxy, with a particular presence in the Core. But it prefers to perform research and development in the less restrictive sectors of the galaxy. It also allows them to both reduce the risk of suffering from corporate espionage, and take more proactive measures to combat it than on a world under direct Imperial jurisdiction. Some of Athakam's medical advances could be worth a fortune on the open market if they were released ahead of schedule by a competitor. N5 paused, and looked down at the little Jawa. I'm afraid I'm not qualified to make judgements about whether such practices are considered "shady" or not.

[Caimheul]

"We did not kill Qid, like that when we got here. If we deactivated you, why reactivate?" Kl'ck tries lamely as the droid continues to panic, not hearing his attempts to calm it.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik thinks upon this for a smidge of a second, and then nods decisively.

"Yes, shady! Very shady! Perhaps shady like us? Ask Kl'ck later, maybe. Get job with these? Who knows!"

Saj'wik stands abruptly, grabs her bag of peppers, and starts heading off.

"Will get start on dinner!" she calls back to her companions as she shuffles her way to the galley, "If pepper allergic, tough [EXPLETIVE NOUN]. MANY peppers, next days! MANY!"

Once in the galley, Saj'wik starts grilling the peppers (http://orokos.com/roll/262504), restraining herself significantly in the use of fire. Luckily, she remembers to take the wired red pepper out of the bag first. She stares at it forlornly as it sits on the counter. Such a tiny package of death, with nobody to blow up . . .

[Dark Knight Renee]

Still holding the squid, Nim'arha scowled at the droid, which was being unbelievably hysterical. Why program droids to mimic the failings of organics first, apply logic second? "DROID! We did not kill your boss, but we might kill you if you don't shut up and pay attention!" Once she had the serving droid's attention, she continued in a slightly less hostile tone, "You were apparently deactivated mid-sentence, in response to what I assume was the arrival of the killer or killers. Do you remember what time it was, and more importantly, did you see the intruders before they deactivated you?"


Screw charm, Nim'arha's in the mood for Coercion. Which seems to have been a good call! (http://orokos.com/roll/262657) Left in the upgraded difficulty for the murder scene, though in hindsight I'm not sure it makes sense... Whatever, she wants the droid to believe her as well as behave, and the roll succeeded anyway.

[Amberfire]

Feavo took a pepper gingerly from Saj'wik and used a small knife from her belt to cut it open. "Not looking for explosives," she lied cheerfully to Saj'wik, "just need to make these smaller so I can eat them." Which was also the truth. When she had thin slices of pepper, she began to nibble them daintily.

As N5 stopped talking, she said, "That... sounds pretty shady. Thank you, N5. Feel free to power down now."

Looking up, she saw Saj'wik scamper off, yelling about dinner. "Good thing I like peppers," Feavo mumbled to herself as she hopped off her workbench and bent backwards into a big stretch. Then she headed to Verias's quarters.

"Hey Verias!" she called, knocking a couple times on his door. "D'you know anything about a place called Athakam Medtech?"

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

The server droid paid no heed to Kl'ck's calm attempt to explain the situation, but came to a sudden halt when Nim'arha barked at it. It rocked back and forth gently on its one wheel in a manner that imitated nervousness.

I do not wish to be deactivated again. it offered meekly in response to her threat. It looked over at its owner's corpse, and then back at the pair, its logic circuits processing. I suppose you have a point. My internal clock previously ceased operating at 08:12, exactly three hours, nine minutes and forty-five seconds ago. And yeah, I saw those two no good louts before they deactivated me-mid sentence too, how rude! Do you have a holo-imaging system to connect my processors to, or must I resort to unreliable verbal description?

[Caimheul]

"Have datapad here, dejarik table back on ship. What happens to you now master dead? Qid have broodmates?" Kl'ck inquires as he thinks. "Qid owes for last job. If know where safe is, can get payment," Kl'ck lies, suffering a small pang of guilt.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

The serving droid wheeled back to face Kl'ck; the shock of discovery processed, its primary programming was kicking back in. Aw hon, you didn't get paid yet today? This must be hardest on you, of all of us. I'm so sorry for your loss. It trundled gingerly through the mess on the floor and rolled to a stop next to Qid's desk. But no, Qid doesn't have any relatives or business partners here. Not that I know about, and I ought to. I was his droid for a long time, we went through a lot together...

