It's Just a Droid!

[Halcyon]

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~~ THEME ~~​

Axxila :: Axxila System :: D'Astan Sector
:: Outer Rim ::
The Pipeline :: Local Time -- 1700 Hours​

The ecumenopolis of Axxila; described as "Coruscant inside out".

The Arkanian Offshoot/Sephi hybrid knew Coruscant well, and was starting to get to know Axxila just as much. Peering at the landscape just beyond the edge of the balcony, leaning against and over the railings, he could clearly understand that analogy. If not for the consistent - and very real - influence of gravity, Nova Starcry would probably have a hard time distinguishing up from down. The architecture of the Pipeline seemed to have been built in such a way as to purposely defy the spatial cognition of any creature viewing it.

The entire spaceport looked like a pipe, both from the inside as well as from the outside, hence its ingenious name. The docking hangars and platforms - one of which, being where the smuggler stood - could be found on each side of the middle sections of that spaceport, located on the planet's surface. Down below, Nova saw, were several building and structures, so piled up on top of one another, with tunnels and ducts and passageways and protruding sections bridging the gaps between buildings, that he lost sight of just how far the actual surface of the planet was.

The sun shone brightly, as it usually did during the afternoon on Axxila, and the air was pleasantly warm as well; it had something to do with a certain greenhouse effect due to the heavy industrialization of the planet. Starcry lowered his tinted goggles over his eyes, in order to shelter their silver blue irises from such brightness, as he then looked up.

Symmetrically on either side, an outlandish red canopy or awning of some kind, enveloped the docks and landing platforms in a half-circle shape, giving the spaceport its tubular appearance. Not only did it (somewhat) sheltered those on the platforms from the sunlight, it also prevented debris that came out of either inbound or outbound vessels from falling over someone's head. That same mantle, also sheltered Nova from having to witness the daunting clouds of dark smoke everywhere, that hung above the horizon like a drapery.

The smuggler retrieved his datapad from the fencing leather jacket he was wearing. It was black, as well as the remainder of his clothes, contrasting with the long silvery white hair that covered his pointy ears and the general paleness of his skin. Because of the warmth and familiarity he had with the Pipeline, the ever growing impatient Arkanian offshoot had left his overcoat inside the Eidolon, as well as all of his weapons - not so easily concealed without said overcoat - save for his trusted lightsaber. The rest of his crew stayed on the ship as well; not far from where he stood.

He double and triple checked the memo he had written on the datapad. Ailill Aherne; male; human; eighteen. Hair color, red; eye color, blue. He also confirmed the location and time; check, check.

.
.
.
What could be taking the boy so long? He was supposed to bring a protocol droid, for him to transport all the way to Terminus.

Who was the employer, anyway?

Nova only ever got the name of this Ailill guy, who was to be his contact.

Furthermore, why so much secrecy surrounding a simple transporting job? It smelled fishy, and it was not just the smell of the spicy Mynock Coronet City being marinated below. It was the 10,000 credits per crew member, offered as payment for such a job.

Nova Starcry turned around, leaned against the railing of the platform, and looked at all the sentients about. Not a single human boy in sight.

There were quite a few curious-looking droids, though. One, was even wearing clothes.

@Pernicious​

 

[Pernicious]

The protocol droid clinked and clonked its way down the landing platform. Refusing to speak unless spoken to, the droid would only say they're everywhere and they're out to get me. Ailill walked next to it as if he owned it so not to arouse suspicion. He was to meet an Arkanian at this particular platform to transport the droid, then accompany it all the way to Terminus. He had never met an Arkanian before, but he hoped that the stark white hair would make it obvious who his contact was, as that was all he had to go off of.

The droid gave him the creeps. It wasn't in the best condition, and the words it spoke troubled Ailill. They're everywhere and they're out to get me does not sound like something he wanted to be involved with very long. It kept looking around, mostly in the distance, as if it was watching for something. The eighteen year old sweat inside his suit a little. His stomach was filled with Nabooan butterflies. Anxiously, his strides began to lengthen until his contact was in sight.

Ailill breathed deeply and went over what to say in his head. The Arkanian was leaned against some railing and people watching. His appearance calmed the young man down a little. He grinned at the bright white hair on black clothes contrast and the lightsaber hanging at his hip. The words 'main character' entered his mind, as his contact stuck out like a sore thumb around the other spacers and dock workers.

They made eye contact and Ailill gave a light wave to him, acknowledging that he saw him. The droid followed in silence up until the Onderonian man attempted to introduce himself. "Hey, I'm Ailill. Let's get this droid onboar-"

"They're everywhere and they're out to get me," the droid interrupted.

 

[Halcyon]

A tad absentminded, Nova watched with curiosity as the two droids approached him; on top of wearing human clothes, one of them moved like a human, talked like a human, had life force like a human.

"You're human?" Starcry exclaimed, as Ailill introduced himself to him. He failed to hide his surprise as he probed the young man while talking. "That suit you're wearing it's incredible! Must've cost some serious credits!"

