It had taken Sam almost an hour to get back to the Aegis with his indirect route - approximately thirty minutes since his companions return.
Caden heard the heavier thump of Sam's gait as he walked onto the ship. The droid swept off his jacket and coat, and the three living beings smiled to themselves at the sight of the B2's manner. Did the droid want to be more like his biological companions? Did it just hide itself under the garb to ensure there was no ill interactions - perhaps some sort of camouflage? Maybe Sam desired to be more alive? Was that possible?
The questions would just have to go unanswered.
Sam strode into the lounge and saw Britton stretched on the couch near the chessboard; Brim sitting opposite him in a chair; and Caden leaning against the wall with a strong cup of caf in his hand.
"What'cha find out?" Caden asked Sam.
He had been pondering how to go about giving the Aegis a facelift, but despite his rare smuggling runs, Caden didn't have much experience in any serious criminal activities. Hiding crates in his ship and fast-talking his way past the authorities was one thing, but illegally modifying a vessel's registration was another. He hoped that the droid may have discovered a less... savory part of the city; one that might be home to the type of people that could help them.
Brim stared at the table, lost in thought. He was sure that the Hutt would be able to provide them with useful information, but was the risk too great? They would have to be very careful on this hunt, especially on the home ground of their quarry.
The Rodian looked up from his reverie as the others were returning. "What is your favourite color, Caden? If we are able to find a new identity for the Aegis, perhaps a new paint job should go with it."
Quote from: BrianM on Jan 13, 2010, 11:33 AM
Brim stared at the table, lost in thought. He was sure that the Hutt would be able to provide them with useful information, but was the risk too great? They would have to be very careful on this hunt, especially on the home ground of their quarry.
The Rodian looked up from his reverie as the others were returning. "What is your favourite color, Caden? If we are able to find a new identity for the Aegis, perhaps a new paint job should go with it."
Caden chuckled. Brim was right - the less the ship looked like it used to, the better off they'd be.
It made the most sense for the ship to have a common color, one that would blend in at any given spaceport. Of course, the problem there was that Caden had already thought of that, which is why the Aegis was a bland, gray color already.
He knew that Corellians tended to be a bit more flashy with their ships, often painting them with colors signifying a clan; perhaps they should ask Kara if she knew of any patterns. In truth, Caden didn't want to encourage his new co-pilot too much - he liked her well enough, and she was clearly handy to have around, but he didn't completely trust her yet. Nevertheless, making the Aegis look like a Corellian vessel might be enough of a change to help, and he figured he could explain things away easily enough if need be.
Caden shot Brim a sideways glance, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Perhaps we should look at some swatches?"
Sam leaned against the wall and picked up a trinket to spin around in his hand as if he hadn't already calculated its volume to the nearest cubic micrometer and evaluated four ways it could be used as a weapon. "I found a source who should be able to dig deep into Varta's activities. I'll soon find out how useful it will be and took every precaution to hide who was asking the questions. This place runs on illegal barter and trade. There should be no problem getting the mods you need. Just need to know where to ask and be willing to pay the price..." He couldn't feign interest in the trinket any longer. He put it down and stood rigid against the wall.
Quote from: sdrotar on Jan 13, 2010, 02:11 PM
Caden shot Brim a sideways glance, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Perhaps we should look at some swatches?"
Brim chuckled, "Hmmmm ... I've always been partial to shades of green ..."
"We could go with pink," Britton suggested dryly. "Who'd expect vicious assassins to have pink upholstery?"
Quote from: ZehnWaters on Jan 27, 2010, 05:15 PM
"We could go with pink," Britton suggested dryly. "Who'd expect vicious assassins to have pink upholstery?"
Caden grumbled something unintelligible and shook his head before retreating to the cockpit with his coffee.
With Caden's departure, it was the sign that things needed to start happening.
Sam left the room and began to move throughout both decks of the ship taking electronic measurements of compartments and unused space. In his processor, the droid was assigning work time to changes that he could see being done. From weapon installation to hidden compartments, Sam knew that the Aegis could be armored and armed much better than she was and would make a more formidable vessel. He also began the tally of what it would all cost.
