A brief respite on Bespin

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

Bespin, a glowing, orangy/red gas giant. That's how Alisha would describe the planet. You wouldn't think it was habitable, just by looking at it. It looked hotter than even Tattooine. Which, for the most part, it was, excluded the Life Zone, where all the cities, and mining operations, are located, being the only part of the atmosphere that has oxygen and has suitable pressure and temperature for humans and a lot of other species. Bespin's mining outposts were created to extract and refine Tibanna gas. But these outposts were not the reason Tattoo Squad was there.

Tattoo Squad's YT-2400 arrived on Tibannopolis hangar several hours earlier. They needed to make a few minor repairs to their ship, which would give them a brief pause. Alisha didn't mind where she went, as long as she could be useful. In fact, she would be the one doing the repairs to their ship, which Alisha always found deeply satisfying. That ship was starting to grow on her, slowly but steadily.

Although Tibannopolis has long been abandoned as a mining post, the Rebellion has recently managed to use the city to house refugees coming from Imperial territory, trying to escape their tiranny. Alisha's first impression of the city, while landing the old YT and giving it a brief look, was that of a resurrected city that seemed to have gone through a heck of a lot.

After the landing, Xzig went off to check in with the rebel base, but Alisha said she would take a look outside first, and told her friend she would meet up with her later. Alisha's first impression wasn't far off. The city seemed to be a collection of rusted tall, circular buildings, some rusted completely beyond hope, a lot of them damaged but then recently repaired, spread out across the floating island. Alisha didn't fancy going to the edge of the city to look down. She was already uneasy enough as it is knowing this was in fact, a floating city half way down a planet's orbit. Still, the city looked quite odd to her, but there was some charm in it too. It felt like a city slowly coming back to life, a symbol of hope for the people that fled the horrors of the Sith Empire. It was not as quiet as Alisha assumed either. Alisha could see a fair amount of people around, most in ragged clothes but with an obvious expression of relief on their face. There were several rebel officers here too, helping with the rebuilding and aiding refugees. There were stalls too, some distributing food and water, some selling clothes, some selling ship and droid parts. Alisha walked around a little while, constantly looking down at her belt pouch and checking that Blanky was safe and sound. She was sleeping and quite content for the moment, so she gave the fat took a little pet, and started wondering about for a while, passing the stalls. She was very much enjoying the fresh air and comfortable temperature, but she knew that she would eventually have to start on the ship repairs. She could do more walking and exploring later, she decided, so after a brief look at the stall that was selling ship parts, a stall that she had a feeling could come in handy, she started walking back towards the hangar.

Once inside the medium sized hangar, and after passing a few security checks, she found their YT again. As she reached the front of the ship, Xzig was she walked around it, assessing it like she and Xzig assessed it the first time. As usual, a few dents here and there, and for some reason the landing gear was not quite straight, so that is something she needed to do. While checking out the ship, and making notes on the datapad she took out from her belt, Alisha noticed that the hangar seemed to be relatively busy. A few small ships were going in and out, and there was definitely space enough for a few more, even bigger ones. Mechanics and captains were about their own ships, doing what she was doing herself, and looking at their own ships. Few space port marshals were around, patrolling, although they didn't seem particularly tense. Alisha guessed that piracy would be a big worry, though maybe more in the Cloud City, were most of the gas was exported. Alisha hoped that this trip of theirs wouldn't see that kind of trouble.

 

[Ral]

The lights were shining, the air blowing, and all the Mandalorian could hear was the ringing in his ears. Ral Aran took a moment to breathe. Bloody stun grenades, the voice in his mind spoke with no small amount of contempt. Of course, the stun grenade would go off when he had removed his helmet, and now somebody was going to pay for setting one off in an enclosed space. The space he was standing in. Once the bells stopped ringing and his eyes could focus, that is. Propelling the breath out of his lungs, Ral gripped at his side arm while he leaned over the edge of the open window trying to get his eyes to focus. It took a second or two, but soon his eyes could focus on the clouds in the distance.

And now he was angry.

