Ask Etti Etti isn't IV everyone

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

Last time Kara was on Etti IV, she'd been out on a different bounty and bagged herself a Czerka Executive. That was years ago now and the planet really had... no it had stayed pretty much the same. Skyscrapers and decadence amidst arids stripped down regions that were once most likely beautiful natural landscapes. Kara let out a long disappointing sigh and turned towards her partner for the day, "You think I look fat in this?" she asked him as she slightly arched her back to better accentuate her growing bosom. Like any man, Crix still had no idea and for some reason Kara wasn't going to spell it out to him either, but the snugness of this Czerka uniform did make her a bit insecure.

Her contact had acquired them the uniforms. That was the perk of being a Fixer in the Bounty Hunter's Guild and the boss of an intergalactic crime family. This is that while she had -quite adequately- managed to take Crix' measure, she had also simply passed on the measurements she had always had herself. Let's just say those measurements weren't quite realistic considering her condition now, with fuller breasts and the results of early morning cravings for junkfood and pickles.

"Nevermind," Kara handed Crix a personav that was already coupled to her own, "this has my location and our exfil," which was Crix' own ship, which she had conveniently left a tracker on. "You gotta pretend to be an office drone, alright?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow, "So no charming smiles and no flirting with the secretaries." Kara, jealous? Never. She just liked things to be professional, that's all. She had heard from the Troig Eccle'baal that Crix apparently behaved like a true 'professional' doing work for him, so he could do the same for her, too. Wasn't too much to ask to pretend to be a boring office drone that simply works to get back to his family at night, or was it?

"Just let me slice into the data fortress," she lowered both her eyebrows as she took the port scanner from her pocket and showed it to him. It really did look just like an ordinary datapad. She would probably need access to an executive's personal computer or be able to slice right into the server room to get the information they needed.

-ding-

The elevator doors opened to the lobby of Czerka Galactic Headquarters.

@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

Crix blinked as Kara thrust her breasts in his face, he cocked and eyebrow his moth split into a wolfish grin and he said, “In all the right places.”

That got him a glare, which he deserved, but he didn’t like how it affected her. He frowned. What was up with them lately. It felt like every time he was around her he wanted to crawl out of his skin, but when they were apart she was all he could think of. This was all way easier before the Velasco job.

Kara was in fine form letting him know exactly how he needed to act on the job, like he’d ever been anything other than professional on a job, his mind went back to Velasco, roiling passion and champagne bubbles, his behavior after a mission shouldn’t be reflected on his record. It was funny how often he thought about that night. Not that he’d admit it. Even now he wanted to just pick her up, throw her in The Blackbird and start over somewhere tropical.

He shook the sentiment from his head. Kara was Zaa Fenn. She was a Boss. She wouldn’t leave Peef, and he wouldn’t ask her to. She’d worked too hard for him to ruin it. That didn’t make him feel any better though.

She reminded him again he needed to be an office drone. He didn’t miss the comment about flirting and he said, “Well, maybe if we flirted like we used to, I wouldn’t need to flirt with the secretaries.”

Ding! the doors opened and Crix stepped out into the headquarters putting as much drone into his steps as he could. He still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to take this job, especially not after their last meeting.

Crow settled into a stride and moved along. Not fast, not slow. He was just another guy going to work, no big deal. Hot blonde on his left smiled at him, and to his credit Crix pretended not to notice. This might be harder than he thought…

@Eccles

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

Who the kriff did this man think he was? Kara only barely managed to restrain herself from slapping him in the face before the elevator door opened. Okay, so maybe she wasn't really feeling like herself lately. That was no excuse for him calling her boring. Kriffing men. If only he knew what she was going through. This was probably going to be her last job for a while and here he was trying to ruin it already by saying she wasn't interesting enough for him to flirt with?

"You go talk to the receptionist then," she shot him a look and followed the hot blonde through the security gate and into the office drone section of the building. Getting inside wasn't the hard part of this job. The number of Czerka executives having the coordinates for the boardmeeting would be slim, at best, and their current security passes didn't get them all the way to the Exectives floor of the building. The offices there were sizeable and connected, but also -as it turned out during recon- secured by their own little dataplague scanners. According to the intel those particular computers were running on military-grade software and would take ages to slice through. At least, it would feel like ages while you hide under the desk hoping that specific executive doesn't come back to the office earlier than expected.