Brim had walked into the long main hall of the ship and sat down at a computer station. The Rodian brought up the current Galaxy chart and had the three-dimensional image zoom into the solar plane of Teth where the Hutt was said to be residing. It was a six planet system that orbited a single star. Teth was the third planet from the sun and it was orbited by two moons. The planet was temperate - ideal for the giant slug-like Hutts. There were multiple abandoned structures on Teth that had once been monastaries of the B'omarr monks. It was quite possible that Varta may have made one of these old fortresses his palace. They would have to look.
Caden sat in the cockpit drinking his caf, feet up on the console. It was not quiet on his ship. There were noises coming from the three other passengers, but still he felt alone. Outside, the sky over Cloud City began to darken in an orange-pink shade that caused the huge, white floating city to take on the hue. He drank the rest of his drink and began to wonder where Kara was.
Brim read the computer screen for a time, but realized his skills weren't up to the task of locating the Hutt on Teth. That would likely have to wait until they were on-planet, and Sam was probably the best bet for sifting through all the data.
Instead, he relaxed and let his mind drift, contemplating the upcoming hunt they were preparing for. Diplomacy would not work with a Hutt, certainly not in their current predicament. As fugitives, Varta would hold more sway over them as they would over him. So that left a stealthy approach to the problem. They would have to find a way into Varta's stronghold and obtain the information they needed, hopefully coming out again intact.
Again it seemed odd to Brim that he could be so relaxed considering all they had been through, and yet he felt so intensely ... alive. All of this had started after the encounter with the Dark Jedi.
Later, the Rodian made his way to the bridge, where he found Caden in a similar state of contemplation. "Has Kara checked in? I worry about that one. There is much more about her than she lets on."
Brim looked out the canopy at the darkening sky. "If she's out much later we should look for her. One wrong word spoken in the wrong place could jeopardize us all."
Quote from: BrianM on Feb 03, 2010, 10:52 AM
Later, the Rodian made his way to the bridge, where he found Caden in a similar state of contemplation. "Has Kara checked in? I worry about that one. There is much more about her than she lets on."
"I'm with you there. But she's put herself on the line for us a few times already. We all have some... baggage."
Quote from: BrianM on Feb 03, 2010, 10:52 AMBrim looked out the canopy at the darkening sky. "If she's out much later we should look for her. One wrong word spoken in the wrong place could jeopardize us all."
"Yeah, but Kara seems like the type that's not easily found, if she doesn't want to be. Besides, where would we even start looking?"
Sam finished up some initial calculations and was not surprised at the numbers. The extent of the mods, their remote location, and the nature of what they were looking for all conspired to drive up the price. It was substantial and something they would have to find a way to fund beyond their present means.
He tabulated the numbers and sent a message with options to Caden's datapad. Solutions, unfortunately, escaped him at this time.
OOC: Doug, I'll leave the specifics or vagueness of Sam's estimates to you. Hopefully Caden doesn't spit-take his caf all over the control board.
Britton shrugged, smiling, while Caden stomped off. Sitting down at a table he pulled out a deck of cards and started to shuffle them.
Quote from: donimator on Feb 05, 2010, 04:48 AMOOC: Doug, I'll leave the specifics or vagueness of Sam's estimates to you. Hopefully Caden doesn't spit-take his caf all over the control board.
Sam ran through the numbers and wondered if any of the things he thought would be beneficial could happen. First, the droid knew that speed in real space would benefit the Aegis, but the craft already had a top of the line sub-light drive. To upgrade would mean military hardware and that could only be found on the blackmarket and would be extremely expensive - in the hundreds of thousands. Sam also believed that a jamming suite would be of aid, and the Aegis had room for one. This hardware was available to anyone. It would just be the cost factor which he estimated at twenty-five thousand credits.
Second, the droid thought of added weaponry. The Aegis had two laser cannons, but certainly had both the need and the room for more. Looking at the ventral hull, Sam saw where he could adapt the forward cargo area inserting a proton torpedo rack and launcher. The ship could easily hold a magazine of nine torpedoes. Again, the hardware was military grade and Sam knew that they would not be able to get any working system for under fifty-thousand credits.