His face in a grim scowl, Ral gripped the handle of his pistol and removed it from its holster as he turned about. In front of him were three degenerates; men who weren't appreciating the fact that they were getting to stay on Tibannopolis as a kindness, not because they were special in some significant way. And now, like most men who were trying to make a name for themselves at the expense of others around them, they were trying to extort and racketeer the other refugees for money, favors, and power. As one of the rebels who helped set up Tibannopolis, Ral could not in good conscious let this slide.

So, here he was, pistol gripped in his hand, as he looked at the refugees with his own two eyes. Azure orbs glared at them, filled with contempt. Somehow the scum before him had gotten their hands on some weaponry, a stun grenade being one of such items. They had led him into the "meeting room" where they tossed it and shut the door, naturally after he had removed his helmet. And now they were walking back in. Only, now Ral was done with being diplomatic. With a lightning fast draw, Ral fully removed his pistol from its leather holster and aimed it at the leader's kneecap. The trigger was pulled, and then in quick succession two more bolts rang out in the small room. With each shot Ral's hand moved slightly to line up with the kneecap of a new person. In another second all three men could no longer stand on their compromised knees and had collapsed onto the floor writhing and groaning in agony.

Sighing, Ral placed his pistol back in its holster before walking over to the leader, some Twi'lek male with green skin and an over developed sense of worth. He began shouting something in Huttese, but the Mandalorian didn't give him a chance to finish as he slammed the tip of his boot into the alien's mouth. "That's what you get for pulling a stun grenade on me!" Ral shouted, rather accidentally as he still couldn't hear properly; his ears still ringing to the point where he could barely himself speak. The Mandalorian leader went about policing the thugs' weapons, giving them a patdown before binding the three and calling the local authorities to the run down apartment complex. Once everything was squared away with the authorities, Ral decided it was time to take a walk.

Placing his helmet back on the top of his head, Ral left the apartment complex. Hoping that the ringing would subside eventually, he took the long, scenic way back to the spaceport as he wondered how such a situation could get so bad and left to develop for so long. Shaking his head, when he couldn't quite wrap his mind around the possibilities, the Aran found himself being able to hear a little more. Deciding it was time to go back to his ship, Ral made his way back to the hangers. As he started passing through them, Ral spotted a familiar looking YT-2400 that he had been on previously for a mission. Muttering to himself quietly, or at least he thought it was quietly, he approached. "Hey, I know that ship..."

 

[Phoenix]

Tal Veren watched as the flames licked the body in the incinerator. His business on Bespin had been short and, really, not so sweet. His methodical hunt for survivors of Valis’s organization had brought him to the ends of the galaxy as he tracked Valis’s right hand man, Neebosk, who had been trying to recruit some of the local scum to rebuild what Valis had started.


Unfortunately for Veren, being the one that had killed Valis meant that it would be decidedly dangerous for him were Neebosk to get his organization off of the ground. He thought because he had fled to Bespin and tried to blend in with the refugees, he would be safe from Veren’s coming wrath. He was gravely mistaken. Now the organization would end before it began.


His body would be consumed by flame, and those that knew him would write him off as missing in action. There was no evidence of his execution, and all indications from Neebosk’s communications equipment pointed to the fact that none of his compatriots actually knew where he had fled following Valis’s death.


Mando'ad draar digu, hut’uun.” Mandalorians never forget, coward. The words had become his mantra for his path to avenge his father’s execution. Turning his back, he let the flame do its work and set off to find Neebosk’s ship. Perhaps he could find a lead as to where the man’s compatriots were, though if his own isolation was any indication, he likely knew nothing of his former friends’ movements.


Hangar bay 296, I think it was, he thought to himself as he wandered through the city. It had turned into a haven for those fleeing the Empire. It certainly meant that people here weren’t shocked to see a Mandalorian walking around. After all, they all had a death mark on their heads, but then that was life, and it was something that he had grown accustomed to.


