Ask Don't Harp on it

[Mako Krim]

Ithor, Floating Herd-City, Jedi Temple​

Mako had been away from a temple for some time on various assignments around the galaxy. It was nice to finally come "home", or at least to a place the Jedi could call home. The Pyke Jedi would always miss Yavin IV for as long as the Sith held the world. The floating cities of Ithor were nice, and the Ithorians did a good job creating an approximation of nature, but there was nothing quite like the real thing.

The Pyke Jedi walked the courtyard of the Jedi temple. He was wearing a simple tunic that looked perhaps a bit more expensive than most Jedi would wear, designer branded but vintage. His lightsaber rode his hip comfortably as he took a few moments to appreciate the various flora that ringed the courtyard, tended to by an elderly Ithorian and a few padawans. He had actually come to the temple to meet with a new padawan, his own background sharing a single commonality with the girl.

Crime. The son of a syndicate leader, Mako Krim was... adjacently aware of the subject. He had read the padawan's file, what little there was. It seemed the youngster had quite the knack for speeder theft. A useful talent, legality not withstanding. Now the Jedi just had to find the girl.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida sat legs crossed on a bench, chin propped by her palm as her elbow dug into her knee. She was watching the Ithorian elder and other padawans who were helping in the garden. They had invited her to join them, but she declined, choosing to sit where she was; she had forgone some of her pieces of her padawan robes, altering pieces herself to make it more comfortable and mobile. She could at least not worry about her collar itching her to crazy. There was a book that sat open in front of her, as though she had an idea to start her studies, but became quickly bored of it. Another Jedi elder had banned her for several hours from being inside, something about making the techs nervous in the hangers as she curiously tested some of the speeder controls.

She may or may have not fired the engines in spite when told she couldn't be there and help.

The girl turned another page in her book, as though she even read and understood the page she was just on; her books didn't match what the other padawans her age were reading and it bothered her. On the streets, the meaning of catching up meant one was about to be cut loose. That nearly meant death and though she knew the Jedi were not going to kill her, there was an edge that left her leaning to despair. The next page of course was all words, and it overwhelmed her, prompting her to shut the book and looked up, seeing another Jedi had come into the garden.

Was that a Pyke?

She had only known them to run some of the rings in the lower level slums and now she was curious. Brow narrowing briefly before she grabbed her book and approached the Pyke Knight.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako watched the old Ithorian Jedi direct his young charges for a moment, sensing the eyes of another on him. He had seen the young woman reading on the park bench, wondered if it was the girl he was looking for.

He had been told by the Jedi quartermaster in charge of the temple's motor pool that the young girl had been kicked out of the temple. Or rather sentenced to a little bit of outdoors time after she had been a little too interested in some of the speeders. A small smirk lit his lips as he recalled the old man's frustration that she had even fired up one of the speeders when told she wasn't allowed there.

Mako was aware of the distance between them as he kept her visualized in his mind's eye, letting her approach until she was close enough to speak to.

"Vida Harp?" Mako spoke his question out loud without looking away from the youngling's and their trees. He hoped her reaction would be as amusing, the unexpectedness of a Jedi not only knowing you were there, but also knowing your name.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

As she approached, he was watching the others in the garden, certain he didn't see her as she got a closer look. However, when he spoke her name, it clearly startled the girl; she tensed, nearly jumping out of her boots and her book flew out of her grasp. She quickly played a poor shot of catching the book, the cover and pages slipping from between her fingers before she could fully grasp it and watched it land, open, pages facing down in the dirt.

"AAaaa yes!" she said quickly picking up the book. Vida was certain he didn't see her, and how did he know her name? She assumed he must have spoken to the other jedi inside, and her face quickly turned red. "Look, look, I was just interested in helping, I don't know why he got so annoyed, its not like any work he does is going to fix those junkers. They're not worth the time." she explained away, still not knowing his reason for knowing her name.

