In Dark Places [Makura Rising S2E2]

[Dmitri]

Kali glared at Jamall's companion. "I can sense your companion is a Force user, lover boy. Don't insult me and claim he's not. He's no Jedi. Jedi don't shoot up cantinas." She paused. Jamall was a Force user and they were all heavily armored, but deduction told her that didn't exactly equate Sith and Imperial Armed Forces. They could just be what they seemed. Armed strangers, one of which could use the Force. The Jedi and Sith weren't the only Force users in the galaxy."

She let out a long sigh, exasperated. She turned her attention away from the human and directed it at Jamall. "If you're not Sith, then what are you?"

 

[Ravensmark]

As the woman explained her situation, Collin holstered his revolver, threw the bowcaster back to a marine, and fell to his knees on the floor laughing. "Miss, First you have to stop calling me that, or people are gonna get ideas." Collin tried to breath between his laughter "Second, Jamall a Sith..... oh..... ya..... that's a good one. All hail Jamall, Sith Lord of the litter box. " Collin continued to sit there on the floor chuckling to himself as Jamall spoke up.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall shot a glare at Collin. Unfortunately his irritated expression was rendered wholly useless by his dull faceplate, so that it appeared he was merely staring blankly at his comrade. He felt insulted. To be pegged as a wielder of dark arts was, perhaps, the greatest insult that could be leveled against a Kushari force user. He was no saint, he admitted that, but he was far from being a Sith. He'd run with the Jedi, albeit only for a short little while, and he knew what monsters the Sith were. That wasn't him. He killed for a reason, not for the thrill.

One of the cantina's patrons found it hilarious though and began hooting and hawing about 'Darth Litterbox the Foul'. Jamall's temper spiked; all that energy he'd drawn to himself rushed and pooled in his off hand. Fire, whipped into existence by the Force, rolled up along his armor-clad hand and forearm as he unconsciously channeled his anger... And focused on the patron's flowing locks, his glorious silver mane. The poor chap's hair burst into flames. He howled and bounced off his barstool and went racing to the bathroom. Jamall leaned so that he could see into the restroom as the poor fellow plunged his head into a toilet bowl in a largely successful attempt to extinguish his flaming head.

The fire wreathing his hand went out with a puff of thick black smoke. Jamall slung his rifle over his shoulder and let the magnetic clamps on his armor's back seize it. "I vill be outside, vith ze trucks... Und zis soft-handed baby I am to chaperone." Jamall all but chuckled - seemed a bit of hair-igniting was all it took to lighten his mood. "Try not to have too much fun vhile I am gone, lovebirds. Und Collin - ve could use workers to load ze Peregrine vhen it arrives. Technicians, too, in case ze trucks give us any problem. Send zem outside to the Kingfishers if you find any und I vill put zem to work."

The force-wielding Kushari slipped around the guards and crowd in the bar entrance. He pried his helmet off as he stepped outside and clipped it to his armor's hip. The feline's dark brown, black-striped features finally came into view, along with his short black mane, myriad scars, and those sharp blue eyes of his. He ran a gloved hand back through his mane as he made for the landing site, where another Kingfisher had indeed arrived. Mohatu made for the new arrival, eyes scanning the armored-clad Marines departing it as he searched for whomever it was he was fated to escort.

 

[Ravensmark]

Collin was rising from his position on the floor as the poor chap with the flaming hair went running off to the rest room. This brought another bought of laughter from Collin as he steadied himself with a chair. He listened as Jamall informed him of his plans, and the needs of the crew. Collin quickly agreed and set about making that happen. It took all of a minute for his plans to come to a crashing halt. The Mukuran Marines were all about efficiency, and were planning on taking the WSF force along with the captured pirates back to the landing zone. Collin tried to tell them that he needed these people, and taking them in would accomplish nothing. But as he didn't speak there tongue and they didn't speak his, he might as well been talking to the big gray muscle and armor wall these Mukurans resembled.

With a huff, he turned around and radioed Jamall. There were some slight insults and something about missing hair said, but soon enough the Marines were off with only the pirates in tow.

Collin again retrieved the woman's bowcaster, and held onto it while he moved to the center of the room to address the bar once again. "Ladies and Gentleman. The Mukurans are looking for help to load there ships, and some technicians to service the recently acquired trucks. They are going to pay twice the standard planetary wage for services rendered, if you or anyone else you know is interested please meet with Jamall. Yes that would be the grumpy fellow who just left. He will direct you to where you need to go. Remember this is first come first serve work."

After the announcement Collin sat at a vacant table and motioned for the woman to come over. He put her weapon on the table and scooted it across to where she would be sitting. And began speaking, "Now miss I would say we got off to a rocky start. My name is Collin Graves, and I work for the Mukuran Commonwealth as lets say a freelancer. Now if you would do me the honor and have a seat, we can share some drinks, and talk some business. I am most interested to know if there is any other pirate activity on planet or in system?"

