Caught on Rodia

[Aurelie Fleury]

Rodia, Local time: 14:05

Drifting about, looking for the next opportunity to acquire food or a few credits was not unfamiliar to Aurelie. She had been in similar situations in the past and this was no different. She was, however, not very familiar with Rodia. Despite having been to the planet in the past during one of her father’s business ventures, she had not picked up more than a few words and ideas of how the capital was structured. Her current whereabouts were an unknown - but the remote little town was perfect. It was small enough to have poorly patrolled streets and lousy law enforcement, but large enough to have plenty of marks for her to target. Naturally, humans weren’t too common, but sticking to the spaceport and market squares made her blend in well enough.

Dressed in a rather simple beige jacket, just long enough to cover the blaster attached to her belt, Aurelie made her way through the large hall connecting the private hangars. This was by no means an area exclusive to the rich, but it did presume that those in visit owned a ship. Seeing a family of four exit one of the hangars, the young woman spotted a poorly guarded bag hanging off of one of the adults. Picking up the pace, she caught up with them and managed to snatch a leathery object before making a quick turn to the left, into one of the empty hangars. Her breathing had quickened as she listened for if anyone had noticed her deed. A wave of relief washed over her as the family kept moving without pause.

An odd siren sounded as the hangar opened the entrance for a ship to enter. It did not take a genius to recognise that the girl was not supposed to be in there. Whatever staff there was to coordinate the ship’s landing was, however, not in a position to see her, most likely all conducting their business from the central tower. Not feeling particularly inclined to return out to the hall where her former marks could be found, Aurelie decided to stay in the hangar, deciding that she could probably hide behind a few crates and wait until the new occupants would leave.

Her good fortunes soon seemed to take a turn for the worse as a group of four spaceport workers entered the hangar. A couple of them started to move a few crates and prepare a lorry whilst the other two got to work on preparing the fueling lines. The thief kept a careful eye on what was happening as her mind raced through a number of possible excuses for her presence. While talking her way out of the situation which would arise if discovered was preferable, the girl was also prepared to make a run for it if needed. But then, the workers were more interested in just doing their job, apparently oblivious to an object just having been stolen nearby - no miracle worker would be needed to carefully sneak out of the hangar if the opportunity presented itself.

Of course, many of her troubles would've been a non-consideration if her combat droid, Scrappy, was here. Alas, the droid was much less sneaky than one might have hoped and rarely blended into spaceport crowds very well. Still, she knew that she could call on the trusty old machine if needed. Taking another peek at the four grunts just having entered the hangar, Aurelie decided that there was no need to causes a scene and slowly started making her way towards the exit whilst making sure to stay well hidden from the workers.

@Suede

 

[Talik Laarcan]

There was another drifter around in Rodian space, though this one in a much more literal sense. It had been days, or maybe even weeks since Talik had blasted out of the Tattooinian atmosphere, abandoning his old life of servitude in favor of a new, more adventurous one. However, recently Talik had found himself simply lazing around as his droid maintained the ship, adrift through the galaxy. He had managed to ride that high of newfound freedom for a while, but as time wore on and his food stocks fell low, Talik decided that it was finally time to kickstart his smuggling career properly. It was time...for crime.

Well, more crime in addition to the laws he had already broken to get to this point. But where would he go for this kind of thing? Talik had only ever known the sand dunes of Tattooine, and only had a vague knowledge of the planets nearby. Pulling up the navcomputer and searching through the adjacent systems, Talik found a name he was actually familiar with. Rodia, a planet with a reputation (on Tattooine, at least) for being endlessly ravaged by conflict between the various Rodian clans. A perfect place to rid himself of his stolen goods and get some extra supplies.

Talik had picked up on some various underworld knowledge from time spent at the dark and dingy cantinas that littered Tattooine, and shopped around for some potential buyers near to him. After scouring a few channels of the HoloNet, he managed to get into contact with a particularly unscrupulous Rodian - Veetzee Vizam - who promised Talik quick and easy credits in exchange for his illicit goods. The offer seemed as good as any other he was going to get, so they agreed to meet at an inconspicuous spaceport cantina out in the remote lands of Rodia to exchange goods. What could go wrong?

Soon Talik was descending through the atmosphere of the exotically lush planet. It was distracting in its own right- to see so much foliage and nature was such a contrast to Tattooine's unending seas of sand that Talik had to take a moment to properly acknowledge it all. It was unfortunate that the moment happened to be as Talik was pulling into the spaceport hangar, very nearly crashing into the wall and sending distinct Rodian chatter screeching into his comms. He felt only a small twinge of guilt for his temporary absentmindedness, but seeing as no one was hurt, Talik got over it quickly.

He turned to the labor droid that had been silently sitting in the seat next to his, meeting it's unblinking gaze for a moment as he pondered its existence- not too unlike his own, until a few days prior. Distractedly, he muttered, "Alright, prepare the crates to be moved. I'll be right back, try not to get into too much trouble while I'm out and about." Without waiting for the droid's acknowledgement of his command, Talik strolled out down the ramp of his ship and into the spaceport. Eager to get the transaction completed, he hurried into the small cantina and almost immediately met his contact.

