Hop on the Magic School Bus: The Ship and the Crew

[Karacaldra Von Kedisy]

Karacaldra had not been to many worlds in her time. Truly, as a former Naval Defense Officer, her concerns had been the welfare and security of Togoria. Feeling the burn of Justice, and the fire of rebellion light inside of her, had driven her from her homeland, and into the service of the Galactic Alliance.

But currently, it was a different kind of burn that she was feeling now. The blazing sun painted the setting moon Red in the sky, as the cold chill of the badland deserts of Socorro had given way to a quickly raising heat of the sun. The planet could get to 110 degrees at its poles, and it was a volcanically active, 75% desert sand, world. For the Togorian, it felt like being baked in an oven that someone had locked shut, and as the morning rays began to peak over the walls of the Crater, where the city of Vakeyya, the capital of the world.

The mission had been a simple one, the Jedi requesting assistance on a mission of their own, but requiring preparation to do so. Acquisition of a Ship, Charting of a Course, and Finding of a Crew, were all needed in order to make this happen, and on this world they were to find the men, women, or droids, to help them on this mission. Karacaldra did her best to avoid the clouds of red dust as they blew in the street, and was watchful of any preying eyes on them.

"The most likely place to start is some of the local gathering spots..." She said as she looked to her companions, "One place highlighted is the Golden Grog. Rumor has it that Freelancers often go there to get noticed by larger outfits. We can try our luck there, and maybe we'll strike out..." She stopped talking a moment as a group of locals began to pass, talking among themselves. As they finally moved away, Karacaldra watched them like a hawk, before continuing.

"Remember, this planet has no government, and the gangs form the law enforcement here. We will need to be on our guard, and ready if one of them decides that we need to go." She hoped it wouldn't come to that, but she wasn't sure. The planet had a trade system, importing technology for water, but she had heard they didn't take kindly to outsiders. If they found out too much about them then, well, the heat might not be the only thing trying to kill them.

@Ner Giza @Joran Miran @Azran Tempest

 

[Ner Giza]

So far things had been going well enough, if they managed to get a crew they would be able to at last get to the auction on Ruusan to purchase the Grey Lady. It felt odd to her this having a name for a ship they had as yet to acquire but then she was funny about names; for instance what if the ship was blue? Perhaps Master Luy had dreamed of her and then she wondered if Jedi had prophetic dreams or no. It seemed like she recalled something from those texts Aurel had always been collecting about the dream time. Or had it been waking visions? She couldn’t recall, for half the time she was certain her brother’s research was much more costly to him than the reward. Who knew Jedi were real? She had just been more worried about the chances of him being force sensitive and turning to the dark side by having no one to show him the way. Everyone she ever knew who could sense the force had been snatched up by the Sith or came to some bad end. Yeah, not thinking about all that was going great!

She sniffed and caught scent of food, which was caused her to focus her wandering attention deeper into the market area. Nothing took her mind of things she could do nothing about like a good roast mynock. Surely a place like Soccoro would have many of street carts that peddled to a variety of pallets. With her cloak hanging down over her ranger scout armor, her hood pulled up to protect her skin from overexposure to the sun and the dust of the red clouds blowing through the city, she set her eyes to their back trail while they waited for the group of locals to pass by their location. It was a habit she had gotten into long ago because things just looked different when you were running away from town than when you were sneaking in. The last thing she wanted was to get disoriented if they had to make a hasty retreat cause it was anyone’s call how their reception would be once they started letting word out they were looking to take on a crew. People could be awful touchy about recruiting within their territory.

Her focus returned to Karacaldra once she started speaking to comment on a pertinent topic close to her heart. ”I wonder if this Golden Grog serves mynock.”

@Cainhurst Crow @Great Jamie @Aurius

 

[Joran Miran]

So. Here he was. Assisting the Jedi in gaining a ship. Now Joran wasn’t a particular believer in Jedi. After all, he had grown up listening to the stories of how the Jedi committed acts of the greatest evil, committing genocide, murder, the worst of crimes possible. But now, here he was. Funny how life can change so drastically. He had never been on this particular planet before, but it really didn’t seem that good. In fact, like most of the time, he wanted to run away as far as possible as quickly as possible. But that wasn’t going to happen now. And so, dressed in the thinnest layers possible, he listened to the others tall about the lawlessness, and high lethality chance if they were to upset the gangs, with no chance of law enforcement coming to their aid. Great. And against his better judgement, he thought that splitting up would be the best course of action to cover more ground. Splitting up? Here?? His mind dwelled on the thoughts of dozens of gang members blasting holes in Joran for fun. Brilliant.
“I believe we should split into pairs, and cover more ground.”