 

[Dmitri]

The humored response from the human relinquished suspicion Jamall was a Sith. It seemed she had possibly even offended the man, from the irritation she sensed in the Force. Then again, one didn't need to have Force sensitivity to know his displeasure. A foolish man had chipped in agreement to the human's joke and had gotten himself a new hair style as reward. As the man rushed in the bathroom to extinguish the flames, Kali motioned for 13-UZ to chase after the cantina patron and administer first aid.

Possibly either hiding his irritation or possibly the dark humor he took pleasure in, Jamall excused himself from the premises. The marines seemed to have orders conflicting to the humans, but a dialogue over communicators changed that. The human addressed the cantina as a whole, enlightening Kali of clues to his supposed intentions. She considered them a bit naive and idealistic, but one she was willing to listen to. The man motioned for her to join him at a table. She sat down opposite of him, not allowing him the pleasure of contact by sitting next to each other. He even offered the weapon back to her. It felt like a test. As such, keeping a level of suspicion and alertness, she kept the bowcaster untouched.

"You may call me Kali." was the first thing she told the man. She didn't specify that was her actual name. "I'm the doctor around here." She let her hands rest on the table. Unthreatening, but in easy reach of her bowcaster were trouble to arrive. "It seems obvious you're only a hired hand, else you would know your companions' language." She was curious herself what that language was. She had learned a few languages while serving in the war, so her linguistic side had its curiosity piqued. She was very much interested in getting her hands on a translator.

Kali let a grin creep across her lips. "Five years ago, one would probably ask if there was any other non-pirate activity on the planet or this system." She paused, collecting her thoughts. "There are multiple groups. Some just occasional visitors, who prowl all over the sector; some big-time, some just opportunistic low-lives. With no stable government that isn't just a sham, there's no deter against raiding the area. Since the Galactic Alliance collapsed, the average expected life expectancy in this system dropped ten years." She looked at the scared patrons of the cantina, some having left since Jamall departed. "Most of these people don't have much to look for in their lives. Many are just waiting for death."

Kali returned her gaze to Colin. "The pirates leave me alone. A doctor is a valuable commodity in this sector. As such, I've encountered many people of multiple organizations. You ask about pirate activity. Yes, there is quite a lot. But some are dependent on others. Many depend on the protection of certain pirate captains or crime lords. Gujja the Hutt was one of the big shots, but he's been distracted lately after losing quite a lot of business at Thyferra. Since then, there's been three organizations vying to usurp Gujja as the top dog."

An afterthought, she decided to make a detour. "Your companion, Jamall. He doesn't like the Sith, does he? I noticed how agitated he had become when I mistook him for a Sith. I do apologize for that. From what I saw, you had just killed a man. Who wouldn't misinterpret you as evil-doers. He's not from here. I can tell that. I've operated on many species. He may have similarities to Cathars, but he's definitely not them." She thought about the organization Colin had mentioned. The Mukuran Commonwealth. Considering the other marines were of the same feline species, it was possible the organization was centered on their species. "A Mukuran? I've not heard of it before." The name felt like it might be familiar, like it had been mentioned on HoloNet before, but she waved that thought way, suspecting she was probably thinking of the Bakuran riots.

 

[huntressofworlds]

It had been a long trip, one which had left the young researcher at a precarious position. Things had moved so quickly that she was still in awe that she wasn’t on Kushaa’vo anymore. Outside the refuge of her lab, outside of the planet she’d called home for so long and shot across into a conflict that she would have never dreamed to be part of. It had been an extremely unexpected thing when Delun had ordered everything packed up, all the research transferred and all her experimental data to be wiped from the main research core.

Something had gone wrong, and she hadn’t the time to hear the entire story. What had happened instead was the rapid departure with her equipment into the Peregrine transports. She’d insisted she go with it, and she was certain that while Delun Alda might have tried to argue it, he could not deny she was the best at knowing how to use her own designs. He’d agreed, but despite her best protests she’d been handed a set of light armor and stuffed into a jumpseat and strapped in.

The dire situation she had insisted she go headfirst into was explained to her on the way out of the atmosphere. The light armor that she’d donned ever since that day had become a common thing, in fact she'd found herself shivering a bit more when she was out of those plates than she'd ever experienced before. Truth be there wasn’t much she’d brought in the ways of clothing, but she had her fur and what she’d been wearing when she’d left that day. A set of BDUs had been scrounged up for her to change into when she wasn’t in that armor though, but that had only come after the Makurans.