Vida brushed the dirt off the cover and from the pages in her book before closing it again, "Can you just tell them I know what I'm doing." she sighed.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Vida's reaction did not disappoint as she nearly lost her boots jumping so high. She did lose her book though, which she juggled for a moment before it went tumbling to the ground. A single motion with a single large finger from Mako had the book stop its fall just short of the ground. The girl picked the book up before Mako could return it to her.

The Pyke Jedi turned, hiding a small chuckle behind his other hand, chin resting on his thumb and his large forefinger covering the snickering grin pasted across his toothy mouth. Luckily the girl rambled for a moment, giving him time to recover his sage composure as she explained away her situation.

"It is a good thing to help where help is needed." He said in the most Jedi like, cryptic way he could muster while trying to maintain his composure. The embarrassed Padawan's cheeks were red as a tomato.

"That depends. Do you know what you're doing?" He asked her in response as she tried to brush clean the pages of her book, only to find that it had never been dirtied thanks to Mako's Jedi tricks. "What is it that they have you reading there?" The Pyke Jedi asked, curious as he leaned forwards ever so slightly to try to get a glimpse at the title or pages.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida flipped her book and checked her hand for dirt, swearing it touched the ground, her brow furrowed in confusion, but eventually settled it was fine after all. He didn't seem to be annoyed she had been helping, but she also was uncertain on what he meant by help is needed.

"If I didn't I wouldn't bother." she answered, shifting her weight to other foot, "Not all turn on the same, so you gotta know the models, but once you take them, you gotta fix 'em up, you know?" she explained, and by fixing them up, usually meant taking them to a shop to disassemble and sell for parts, "You gotta know what's inside and if it would be worth the gilb," she smirked pointing her thumb behind her back to the temple, "And those, those aren't worth stealing, so I dunno why he was so out of sorts."

Vida looked down at her book, the Knight had asked about it while she had rambled about the speeders. She held out the book for him to see, "I don't know, history I think." she suddenly felt nervous about it, wondering if he were going to quiz her about the content so far when she hasn't even able to get through the first few pages. "Its hard to read." she frowned.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako listened intently as Vida explained her reasoning. The explanation was that of a criminals, not so much concerned about the fixing as the 'fixing'. Mako followed her thumb as she hooked it back towards the temple for a moment, letting his teeth show a little as he grinned.

"Maybe they were just worried you might break something." The Pyke Jedi said in an unconcerned tone. He was of the mind that a student should be interested in what they were learning about as he looked at the book she offered, and he plucked it from her hand with his large hand, holding it to flip through the pages briefly before looking at the title on the cover.

A Youngling's Guide to the Jedi Code, History of the Order, and Application of the Force

A slight frown formed on his lips for just a brief moment before his face returned to it's neutral expression as he looked up from the book. The girl seemed to be struggling with basic material and was seemingly all on her own when it came to learning it. He glanced back at the Jedi temple again, wondering just what they were thinking.

"How about you take a break and help me out with something?" Mako said as he tucked the book under his arm. "You seem like you know something about speeders, mine's been acting up. Makes a strange noise when it shifts and it has a bit of a rough idle. Think you could identify the problem if we took it for a spin?" He asked, pausing as he pulled the keys from his pocket as a thought hit him.

"My name is Mako by the way. Mako Krim." He said as he finished fishing the speeder keys from his pocket, holding them out between thumb and forefinger as he offered them to Vida. "Tell me about why you came to join the Jedi Order while we walk." He said as he turned and started walking towards where his speeder was parked outside of the courtyard, still holding her book hostage under his arm. He wanted to know her motivations for walking the path of a Jedi, if only to better direct her in her learning, something that the temple staff clearly weren't prioritizing.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida was more than happy to hand over the book, feeling as though the burden of trying to decipher what was before her was lifted even if it were just briefly. So many of the letters looked alike, their similarities easy enough for any galactic to understand their differences, but for the padawan, it was like asking her to complete rocket science. Numbers were no different, many times she had made mistakes on her work because things were flipped, or she wrote it in a different order, which she didn't understand since she was certain she did as asked.