His arrival at the hangar revealed something he found rather puzzling. The particular bay that he had been searching for contained the wrong ship. How’s that possible? I saw it right in his datapad, his ship was in Bay 296? he wondered to himself. Nevertheless, there it was. An YT-2400 rather than the YV-666 that he knew Neebosk flew.


A quiet sigh escaped from his lips. Well, that meant he was going to have to either track this thing down the old fashioned way or leave it here. Perhaps the freighter crew here would know if Neebosk’s ship had been moved. He began to walk toward the crew while they continued to make repairs on their ship.

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

As Alisha continued to add small things here and there to the list of repairs she'd need to do over the next day, she heard a familiar voice speaking. She thought he was more talking to himself, but Alisha clearly heard it as well, coming from the front of the ship.

"Hey, I know that ship..."

Alisha looked up and looked around.

"Huh?" She says quietly.

The first thing that she saw, however, was not Ral Aran, whose voice she heard, but another Mandalorian. Alisha saw the stranger stop for a minute, clearly looking at Alisha's ship. She thought he might have been confused, hard to tell though because he had his helmet on. Like all the Mandalorian she met, he was well equipped and had his full armour on. Nonetheless she saw him approach the YT-2400 somewhat cautiously? Or just slowly..again, Alisha wasn't sure.

Mandalorians were alright by Alisha, as all the ones she met were decent, or at least appeared so, as far as she could tell, although even if so it never hurt to be cautious, and she did only meet a few. So Alisha, with her datapad still on her hand, makes a few steps forward, and addresses the stranger, thinking that Ral surely wasn't really interested in either stealing the ship or shooting her, so it would be safe to come back to him.

"Ehm, can I help you?"

She shyly asks the Mandalorian. Alisha didn't think he would be too hostile, but from her experiences with Mandalorians, she thought he was likely not wanting to waste time on formalities. Alisha wasn't going to go further forward however. She suddenly felt very conscious of the fact that she didn't have any weapons on her, and even if she did, obviously wouldn't have made much different due to her lack of proper training. Still, with a small gulp of her throat, she pushed those thoughts aside for the moment. She was at least confident most Mandalorians were nothing like the Sith.

"Are you looking for something?"

 

[Phoenix]

His attention turned from the ship to the woman that began speaking to him. He realized he was kind of staring in puzzlement and disbelief with his head tilted just to the side.

He looked at her and decided it would likely be good to say something, there was no need to be impolite. “Hmm?” he said almost absent mindedly, then realized that he had been staring at the ship. “Oh, I apologize,” he said shaking his head. “I was looking for a ship, but it doesn’t appear to be here. This is docking bay 296 isn’t it?” he asked.

“Oh, my name’s Tal, Tal Veren,” he said taking a few more steps forward and extending a hand. He was sure to keep his hand away from any weapons, as he had no desire to spook her. As it was, people sometimes felt uncomfortable shaking a gauntleted hand or even seeing a fully armored Mandalorian. To her credit, this woman didn’t seem phased by it, just wary of someone staring.

It was at this point that his mind really registered that another Mandalorian was approaching. That made him stiffen slightly. He wasn’t sure if it would be visible to the outside observer, but his other hand, the one not being used for the shake did drift ever so very slightly in the direction of his pistol, but he pulled up short intentionally. Again, he didn’t want to upset anyone.

He had no issue with other Mandalorians, and, in fact, was always eager to meet new ones. The only problem was that he had greeted the last one with open arms only to be drawn down on. It wasn’t something he was going to let happen again. Marking the other Mando in his HUD, he externally kept his gaze fixed on the woman. “You haven’t seen a YV-666 freighter around here have you?” he further inquired of the woman.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

(OOC: Dang I'm late. Sorry guys and girls)

Bespin. Not quite the place Xzig wanted to visit. It was a gas giant, as she recalled, but not one of the exciting kind it seemed. Nevertheless, if the Squad wished to be ready, they had to repair. Bespin, stocked with Tibanna, which the ship needed, was perhaps the best place.