The interception by the Makurans had been an interesting time, she’d not seen head nor tail of her work since then, though she’d certainly been called to give an accounting of what things were, and what they were suppose to do. She’d even agreed to help, but often found herself secured back into the crewman quarters in one of the warships. At least they had given her a change of clothing and hadn't tossed her in a cell. If only her parents could see her now, wearing those jumpsuits with the Makuran crest embroidered on the breast.

Whatever the case, what she’d said must have impressed the Makurans, she’d been shuffled out just as fast as Delun had shoved her into that seat weeks ago. A case with all the hard copies of her data was tossed into her more than willing arms, and she’d felt her hearts near in her throat as the smaller Kingfisher she’d strapped down into had launched out moments later.

Even now as she brushed the pads of her fingers along the straps that held her in, she was jostled a bit, clutching the case on her lap with her other paw, all of the data she dared keep at hand was there, and all around her there were humored glimpses from the other soldiers aboard. Definitely a civvy among their midst.

When they’d finally set down she’d let out a sigh of relief. If there was one thing she was thankful for it was getting out of the Kingfisher and out onto wherever they were. Stretching her legs seemed like a good idea, hopefully the Peregrine with her equipment would be nearby, assuming it was all in the same place she’d last seen it. She felt like the proverbial nag at wanting to make sure everything had made the journey just fine, there was no telling who had gone through what and what if anything had been damaged in the process.

Her mind was filled with a flurry of thoughts as she padded down the ramp-way shouldering the case she clutched it to her side with one paw and brushed her other through the longer locks of her golden orange fur atop her head. The sensation of which reminded her to draw her helmet up and place it atop her head, adjusting the strap beneath her muzzle she glimpsed up at what of it she could see. She doubted she made any great strides in advancing the sexiness of military gear, but at least it matched the rest of the armor she was hidden inside of.

There was a deep inhale and exhale to follow as her blue eyes scanned the area around where she’d landed for the first sign of the Peregrine with her equipment in it.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Hullo, Celeste! I did not expected to see you here!"

Jamall's irritation ebbed as he strode to the Kingfisher, a broad grin spanning his striped and scarred muzzle as the Makuran hybrid approached Delmar. He'd only met her briefly before, but they'd gotten on fairly well. If nothing else she was a good friend of Delun's and so, by extension, of Jamall's. He stretched an armor-clad paw out and gently tapped a finger against her helmet. "Vhere did you find zat? Old-fashioned!" He slapped the helmet attached to his hip; a full affair with armored faceplate and rebreather system, just like every Marine's helmet. In fact, with their helmets on, identifying their race was wholly impossible.

"You duv not need it, zo; safe down here, at least around ze dropship. Iz safe, ut least for ze most part." He paused, frowning slightly. His thick accent was returning in full force. The feline let out a chuff - why was it he could only manage basic when Collin was about?

"It zeemz I can not speak basic vorth a damn today." He grinned sheepishly. "Anyvays - vhat are you doing planetside? I heard you vere vith ze fleet, but I have not had chance to track you down. Or Jiang, or anyone but Collin und Del for that matter." He idly shifted his right arm, distantly aware of the soft creaking and dull electric whine of the synthetic limb. It was low, so much so that he alone could hear it, but it was a constant reminder that he'd lost a good chunk of himself in the last few days. "I vas a bit busy being put back together. I broke myself, you see," he chuckled lowly.

 

[DangerousTinkerer]

After looking of the mechanism of the door, Ko'vas determined the main gear was the only part damaged keeping the door from closing. Pulling out his multi-tool, Ko'vas began trying to disconnect and or pry the damage gear out. Focusing on the door, most of the conversation taking place was just mumbles or a few words to Ko'vas. After eventually getting the gear at of the door mechanism and almost being hit by the door, he turned to see what was going on. Most of the conversation was between a newly arrived female that he didn't notice come in and Mr. Graves. Looking at the two, again Ko'vas noticed light flowing off of her just like it did Jamall, just was not as strong as his. Taking note of her Force strength, Ko'vas listen for a moment before returning to the door problem.

With a slighty loud *thump* he jammed his multitool into the mechanism to keep the door in place without the gear there. No one turned to the noise, all were to distracted by the conversation and all the barrel pointing. Quickly steeping outside to a corner of the building with the gear, Ko'vas pulled out his small welder. Keeling down next to the gear on the ground he started to add some filler to the broken gear core and a few teeth. With a steady head he slowly added some filler to a tooth before stopping and examining it in comparison to another. Happy with the results he moved on to the second damaged tooth and repeated the process. Turning the welder off, he took the gear into his hand and gently tossed it into the air allowing it to fall to the ground.