He suggested a break, changing the topic to speeders and instantly the padawan perked up, green eyes lighting up as she listened carefully to his speeders' problems. Already she was running through the possible problems through her head from bad belts to dated equipment. Though when he held up the keys, she eyed him curiously, as though he were going to snatch them back as soon as she reached for them. "Vida Harp..." she said before mentally kicking herself, remembering he knew her name. Gently and slowly taking the keys, Vida waited for the catch to come, eyeing Jedi Krim, but instead, he continued the conversation.

Vida gently spun the keys around her forefinger, catching it and then spinning it in the opposite direction and repeated the process. She thought about his question, and back to the day when she met the knight who brought her to the order, what she had said to her that day.

"I didn't want to become scrap and it was a way out, I could do something to really help others." she explained.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako chuckled gently to himself as Vida introduced herself despite him already knowing her name. Despite growing up on the streets, the girl seemed to have some manners at the least. He dropped the keys into her awaiting hand and didn't give it a second thought as the conversation continued and she answered his question while spinning the keys.

Her answer was... unfortunately reminiscent of one he had heard many times from younger members of the Order. Didn't want to be tossed out with the trash. A way out from a poor situation. It brought a pang of sorrow to his heart that the galaxy was in such a poor state. That the Jedi couldn't do more to make the galaxy a better place, where the young might aspire to be a Jedi if they had the natural talent, rather than just a place where they came to escape worse.

"Well you've come to the right place." Mako said after a moment before latching onto the second part of her answer. "How would you like to help others? There are many ways to help, and many ways of being a Jedi." He asked her as they came to the speeder. It was an older speeder but very popular among certain types who liked to pry as much performance out of an engine as they could.

Mako climbed into the passenger seat and got comfortable, letting Vida take the wheel. There was a brief moment of worry, as he wondered if he was going to regret this.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

His question gave her a pause as she thought about how she would help people, it wasn't something she necessarily honed in as far as skills, her direction vague, but she understood what he was asking. Her head tilted slightly, the keys becoming still in her palm, "Do I have to know now?" she asked frowning, "I just know I don't want to be stuck here forever, I would feel like I was helping anyone if I were here all the time." she said referring to the temple. The padawan was uncertain how someone could just stay in a single place and be content.

Her eyebrows rose with interest as he got into his speeder, "Ooo, a Mobquet, these M68s are hardy." she said running her fingers along the speeder's hood, before dropping to the ground to look underneath, seeing if there were any obvious issues. When she didn't see any, Vida got into the speeder and turned it on, hearing what he was referring too immediately. The girl was silent for a moment, pressing the accelerator, but not shifting gears; she flipped another few switches, pausing, then flipped them back, "Sounds like worn bearings..." she said.

Though not absolutely confident, the padawan took off, accelerating quickly down the road, shifting gears as she speed up and slowed down. She relied not only her experience so far, but there was certainly a portion of instinct that kicked in for her. Mako would certainly notice the close calls with sharp turns, narrowly missing other knights in her path, but the padawan had a calm composure, movements purposeful as she seemed to be the most relaxed she had been since arriving here.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako listened to Vida's questions and comments passively before answering them with a gentle smile. "Of course not. But it is a good question to start thinking about." He commented, planting the seeds of growth and perhaps, with time, maybe a little direction into the young one's mind. Her concerns about staying at the temple all the time drew a slight chuckle out of the Pyke.

"I agree, it would be a rather dull life being a Jedi if all we did was hang out at the temple all day. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily depending on how adventurous you are, the life of a Jedi is not quite so boring as that." The Jedi said with a smile as he recalled his most recent adventures on Maltha Obex and Lorrd. That smile turned to a frown however as a shadow was cast over those memories. The shadow of pain, death, and darkness.

Thankfully, Vida was well into her obsession with the speeder and her competence and passion was already beginning to shine. Mako could tell the girl knew what she was doing quickly, and that she had a keen knack for such vehicles.

He was of course, startled for a moment as she gunned the engine a few times before taking off at a rapid clip. Mako's finger's gripped the armrest perhaps a little too tightly as he was surprised by the rapid acceleration, sharp turns, and near collisions. However his attention was mostly on the girl behind the wheel as she slipped into her element, clearly well at home driving a speeder.