He downloaded all of his speculative and actual data into a datapad and then walked back into the ship. Sam strode quietly to the cockpit and held out the information for Caden to peruse.
Quote from: tomcat on Feb 07, 2010, 08:03 PM
Quote from: donimator on Feb 05, 2010, 04:48 AMOOC: Doug, I'll leave the specifics or vagueness of Sam's estimates to you. Hopefully Caden doesn't spit-take his caf all over the control board.
Sam ran through the numbers and wondered if any of the things he thought would be beneficial could happen. First, the droid knew that speed in real space would benefit the Aegis, but the craft already had a top of the line sub-light drive. To upgrade would mean military hardware and that could only be found on the blackmarket and would be extremely expensive - in the hundreds of thousands. Sam also believed that a jamming suite would be of aid, and the Aegis had room for one. This hardware was available to anyone. It would just be the cost factor which he estimated at twenty-five thousand credits.
Second, the droid thought of added weaponry. The Aegis had two laser cannons, but certainly had both the need and the room for more. Looking at the ventral hull, Sam saw where he could adapt the forward cargo area inserting a proton torpedo rack and launcher. The ship could easily hold a magazine of nine torpedoes. Again, the hardware was military grade and Sam knew that they would not be able to get any working system for under fifty-thousand credits.
He downloaded all of his speculative and actual data into a datapad and then walked back into the ship. Sam strode quietly to the cockpit and held out the information for Caden to peruse.
"Great work, Sam," Caden said, "but we're not going to be able to afford this stuff. At least, not without getting pretty... creative. And with a price on our heads, that's going to be tough."
He thought about it for a moment, though, and realized that they could perhaps start moving forward nevertheless.
"Let's prioritize, though. We're going to get this ship re-registered and re-painted, so let's take a look at procuring a jamming suite first. We're already fast, thanks those engines we picked up on Bakura. Besides, in any real scrap with Imperials, bounty hunters - or whatever that character with the lightsaber was - we're probably better off running than fighting right now."
Quote from: sdrotar on Feb 10, 2010, 01:57 PM
"Let's prioritize, though. We're going to get this ship re-registered and re-painted, so let's take a look at procuring a jamming suite first. We're already fast, thanks those engines we picked up on Bakura. Besides, in any real scrap with Imperials, bounty hunters - or whatever that character with the lightsaber was - we're probably better off running than fighting right now."
"Humph," Britton replied. "I don't like running, but we're seriously outnumbered. After we've got what we
can get, how do we earn money?"
:ooc: I am kind of waiting for the Kara thread to complete so that I stay in time with both parties. Don't worry, once she is done dealing with Binx, the two threads will be re-joined and I will move on the story.
Quote from: ZehnWaters on Feb 13, 2010, 05:56 PM
"Humph," Britton replied. "I don't like running, but we're seriously outnumbered. After we've got what we can get, how do we earn money?"
"Only way I know how to get a lot of it fast is to smuggle," Caden said. He had hoped those days were behind him; he had been trying to live a (more or less) clean life - it got you shot at a lot less. "It's easy enough to find jobs on the fringes."
"But that's still plenty risky even when you
don't have people gunning for you. When you
do? It's crazy."
Quote from: sdrotar on Feb 14, 2010, 08:03 PM
"But that's still plenty risky even when you don't have people gunning for you. When you do? It's crazy."
With a smile, Brim added, "Ahhh ... but in my experience, the best way to avoid the hunt is to follow the unexpected path ... or the
crazy path as you say."
Caden knew the Aegis had a 30 ton capacity for shipping and so with the conversation moving in that direction, he turned to the ship's computer console. Typing quickly, he networked into Cloud City's local business information boards to see if there were listings from legitimate merchants trying to move legitimate merchandise.
The screen scrolled up...
Network access... Cloud City ===
//connection 1.0002.BA415
//
Cloud City Business Listings...
...
...
.......
....