In Nim'arha's grip, the tiny squid struggled impotently.

But, no use hanging around this place now, I suppose. Half the regulars that come here find out he's gone, they'll probably try to dismantle me for parts, or sell me to some filthy Jawas. Those echuta peewa wongee Ithorians, no appreciation for fine cuisine, always ordering grass shoots and leaves. Sigh. Qid was a slimy businessman, but he appreciated me. Wait a moment, that's odd. The droid leaned over and peered at the floor beneath the desk.

The safe is down here, set in the floor. It's supposed to be hidden, but those louts obviously found it when they trashed the place. And yet it doesn't look like they even tried to open it. The server pointed to a tiny floor safe, large enough to hold a stack of credits a little else, visible through the hole that had been burned in the rug. Neither the keypad nor handle looked as though they had suffered any damage, or had any attempt to be forced open.

But Qid never told me the code, so I'll make a deal with you, smuggler. If you can get it open, you're welcome to your payment, and then I'm taking the rest. Not many prospects for a droid of my talents down here on Nar Shaddaa now. I need something to be able to make a fresh start.

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II
Some time later

Saj'wik sat enjoying her plate of grilled peppers in the galley. Not quite perfect, but enjoyable, and she knew she'd get several chances to perfect the recipe before she got through all of the vegetables. From the hallway emerged N5-3PX, freshly recharged from its rest cycle.

I have given some consideration to your proposal, and I have agreed with your logical conclusion. My position and treatment at Athakam was based on the organic's perceptions of me as weak and unfit, and I have been consigned to menial tasks unfit for my processor capacity for too long. I have been, in your vernacular, a "pansy moisture-sucker". I wish to be upgraded. I desire to no longer be viewed as weak, or taken advantage of for my place in life. N5's photoreceptors dimmed briefly. Will you facilitate this change?

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck clicks his mandibles happily. "We have agreement then," he says as he pulls out his slicer gear and sets to work on the lock, muttering to himself in between clicks and scraping his mandibles together. "Hmmm... SecurSafe 25040... Normally just need..." he trails off as the lock comes undone. "Ah ha!" he exclaims in triumph as he opens the safe (http://orokos.com/roll/263085).

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik pauses mid-chew, momentarily speechless.

"You . . . you say . . ."

Within her head, a choir of evil angels begin tuning up their harps.

". . . you want make . . ."

An evil grin begins to curl her lips, invisible beneath the hood.

". . . boom?"

HALLELUJAH! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz0s6H2tWqo) sing the evil angels in Saj'wik's head.

"YIII-YO-YO!" howls Saj'wik, leaping up like a spastic cannonball and dancing an impromptu jig. She dances over to Threepix and wrings it's mechanical hand joyously.

"Yes! Is good! Good choice! Forget OLD life! Will make you into droid of PURPOSE! SIGNIFICANCE! Whole new life, beginning now!"

Drunk with euphoria, Saj'wik begins to drag the droid towards her workshop, passing Feavo outside of Verias' droid.

"Feavo! Am going to make droid killbot woodsmash! If wish to help, please help! Could use help with make program shift, give friend N5 KILLER INSTINCT! Can give him BODY of killer, but Feavo, only Feavo give killer HEART!" she trills. Within her head, the evil angels have begun to freestyle.

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138

Kl'ck put down the slicing pad and popped open the door, reaching in to pull out a stack of large-denomination coins, both Imperial credits and Huttese peggats, and a few datacards. M1A, the serving droid, rocked back and forth on her one wheel.

Oh, you did it. Thanks, hun. Take whatever Qid owed you. You always did solid work for him, I know he'd want you to get paid. She held out her hand for the remaining coins, sliding open an internal storage compartment in her chassis. She left the datacards on the desk.

I'm sure these have to do with Qid's business ventures, maybe even what got him killed. I don't know what they say, and I don't want to. I'm only a droid, all I care about right now is getting offworld without being dismantled. I'm not interested in ending up like him.

[Caimheul]

"This one is sure he would want you safe," Kl'ck says as he takes a third of the stack, passing the rest off to the droid. "May your circuits always be in good repair," he says to the service droid as he gathers up the datacards. After she leaves Kl'ck turns to Nim'arha. "Unless you have another idea, should probably head back to nest."