And so, she and Alisha flew in their YT-2400 - they still didn't know a title for it - to Bespin, to Tibannopolis to be exact. This is where the Rebels made their base, so it seemed. And while it was hardly stable nor glamorous, Xzig knew why the Rebels were here.

She saw it while she walked to the Rebel Base at the centre of the floating city. Much of it was still in need of repairs, but she already saw a lot of mechanics working on wiring, re-panelling and welding. And she also saw the reason for the Rebels being here. Refugees, stocked along the streets, waiting for their home to be build. For they had been stripped of their former one. Humans, Duros and Ithorians, among many others, sat aside the passageways, asking for food and water. It depressed Xzig, to see so much people who lost their homes, for she knew for certain that also a few Corellians would be along with the refugees.

She quickly walked on, until she came across a large doorway at the end of a doorway. She saw guards, who stopped her immediately. " Hold. Identification please." said one of them. Xzig nodded, and soon showed her holo-record. She added: " Operative Xzig Barogus, former ARES." the guard nodded and let her pass. Inside were several people, officers it seemed, and other personnel, watching several holoscreens and conversing amongst each other. One of them saw Xzig, and shouted: " Yes? What is it?Come on now, I haven't got all day." Xzig was quite appalled by the man's condescending and unkindly tone. She knew this kind of people, always shouting at and commanding others. " I merely wish to report that my vessel is docked." Xzig said with an emotionless voice. If looks could kill, Xzig would have been burned alive by this man. " What is this, a joke?! I'm not the bloody dockmaster. He's across the street. Now get out of my room!" He shouted. He snorted when Xzig turned around and walked out. " I thought I came here to get away from the Sith." She mumbled.

When she was out of the passageway to the base, she saw another building across the street, one with a starship symbol above the top. The intergalactic symbol for a dockmaster's office. When she entered, she saw an elderly Ithorian, with an translator on his back, looking over a desk full of datapads. When she entered, he looked up. " Yes, young lady? How can I help you?" He said. Xzig was already relieved by the more kind words that the harbour master spoke to her. " Yes. I wish to report that my ship has docked. An YT-2400, standard issue." She said and showed a view of her ship on her holopad. " Ah, yes, I have seen it. Nimble ship, that one, but in heavy need of repairs, I reckon?" The dockmaster asked. "That's one part why we're here." Xzig answered and smiled. " Good. I will have it checked in. Your docking period will expire in four days." The dockmaster continued. And he soon bowed down to his datapads again. Xzig nodded, but she saw something was out of place. " Uh, is there no docking fee?" She asked. The dockmaster smiled, and answered: " No problem at all. Personnel are free of fees, unless you wish to donate a voluntary sum to the refugee community." Xzig thought of those poor people on the streets, and she knew how much even a few credits would change their lives. " But of course. Anything to help those poor souls." She said, and took a few coins from her purse. The dockmaster smiled again to her, nodded, an politely stated: " Thank you, fair lady. These will be put to good use. But now if you'll excuse me, I am as you see, quite busy." Xzig smiled, walked out the office, and made a small wave back when she left the door. " See, there are nice people left still." she mumbled while she walked back to her ship.

When she returned, she saw Alisha still standing at the ship. And, apparently, she was not alone, as a armoured man, presumably Mandalorian, stood by her side. They were talking, so it seemed. And also another Mandalorian, Xzig thought the two were related, was walking towards Alisha as well. From afar, the situation didn't look dangerous, but as Xzig knew, looks could be deceiving. She kept her blaster close as always, but she touched it again to assure she could get it out quickly.

To her luck, it seemed that the two Mando's were fellow Rebels, and Xzig noticed a similarity in one of the two. When she came close, she smiled to Alisha first, but then she looked to the Mandalorian who had come walking last. She didn't know for sure, but she was pretty certain, so she asked: " Ral, is that you?"