Merchant query: Shipping,Destination,Tonnage...
Tibanna gas,Naboo,80
Chlorine gas,Bakura,280
Nitrogen gas,Polis Massa,300
Sulfur dioxide,Coruscant,80
Droid mech parts,Mustafar,100
Tibanna gas,Tatooine,280
Chlorine gas,Tatooine,300
Nitrogen gas,Tatooin,100
Sulfur dioxide,Kalist,40
Droid mech parts,Naboo,150\
...
.........
...
...
Caden read down as the list scrolled. There was plenty of legitimate work. Question was, what would it pay and would he run into any union issues?
The crew of the Aegis sat about the computer console making small discussion of the legitimate work that was available. There were two options that would take them in the right direction - either Naboo or Tatooine. Both locations took them towards Hutt space along with wild space, where the planet Teth was located. Only problem was the amount of tonnage the Aegis could carry was less than the orders and Caden wondered if the purchasers would be willing to do a smaller order - or the seller for that matter.
There was another option, too, that they had yet to explore and that was to look into the black market. It would be a lot more risk, but a much larger payout. If they did go in that direction, Caden knew that he would truly have gone over the line to that of pirate and criminal. A label that was already attached to their names, unearned though it may be.
Suddenly, Kara's distinctive voice could be heard coming from the lower deck and the landing ramp. She was talking to someone else... a female by the sound of it.
"Sounds like Kara brought a friend," Britton said to the others and went to go see who it was.
"Welcome back," Caden said to Kara with a warm smile that suddenly changed to a dour expression. "Now where the hell have you been?!"
He noticed Kara's companion, and realized he should have bit his tongue, but he was getting jumpy here. He was getting jumpy anywhere. This plan to take things to the Hutts or Dark Jedis or whoever-the-hell had framed them and murdered his friends was a little more than he could take right now, and he wasn't in any mood to apologize for... well, his mood.
"Caden Whitesun," he finally said curtly to the stranger before pointing to the freighter looming behind him. "This is the... this is my ship."
Kaida wondered if she should wait for Kara to say something first, but then seeing Kara's cloudy expression at Caden's rather curt welcome, she decided upon intervening before tempers could give way.
She gave the ship's captain her most winning smile and extended her hand politely, making her short cloak/cape flutter back revealing the blaster at her hip. "A pleasure, Mr. Caden...uh Whitesun? Well, a pleasure I'm sure," Kaida squeezed his hand with just the right amount of pressure, then stood back, her right hand resting easily on her right hip, near her holster if needed, her left brushing away a strand of her auburn hair from her pretty face and then waved airily to Kara, her brown eyes moving from Kara and then back to Caden.
"Sorry about barging in like this," Kaida continued, with just the right amount of apology in her voice. "You see, I bumped into Kara--literally as a matter of fact--and well in the process she discovered I was looking for a ship that was leaving these parts, and I was made to understand that you owned such a ship. One thing led to another and, well, here I am."
She winced inside at her own temerity, but turned it into an appraising look of the Loronar class freighter that stood mutely backdropping the captain. "Nice ship you got there. A nice ship indeed," she crooned giving it a low whistle. A little flattery never hurt.
Britton laughed to himself and also descended the landing ramp. He looked down at the pretty young woman who stood in front of him.
"I'm Britton Rand," Britton said, extending his hand and flashed a toothy grin.
Brim watched the introductions from the ramp. Humph ... another one, he thought, but the blank expression on his face common to his species hid his derision. He would never fully understand human females. They were always on the hunt it seemed, but one could never tell exactly what it was they really wanted. They were quite adept at deception and manipulation, especially with their male counterparts.
Knowing that his thoughts were probably ill-placed, the Rodian let the Force flow through him, for he was convinced now that that was what he had been experiencing of late. Its effects were calming. He had practiced on his own and found that he had very limited control over this new found sensitivity. If he hoped to gain more understanding, Brim would have to find a mentor, like the Jedi he had known at the Academy. But they were all likely gone now ...
Stepping forward, Brim extended a hand to the newcomer. "Brim C'Cocha. Welcome."