"None of the repairs broke so drop test is good." He said to himself after picking up the gear from the ground. Putting the welder away in his bag and sliding is on to his back, Ko'vas stood up and wandering back into the cantina. He was meet by Mr. Graves laughing and a patron running to the restroom with his head on fire. The light that flowed around Jamal before was now just radiating off of him like massive solar flares whipping out off him. So after the flaming head incident, Jamall started to make his way towards the door. Not wanting to get on his bad side, Ko'vas stepped outside to get out of his way before putting the gear back. After Jamall passed, Ko'vas entered the cantina again to hear Mr. Graves start talking again about looking for people to help them with the trucks, laborers or technicians. If interested talk to Jamall.

Interested Ko'vas began to quickly work on re-installing the gear to not miss his chance for possible more work. With some of his weight on the door, and some force, Ko'vas freed his multitool and started trying to align the gear in place. Soldiers began leaving the cantina with assumed to be pirates leaving only a few left inside besides the ones that followed the woman. After a few more minutes, the gear was finally back in place and Ko'vas stood there swinging the door back and forth for a bit as he watched the gear. With everything seeming to be working correctly, he left the cantina and wandered outside to locate Jamall.

Wandering to the square, Ko'vas noticed another drop ship had landed and he started to make his way over to get a closer look at it. Approaching the ship, he noticed some of the soldiers turn to face him and slowly start to approach him. Not wanting to cause any problems when they might have work for him, he turned around to look for Jamall who was standing at the end of the loading ramp talking to someone. Ko'vas slowly approached the two from their side stopping a couple feet from them. "Jamall, sorry to interrupt but Collin...er Mr. Graves said to get in contact with you about some work you have here that needs to be done." Ko'vas asked looking at Jamall before looking over at the drop ship while waiting for him to reply.

 

[Ravensmark]

The woman seemed tense. Not trusting at all, looking around like it was a trap. Good instincts all in all. Trusting new people generally gets you shot.

As Kali finished speaking Collin blurted out, "A hired hand, you think am just a hired hand. I feel so bad now. But I think not I would have to be payed at some point to be hired." Collin paused to take a drink, laugh a bit, and shake his head before continuing. "As for not being able to speak the language, there is a pretty good story behind that. A few months ago I meet up with two Kushari boys named Jiang and Sonam at a backwater tavern on Lok. We hit it off rather well and put a few drink back and were generally enjoying ourselfs. The locals decided it was time to rebel, get made, hell have a messed up party. Either way the area got hot and the two of them couldn't make it back to there drop ship. So I offered to take them up in mine. On the way, Jiang got blew up, and I got bar ba qued. So Sonam arranged safe passage for me with the Kushari Military vessel and while I healed I found myself on my what to there home world of Kushavo."

Collin paused to take another drink, and a quick scan around the bar before continuing. "That is were I meet Delun Alda CEO of Alda Industries and Jamall Mohatu, and from there got caught up in a civil war between the different sub species of the Kushari. Well lets say we did some things and the planet got a little to unfriendly to stick around so we blew up a temple and left. Now this is were life gets interesting, on our way out of system these two Mukuran frigates drop out of hyper space, and pick us up. Turns out they were part of the Unification Wars that took place some hundred years ago, and have been stuck in a hyperspace. Well we decided to amscray, and are now hear. Delun figured this a backwater part of the galaxy that could use some law, and provide us with a safe place to set up shop. As for not speaking the tongue, as far as I know only Delun and Jamall speak the old Mukuran tongue, which as you can see has made life a bit challenging." Collin stopped and took a deep breath. Noticing that his drink was nearly empty, motioned for the bar keep.

Taking a sip from his newly poured drink he began speaking again. "Now that we are here, we plan on cleaning up the rift raff, and putting these people to work. The standard of living should increase drastically." Collin stopped to really look across the table at Kali. "You say your a doctor, but you carry around a cannon of a weapon, even though you say the pirates leave you be. It looks to me like your hiding from something or someone. But don't worry I personally understand the benefits of hiding from your past. I was an Imperial soldier once, lets just say that didn't end on a high note."

He stood up and began making his way to toward the door. "Why don't you join me for a nice walk around town? Show me the points of interest, or better yet the points that need the most help. And I will see what we can do to start getting this place ship shape. Or if you think we are just a new set of bad guys, now is your chance to shoot me down to make up for that Rodian fellow." Collin continued to the door, never looking back as he exited.

 

[Dmitri]

As they spoke, one of the patrons fixed the doors before departing. She listened to the man's words carefully, dissecting it for any hints of deception. So far she hadn't found any, nor sensed any. However, that didn't count for much in her book. She had met soldiers before that believed in the words they spoke, believing a lie religiously.