(OOC: Sorry about the long post)

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

(OOC All good Xzig, you're not really that late :))

“Oh, I apologize. I was looking for a ship, but it doesn’t appear to be here. This is docking bay 296 isn’t it?”
Alisha nodded.
“Oh, my name’s Tal, Tal Veren,”

As soon as Tal extended his arm for a handshake, Alisha visibly relaxed and gave the Mandalorian a small half smile. It appeared to her that this was another friendly, or at least polite, Mandalorian. Keeping her datapad on the other hand, she extended her own arm for the handshake.

"Alisha Dawnstrider, pleased to meet you" She replies politely while shaking his hand. As his manners told Alisha that there were no reasons for alarm, she didn't notice his small drift.

“You haven’t seen a YV-666 freighter around here have you?”

Alisha thought for a moment while retracting her arms again, twisting her mouth to the side as she tried to recall. She did see quite a few ships coming and going from the hangar when they landed earlier. YV-666s are pretty big and hard to miss. And Alisha did enjoy looking at what kind of ships would go in and out of hangars. In fact, she was better at remembering ships than people, at least at first glance. She was sure she got a glimpse the tail of a YV-666 as they were landing. Her expression returning to normal, she addressed the Mandalorian again.

"A YV-666? Pretty sure I've see one leave the hangar as our ship was coming in, but as for where it was headed, I am not entirely sure."

She took a few more moments to think carefully.

"If I were to speculate, the ship wasn't flying much higher, so perhaps it is still on the planet, probably Cloud City. But..that is just speculation..More than that, I cannot tell you..Sorry about that!"

Alisha shook her shoulders, feeling very unhelpful as usual. Alisha thought about asking him why he was looking for that particular ship, but her common sense kicked in and decided not to investigate further. Better safe than sorry, even though he seemed friendly enough. And she didn't want to pry. Before Tal could reply though, she saw her her friend, and Squad Captain, Xzig approaching

" Ral, is that you?"

"Ah, so it is him!" Alisha whispered. Alisha briefly turned towards and waved at Xzig from afar, but she didn't want to be rude, and so turned to Tal again.

"Ehm, anyway, I reckon you might want to ask the dock official just to be safe. They might be able to tell you were they were headed too. My friend over there." And pointed to Xzig "Pretty sure she came from there somewhere inside the hanger. I'm sure she'll be able to point out the docking office. I hope you find what you are looking for!" Alisha finally added, again giving the Mandalorian half a smile. She certainly wasn't going to start being rude to people that offer handshakes anytime soon. She also suddenly thought it was amusing that one Mandalorian was Tal, and the other Ral, and although tried to hide her rising giggle very hard, failed a little bit and a slight crept spread across her face.

(OOC uh oh sorry guys this was awefully long haha!)

 

[Phoenix]

The woman, Alisha, she had said her name was, seemed nice enough. It was funny how people seemed to be. You met them and they were typically either extremely nice, or just downright jerks. There never really seemed to be any in betweens. Though he had discovered that often, being polite to others brought about a similar response in said individuals. Oh, that’s profound, he thought sarcastically to himself. People tend to like nice people. What a thought.

It seemed that this crew knew the other Mandalorian approaching. Interesting. Well, it likely meant that the man wasn’t an outstanding threat at least. He heard the other approaching crewmember call out to the other man and the irony of the two men’s names rhyming with one another was not lost on him. I suppose that’s what happens in Mando’a naming, he thought to himself.

Typically, he would have moved on from there to continue to hunt his target, especially given that apparently the ship he was looking for had moved, something he found very disconcerting, given that Neebosk was supposed to be alone. Things can never be simple, or how you planned, he thought to himself with an internal sigh. However, now he was intrigued by this other Mandalorian and the crew that he clearly enjoyed an amiable relationship with.

He figured it was possible that they were all Rebels, something he had no problem with at all. Surprisingly, all of his interactions with the Rebels had actually been quite pleasant, but then that made sense considering the Cartel and the Rebellion had business on Bespin together as it was. “No worries. Thanks for your help anyway, I’ll have to check with the dock master.”

The woman suddenly began to smile and almost laugh, and it caused him to tip his head to the side inquisitively. “What’s so funny?” he asked, almost a touch of laughter in his own voice. As he asked his question, he opened himself up a bit to face toward the other Mandalorian and the approaching crewmember. Maybe he’d be able to meet them as well, though he didn’t want to overstay his welcome with these people who already seemed to know one another.