"Cheedana tasoona vootu! <You are finally here!>" Was the first thing Talik heard the Rodian say. Where once Veetzee had been focused on his drink and drugs, once he clocked Talik he deftly pushed the paraphernalia aside and turned all his attention to the Zabrak. As Talik approached, he noticed he had drawn the gaze of two particularly rough looking thugs, a Human and a Klatooinian. Veetzee noticed his worried look, and responded to it dismissively. "Ommono topi, adreeda sosoonta eevari. Choobano azattza? <They're just bodyguards, don't mind them. Are your guns ready?>"

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

It didn't take long until a ship could clearly be heard from a distance, causing the four workers to suddenly surge in activity. The increased speed at which they worked made it quite a bit harder for the thief to get a good opportunity to escape. Aurelie made a couple attempts at moving from one crate to the next, but was stopped in the last second as one of the workers would start to turn around to look in her direction. There was not much left for her to do but to wait.

Finally, the ship arrived - it was a light freighter of a rather common design. The spaceport workers faded into the background, as they often do, once the ship arrived, quickly becoming extraordinarily busy with getting a few crates out of the way, connecting the fuel pipe and checking the landing gear. The young woman didn't have to wait long until a relatively tall Zabrak stepped out of the ship. She looked carefully for if anyone else was in the ship while the ramp was down and couldn't see any animate object inside. She then turned her attention to the Zabrak himself, who seemed to stand in rather stark contrast to some of the more heavily armed thugs whom could be found on the planet.

Once he left the hangar, the girl sat down with her back leaned against a crate - all whilst the workers were still rushing about, probably having some left-over work to do since last time a ship had landed there. An idea slowly increased in prominence in her mind: If the Zabrak was the only one on the ship, perhaps she could plunder, or even take the ship. She glanced, first at the ship, then at the exit and determined that the risk was about the same. Once the gear was checked, other crates were moved and fueling done, the workers would leave the hangar, giving the thief a free passage to the ship.

After a casual jog and tampering a bit with the door security, the ship was open. Just to ensure that she wouldn't be taken by surprise by a remaining passenger, she knocked on the wall relatively loudly "Hello? Anyone at home?" she knocked a few more times "Hello?" After a few moments, a labour droid approached. She was in relief that it was just a simple droid and not anyone who could pose a threat to her. "Your master said that you should load those crates onto the ship" she lied whilst pointing at some random ones outside the ship. Once the droid had moved past her, she quickly reached for the panel at the droid's back and disabled it.

With that done, she quickly moved through the ship and started familiarising herself with it, ready to leave the planet with a ship of her own and a nice droid. For the most part, she remained relatively calm, but she did keep a nervous eye on the hangar bay doors, just to make sure that no one was coming in to disrupt her plans.

@Suede

 

[Talik Laarcan]

Talik uneasily turned his gaze away from the two menacing goons and back over to Veetzee. The rodian's comment did little to ease his fears- what kind of trouble had Veetzee been expecting from Talik that he felt he needed two armed guards? Maybe that just came with the territory. Talik steeled himself- no matter the reason, this is what he was doing with his life now, and he wasn't going to get anywhere cowering because of two mean looking mercenaries. "Yeah, the guns are ready whenever you are. I had my droid prep them before I came here."

"Abanna tomono wompi. Zattzam sichoontoo! Cheebanta sagoona tolo. <Smarter than you look. Let's go then! My boss hates waiting.>" With that, Veetzee snapped and started heading for the door. His bodyguards leapt up and moved to follow, their guns now clearly visible on their hips. The human carried a pistol holstered on his side, while his klatooinian companion had a long rifle strapped to his back. They didn't seem to care about Talik any longer, as they paid him no mind as they rushed to meet their boss' stride.

Talik sped up to Veetzee's pace, guiding his buyer towards the hangar where he had landed. He didn't really know if small talk was common during these types of deals, but he figured it couldn't hurt. "So, uh, Mr. Vizam, what do you need all these guns for, exactly?" The rodian stared at him for a moment, then let out sounds that Talik could only assume were laughs. "Zeettza achana, zidondoo. Soota treebo amawangi, dolotopi reeda. <My boss, kid. She needs guns for her war, and I get them.>"

His sentence ended right as they arrived at Talik's hangar, and they casually strode in- just in time to see some woman head inside his ship, right past a suspiciously still labor droid. Talik drew his holdout blaster, and cursed himself for leaving his main gun in his cockpit. To make matters even worse, whoever was in his ship right now would be able to get to it and use it against him. Veetzee noticed Talik's reaction to the mysterious stranger and quietly asked "Matoonta chowee? <Do you know her?>" to which Talik simply shook his head.