Switching on her AT-Specs that she had linked to her port-scanner, Kara began to scan the Czerka network for any open ports. That was phase one, for then she would have to find the physical port and plug in the actual device in order to start slicing it. Not exciting to say the least.. well, until you get caught. The chances of a megacorporation known to freely traffic slaves and commit mass genocide would take it easy on a slicer trying to slice their way into the most secure offices? Let's not talk about statistics.

Unfortunately for them, there didn't seem to be any open ports on this floor so Kara found walked over to the little kitchenette that sported good caf and real imported fruits and started peeling a mandarin as she waited for Crix to join her. "This place is clenched more shut than the arsehole of a constipated bantha," she complained once he found her, realizing that the old rancher Preef Callo had an effect on her use of expressions.


[OOC: low roll on port finding]
@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

Crow returned her irritation with a simple, “Hey, you’re the boss,” as they stepped through the security check. He didn’t follow the blonde, she wasn’t even that cute. If he worked here, maybe, but he was getting distracted. They had a job to do. He drone’d up to Kara, “Huh, didn’t find the port, weird?” then droned away.

This office was similar to the space he’d worked in on Denon before it was blown into a million pieces. It was humorous to see the hierarchy of the workplace stand in prominence at a Czerka headquarters. His eyes cased the cubicle filled room. In the back right corner he watched as a well dressed “Suit” stepped into the space and absolutely crushed the pecking order. A gaggle of sycophants nearly trampled one another to get a word in. Honestly, Crow was thankful for the distraction. He stepped into a cubical he hadn’t realized was occupied. He glanced down and nearly groaned when he saw who it belonged too.

The confusion took a second to register on Blondie’s face, but it showed up eventually. Crix didn’t miss a beat, “Oof, sorry, this isn’t my cubicle,” he said all smiles. She lit up, “Oh don’t worry that used to happen to me all the time!”

Her enthusiasm caught him off guard, and he replied, “You don’t say?”

He kept one eye on the suit and tried to spot call it out to Kara who was probably still trying to figure out where to plug her little datapad thing, but it was no use. From his position he couldn’t see shit. Just the Suit, Blondie, and the four walls of her cubicle which were covered and I mean covered in pictures of the ugliest monkey lizard he’d ever seen.

This was gonna be a long fucking mission.

(I also rolled bad...)
@Eccles

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

Kara hadn't noticed that Crix had accidently joined the blonde office bimbo in her cubicle and had kept her mind on the job. Well, the job and the smell of the Bakuran Caf Beans being grinded and pressed into the best caf she'd be drinking in ages. The thing about living on Nar Shaddaa was that import fees for cartel space were astronomical and that meant only the cheapest brands saw enough profit to transport their beans in bulk across that side of the galaxy. Also, the machines sucked. Not just the caf was great here at 'Czerka Offices' but before she knew it Kara was holding fresh Binka fruit from Agamar in her hand. This was kriffing unbelievable and whether they'd find that meeting's location or not, this moment of bliss was already worth the trip over to Etti IV.

She had half-eaten the fruit and just sat down at the table with her cup of caf, giving her swollen feet a rest, when "the suit" appeared in front of her. "On a break, miss Supeme?" he asked retorically, actually more like he was berating her for having the audacity to take a break, before heading for the caf machine himself.

Kara had no idea who this 'miss Supeme' was, but the kriff she was going to correct her. She'd be Miss Supeme for him. "My feet are killing me," she heard herself say and felt an anxiety attack incoming right away. The kriff she was being honest for? The 'Suit' seemed to smile at her honesty and turned around to face her as the machine began filling his cup, "Pregnancy does that. You should have Mr. Deluto increase your severance packet." wait a kriffing minute!? Did he just assume she was this 'Miss Supeme' because she was pregnant? And did Czerka really fire its female office drones ones they got pregnant!? "Or," the tone shifted back to that of a disapproving colleague, "shouldn't have slept with an executive thinking he'd leave his wife for you."