 

[Jake2]

What was it with barren sandy worlds and lawless governments that where basicaly gangs. And what was with the hit. Jake kept up with the others and prayed that tge establishment the golden grog had climate control so they could get out of the hit.

"Sand, heat and gangster police, sure we not on Tatooine"


Jake was not sure why they needed crew from a world like this, there had to be better worlds with more savory types. Then again the crew one hired from here where the type that asked no questions. And that made them very good. Still Jake hoped every thing went smoothly but was more than ready to defend him self if things turned nasty.



"let's not split up, that's how people die in the holo vids. Split up picked off one by one. Any case the four of us will attract a lot eyes and we want that. Let's see who aproches us. We don't want to appear like we desperate not on dirt bag world like this one"

 

[Karacaldra Von Kedisy]

"An excellent point. Getting them to come to us is preferred." Karacaldra said as she walked through the dusty streets with the others, her blue eyes drifting to a neon signed large building. The Golden Grog was probably one of the biggest buildings on the block, a holographic sign shining with a bright light and a building with a few chips of paint of the formerly White, not reddish brown stained dust of the building.

There were windows with heavy reinforced bars on them, looking somewhat rusted and corroded as a simple set of doors stood in front of the tavern itself. As the group approached, the doors suddenly flung open as two individuals came sailing out of it, 2 Weequay's grappling one another and throwing some punches as they landed in the dirt.

The two of them fought for all of a few seconds before getting up and running away from one another, as a figure came out of the bar. Heavy footsteps made stepped down 2 of the 3 steps that led to the bars entrance as a large individual strode down. A Herglic came down as he took in a breath, calling out to the two.

"NO FIGHTIN AT THE BAR!!!" The creature bellowed, turning to slowly look at the group of four as the large alien raised a brow. He stood taller then all of them, and his attire screamed he was a bouncer as he raised a brow. "Welcome to the Golden Grog...You buncha strangers got some business here?"

"Err...Yes." Karacaldra said with a cough, not expecting to see someone so large and intimidating out front, "We're looking for a crew, to hire for a trip."

The Herglic looked at them for a few seconds before turning around and walking up the steps, going and opening the door as he looked back to the others, "Came to the Right Place, then. Got some lively ones, itchin for work."

With a raised brow, She looked to her comrades, before going up the steps cautiously. Slowly, she entered the threshold and into the interior of the Golden Grog.

@Kayenta Moenkopi @Andrewza @Great Jamie

 

[Ner Giza]

Well it certainly would save them time and the less time spent in this sketchy place the less likely they would attract the wrong kind of attention. She walked along s they discussed their options pausing to gaze at their destination. By the sign out front she could see they had spent a bit on advertising, but by the aged appearance of the place, not so much on upkeep. Bars on the windows, she mused. Must had gotten tired of replacing glass, a sure sign of a rowdy clientele. If she had time to question her initial assumptions, the two Weequay falling out the doors and go it at it on the ground put the matter to rest. Her eyes left the fighting duo and went swiftly to that of the Herglic yelling at the rowdies.

Although quite the imposing figure, Karacaldra stood taller by at least a hand or more, still the barkeep? The owner? Well, whoever, they were much bulkier and Nera wouldn’t have cared to have gotten into it with either one. He was a nosy get though, just calling out at strangers in the street. Even so, it was an opportunity to exploit and Kara was right on it. For all his gruff manner, the burly bouncer’s reply was promising. Nera exchanged a glance with her partners and said, ”Not winding up with cut pirates will be the trick.” She didn’t relish the notion of just hiring a bunch of people to make off with their ship.

@Andrewza @Great Jamie @Cainhurst Crow

 

[Joran Miran]

Brilliant. So the bar they were trying to get their crew from was a complete and utter shambles. Everyone here was out for themselves, ready to blast first and ask questions later. Brilliant. Entering the bar, he asked
"Can't we just get some new recruits from some other world in the Alliance, and don't have to get a few pirates from some damn forsaken backwater planet. I mean" and just before he was about to continue, he had to duck as a drink was thrown his way
"Anything would be better than these... Barbarians."

 

[Jake2]

The bar did seem rather rowdy but at least the bar owner kept the fights to outside the bar and where others saw drunken pirates Jake saw men who would do any job for the pay and not ask for much. "Now lets not ignore them yet, some of these could surprise us and we not here for a crew of a frigate. We just need a few so we can take the best and leave the rest." Though Jake did all so wonder why not get from any of the worlds owned by the Alliance or even worlds owned by the Mandalorains. Not that it was risky or expensive to come here, just odd choice.