The man, Collin Graves, spoke about his past. The story seemed out of a holodrama; she decided against arguing the century-old ships, as he didn't know how long these Kushari lived. However, when he gave mention to the fact he was a former Imperial soldier, she tensed slightly. He was right, she carried a gun that seemed contrary to her claims. Trained as a Galactic Alliance soldier, she couldn't help but feel some suspicion towards an imperial soldier, even an estranged one. "Smart pirates leave me alone. Drunk pirates are another story." A mischievous grin spread across her lips. "Luckily I can patch up any boo-boos I give them." His naive thoughts were a nice change to the defeatist attitudes that plagued the planet. Kali was curious if he could carry out his dreams.

Kali choose to follow Graves, grabbing the bowcaster. If he was planning to draw her into a trap, he would have done so by now. Not to mention he wouldn't have returned his weapons. Not even imperials were that suicidal; they weren't Mandalorians after all. She picked up her pace, joining Collins'. "There's not much to see. Much of the entertainment establishments have shut down or been taken over. All that's left are the cantinas, so the townsfolk can drown in their sorrows." She spoke of them in disregard. It was evident she didn't consider herself one of these people. She cared for them to help them, but knew there wasn't much she could do besides that. Still, these people offered the possibility of changing that. "And if I strike you down, there'll be others to take your place. That's why no one tries to resist. They know that even if they take own one crime boss, two more will take their place. Crime is a hydra here. If you want to help, giving them money will not answer the problem. Supplying more resources only mean more stuff for pirates and mobsters to pillage. If you plan to help these people, you need to eliminate the crime first. They've taken over the government. They are the law. You want change, you'll have to remove the current government." Kali pointed to a behemoth tower in the distance. "You'll find the center of government there. The capital is the only Galactic Alliance outpost put on the planet. As such, it's also a garrison. It once held Galactic Alliance soldiers. Now it's run by a legion of mercenaries and killers." Kali adjusted the position her hand was on the bowcaster. "So, you actually planning on attacking it? Without it, the legitimacy of the pirates is gone. They'll stay and they'll fight for their territory, but it'll be more difficult for them to keep the populace in line."

 

[huntressofworlds]

"Hullo, Celeste! I did not expected to see you here!"


It was a voice that instantly sent a shiver down the young Damarian’s entire length from ear-tip to her tail. Her blue eyes instantly snapped to a firm focus on the soldier approaching her, one she’d not at all expected to be there. Her eyes lit up though, a large grin spread across her striped features as she glimpsed up towards the helmet as Jamall mentioned it.

She gave a bit of a sheepish grin as she unstrapped it and pulled it free, hanging it from one of the hooks on her belt like she’d seen the others doing. Or in this case, as Jamall was demonstrating.

“I’m not exactly a soldier like you!” she answered with a smile and stepped forward, embracing the big leonine male in her arms she squeezed him close and gave just a slight nuzzle into the side of his neck before relaxing back. It was honestly good to see someone she knew, she’d found very few friendly faces in the last few weeks, more the battle hardened soldiers that she knew nothing of.

She gave a slight perk of her ears as Jamall brutalized basic with his accent, but she had to admit it was one of the few things she remembered quite well of the soldier she’d discovered in Delun’s house. “At least you seem to be better at staying on your feet since the last time I saw you!” she teased in response.

Her focus glimpsed back towards the Kingfisher and then scanned the area around for one of the cargo ships she’d been looking for formerly before setting her eyes back on Jamall. “I haven’t seen Del in days, but I guess I’m here to help implement some of my toys into you guys arsenal.” She grinned just a bit and patted the case hanging from her shoulder.

Her grin dropped though, when Jamall had mentioned breaking himself, she shook her head just a bit and placed a paw on his bicep and looked to it before back to the Makuran before her. “Still looking as good as ever though. I’ll be glad to take a look at that later on if you like. I’m trying to track down one of the Peregrines that have my equipment in it.” She explained, withdrawing her paw as Ko’vas approached and spoke to Jamall, her sapphire hued orbs scanned over the man out of curiosity. The young female had a fair knowledge of the humans, but this one, something was different about him, she couldn’t quite place it just yet though. She couldn’t help that the scientific curiosity seemed to pique her interest a bit, though she said nothing and deferred to Jamall for his answer.

 

[Jiang Winters]

For once in his life Jamall wished he didn't have an armored shroud protecting his neck. Flexible though it was, it still shielded him from the warmth of Celeste's nuzzle. He gave her a gentle squeeze in return and softly brushed his nose o'er her forehead before releasing her.

The cat, clad head to toe in olive armor, folded both thick arms across his armor-clad chest as she spoke. He nodded slightly and grinned at her remark on his newfound stability, but decided not to comment on it lest someone overhear and decide to pry. The last thing he wanted was for Del to find out just how awkward his first meeting with Celeste had been! Or, god forbid, Collin; the human'd never let him live it down if he found out.