 

[Ral]

(OOC: I'm going to apologize ahead of time for this short post. :( )

As he approached the hanger, Ral noticed another Mandalorian approach as well and make his way over to Alisha. Ral didn't recognize this new Mandalorians armor, but that wasn't surprising, Ral hadn't gotten out enough before the Genocide, and many Mandalorians changed their armor design after the Genocide. Hopefully whoever this Manda'ad was he wasn't going to cause a problem for Alisha, or any member of the Rebellion. Not like there was much Ral could do though; he was loathe to take the life of another Mandalorian without good reason, and getting into a fight just seemed like a poor choice that often set a bad precedent for any possible future friendship. And the Mandalorians needed each other to be friendly with each other and stop committing cultural suicide by Imperium or by other Mandos. Ral continued to watch as the new Mandalorian walked up to Alisha where some sort of conversation seemed to start between them, but the Mandalorian Rebel couldn't hear what the details were about, so he just continued walking to close the distance.

That's when he noticed Xzig approaching, turning to face her he smiled, for as much as that was worth with a full helmet on, and offered a friendly hand to shake as she called out his name. "Indeed it is me, good to see you Xzig, you and Alisha both. I see you've made a new friend here?" He asked as he approached Alisha and the new Mandalorian one hand extended out in greeting, the other ready in case he proved to be the "shoot all the things" Mando. "Name's Ral Aran, currently leader of clan Renelo, and friend of these two gorgeous women here. But you can just call me Ral, or Aran, no need for fancy titles with me."

 

[TheWonderousBat]

Viktor stood at the top of his loading ramp, datapad in hand as he watched the last of the last of the cargo be removed by the mostly droid crew of the hangar. He sniffed as he stood straight, eyes narrowing at the machines as they deftly handled the heavy containers out of his ship. For the most part, they were all supplies for the refuges, blankets and dismantled cots mostly. He'd picked up the job on his last run, and with nothing else to occupy him, had made straight for Bespin. Though he preferred more lucrative cargo, he took work where he could get it. The cut wasn't excellent, but it would keep the Intrepid in repairs for another few months. As the last of the tracked droids disappeared off of his loading ramp, he danced his fingers over the datapad. Logging the shipment as delivered, he descended the ramp towards the hangar floor. Dressed in his usual attire, his black boots and trousers looked worse for wear, but his brown leather jacket was recently cleaned, the fur lined collar popped high around his neck. He had thought it best to leave his repeater inside the ship, and walked with his blaster strapped to his hip and knife tucked down one boot. Used for nothing more than cutting cargo ties, he rarely used it, but it often made the occasional thug think twice. As he inserted his datapad into the socket on one of the droids, the machine whirred and beeped as it saved his data, logging the cargo as received before spitting his pad back into Viktors hands and trundling away with their cargo in tow. "Yeah, nice doing business with you too, rusty..." grinned Viktor as he stashed his pad and looked around. The hangar was busy, but not yet full. He could see the ground crews working about their various ships, unloading and refuelling as they went. He breathed deep, oily musk and harsh stench of fuel assaulting his sense, yet it was certainly preferable to the recycled air on his Barloz-class freighter. He took one last look at his ship, his fingers dancing across the docking console as he locked the landing gear in place and set off into the hangar, making towards the docking office.

As he passed through the hangar, he spotted the familiar outline of one of his more favoured ships, with a collection of people stood near. He slowed his pace, taking in the YT-2400 as he spotted a pair of armoured Mandalorian's talking to a girl at the front. He eyed the Mando's quickly, though kept his hand clear of his pistol. Even if they were the nasty type, blatting off shots within the hangar near lines of fuel and other nasty stuff was never a good idea. He slowed his walk until he finally stopped, looking up at the ship and letting out a low but audible whistle. Stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels, he grinned as he nodded towards the people whom he assumed were the crew, grinning lopsidedly. "Beautiful ship you got here, if you don't mind my gawking. Lots'o little nooks for cargo an' the like." He chuckled, his eyes drinking in the ship one last time before he spun to look at the assumed crew. "Haul much freight? Look like an odd bunch if a ever saw one. Still, take what crew you can get these days, eyh?"