"Do you always drive like this?!" He shouted over the roar of the repulsors as she gunned it coming out of a turn, narrowly missing an Ithorian cabbage seller's cart who shook his fist at the rapidly disappearing backside of the speeder. Mako could feel that there was more to the girl's driving than just practice and talent as she continued. The way she seemed to react to things before they happened yet at the same time within such narrow spans indicated her sensitivity to the force. A small smile crept onto his lips as he considered her future within the Order.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

She didn't mind the Pyke's reaction beside her, anytime she had a partner they seemed to act the same way, unable to handle sudden turns. She just hoped he was not one who vomited in response; it happened once to her and it made for a bigger mess when her bosses found out. He shouted over the repulsors, asking if she always drove as she did, "I don't have my goggles, can't go any faster!" she shouted as she angled the steering column, drifting the speeder around a corner, taking it back to the temple.

She shifted gears again, listening to the crunch and rattle as it hiccupped and Vida slowed down the speeder. "Definitely bearings, easy fix, just a pain to pull it all apart to fix and then putting it back all together." she sighed, thinking about how much work it could be. She glanced over her shoulder, hearing folx yell about something, not necessarily piecing together that she was the menace that just tore through the streets. Vida then frowned to her thoughts, "I would pass easily if I was tested on speeders, maybe ships too, a little more complicated, but I think I can fly those just as well." she nodded.

Vida shifted gears again and the speeder shot off; her hair whipped behind her head as she took it back to where they started.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako didn't mind the rapid speed, accelerations and braking, and tight turns... so much as he minded it wasn't him in control of the vehicle. Still he could handle it and he looked over at Vida as she shouted over the engine before drifting the speeder.

"Faster?!" Mako said before breaking into a deep laugh. "Sounds like we need to get you trained in a starfighter. You have the makings of a pilot." He said with a grin before something plucked at his consciousness and he whipped his head around as they passed a building. Something...

"Thats good news, maybe I'll have the old man at the temple do it, unless you think you can do it better." He said slyly. Maybe he could trick her into some free labor by plucking at her pride. Her comment about passing tests based on speeders got another grin as he thought about it. "I think that only accounts for like... three percent of the test. The rest is how good you can sit still with your eyes closed. That and swinging a saber." He joked. Mostly joked. It was actually a lot lot more involved than that.

Vida started to turn the vehicle around and head back to the temple but Mako had other ideas, something nagging at the back of his mind.

"Turn here, there's something I wanna check out." He said as he pointed to a turn in the road, he would direct her back to the building they had passed earlier, a private shuttle port. They got a few angry glares as they passed people on the way, for some reason. Who could guess why.

When they drove past the shuttleport again, they would see the tail end of a pair of rather rough looking Ithorians loading covered crates into a speeder truck, their hammerhead eyes shifting around warily before they slapped the side of the truck twice and it started to drive off.

"Now that's suspicious. What does your intuition tell you?" Mako asked Vida as he put even more decisions and responsibility into her hands.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

She couldn't help the small smile that peaked its way through when Mako mentioned her potential to be a pilot. Her mind started to drift until he spoke about having the old man doing the speeder work, "No-!" she quickly said, thinking he was going to settle on the old guy instead of herself, "No, I can, let me do it, he'll pull his back out and you will be stuck without a speeder." she said, the Force subtly moving with her words without her realizing. It was no doubt, she had this conversation before prior to coming to the Jedi. For extra work, Vida needed to be able to persuade others of her talent, it was the only way she could earn extra credits. It tended to work most times than not, getting even the most stubborn to give her a chance.

She didn't feel too much reassurance in his joke about sitting around with one's eyes closed, and she certainly was not allowed to swing a saber. Something about discipline, and sitting with her eyes closed in order to earn her way to sparring with lightsticks. Her attention piqued when he suggested for her to turn in the opposite direction. Her eyebrows rose curiously and she followed, taking them to a private port.