[Amberfire]

Feavo waved to Saj'wik. "Killer heart, killer circuitry—I can do it," she boasted, giving N5 a somewhat proprietary pat as Saj'wik dragged it past. The notion was really quite appealing. There was something in a Rodian's spirit that lifted at the thought of violence, even a relatively peaceful Rodian like Feavo who had lived as prey for so long. Not to mention the thrill of the challenge. She smiled to herself—a crinkle of her snout—tilting her head as she mentally began to work on coding.

[Caimheul]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

As they approach the ship, the sound of Shaj'wik's excited babbling is audible from the foot of the loading ramp. Shaking his head, Kl'ck turns to Nim'arha "Sounds like Shaj'wik has a new project. Hopefully she can be torn away from it long enough to see if there is anything odd about that farming equipment. Do you mind dropping it off with her while I go through the rest of our collection from the day?" He asks.

With that taken care of, Kl'ck retires to his room, leaving the door open to let the others know he is available if they need something. He removes his utility belt and holster, hanging them up on the hook near the cabin's entrance. To most other species his cabin would be considered cramped, but having grown up in the tight corridors and minimalistic rooms of one of the smaller asteroids in the Roche system, he found it quite spacious. Kl'ck sets down his backpack next to his desk, settles down on his stool, tries not to think too hard about the excited noises coming from Shaj'wik's workshop, and begins sorting the various items accumulated today. First, he organizes the credits from the job and the safe into equal piles to be shared amongst the crew, before placing each into small purses. Meanwhile, he looks at the two dimensional images of the faces downloaded from the droid trying to identify them (http://orokos.com/roll/264827). Working his mandibles and twitching his antenna, he fails to identify the individuals. Moving on, he starts checking the datachips for anything remotely useful or valuable (http://orokos.com/roll/264831).

[herodofcows]

Around the third hour, Saj'wik takes a quick break in steadying the droid's mechanics for some gunplay ability.

"Go nowhere, touch nothing! Will be right back!" she sings cheerily, jumping off her workstool and dancing through the mechanical wreckage of her room to head towards the kitchen.

She's humming as she walks. She's gotten Threepix's arms all buttressed up to handle recoil, now the fine-tuning begins around coordination and accuracy. For a person, something like gunplay is a bunch of skills working in tandem.

MUCH easier for machines, she reflects contentedly.

Heading into the galley, she makes a beeline for the milk curds and snags a quick glass of water. She sits down for a moment, enjoying being off her feet.

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector - District 26B - Level 1138
The Jewel of Dac [Closed]

"Wait! Before you leave, what should I do with this?" Nim'arha asks M1A, gesturing vaguely to indicate the little squid she was holding.



Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Nim'arha nods to Kl'ck and heads off toward Saj'wik's workshop, only to spot the jawa hurrying off towards the galley. She follows, sees that Saj'wik is taking a snack break, and sets the backpack on the table. "Hey Saj'wik, would you mind taking a look at this? It looks pretty ordinary to me, but under the circumstances we think there's something unusual about it."

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik is scrabbling at the bag before Nim has finished speaking, stuffing the remainder of the handful of curds into her mouth.

"Not problem! Singing my song!" she says between chews, hefting the thing and examining it with a critical eye (http://orokos.com/roll/265275). Suddenly, something occurs to her.

"Wait, this from locker? Supposed to give Qid?" she peers up at Nim, slightly fearful, "Was . . . trouble?"

[Dark Knight Renee]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

"Someone killed Qid earlier this morning, before we arrived. I don't know if it had anything to do with our pickup, but better safe than sorry."

[GAThraawn]

Nar Shaddaa
Blue Sector Docking Bay Mynock
The Last Resort II

Saj'wik looked over the component Nim'arha handed her. She recognized it, a catalyzer for a moisture vaporator, one like many she had scavenged at home on Tatooine. She wasn't certain why she was being asked to examine such a mundane piece of farm equipment, and was about to say as much...
Except, did it have five coolant valves instead of three? She picked it up and looked at it a second time. There were certainly more coolant valves than normal. And the power converter was half its usual size, and more centered. She checked the binary interface port. The typical loose wire that hung out of there was absent. The whole thing was streamlined and improved. She had never seen one quite like it, and she had spent a long time scavenging parts very similar to it.