The bar seemed clean enough for a world like this and was at least cooler inside though it was still rather hot "that table in the corner there looks quite enough for us don't want to much nose when recruiting"

 

[Karacaldra Von Kedisy]

"These barbarians, happen to be people who have managed to remain alive, while the Empire, Mandalorians, and everyone else in the galaxy, tears each other and anyone else around apart..." Karacaldra would know, having had to deal with pirates and raiders in her time in the Togorian navy. The amount of smugglers who thought their planet would be a push-over to make into a hideaway spot, or raider who fancied themselves tough enough to tangle with their planets defenses, were numerous.

And yet, there were always those who got away. Those with the skill to slip past their defenses, to get away with their haul, and live to tell the tale. Embarrassments, during her time in the navy. Now? Something promising. "These people have had to navigate hostile space with no help except from themselves, through territories where they'd be shot down on site..." She said as she grabbed a bottle of booze that came sailing towards the door, holding and looking at the corellian ale as she heard the Herglic come back in.

"OIY! GET OUTTA THERE, YA DRUNKEN BILGE-RATS!" He shouted towards the bar, where a couple of Lurmen were trying to raid the bar of its booze. Karacaldra calmly handed the Herglic the bottle she'd caught, the big bulky barkeep nodding as he took it and marched over, the Lurmen making a break for it.

She looked back to the group, and a smile played coyly on her face as she spoke, "These are exactly the Degenerates we need, to slip us past Imperial and Mandalroian Space." She said as she went towards the table pointed out by Jake, aiming to site down as she looked around. There were about 5 noticeable groups, and a couple of individuals. The first group were corellian, one could tell simply by how they held themselves and their blue attire. Another, a group of grey folks wearing armor, appeared to be bounty hunters of sorts. A group of merchantile looking folks were next, gold jewelry on display and wearing finer if worn clothing. Another group was a band of Verpines chattering among each other, and finally, a shady group in robes, who seemed to be watching the others carefully, while in their own little corner.

@Andrewza @Great Jamie @Kayenta Moenkopi

 

[Ner Giza]

They were all good points and she could not deny a one, however she had lived a lifetime surrounded by those whom most civilized people would call unsavory. She knew their ways and could trust them to be exactly who and what they were, dishonest cut-throats out for themselves and yet with a code that ran deep. It was a damned sight more honesty than she had seen from any government official and she had to smile at Karacakdra’s breakdown of the skills acquired leading such a life. One point was missing however and she commented, ”You forget gentlemen, in the eyes of the Empire we are no different than any of these here; outlaws everyone. Thinking you are morally superior will get you killed here.”

Taking a seat at the table she positioned herself to get a good view of the room and casually glanced at the various characters that were present at this time of day. Although there were likely to be more people to examine during high peak hours of the tavern, the level of sobriety would not be conducive to good business. Being timid would get them nowhere, she knew from experience, and yet at the same time being overly vocal would get them killed. As she looked over those gathered she noticed they were all in their own little camps, as it were. ”It’s a good idea not to be outnumbered”, she said quietly once everyone was seated, ”So whatever we do it would be best not to take on any singular gang, as it were.”

@Andrewza @Cainhurst Crow

Spoiler

Great Jamie has dropped out of the mission due to overload of threads.

 

[Jake2]

Jake scanned the room looking over the groups before deciding he did not want any of the to militant groups like Mandolrains and Trandoshans. There ship was not a war ship and it would be best that they had a crew that would not treat it as such. "Agree we should not bite off more than we chew and i will add that the bounty on our heads is higher than any one else in this room" In fact the bounty on Jake was probably higher than than the entire room combined "Even so i still say we should be carful to not hire any one to aggressive we want smugglers not pirates and mercs. Any case When you go order at the Bar just let the Bar Tender know we are hiring people to work on a transport ship. The rest will happen as it happens"

 

[Karacaldra Von Kedisy]

"Hmmm...in that case, I can say we got 2 options..." Karacaldra said as she glanced around the room. She had experience interacting with a number of naval folks during her duties. She had a habit of reading people as she leaned back in her seat, "The folks in the hoods are definitely a no-go. Same goes for the ones wearing armor....I think the Verpine's are better engineers then smugglers..."

Her ears dropped a bit as she spoke, "And that leaves...the Corellians. They're always causing trouble, one way or another..." She said, remembering a number of infamous human smugglers passing their space in their planets ships, if not outing themselves as corellians from their mocking hails during pursuits. She looked to her two comrades as she spoke, "So...who wants to go try and talk to them?"