There were angry glares, but that was not what bothered her, it was another feeling. There wasn't anything obviously out of place, but the energy was off, and there was something about how others stood around told her something was not as balanced as it needed to be. Taking another drive around, she saw the pair of Ithorians and Mako spoke. Her green eyes narrowed, "I have a feeling..." she nodded, taking the speeder around the block to catch up with the mysterious truck, she followed for a short time before pulling around on adjacent streets. Glancing at Mako, she grinned, "I got an idea."

She hit the accelerator to pull out in front of the truck and then came to sudden stop in front of the cabbage cart, the old man starting shouting at Vida and Mako, and even throwing a damaged cabbage onto the hood of the speeder. Vida stood up, leaning over the windshield, adding to the yelling and chaos. However, this also caused the truck to suddenly stop, the driver standing out his window to yell at the fiasco that was being caused by the padawan.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako didn't fail to notice the way Vida let a small smile creep onto her fact at his mention of the possibility of being a pilot. It seemed he had been right about the young woman's need for speed. He also didn't fail to notice as she immediately fell for his little trick, practically begging to let her work on the speeder. More so however, he felt the way she subtly tried to coax him to agree with the force. Unwittingly he imagined, but it showed that she had been working the force for much longer than she probably realized.

"How did you come to know you were force sensitive?" He would ask, seemingly out of the blue to the girl. All of his questions had meaning however as he sought to better know and understand the young girl who would likely one day be a Jedi. She was already old to start her training, and while the Jedi Order didn't limit beginners in the ways of the old Order, there was wisdom to being careful about how one went about training an older pupil.

Mako kept his attention on their surroundings as soon as Vida pulled around to follow his direction, letting his musings about training fall flat in his mind to be picked up another time. He watched the way she handled the vehicle as she announced her feeling, grinning about a wild idea that she had.

Mako was surprised as she rapidly accelerated, passing the truck before coming to an abrupt stop right before she would collide headlong into the cabbage cart. The street erupted into a chaos of irate voices and thrown cabbages. Mako looked back at the yelling truck driver as a cabbage plunked off the windshield of the speeder. He glanced at Vida and gave her a wink before flinging open the passenger door of the speeder, unclipping his lightsaber and leaving it on the seat as he exited the vehicle.

"What the hell!" He screamed at the truck driver as he approached, playing along and playing into the chaos. "Watch where you're driving! you nearly hit my speeder!" He gestured angrily at the back of his speeder before shaking a fist at the driver.

"I nea- YOU CUT ME OFF!" The scarred Ithorian yelled back, shaking his fist out the driver side window. "Why don't you watch where you're going ya kriffin' fishface!" The Ithorian spat angrily.

"Fishfa- Do you know who I am!" Mako yelled back. Of course he wasn't anybody in particular, but the Ithorian didn't know that. Mako was a Pyke after all, and Pyke's carried a certain reputation. By that time Mako was already to the driver side door and it was an easy stretch to reach up through the window to grab the Ithorian by his shirt and start hauling him out of the window, his strength perhaps enhanced just a little bit by the force. "Get out here! You call me a fishface, I'll show you my face up real close." He said with a cold growl as he dragged the Ithorian out of the truck and onto the street before head-butting him right in between the eyes.

Of course the Ithorian's buddy in the passenger seat got out too, coming around the side of the truck cracking his big hands. These two were bruiser's alright, and Mako had just dragged them into a fistfight over a speeder rage incident. At this point... The Pyke Jedi was hoping there was something real good in the back of that truck, or he would be getting a chewing out back at the temple when this was all done.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida's eyebrows raised as Mako gave her a wink, leaving the speeder as she stepped on the steering column and then over the windshield as she walked onto the hood of the speeder, still yelling at the cabbage vendor. She had no idea what he was yelling about as he pointed to her, his cart, his cabbages, and then to the rest of the folx who were making their way out to watch the fiasco that was unfolding. She walked around the cart and speeder, watching as the second Ithorian got out of the truck while Mako pulled the other out through the window.