Kaida smiled as the welcome wagon came out in full force. She shook hands in turn with Britton and then Brim. To Brim she spoke softly in Rhodese giving a polite bow of her head while their hands were clasped in greeting, "My thanks friend, though perhaps you should reserve your welcome until Captain Whitesun has seen fit to allow me passage on his ship."
Quote from: Jingo on Mar 14, 2010, 09:32 PM
Kaida smiled as the welcome wagon came out in full force. She shook hands in turn with Britton and then Brim. To Brim she spoke softly in Rhodese giving a polite bow of her head while their hands were clasped in greeting, "My thanks friend, though perhaps you should reserve your welcome until Captain Whitesun has seen fit to allow me passage on his ship."
"We going somewhere?" Caden held his arms outward in exasperation.
He needed a stiff drink, about 100,000 creds and a vacation to the middle of nowhere.
"
Unless," he thought, "
maybe he had a paying
passenger for once."
He quickly dismissed the notion as ridiculous. His ship had obviously become a traveling charity case. Except
his got shot at.
Quote from: sdrotar on Mar 15, 2010, 07:23 AMHe quickly dismissed the notion as ridiculous. His ship had obviously become a traveling charity case. Except his got shot at.
:ooc: This was really good... got a good chuckle with this post! ;D
Quote from: sdrotar on Mar 15, 2010, 07:23 AM
"We going somewhere?" Caden held his arms outward in exasperation.
He needed a stiff drink, about 100,000 creds and a vacation to the middle of nowhere.
Kaida stifled a laugh and turned back to Caden. "I hope I'm not causing you any undue discomfort, Captain Whitesun. It's just that your crew seems glad to see a fresh face. You really should let them out more often," She added with a coy grin. Then she continued in a more serious tone. "Now, lets talk business. I, unfortunately, at the moment do not have a lot credits at my disposal--the vaunted Empire having seen fit to seize my liquid assets merely because I held a dissenting view to their bullying and expansionist ways--but I am willing to pay 500 up front for you just to take me with you."
"I'm sure," she added with a sigh, "that this is a mere pittance of what you would normally require, but trust me, I come from a very wealthy family. If we can just find a way for you to put me in contact with one of them, I will then be in a position to provide you with the rest of an agreed-upon sum.
"In the meantime, I am not without certain skills that may prove...useful." She spread her hands making sure her blaster was momentarily visible under her short cloak and smiled at him an open and honest, yet searching look, on her face.
Quote from: Jingo on Mar 15, 2010, 03:22 PM
...I am willing to pay 500 up front for you just to take me with you."
"We don't even know where we're going yet, but you're good with a blaster, I'll take your 500 creds. We can, uh, catch up with your family later. Welcome aboard. It's not the fanciest ship in the galaxy and the accomodations probably aren't what you're used to, but it'll get you from here to... well, wherever we end up."
He smiled. Rich
and potentially dangerous... why the hell not?
"Call me Caden," he said with a smile.
Quote from: sdrotar on Mar 15, 2010, 03:32 PM
"We don't even know where we're going yet, but you're good with a blaster, I'll take your 500 creds. We can, uh, catch up with your family later. Welcome aboard. It's not the fanciest ship in the galaxy and the accomodations probably aren't what you're used to, but it'll get you from here to... well, wherever we end up."
He smiled. Rich and potentially dangerous... why the hell not?
"Call me Caden," he said with a smile.
Kaida glanced once more at the freighter and smiled again. True. Not exactly a pleasure yacht, but then again, it was much better than some of the rides that she had been on lately. At least, it wasn't public transportation. That had benefits for those wishing to remain anonymous.
"Very good, Caden," her eyes met his again briefly, weighing him as she passed him the necessary credits. "That's settled then. Just let me know where to stow my things; this is all I have." She lifted a small napsack that was worn beneath her cloak.
Sam clanked down the gangway, his battle droid legs falling heavily on the metal. He had calculated the mechanical and electrical parameters for a jamming suite and thought the best place to inquire would be the black market area he had visited before. His servos whirred as he walked quickly past the group gathered at the bottom. He looked in the direction of the new face and tipped his hat, "Miss."