@Andrewza @Kayenta Moenkopi

 

[Ner Giza]

Karacakdra summed things up nicely, adding a few details she hadn’t considered and Nera was glad for the woman’s insight. Still, she thought as Von Kedisy mentioned the Corellians, her views were more lawful than her own. Perhaps she was just imagining things but when she lowered her ears like that she felt more than wariness in her words. ”I guess we could do worse than trouble makers. We won’t know until we find out”, she said and grinned suddenly before saying, ”I hope you like home brew” The distinctive smell of yeast in the air suggested the place had their own brewery someplace near, probably the basement.

Pushing up out of her seat, she headed toward the bar to get their drinks as Jake had suggested and she intended on checking out these Corellians along the way. The men in blue didn’t seem to be too boisterous today, if passing by their table without even one whistle was any judge on the matter for the Twi’lek did indeed make it to the bar unmolested.

That didn’t mean much, she knew but they did give off an air of fatigue, or perhaps it was just boredom. The big red headed one that was eyeing her as she ordered their drinks looked like he wasn’t really looking at her, per say, but just in her general direction. Slouched in his chair, his legs parked out and an arm lying limp in his lap, she expected him to doze off any moment and drop the beer he was holding.

The others at his table took periodic pulls of their beer only speaking from time to time until one of their number pulled out a cup of dice. Even that seemed old hat to the crew for only one of the guys agreed to play. Having spoken to the bartender about having work for hire, she gathered up three mugs of home brew and started back to their table when the red head called out to her ”Hey waitress, you can bring that round of drinks over here”.

Not the best of introductions, but she thought it might work in their favor that the Corellian made the first move. Nera smirked and veered toward his seat at the table and men and said, ”These beer? You must be joking, I only buy for my crew mates.” he reached out a hand to grab hold of her arm but she sidestepped him and quipped, ”Grabby little man aren’t you?”. Turning with a bit of a laugh she made her way back to the table and didn’t even look back as she set the drinks down before Jake and Karacaldra. She grinned at them and said softly, ”Is he coming over?” She couldn’t imagine a trouble maker letting her get away without some sort of come back.

@Andrewza @Cainhurst Crow

 

[Jake2]

Jake agreed Corellian where a good choice. They knew when to fight and when to run and that what they would need for there crew. Giza went to get the drinks and mad her way to the bar with out trouble but the return trip was not with out issue. But it was not bad turn of event. At least they had caught the eye of there intended target.


Jake though did get up to go help. Far better to it did not fall in to a fight. "Now now gentlemen, why dont you all join us at our table and we can see about getting you that drink. As she said we only get drinks for our crew but our crew can grow larger."

 

[Karacaldra Von Kedisy]

Karacaldra closed her eyes as she began to mentally brace herself for the inevitable conversation with those people. She really didn't like Corellians, but she'd need to swallow her pride for this particular en-devour. She had to just remind herself, it was for a better cause.

The red head raised a brow before chuckling, looking back and giving a motion to his fellow corellians. They picked up and casually made their way over, the red head pulling up a chair and sitting it in backwards, arms resting on the headrest as he looked at Jake, Ner Giza, and Karacaldra with a smirk.

"So..." The said as he leaned forward a little bit, "What's your offer? Surely you ain't looking for work, from the goodness of your heart."

@Andrewza @Kayenta Moenkopi

 

[Karacaldra Von Kedisy]

Karacaldra was the first to speak up it would seem.

"We're looking for people to do a job. To help us escort some individuals of importance to a designated position. It will be dangerous, and so we've come here to find a skilled and capable crew."

The Corellian paused for a moment as he nodded, leaning back in his seat as he smirked, "Capable Crew? Or expendable fools? Sounds like you're trying to hire some folks to put their lives on the line for some, heh, 'special' people." He took a drink from his glass as he set it down, wiping his lips with his sleeves, before asking, "So...how about you tell me what the job is, and I'll tell you if I'm willing to risk my crew for it."

She hadn't wanted to divulge much information, but it seemed she had no choice. "What you need to know, is the people we're transporting, are people who will make the Empire wish the Drasts were never born...They're going to make the empire, and its cronies, have a really bad time...and I think that's something you might want yourself."

The empire had done itself no favors with the criminal underworld, much less worlds like Corellia. They did a lot to squander any good will with scum like this. The captain seemed to ponder this as well, thinking it over before he finally spoke.

"Sounds intriguing....I'm in." He said with a smile.

@Andrewza @Kayenta Moenkopi