The Offshoot was about to ask the reason as to why Ailill was wearing said suit, until it dawned on him that the answer could very well be a delicate one. He then realized that, although he had just been acting out of enthusiasm born from legitimate curiosity, he was probably doing so in a considerably rude manner.

"Name's Starcry, Nova Starcry," he said, feeling like a secret agent and stretching out his hand. "Put it there! It's very nice to meet you Ailill!"

He thought of another guy that he had met once, a couple of years ago, named Valus Magnen - or was it Magnus Valen? The man in question, whatever his name might be, was partially responsible for setting Nova on his current path. But, that was not the thing being brought back from the recesses of the former Padawan's memory. It was the fact that Magnem Valus told him of the unfortunate circumstances - to put it mildly - that were behind his "bionic suit"; actually, an extensive set of prostheses.

Instead of dwelling on apologies, he decided best to simply move the conversation along.

"We can talk freely here," he pointed out, also actually pointing out with his index at a structure behind and overhead Ailill. "See those big thingamabobs with blue lights? Right there, close to those circular hangar doors?

"Those things apparently generate enough electromagnetic energy around the area to create some sort of Faraday cage-like effect, effectively restricting all transmissions to close-range ones." He figured that Ailill had noticed his lightsaber by now. "And I'm pretty confident in my ability to detect someone who's eavesdropping from close by."

Starcry moved his eyes from the human to the droid whose head frantically turned - literally spun - from left to right, and back again to Ailill.

"So, let's cut to the chase. Who exactly hired me and why are we taking this droid to the other side of the galaxy? Also, while we're at it, why are you tagging along?

But, maybe the most important one among all other questions, why the need to contact me for such a simple job?" Nova trusted that Ailill would understand that by "me", the pseudo-Arkanian was not particularly referring to himself, but to a smuggler in the general sense - a word to the wise.

 

[Pernicious]

Ailill blinked as he was interrupted by the droid, and sighed as Nova interrupted the droid. It was a chain reaction of interrupting. "Yep. Born and raised on Onderon," he said in response to Nova's question. He ignored the suit comment, saving it for a later discussion. Many in recent years had asked about his caution with UV light, but it was better to explain when it could be the center of conversation.

Starcry seemed cheerful enough, which was a drastic contrast to what he had expected. People Ailill worked with usually had a gruff demeanor about them. This was a nice change of pace. It loosened the young man up a little and made him feel comfortable with his contact. He hoped he wouldn't come to regret it.

The two shook hands. Ailill matched the Arkanian's grip. The man may have been older than Ailill, but they were equals in this business. Also, equally clueless as to who had hired them. "I was contacted by a middleman to a middleman of a middleman about the job. I'm just as curious as you are but I've learned not to ask too many questions. My best guess as to why I'm tagging along is quality control. Whoever set up the job must have trusted me to handle it from the start, so why not 'til the end?" He paused, "What about you?"

 

[Halcyon]

"Well, that's no good," Nova remarked, "I thought you were part of the job. We can't both be oblivious as to who hired us," he thought twice, "or at least, we shouldn't be.

"An acquaintance of mine put me up for this. She knew I needed the credits and," he violently shook his head a couple of times, "wait just a frinking minute there!"

The Offshoot became clearly aggravated.

"Quality control?" What the frakle do you think this is? Amateur hour?"

Starcry began to furtively scan his surrounding while talking with Ailill, he made his best attempt to not give it away. The droid must have picked up on the tension filling the air, because he started raving once more.

"They're everywhere and they're out to get me!" As if the situation was not suspicious enough as it was.

"Tell me something," he addressed the human with a stern look on his face, "is this droid actually yours?"

Although Nova's typical amiable disposition was never a ruse, he knew how to sound intimidatory when he needed to. He was not (entirely) faking it, on account of being truly annoyed both with Ailill as well as with himself for taking on such a questionable gig in the first place - not as if there were any unquestionable ones to begin with, since a legitimate smuggling job is an oxymoron in itself.

Nevertheless, he wanted to press the Onderonian for information, to see if the boy would crack or if he was being honest concerning his ignorance on the matter. In that regard, a trait he shared with Nova.

"I don't know what kind of operation you think I'm running here," he declared with his right index finger pointing out of an otherwise clenched fist in a pendular chastising motion of sorts, "but you're not the brightest lightsaber in the galaxy if you think that the Eidolon is just another starferry. Maybe you should book passage on a comercial flight instead.

"They're everywhere and they're out to get me!"

"It would be way cheaper."

Also, probably safer.

 

[Pernicious]

Ailill had interacted with some unsavory people in his short life but he was taken aback by the sudden change in Starcry's attitude.

"Hey, hey, hey. You need to calm down bud. I said it was just a guess," he said in response to his contact's sudden excitement. He put his hands to hips hips and looked around. "You're gonna cause a scene. Look what you've done, the droid is freaking out now."