"Well, it looks like we have a destination and a job," Britton said, referring to Kaida's need to retrieve her money. "I'll be happy to be doing something again."
Kaida did a double-take at the rather human-sounding--and strangely enough human-acting--droid. She raised an eyebrow in surprise to Caden and indicated the departing Sam with a thumb over her shoulder. "Where'd you pick THAT up? Or does it prefer to be called a 'him'?"
--
Shaking her head at Britton's comment, she sighed. "Destination? Not exactly. My family, you see, or well what is left of it...The Empire you see, they--" she trailed off for a moment, and swallowed and a faraway, almost haunted look, came into her eyes.
After a moment, she shook her head and the haunted look was replaced with one of fierce determination. "What is left of my family has been scattered to the far edges of the galaxy. I'm not sure where any of them are as of yet. But, I WILL find them!"
Kara shrugged at the exchange and went to her bunk and stashed the credit chips she had gained, except for 1,000 credits. She then found the second and last vial she had been looking for. She checked the chrono, and placed the vial inside of her hidden holster. Heading back out to where the crew was talking to Kaida, she looked around the room.
"I gotta run back to the casino to pay off a quick debt. I'll be back in an hour. Need me to pick up anything else while I'm out?" she asked as she headed to the exit ramp.
Quote from: Jingo on Mar 16, 2010, 02:41 PM
Kaida did a double-take at the rather human-sounding--and strangely enough human-acting--droid. She raised an eyebrow in surprise to Caden and indicated the departing Sam with a thumb over her shoulder. "Where'd you pick THAT up? Or does it prefer to be called a 'him'?"
"Oh, Sam? I kinda... found him," Caden said. "But I don't own him; he's more like a... pal with ablative armor."
He couldn't help himself from enjoying the woman's perplexed look.
"Droid really can wear a hat, though... that's hard to pull off these days."
Quote from: sdrotar on Mar 17, 2010, 12:28 AM
"Oh, Sam? I kinda... found him," Caden said. "But I don't own him; he's more like a... pal with ablative armor."
He couldn't help himself from enjoying the woman's perplexed look.
"Droid really can wear a hat, though... that's hard to pull off these days."
"Interesting. I wonder what happened to his programming to behave so oddly." Kaida shrugged. "I mean, a hat?" She began moving slowly around the ship giving it a cursory inspection yet continuing to talk to Caden. "So, Cap--uh--Caden where are you off to next, and when are you planning on leaving?"
Quote from: Jingo on Mar 17, 2010, 05:27 PM
"Interesting. I wonder what happened to his programming to behave so oddly." Kaida shrugged. "I mean, a hat?" She began moving slowly around the ship giving it a cursory inspection yet continuing to talk to Caden. "So, Cap--uh--Caden where are you off to next, and when are you planning on leaving?"
"Yeah, Captain, where
are we going?" Britton asked, leaning against the ship and smiling slyly.
"Well," Caden said, "We have a few things to wrap up here, and then we'll be on our way soon enough."
Looking to Kaida, he offered a apologetic look, fudging quickly, "I'll have to let you know after we get a couple of things squared away, I'm afraid."
It was a good question: where were they going? Either they needed to find something quiet that paid, or they needed a lead... and now they were on the clock.
Caden's answer to Britton left everyone with the questions still lingering, but there was nothing more to decide for the day. The sun was setting over the horizon and the companions could see the multitude of lights beginning to shine across Cloud City. It was time for dinner and then some rest. Hopefully with the morning there would be clearer minds for non-hasty decisions.
And so, with Kaida now part of the group, they all walked back up the landing ramp and into the quiet interior of the Aegis. The biological crew members made their way to the lounge and began to prep dinner, while Sam stayed on the first deck and began to make the changes necessary for the ship's new addition.
No one had really paid attention to Kara as she had moved back in and out of the ship. She was off to deliver the last vial of namara to Binx. The Corellian finally found her way back as night fell over the city and only Sam noticed her return.