"I saw Del before I came planetzide," Jamall noted, "He haz convinced General Kaede to put him in command of ze Solace of Fire. She haz no captain, zo it vas not hard to talk him into eet," he chuckled. Both his ears pricked up from that short-cropped sable mane of his as her hand settled on his bicep - or, rather, the heavy titanium-ceramic plating protecting his arm. "I vould not mind zat," he all but purred. Her hand fell away from him just as a fellow approached, someone with a noticeable presence in the Force.

That was a bit odd to Jamall. The only Force Sensitives he knew - besides himself - were Delun and Jiang. Sonam too. His hackles bristled as he remembered Sonam's presence within the Force; faint, but just strong enough that he'd felt that poor soul's fear the day he was executed. He brought his gloved fingers up and ran them back through his mane, idly fidgeting with the short bob the mass of black fur was pulled back into. "Did he?" he replied. The Makuran-Damarian hybrid took a moment to size up the Miraluka male with both his eyes and the Force. "Das goot, ja. I have work for you, if you are villing."

The Kushari pulled his helm back on, obscuring his visage behind his helmet's dull gold faceplate. He gestured towards the pirate-owned repulsortrucks with a sweep of his arm. "Ve have trucks filled vith stolen goods. Check ze inventory und tracking information, und ve vill see if ve can find ze rightful owners."

He turned to a nearby pair of Makuran Marines and barked an order at them in his guttural native tongue. They gathered their squad and bolted towards the trucks to secure them.

"But virst, give me your name zo I know who ve vill be paying. I am Oberjäger... Er, Sergeant Mohatu. Zat is the nearest basic translation for my rank, I tink." His brow furrowed for a moment - fortunately his confusion was hidden wholly by his helmet, though not in the Force. "Jamall vill do fine, zo," he added, as he began to stride towards the trucks. He, like the other Makurans about, kept a weather eye out for hostile or suspicious movements amongst the local civvie populace. There was no telling who amongst them might be a pirate or other unsavory sort, and it was all too likely that the pirates would be keen on trying to drive out their new 'friends'.

 

[Ravensmark]

Collin listened and watched as Kali spoke. Her tones spoke for themselves, she cared about the people here and didn't care much for him or the plans of the Mukurans. But as she pointed out the capitol, his attitude perked up. The seat of power, the bastion on strength for the area, and it lay in the hands of filth. That would have to change.

"Kali.... I know you don't know me from Jim Bob George from across the way, but your are going to have to take my word for it that the Mukurans are only going to help this place get better. Hell if taking out the people in the building was all this would take, I could have the Solace of Fire drop a round down on that building and have it be a smoking ruin with in minutes. But that is so impersonal. And besides we have given every pirate we meet so far the chance to surrender before they faced annihilation. Its only fair we do the same for them."

Collin paused to look at the old Alliance Garrison. It was a tough old nut, Good fortified tower, surrounded by smaller satellite buildings with a five meter wall and smaller watch towers. A grin came across Collins face. "This will be fun. And in the end I think you will see what we are willing for you people. But first I need to speak with Jamall." Looking at Kali as he spoke. "You are more then welcome to come to our LZ. I promise the damned cats won't bite."

Without waiting for an answer, he swiftly turned around and began a swift walk back towards where they had arrived. It only took a few minutes for him to arrived at the landing zone. He quickly looked around for Jamall and found him conversing with some locals, and that female kushari he had meet on there speedy trip off of Kushavo after the temple incident. As soon as Collin was within ear shot of Jamall he began yelling towards him. "Jamall! Jamall! I have a bad idea, and I think you're going to like it."

 

[Dmitri]

Kali could sense the man believed the words that came from his mouth. She had her suspicions, but there was always a chance it could be true. Sometimes help came from random sources. After all, a decade ago, who could have predicted the Chiss would come to Koda Station and eradicate the leaders of the cult Order of the 12 Crosses. She decided to see where this would go, even if she did think the pirates didn't deserve a chance to surrender.

Kali followed Graves to the landing zone. He claimed they wouldn't bite, but part of her suspected Jamall might be willing to bite her head off for the earlier insult, even if only metaphorically. She made a note to apologize. Normally she wouldn't care much, but in this case she made an exception. She didn't care for the Sith either and she had insulted him by comparing him as one. She hoped to get the opportunity to make up for it, though would wait for the window of opportunity, to let Collin spill his 'crazy idea' first.