Oh kark! Kara felt herself getting angrier by the second. This 'suit' had appeared nice for a second but now as she watched him and his smug face take a satisfied sip from his caf before simply walking away as if he hadn't just insulted 'Miss Supeme' -her- Kara was this close to beat him into an inch of his life.

[OOC: low roll on advancement]
@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

Love was complicated. It wasn’t something you could control, it just happened. He knew that from experience. First with May, then Karina, now… his gaze flicked to Kara. She was currently sitting down with her feet up drinking a caf. Normally, he wouldn’t have cared but the Suit had smelled her little break, like a shark smelling blood in the water. Crow’s eyes narrowed as he watched the pompous Czerka dick head sweep into the room. Smile on his lips, contempt in his eyes.

“Well, this has been fun, but I think I’m late for a meeting,” the blonde deflated a little, and started to say something, but he was already gone. Crow couldn’t hear the words coming out of this guys mouth, but he could read lips and his blood was starting to boil.

Who the fuck called a woman as beautiful, strong, and intelligent as Kara, Miss Supreme?

As he reached the entry way as the suit said, “That’s what pregnancy does to you…”

Crow was caught in the entryway, mouth hanging open, as the revelation slammed into him. From over the executives shoulder he saw Kara with new eyes. Her elevated feet, the small swell to her stomach, and the increase in breast size, her attitude…

“Oh fuck,” said, Crix Dolan out loud.

The Suit was standing inches from Crow and his expression a contorted mask of contempt and outrage. As if Crow had just insulted the guys mother.

“Get the hell out of my—” Crow’s fist collided with the man’s jaw so hard, the Devil of Denon could feel his jaw snap. He crumpled in a heap. Crow swore and shook his hand, he’d broken it no doubt.

“Uh, we should—”
“OH MY GOD! WHAT THE FUCK?! THAT GUY JUST ATTACKED THE EXECUTIVE!”

Crow sighed, his anger receded as the shame of his action nestled in, he beckoned for Kara to move. That’s when the alarms went off. He’d fucked up bad, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get Kara out of here.

@Eccles

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

It wasn't until Crix had actually uttered the words "oh fuck" that Kara noticed he'd been standing there and heard the Executive mention she was pregnant. There were a lot of scenario's that ran through her head right that instant. Would they give up their lives of crime and life peacefully has husband and wife, as parents? Would dissolve any responsibility for a child and claim it had to be someone's else, considering Kara's less-than-monogamous lifestyle? Was she to retire to a little farm by herself, raising a child that would never know who the father is just so that mister charming could go around the galaxy sleeping with more women and impregnating everyone from Twi'lek prostitutes to Catharese dancers!? Well, if that was the case than he could kiffing-

-and then he suckerpunched the executive, dropping the man to the floor and spilling his hot caf all over the place. The audible crack and very public display of violence immediately attracted a crowd of Czerka drones gasping and shouted for help. "The kriff you did that for!?" Kara blurted out with the mixed feeling of her -oh so professional merc- absolutely ruining their stealth job they were paid extremely well for and, well.. he came to her defense.

She grabbed the half-eaten Binka fruit from the table -it'd be a waste to let it spoil- and got up to follow Crix but they never even made it to the lobby before three security droids emerged up ahead raised their rifles at them. "This way!" Kara pulled at Crix' arm as she bee-lined through the cubicles. The adrenaline, her condition, the panic.. it all was already having an effect on her as she began sweating, her heart started pounding and she felt a definite hot flush coming on, too.

A few months ago Kara would've just pretended like she didn't know him. He'd get arrested and she would just continue with the job as if nothing had happened. Mercs were expendible. If there was a profit in it he might get a prison bust, but that all depended on the length of his sentence and smacking an executive in the face wouldn't give you a life sentence.. not even in corp space.

Now she was already out of breath as she rounded another corner and-

<Statement: Surrender or be fired upon> another Czerka security droid blocked their way and the sound of metallic footsteps behind them told them the other three were on their heels. "You got any more of those brilliant ideas, lover?"