"Ya! Ya! Ya!" she yelled back at the cabbage vendor who now threw another cabbage at the speeder. She slid effortlessly into the passenger seat of the truck, keeping the cabbage guy in her peripheral as she watched Mako and the others. The fighting that the Jedi Knight was stirring up distracted the Ithorians long enough for her to slide then into the driver's seat. The keys were left in the ignition and the truck was still running; Vida shifted it into gear and hit the accelerator, throwing the truck into reverse. The familiar beeps of a backing truck, cleared her path but there was a moment of instinct and clarity, she had felt it many times before as she done similar activities and even in the few times when she was able to accomplish meditation. The girl breathed in, sensing when she would need to slow or stop, trusting herself in the process.

When she reached an intersection, she stopped the truck, turning it into a dead end to check what was loaded in the back.

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako... hadn't exactly planned on things going the way they were. He certainly hadn't planned on getting into a fistfight against not just one, but two, Ithorian tough guys. Of course it all worked out perfectly as he drew back his own now aching head, pulling the dazed Ithorian to the side and ducking. The heavy handed swing the second Ithorian launched at Mako sailed right over the Pyke's head to make the second strike of a combo on the first Ithorian's face, sending him sprawling into the street, out cold.

Mako wasn't one to do things in half measures, and as he caught a glimpse of Vida slipping into the speeder truck, he knew where things were going. Either they were about to make a bust on some sort of criminal activity, or they were about to be in big time trouble with the temple and the law. The day had certainly gotten interesting.

The Pyke dodged backwards as the truck started to beep in reverse, a fist narrowly flying by his face before he grabbed it with a large hand of his own. Pivoting inside the Ithorian's guard, he pulled the extended arm forward's with both hands as he popped his hip up against the Ithorian's, rolling the large alien over his back to land roughly on top of his pal.

The Ithorian tried to scramble back to his feet only for Mako to launch a low kick into the alien's face for good measure. He left the second Ithorian in the same position as the first, in an unconscious heap, as he quickly moved to slide back into the open passenger side door, closing it and clipping his lightsaber back on as he slid over into the drivers seat.

There was of course a rather large crowd gathering now and Mako decided it was time to bail. Gunning the engine, he jammed the throttle while yanking the wheel hard to spin the speeder around and jet down the open road towards where Vida had disappeared to.

When Vida checked the back, she would see that the rather abrupt stop had knocked over a few crates, tugging the covers off a few of them. In one of the crates lay a coiled arrak snake, the creature hissing and spitting as it tried to launch itself against the crates bars.

It's target was another creature, a shamarok flitter, the bat like rodent creature flapping wildly in it's cage as it tried to avoid the snake. Safe as it was, it stopped after a moment to look at Vida before speaking.

"Squeak squeak, This one'll be worth five hundred credits. Five hundred credits. Squeak squeak." The disgusting flying rodent chittered as it cocked it's head at Vida through it's cage. The words it spoke sounded heavily Ithorian in accent, and the creature clearly had no idea of the meaning of the words. The snake hissed again, striking its cage to send the flying rodent flapping madly again just as Mako pulled up in front of the alley that Vida had backed into.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida climbed over some of the turned over crates that had fallen in the process of her get-away. She pulled the sheet off the one with the arrak snake, frowning as to how angry it seemed. Though she guessed, she would be fairly angry too if she were locked in a box, but it would be the neighboring crate that she saw the bat-like creature. Its flapping and pacing halted as it spoke, nearly startling the padawan. Imagining this couldn't be legal in the least bit, she threw the cover back over the crate with the bat, picking up the lid to flip the other back over. There was writing, but she didn't bother trying to read it, it always took her so long to figure out what things said.

The girl heard Mako coming to her location before she could sense someone approaching. The speeder clearly making itself known when it shifted gears. Vida hopped out of the back of the truck, watching the speeder close in, "Master Mako," she waved, meeting him, "It looks like a poaching ring, you gotta see the mynock-bat looking thing though, it talks!" she said, already walking from his speeder to the back of the truck to point at least three times. She felt really excited to have stopped this; she'd seen how some of the underground crime bosses treated their animals and was relieved they would not suffer a same fate.