 

[huntressofworlds]

Cel gave a nod to Jamall’s information. So Del had been given command of a ship. She couldn’t help but smirk at the idea. Part of her thought that the former Captain Aldatan would undoubtedly have pounced at the opportunity, though she equally wondered how Delun was handling all of this, probably just as invigorated by it as Jamall seemed to be. “I’ll have to catch up with him later then. At least now I know where he’s been!” she grinned a bit.

An equal nod followed Jamall’s willingness to let her look at his synthetic limb. She gave him one last glimpse over as his focus diverted back towards his work. A small smile lingered though as she met Jamall’s gaze, before he’d put his helmet on, with the unspoken promise to catch up with him later on. It certainly was good to see him again, but she knew he was busy and to the point, so was she!

As her paws carried her off towards the assembly area, she couldn’t help but keep both ears perked forward, listening to the subtle conversations of those around her, trying to get her feel for the place. She’d never left Kushaa’vo before, and here she was well beyond and immediately getting the cultural awakening of her lifetime. She certainly didn’t know what to make of some of the species. She understood why humans had no tails and were genetically different, but there were some there that didn’t follow the human biology at all, Goddess! That one even has two heads!

Finally she spotted a few containers with Alda Industries stamped on the sides, her pace quickened as she ran her blue feline eyes along the coded numbers, tearing her curious staring away from the locals. Finally! She exhaled a sigh of relief as she approached the Makuran standing guard by them. She couldn’t contain just how happy she was to see that small stack, a brush of her paw along one of the lids had the Marine’s focus on her most certainly as she let out a purr.

She didn’t waste time though as she produced a set of flimiplast documents showing her authorization to accompany and ultimately take possession of the equipment. She was a bit anxious to do something important, all she’d been let in on so far was that the Makurans had a great interest to see how her research would mesh with the Makuran Heavy Weaponry.

 

[Andrewza]

As every one had something to do Mar went to his kingfisher and conducted a walk around, there was nothing wrong so Mar sat down in the now vacant cargo/troop holding space and began to do some rather mundane paper work.

 

[Manderley]

Carefully, ever-so-carefully, the former CorSec officer peeked out of the truck's window. What he saw struck him as both daunting and, oddly, surprising. A squad of hulking marines were barrelling towards him and his charge, the repulsortrucks that bore the markings of the pirates he had once hunted with such dogged determination. Now, though, he was simply another gun, under the pay of the crimson criminals that owned this shipment. He ducked his head back inside.

The marines that were quickly approaching him seemed familiar. Racking his brain, Jace realized that he had seen them years and years before, on Corellia, in fact. Their monstrous builds, muscled and intimidating, and their suits of titanic titanium and ceramic were not something one could easily forget. Cairnspur had last seen their kind when on duty as a security guard at one of their arms shows. They were also the ones who had manufactured the exact pistol he held in his hand, and a few other odds and ends he had seen in the employ of CorSec.

The Casharu? Corshi? Something like that. Their ballistic weapons, at least, were something that impressed Jace, an achievement that took quite a bit to accomplish. The once-Inspector peeked back out, his blue and yellow helmet much too obvious for his tastes. He had yet to repaint it. There sure were a lot of them... ugh. It seemed like a surrender was in order. His employers would not be happy that he let this job go to kriff.

Regardless, he was fairly certain that they would take prisoners. Maybe they'd even let him join their forces, with a little bit of pay. God knows that working with these murderous, unprofessional pirates was painful enough as it is. Kushari! That was it! Well, at least... he hoped they didn't kill on sight.

Cairnspur kicked open the repulsortruck door, putting his hands up in the air and dropping his pistol to the ground. He recognized a suicide attempt when he saw one, his Corellian instincts be damned. He began slowly walking towards them, gesturing to the truck. "There's another fellow in there, but I can't imagine he'd be as affable as me," he said, loudly enough for them to hear. The pirate in the truck called Jace on his comlink, but he promptly closed the channel. Wouldn't do any good for his pride to hear the pirate curse him out for a craven turncoat.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Jamall watched as Celeste went zipping off towards a set of crates that had just been offloaded by a Kingfisher. It seemed odd that they were putting any kit groundside - then again, this was the first (and perhaps only) chance they'd get to fit out and get their vehicles and kit working. It was hard to do that when they were starside. He put it out of mind just as Collin materialized, along with that woman who'd accused him of being a Sith.

His hackles raised, and he thanked the gods that he wore full armor. Otherwise those raised hackles'd be plainly visible and his intense irritation would be fully known. Though as it was he doubted that anyone would believe his feathers to be anything but ruffled.

"Letz hear eet," he replied, the towering feline turning as Collin drew close. The feline folded both thick, sturdy arms o'er his chest, ears flicking within the confines of his helmet as he prepared to hear what was undoubtedly the very worst idea to have ever been proposed by his human counterpart. Before he could enjoy any truly ludicrous suggestions, though, his radio let out a soft chirp and came to life.