 

[Phoenix]

The Mandalorian seemed nice enough. He extended his own hand and gave a firm handshake. Clan Renelo. The group sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. No matter, perhaps he’d find out later.

He wondered how large the Clan was. Most had been virtually destroyed, but still, if the man was a Clan leader he had potential to carry a lot of weight. He thought back to his meeting with Backes the Hutt. Perhaps he could talk to this Mandalorian about his relationship with the Cartel sometime. At least if they hit it off. He shook himself from those thoughts and moved onto actually talking to the others first before getting ahead of himself.

“Tal Veren. You can call me Tal. Or Veren. I also occasionally respond to ‘hey you,’ or some variation thereof. You know how it is,” he gave a slight shrug and chuckle. “I’m not really involved with the Clans much. More of a freelancer.”

“Pleasure to meet you all. I just met Alisha here,” he said then turned to the other woman walking over with Ral. “I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you yet though,” he continued.

He awaited her response when his attention was drawn away by yet another approaching man. At first he thought that he was a member of the crew, but after he opened his mouth, it became clear that he didn’t know the others. They seemed to be quite a popular crew today. He stood in silence in light of the man’s question given that it wasn’t his ship and he probably didn’t know the answer to the man’s question anyhow.

 

[Frannykins87]

“What’s so funny?” Alisha was almost taken aback by Tal's question. She didn't want to offend, so tried to dismiss her silly thought..

"Oh erhm nothing.." Alisha scratched her head and looked down at her feet for a moment, looking a little awkward as always when in social situations, but still grinning a little bit. She couldn't tell from his voice whether he'd have a sense of humour or not, his helmet muffling his voice slightly.

She then heard Ral approach and looked up again. He also had his helmet on, so would have been hard to tell his intentions towards Tal if he wasn't speaking in a friendly tone. This was quite a relief. Alisha wasn't sure what would happen when two Mandalorian met..She was definitely glad they were not going to start shooting each other..probably..She thought.

"Name's Ral Aran, currently leader of clan Renelo, and friend of these two gorgeous women here. But you can just call me Ral, or Aran, no need for fancy titles with me."

Alisha obviosuly wasn't used to compliments...She shifted slightly and her cheeks tinted of a slightly darker shade of tan. She smiled sheepishly while Ral and Tal were getting acquainted, and sort of forgot the name rhyme.

“Pleasure to meet you all. I just met Alisha here,” to which Alisha nodded, still slightly blushing “I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting you yet though,” As Xzig and Tal were also getting acquainted, Alisha's attention turned to yet another voice. Boy aren't we popular today..She thought to herself..

"Beautiful ship you got here, if you don't mind my gawking. Lots'o little nooks for cargo an' the like.Haul much freight? Look like an odd bunch if a ever saw one. Still, take what crew you can get these days, eyh?"

Alisha took a good look at the man. He didn't seem to be remarkable..or threatening, at least for the moment. She thought he talked strange though. Although normally she would have started feeling slightly uncomfortable by her own lack of social skills with this many people around her, Alisha couldn't help feel a touch of pride at the man's words. She sort of pass through the fact that he thought everyone else was crew..

"Oh yea, not at all, thank you!!" Alisha gave the new arrival half a smile.

"It is old, but works fine and super customizable! We don't haul much yet but should be doing that soon..Of course, I need to fix her first.."

And she turns to the ship, focusing on the less than straight landing gear and the few dents and bits off the hull.

 

[TheWonderousBat]

Viktor crooked a smile, listening to what the girl said as he nodded.

"Bah, scrapes and dents add character, lass. Don't need to worry, so long as she gets you there in the end, don't matter what she looks like." Straightening up as he finishes speaking, he grins broadly again.