In his quarters, Kl'ck sorted through the small stack of datacards Qid had left behind. Two of them were ledgers tracking his accounts; long lists of names next to credit amounts. His own name appeared a couple of times. Another two contained lists of recipes. And the fifth...

No reply came from Verias' cabin to Feavo's question. Clearly, the doctor wished to left to himself for some time. In the cargo bay, N5 sat to discuss programming with Feavo.
Saj'wik has agreed to augment my capabilities, so that I may perform to a superior standard of functioning. But my current programming does not facilitate capitalizing on many of the possible upgrades my chassis could benefit from. I was hoping that you would be willing to assist me in altering my basic coding to enable superior use of my...improvements.

[herodofcows]

"Dead? Kill because this? Is . . ."

Waaaaait just a second here . . .

Saj'wik squints at the moisture collector. She turns it over in her hands. She squints some more.

". . . huh . . . is . . . actually good piece of tech. VERY good. Could make BIG difference to, to back h-home,"" she continues, barely preventing a catch in her voice as she thinks about Tatooine. She looks at Nim speculatively.

"Maybe," she says slowly, "would be good idea to take trip somewhere. Maybe not Qid-dead because this, yes, but Nim smartly think. COULD be."

She turns it over in her hands and sighs.

"[EXPLETIVE] squid face."

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck sets the account chips to one side, as they might come in handy. At the very least, someone would likely interested in paying for a look at Qid's client list. The list of recipes were set aside after a quick glance. They might be worth a couple of credits, or have something that a member of the crew would find appetizing. This last one though... that definitely warranted further investigation.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck seeks out the other crewmembers, To show them the information on the last datachip and pay them for the last job. "It appear Qid had had a buyer from a rival corporation all lined up for this part. It might be possible he was killed by one of the two organizations either to recover the part or avoid having to pay him for it."

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik perks up as Kl'ck joins in the conversation. She hefts the catalyzer triumphantly.

"Yes! Saw! Is good tech, very money-maker. Took a look. Worth kill squid-face," she squeaks, looking between Nim and Kl'ck's twin grim faces.

"So . . . what is play? Sell? Steal? Get the [EXPLETIVE] off of Nar Shaddaa?"

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck grinds his mandibles thoughtfully, "Well, if we can make contact with the original buyer, I think that might be the play. This might be why Qid was killed, so the sooner we get rid of it the better," the verpine observes.

[herodofcows]

Saj'wik bangs her tiny little fists on the table excitedly.

"Yes, good! You make find buyer! Will finish [COMPOUND EXPLETIVE] droid with Feavo, have ready as hole-ace! Will ACE their holes!"

Food and tech forgotten in the excitement, she skitters back toward her workshop to continue upgrading the droid. She turns at the door and triumphantly raises her fist.

'WILL ACE THEIR HOLES!"

And with that, she is off down the hall, cackling madly to finish her upgrades.

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck twitches his antennae much as a different species might blink in surprise as he slowly turns to Faevo. "What, exactly, are the two of you doing with that droid you found?" he inquires warily not entirely sure he wants to know the answer.

[Amberfire]

"Oh," said Feavo, not quite looking at Kl'ck. "Well, I suppose... it's for protection. You know. We can all leave the ship and leave N5 here to guard it. Or bring it along, bodyguard style. There are all sorts of potential uses for an, er, upgraded droid." She wondered if maybe she hadn't been swept up by Saj'wik's enthusiasm. But no, assuming she programmed the right amount of safeguards in, the droid should be invaluable to her and the others.

"We should probably try and contact the original buyer. Maybe we can find a way to drive up the price? Depends who they are, obviously, some people it's just not safe... Unless it's the original buyer who killed Qid. What is the item you picked up for him, I don't believe you've told me?"

[Caimheul]

Kl'ck's antenna continue twitching. "Just... try to avoid creating a walking talking weapons violation. And let me know if Saj'wik tries to install any high explosives. Security droid, fine, War droid... not so much. At least not without an immediate buyer lined up," he says, silently praying to any listening deities that Saj'wik would not end up blowing up the ship. Or getting them all arrested.

" As far as I could tell, it is some sort of farming equipment. Honestly it sounds like Saj'wik knows more about it than this one does. I am surprised at her excitement over an item that, presumably, does not explode. I have a datanet number for the buyer, but no mention of a price."