@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

Time froze. His gaze was locked on Kara. How the fuck had he missed this… A plethora of emotions stampeded across his mind. Was the little one… his? Then they were running. Kara was saying something, but he felt like he’d been too close to a thermal detonator. His ears rang and everything sounded like it was underwater. He knew they were running, but it felt like he was trying to swim through molasse.

Crow’s mind is rolling. The scene around him went from slow motion to full speed instantly. He pulled his comm, “PeeGee, need an out now!”

The little droid warbled an alarmed chirp.

“Okay, we’ll be there,” he said, stowing the com. He needed a gun. Crix’s near mental breakdown had put him a few paces behind Kara, as she rounded the corner he heard the voice of a droid and something snapped. In the middle of the droid’s warning Crix rounded the corner screaming, he dropped his shoulder and slammed into the droid.

Crow wasted no time. He jumped on top of the roid and wretched it’s weapon from it’s cold metal finger. He flipped the weapon and fired twice right into the droid's face. A spray of sparks shot out from it’s dome and Crow was already standing and beckoning her on, “Yeah, I got a few. You coming, lover?”

Crow was a killer, and it was time he started acting like it. They were half way down the hall when the other droid rounded the corner behind them, with no hesitation he whipped around and opened fire. He had one goal, and one goal only: Get Kara and her child the fuck out of here. Blaster fire ripped from his stolen gun and lit up the protocol following corporate droids.

He’d bought them some time, but it wouldn’t be much.

“PeeGee is moving The Blackbird to our bail out point, we’ve got two minutes to get up ten floors!” he said, breathing hard. His eyes flicked back and forth with every crossroads they came to finally he spotted a lift, “There!”

He came to a skidding stop at the life and smashed the call button feverishly. He stepped aside assuming Kara would want a turn once she caught up, “Keep it up you’re doing great! Just remember your breathing.”

What in the FUCK WAS HE DOING RIGHT NOW?!

DING

The lift doors slid open revealing a security droid as it warned them about resisting, Crow resisted. He kicked the slag heap to the side and graciously gestured for Kara to enter.

@Eccles

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

What was this hot flush? Why did she feel like smiling? Kara stood by as Crix frantically smashed the elevator button and caught herself doing exactly what he said she should remember to do; focus on her breathing. "Crix," she exhaled, the already too small uniform felt even more constricting and she broke open the collar, "If we don't make it out, then-" what? She was glad she got to know him? That they were together in the end? Kriff that. She always wanted to go out in a Blaze of Glory, so she might as well kriffing go out pulling her weight..

<Statement: Put down your weapons and come i-EeEeHh> the droid had barely managed to start its pre-programmed warning -after all these weren't killer drones- when the Crimson Dawn Enforcer kicked it to the side and disabled it in quick succession. Kara followed him in, but regardless of her attempt to get her own hopes up, their situation looked bleak to say the least. "We need to get word out to the Fixer," she said, refocusing on the task at hand. Maybe if the fixer for this job was aware of how badly it went, they'd arrange for a rescue mission or at least inform Preef Callo that his protegée had been imprisoned in the Corporate Sector. Preef would know what to do. He busted people out of worse prisons.

Then the elevator opened and Kara realized why it was always a bad idea to use an elevator as a means to escape. Four CS-series security droids stood on the other side of the door with their blaster rifles aimed right at them. "Oh my god the baby is coming!" Kara cried suddenly, grasping her belly and seeming to seek support on the side of the elevator where the control panel with all the buttons was. The droids seemed confused for a second, <Statement: Target appears to be pregnant> one of them said, while another replied in binary about it not being programmed to know the stages of human pregnancy and it was unsure what to do. Then the doors closed and Kara stood up straight again as she smirked in Crix' direction, "You'd think they'd install better cognitive modules."

The panel's lowest buttons were lit and the lift went further down. Who knew what they would encounter down there.

@Zay

 

[Crix Dolan]

Crix’s whole body was on fire as his brain worked furiously to find a way out of this mess, but it wasn’t coming. The door slid open and they were greeted with four security droids. He could feel his breath coming in hard as his grip on the gun in his hand tightened.