"What happened to the bruisers?" she asked suddenly, watching the end of the alley, realizing no one was giving chase to the Jedi. Did he beat them up? Kill them? Scare them away?

@Arcangel

 

[Mako Krim]

Mako spotted Vida waving at him from an alley and pulled the speeder up to park on the street side. He didn't exactly want to linger in this location long for two reasons. One, the Ithorians likely weren't working alone. Two, he had just assaulted two people in the street in what would appear to everyone else as a violent speeder heist. Which was... well perceptions often formed reality.

"A poaching ring?" Mako said, almost relieved. It would have been terrible if the truck had merely been hauling a bunch of baked goods or something else. As it stood, his instincts had served him right, and so had the girls. "A talking bat? That sound's like a Shamarok Flitter. They're native to the surface of Ithor. Highly illegal to trade in this day and age." His suspicions were confirmed as he looked in the back of the truck, spotting several trafficked animals.

"Hmm? Oh them." Mako responded almost absentmindedly as he hopped up into the truck and started lifting tarps and inspecting crates. "They were cranky so I put them down for a little nap." He answered, stopping for a moment as he opened up one crate before whistling.

"Would you look at that." He said as he pulled a glove on before reaching into the crate. What he pulled out appeared to be a pelt of some sort, but it shimmered in the light and seemed to change color as he shifted it around. "Do you know what these are?" He asked, glancing at Vida for a moment as he set the pelt down on top of a loose tarp before pulling out a second one to inspect. He knew the answer was likely a no though so he continued, explaining.

"Its a molsume pelt, highly toxic until it's treated. Highly valuable." And illegal, though he didn't mention that part. They were worth quite a bit on the black market, especially considering their rarity and the danger of hunting them. His eyes sparkled a little bit as he stared at the iridescent gleam before glancing at Vida. "Why don't you take the speeder back to the temple, I'll go pick up the tough's and deliver these to the authorities." He said, placing the second pelt down on the first and tipping the crate lid up to get a better look inside.

@GABA

 

[Vida Harp]

Vida repeated the name of the bat-creature so she didn't forget; she could see why they would be highly illegal if they were able to mimic speech like the one on the truck. She looked around his arm before stepping to the side for a better view, noticing how he put on gloves before touching the pelt. Mako asked if she knew what they were and Vida shook her head, "They're beautiful, that's all I know about them." she said as it glimmered in the sunlight. He continued though, explaining the type of pelt and the drawbacks to owning one. It now made sense that he would put on gloves before touching them. "Seems like a good tool for an assassin." she mumbled, thinking about the ignorance of the wealthy, they would be an easy target for something so toxic when untreated.

Mako gave the padawan further instructions, the girl nodding as she glanced back at the speeder. She was a little disappointed that she couldn't come with and see the faces of the Ithorian thugs from earlier realize they were being arrested. A sigh escaped as she turned to walk back to the speeder, shoulders slumped some, indicating she was bummed about having to go back to the temple. She didn't want to miss out on anything.

Vida hopped into the speeder and took off, heading back to the temple, but she was in no hurry to return. Besides, she had this speeder, as loud and obnoxious as it was, she wasn't going to pass on an opportunity to get some experience with it. She figured anyways, Master Mako would not be immediately back so she had some time. Picking up speed, the padawan took it drifting through the streets, the local populace seeming annoyed that the speeder was back as it cut through the streets. Eventually she had made her way back to the private ports where they had originally seen the truck depart. Vida frowned, eyes narrowing as she passed it by but moved the speeder a few blocks away to hide it while she would walk back the rest of the way.

Hands in her pockets, she quietly approached the port, watching as a ship took off and noting the security that surrounded the building. Vida would pass it, but cut through a few back alleys to reach a less secured side to see if she could find a door way. There was a twinge her chest, and her gut warned her to be cautious, though she wasn't sure what to be cautious about until she felt someone grab her clothing from behind and lifted her up.

"Hey! You can't do this!" she hollered, trying to reach for her vibroblade, but the Ithorian guard laughed and grabbed it first.

"C'mon, we got a place for trespassers."

@Arcangel