"Two-One has contact. Second to last truck, courtyard southern edge. Human male's disembarked, disarmed himself, and is approaching. He's sayin' something but we can't understand him. Need a translator over here."

"Und zat vould be me," Jamall muttered. He flicked his rifle's safety off and jerked a thumb in the direction of the stopped trucks. "Trouble. Come vith me, explain on ze vay."

Mohatu turned on his heel and bolted without another word. He was fast on his homeworld - Wazta had half of Kushaa'vo's gravity. He found it easy to move, almost effortless in fact. Part of that was the armor, but a large part was the world's gravity of a whopping one gee's. His dead sprint carried him towards the trucks, one of which had two fireteams of heavily armed Makuran marines leveling rifles at it. One of the fireteam leaders held his hand up to the approaching human - gesturing for a being to stop was one of very few things that was the same the 'verse over.

Jamall spotted movement within the cab of the stopped truck. He raised his own rifle as he settled in alongside the same fireteam leader who'd stopped the human. He wasn't pointing at the fellow, though - he had his hands in the air. Even if he tried to go for a gun he'd be riddled with holes before he finished his draw. No, he was more worried about the unidentified contact in the truck. He made use of his smart-linked scope to get a better view of the cab - the guy was fighting with a rifle locked in the cab's weapons rack. Seemed it was jammed.

The Kushari soldier tagged the weapon rack using his armor's built-in designation system. Green pips flashed on the edge of his hud as the squad he was with acknowledged the target; the marksman dialed back the setting on his railgun to ensure it wouldn't overpenetrate, aimed at Mohatu's target, and fired. A blue-white bolt of hell lanced into the side of the truck and burrowed into the rack's sole occupant - a long-barreled blaster rifle. The weapon was instantly ruined, but the slug did not overpenetrate it. The slug and its near-molten jacket had actually fuzed with the rifle, being welded into it by the heat and force of the impact.

One of the fireteams raced towards the cab of the truck with weapons at the ready. If the pirate within had any sense, given the close shave (and metal splinters) he'd just received, he'd put his hands in the sky and avoid being riddled with railgun fire. The other fireteam remained with Jamall, who let out a satisfied chuff. "Hopefully," Jamall murmured, "Zat vill save his life." His attention shifted to the surrendered man and he gestured towards him with a slight nod of his helmet. "So far you are ze first to surrender on your own initiative. Forced labor?" he inquired, before shaking his head. "I am Sergeant Jamall Mohatu, of ze Makuran Commonwealth. Who are you?"

 

[Andrewza]

While siting and being board out of his mind Mar heard a call over the radio of more pirats. Jumping out the kingfisher he walked towards the comostion. Mar got there as the round knocked out the blaster, still in it's rack. Another had all ready surrenderd.

He wonderd what was going through the pirats minds. Deciding not to get in the way Mar let the solders do there work.

 

[Ravensmark]

Collin was about to tell Jamall his plan as the radio came alive with some message. Jamall told Collin about some trouble and follow him and explain on the way.

Turning to Kali Collin stated, "Come if you wish. Might want to see whats going on." Collin then sped off towards Jamall

Only problem was the human could not keep up with the Mukuran. By the time he had arrived to the scene a lone man was walking away from the truck with his hands in the air. A few moments later a shot rang out and Collin figured the situation would soon be over.

As Collin approached, Jamall was asking the prisoner some mundane questions. "Who cares what his name is Jamall, ask him the question worthy of answer. Ah this makes my horrible idea even better." Collin turned towards the man with his hands in the air. "Mister how much do those pirates pay you for a months work. Hell that doesn't matter I will double your standard wage if you can help me with a problem." Collin didn't bother waiting for an answer. He knew the man had no choice, he might as well let him think he did.

Turning back to Jamall, Collin quickly laid out his plan. "So here's how I see it. The pirates have taken an old GA Garrison that they are using as home base. Now yes we could just drop a shell on it and call it a day, but then we wouldn't be helping our image with the people around here. So I see it like this..... We have the next drop ship, grab the rest of my gear from the Solace of Fire. I dress up in my old MRAS gear, and stop looking like the new hulking bad guys in town. And with the help of our new friend here. It should be a lot easier to get inside, scope out what going on inside and to deliver a message to who ever is in charge. I can let him know that we won't kill them if the surrender. And when they undoubtedly threaten my life at that point, I will just remind them that if I fail to return. There little fortress gets to be leveled to the ground. With all inside. I propose this because as they are pirates, there is most likely slaves of some type within that structure. And would prefer to keep the innocent life cost to a minimum."

Collin looked around. "Questions? Thoughts? Ideas?"