“Oh my god the baby is coming!”
“Wha—WHAT?!” Crix nearly collapsed, the droids outside cocked their heads and ran through their laundry list of protocols as the doors closed. Then just as suddenly as her birth pangs had come one they were gone.

Crix leveled her with a glare as that infuriatingly cute smirk spread across her face, “You’re trying to kill me. That’s what you’re doing, you're trying to kill me.”

Crix gave Kara a sidelong look as he did some pretty easy mental math, “Is it mine?”

She’d hear fear in his voice. The kind of fear no one ever wanted to hear in someone’s voice. The sound of a heart ready to break.

“Don’t bullshit me, Kara,” he turned toward her, looking at her as if with new eyes. He took in the curve of her jaw, her lips, her swollen belly, and finally he forced himself to look her in the eye.

Crow ran from everything his whole life. He ran from Denon, he ran from the Zaa Fenn when they fell, he ran from Hardlight after Barlo’s death, but he couldn’t run from this. His opportunity to be a father had been stolen from him the first time and in that moment he knew he’d die before he let that happen again.

He smashed the button just above the floor they were supposed to be getting off.

“I gotta get you out of here,” he put both hands on her shoulders. He loved her. He knew he did. He pulled her into him. For the first time since everything had gone to shit, Crix smiled.

“C’mon, Peegee is going to meet you on the balcony. We’re almost out of here,” he said.

The doors slid open to an empty office space. He’d let Kara step off first, then press the close button.

She was lost in some diatribe about how small his ship was, but all he could do was smirk. The doors began to close, she’d be just out of reach of the button, “Kara!" he'd call out just in time for her to whirl around, "I love you.”

The doors closed, the lift descended.

Crow pressed himself into the corner of the elevator. He controlled his breath and prepared for the inevitable.

He pulled his Comm, “Peegee change of plans, get to the balcony on the floor above, don’t argue, just do it, don’t wait for me, take Kara and get out of there,” the doors opened and stun bolts and blaster fire rang out as he yelled into the comm, “Get Kara out of here, that’s an order!” he barked, spiking the comm on the ground and setting his hands to work on the droids that had been organized in force.

He’d done everything he could to give her a way out, he just hoped it had been enough.

@Eccles

 

[Kara Zaa Fenn]

If they'd been somewhere else. Opportunity, perhaps, or even that ratty narrow spaceship of his, Kara would've enjoyed this moment. The look on his face, him putting one and two together and -finally- coming up with three. "Yeah, so what?" she replied in her most casual way, yet her heart jumped as she -finally- admitted to it. Not just to him, but also to herself. Despite there current predicament, she suddenly knew that they'd get out safe and unscathed. He'd rub her feet, make dinner and they'd read bedtime stories to their kid together. The perfect childhood you'd only see in sappy HoloMovies. She just knew they'd be alright..

The elevator dinged and she couldn't stop herself from smiling suddenly, "Yours, just as I am-" Kara said quickly and stepped out of the elevator, walking straight for the nearest balcony when suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks and turned around just to see him speak to her as the doors closed. I love you, but I am leaving you and your dreams in shatters.

She just stood there.

Her daydream suddenly filling with dark clouds as rain poured and Crix and their kid melted in front of her. Hope really was the cruelest kind of torture.. and she only snapped back to the present when she heard the metallic click-clack of droid footsteps and then a window shattering under force. Kara turned around to see Crix's ship hovering on the other side of the shattered window, but for some reason her feet were heavy. It was as if she was trying to walk through water, instead of over it. Finally she gained momentum and with one foot before the other moved towards the ship. She would free Crix. She had organized prison breaks before. She'd have him out and back with her on Nar Shaddaa before the baby was due. All wasn't lost. The dream could still come true and in her head the dark clouds started to lift, but then..

a well-placed stun shot from a blaster rifle his her in her upper back. Her vision went down, instead of the ship her eyes were directed to the floor and she couldn't do anything about it. Darkness followed as he unconscious body hit the floor with a thud.

/end thread
@Zay