Veetzee's thugs both drew their weapons but stood by just in front of hangar doors as Veetzee himself drew two blaster pistols and gestured for Talik to follow him as they headed to his ship. As they strode across the small hangar space, Talik realized he had never actually killed anyone before. Would he need to now? He hoped it wouldn't come to that. He just wanted to smuggle goods and make money, not have to kill a bunch of people!

Veetzee clambered up the ramp with his guns facing into the ship, and Talik called out to whoever was inside. "I don't know who you are, so come out with your hands up! We're armed and dangerous, and we have reinforcements, so don't try anything!" It was difficult to keep his voice from wavering, but he hoped the admittedly weak threats at least served their purpose and would keep him from having to fight anyone today.

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Seeing as the group of arms traders entered the hangar as soon as Aurelie entered the ship, she didn't see them from the cockpit window. Startled, she quickly thought of what to do as someone, most likely the owner, called out for her. The thief quickly scanned her surroundings for possible hints on who she was dealing with or solutions to her current situation - unfortunately, the only item of any relevance seemed to be the rifle resting at the side. Looking for places to hide in someone else's ship seemed like a fools errand leaving only three options. Fighting, talking and running.

Grabbing the rifle, Aurelie quickly left the cockpit. With the rifle casually held in her left hand, her right one was prepared to pull out her blaster pistol at a moments notice. As always, it was set to stun, quite natural considering her dislike of killing. "This is officer Ines Coudre" she said with a strong voice whilst walking towards the ramp, her nervousness only revealed as she bit her lower lip, realising that she might have been a bit too greedy this time.

Upon reaching the ramp, the young woman stayed by the doorway, ensuring that she could try to dodge in behind the wall if a shootout were to happen. "This is officer Ines Coudre of the Common Savareen Shipping Inspection." she said upon seeing them, making up the organisation on the fly. Mael, her father, had always been tricking and conning people when he was still alive, often enlisting Aurelie's help - it was a skill which she'd have to make good use of right at this moment. Her eyes quickly scanned the quartet - she was certainly in big trouble if this didn't work. Although, the Zabrak seemed relatively poorly armed in comparison to the other three. Not missing a beat, Aurelie immediately continued "Drop your weapons."

@Suede

 

[Talik Laarcan]

Upon seeing Aurelie, Talik eyed his rifle in her hand. Veetzee belted out an even louder laugh than before, hearing the human's reply. He cut it short in a sudden and jarring manner, then spoke. "Daveeda oona choontoo atopi 'zatzalla'. <No chatting, just drop the blasters 'officer'.>" Then he gestured for Talik to raise his gun, and the Zabrak obliged, none too thrilled about the situation but favoring keeping his would-be client happy over this mysterious CSSI agent. The rodian also called out for his thugs, who drew their blasters and began to approach the ship.

Talik kept his gun raised, but had it aimed to Aurelie's side rather than directly at her. This was too rocky a start for his smuggling career for him to want to shoot anyone, stun, kill, or otherwise. He hoped that his efforts combined with Veetzee's flippant derision toward her would be enough to get her to comply, lest things get ugly. "Do as he said. Drop your blaster- and my rifle. This doesn't have to escalate."

Meanwhile, outside the hangar, four other rodians in Spaceport Security uniforms were completing their sweep of the various hangars in this wing of the port. Some travelers had reported missing items, and a few shady characters were spotted hanging around the bays in that area. Their leader, a bulky blue rodian with a rifle, gestured toward the hangar the Aurelie and Talik found themselves in. It wouldn't be too long before they got there and discovered what was going on.

 

[Aurelie Fleury]

Watching the situation, it became rather clear that the Rodian was in charge of the other three as he instructed them to raise their weapons. The alleged officer quickly took a step to the side to hide most of her body behind the door whilst quickly drawing her blaster pistol. Briefly, Aurelie had a puzzled look on her face as her eyes glanced past the poorly aimed gun of the Zabrak - if he was one of the Rodian's lackeys, he had to be pretty new, or competent within a completely different field than enforcement. Regardless, four blasters aimed at her was no good. The girl's eyebrows raised as the Zabrak spoke, she recognised his voice as the one who initially called out to her. Perhaps he was a translator or something more civilized, it would make sense considering that he didn't sound as thuggish as the common brute.

Similar to how a law enforcement officer would call for backup, Aurelie activated her holocom and mumbled a few letters and numbers, anyone who listened carefully would hear her namedrop the hangar name C7. The backup she was calling was her battle droid, but it was rather obvious to her that it would take a while for him to arrive. The bodyguards looked like they would blindly follow orders, but the Zabrak seemed different. "Think about what you're doing here. You've raised a gun against an officer, don't let this escalate any further" she said, speaking with a loud and clear voice, first looking to the Rodian and then the Zabrak.

As fortune would have it, the hangar doors opened just a few moments after the call for aid. The reinforcements weren't quite what she had expected, however. Quickly taking note of the four armed individuals on the ramp, the officers dew their weapons and aggressively called for the perceived civilians to drop their weapons. The thief knew that getting caught by either party would be rather disastrous, but she had to stay in place in order to prevent the Rodian and his gang from entering the ship.

@Suede