"Won't get much cargo here to haul, if that's what you lookin' for. Tibanna be your best bet, unless you offer to ship some freight for't refugees." Pausing as he speaks, he moves to stand with his hands tucked into his belt, the leather jacket opening slightly.

"Say, names Vik, Vik Borgov. I haul freight, ships parked a few bays down. You find any cargo that be too big for you to haul alone, give me a wave. Could do with securin' some more creds for the return journey. Yah seem like you got a fair whack of muscle too, never bad idea to make friends wit' those with the bigger blasters." He chuckles, nodding towards the pair of Mandalorians as he speaks.

 

[Ral]

"It's good to meet you Tal, always nice to meet a vod. I can't really blame you for not really being involved, for several years I wasn't either... until recently anyways, now it seems to have consumed my life!" He exclaimed with a hidden smile on his face as he looked towards the new comer who he could not recognize. A thoughtful hum could be heard issuing from behind the T-visor as he examined this man. Whoever it was he wasn't a Mandalorian, possibly not even a rebel. There were still several possibilities, but Ral would go with smuggler or small-time mercenary for this one, he didn't have the bearing of a serious bounty hunter, though he could just be quite good at tricking others. Turning back towards Val, Ral asked, "So, vod, what have you been up to then? Surely something that would put your skill set to good use, yeh?"

As he spoke to Alisha about her ship and about what type of cargo she might find here. Ral raised a bit of an eyebrow, Definitely not a rebel, he thought calmly to himself as he stepped up next to Alisha. The man introduced himself as a Vik Borgov. He had just made a comment about making friends with the muscle, which caused Ral's eyes to narrow somewhat. Placing a hand on Alisha's shoulder he activated his vocabulator, "I see you made another friend here, Alisha. You seem to be the center of attention here today!" He looked to the teenager and gave her a light pat that indicated he was teasing her.

 

[Phoenix]

Ral was right, it was usually a pleasure to meet another vod, though increasingly many of the Mandalorians he had seen had been bordering on intolerable, though that wasn’t the feeling he got from Ral.

Aran seemed like a practical man, which was something he could respect, and the fact that he wasn’t so caught up in Clan and the idea that “all must join” was a welcome relief as well. Some would almost have certainly tried to shove their clan down his throat from the start, but he hadn’t done that.

It wasn’t that Tal was opposed to fighting with other Mandalorians, the problem was, in his opinion, too many Mandalorians these days were in it for a power grab, and it had led their people to the brink of extinction. In his book, if this one was different, it was good news to him.

“Oh, there are still plenty of people out there that will pay handsomely for a solid warrior, and aren’t too afraid of the Imperium’s wrath. Personally, I’ve found work with the Hutts. They pay well, and the work is fair.”

He continued watching the man that had come up. His comment seemed to imply that he may be looking for someone to hire, and Tal always had his ear out for a job.

 

[Alisha Dawnstrider]

Alisha nodded at Vik's introduction and replied in kind.

"Alisha, good to meet you. And yes.." Alisha waved her hand in greeting as she replied, nodding, referring to what the man called "muscles".

Honestly, she thought the man was rather strange...

"I see you made another friend here, Alisha. You seem to be the center of attention here today!" Ral said

Alisha turned to look at Ral with a slight grin at his shoulder pat.

"Nah, no way! It's the ship, not me!I've never been popular, imagine that, umph!"

She shook her head, still grinning slightly though, aware the Mandalorian was teasing. If there was one thing she would want to avoid, in any place really, is being the centre of attention... So she stayed quiet while the two Mandalorians got more acquainted. Of course, she was still slightly worried either one of them was going to say something that the other would find offensive and then things would get tense, so she was still a little nervous, especially with yet another presence..Honestly, right now, she would rather just work on the ship, and began to feel a little fidgety..But she was polite, and genuinely didn't mind meeting Ral again, so she stayed to see how things would progress..Maybe she would make friends..in fact, like Vik said, it wouldn't hurt to have friends with "muscles.." She thought to herself.