Starcry's change in attitude advanced to slight intimidation. "What kind of question is that? No, it's not my droid. It's not yours either. It belongs to whoever hired us." Ailill's own tone grew more serious, "Do you really want to be the guy who messes this job up? You know damn well public transit isn't how this works, or maybe this is amateur hour."

Dropping his hands from his hips, the young man nudged the droid in the direction of the Eidolon. It was never a good sign when two people working a job didn't get along. He needed a subject change, or at least to get things moving.

"Let's get on board. We need to leave."

 

[Halcyon]

"I thought you understood the situation but it seems you don't. I'll be a chap and explain it to you," Nova raised his left hand in front of him with three fingers sticking out. "Kid, I'm about to tell you three things you seem to be overlooking."

The Offshoot lowered all fingers but one. He left the hand in that position while talking. He spoke calmly and eloquently throughout his little speech, to try and relieve some of the tension created - in no small part by him - between the two, and to better deliver and assert his message.

"Number one; look around you," he bobbed his head. "No one is paying attention to us; rest assured, I would knew if they were." He tapped his lightsaber with his free right hand and then pointed at the large blue magnets for a second time. "Also, I did mention those big things up there and said that no one can eavesdrop on us with a communication device of any sort. You're being paranoid, and that can only mean that you're nervous either because you're inexperienced or hiding something, maybe both."

Starcry did not want to waste time explaining all the other factors that pointed to his deduction, such as his Force sense, Ailill's posture and speech pattern, etc. There was a good chance that he could be wrong, of course, but admitting to that would not help prove his point and just further waste precious time. On top of that, if anything, Ailill was certainly not shortsighted. He would be able to understand Nova with fewer words rather than many - too many would only muddle Nova's explanation and subsequently the human's opinion of him.

He needed to be taken seriously.

A second finger was raised.

"Number two. When I mentioned a comercial flight I guess I wasn't being clear enough after all; my bad, I seem to have left my sarcasm sign in my other pants," he jeered. "I meant to point out that I never signed any contract with you or anyone else. I can just walk away at any time. Your attitude makes it seem like you're unaware of this simple and obvious detail. Another thing that points towards either your inexperience or nervousness.

"Taking in number one and two, and if you'll accept a word of advice from me, you should ease up a little. Your anxiety makes you look suspicious and, even if it didn't, that state of mind is never good for a delicate job such as this one anyway. As for me, I was just being cautious," he nonchalantly said with a smirk, as if to demonstrate his easiness, "it's just to be expected of someone in my position."

The smuggler preventively raised his right palm at Ailill, to signify that he would expand on that subject if allowed to conclude his train of thought.

"I was simply told to wait here for someone matching your description, bringing a droid along with him; but more on that in a minute."

He now had all three finger sticking out again.

"If the droid is a problem, then it's not my problem," Nova said while slightly shaking his head. "Not until it gets on my ship, and that's what brings us to number three.

"My ship.

"My ship, my rules. And you're already trying to boss me around by ordering me to leave? Who exactly died and made you captain?"

The pale sentient lowered his arms, relaxed his shoulders, and sighed.

"But I'll level with you. I'll be the first one to tell his side of the story.

"When you move in certain circles," the former Padawan drew several small circumferences in the air using his index finger to do so, "words get out.

"I got word that someone wanted something moved, that was it and that's how things work. You receive information bit by bit and, in jobs like this one, you usually only get paid on arrival and that's when you find out who you've been working for all along. The fact that this procedure is quite common does not mean I have to like it.

"Anyway, I only got wind that someone wanted a droid transported from here to Terminus, that they were willing to pay 10k a head, and that I was to deal with a middleman - that, in this case, is you," he pointed at Ailill. "I picked the place for us to meet but that's about it. I was told, you would be the one giving me more information once you'd arrive."

Nova Starcry paused for a moment. Deep in though, he progressively furrowed his brow.

"If I don't know, and you don't know..." He looked at the droid which, rather unusually (to it) and conveniently - or so he thought - had kept quiet during the whole discourse. "Guess there's a possibility that we're both being played."

The Arkanian Offshoot slowly reached out with the force, looking for anything suspicious around him.

"That's never a good thing," he raised his head to glance at the large blue magnets once more, the path towards the Eidolon was through the closets one, "maybe I was wrong.

Maybe this is not such a safe place after all!"

 

[Pernicious]

At first Ailill was angry, slightly moving past annoyed. He stood there in silence, brow furrowed and eyes narrowed under his mask. The more Starcry spoke however, the more Ailill realized that he had been making a bit of a fool of himself. His expression softened and fists unclenched. Yeah, he was definitely overstepping his bounds here. "Aight, I'll take that into consideration. I'll try to be more fair." It was all he would say on the matter. He began to realize the droid wasn't quite looking at them anymore. It was more focused on one of the large blue magnets. He disregarded its distraction, thankful for the silent treatment it was giving him. The Onderonian was about to explain how he had been contacted through a string of middlemen, probably to distance him from the source of the job, and told to bring the droid to Starcry, when things started to get weird. The Offshoot seemed to know something was amiss and began to look around.

"Maybe this is not such a safe place after all!"