Ask Line in the Sand

[Alienor Sangri]

『

The New Republic. Some said the newest thing about the "New" Republic was the fun little adjective they plopped in front to make themselves distinct from the former one. It was debatable if there was really anything new about them, but Alienor wasn't really one for politics. As long as things stayed messy and she was contributing to that, it was all gabble and babble to her. What was important to her right now, was wiggling her ship and cargo from FWA space to theirs.

Alienor had been traveling with a man named Rohlan for several days. They'd both been contracted to pick up some weapons from some backwater FWA planet and get them to Chandrila. Rather, Alienor had been contracted to do so and Rohlan had been contracted, or hired, or asked, or persuaded--she didn't know the terms of his commitment to this--to come along as well. Anyways, the two had spent the last few days in her ship together, so they'd had plenty of time to chit-chat. For as little as she knew him, she liked him well enough. Jokesters were always better than the quiet ones who walked around like someone had pissed in their boots. Other than that, they seemed to have little in common. Not that it mattered; as long as he could keep up with her flow he would suit her needs just fine.

"We'll be nearing the checkpoint soon." She fully planned to do most, if not all, of the talking. As long as they didn't raise any suspicion from the checkpoint attendants, she wouldn't need to worry about her ship being searched. The weapons in the back had been dismantled, so they wouldn't (shouldn't) raise any red flags if they scanned the ship. "On the off chance they search, you might wanna ditch the Mando get-up."

At that, Alienor grabbed the back of the pilot's chair, swiveled it around, sat down, swiveled back, and disabled the auto pilot. Her long hair had already been pulled back into a low ponytail, and she dressed plainly in clothing fitting for a pilot. She was ready to play her part. His would come latter.

[tag: @DeathByMeeps]

 

[Rohlan Tor]

Rohlan had heard about this job through the usual channels, the ones that paid well. Gun running wasn't against his moral compass and he had learned long ago to not ask for specifics. His partner the last few days also wasn't disagreeable. She had these piercing red eyes to offset her grayish skin, something that may have unsettled other companions, but the Mandalorian had seen a lot in his travels. He was just thankful she wasn't some kind of twisted cannibal. She seemed extremely level-headed, calculated, but deep down he hoped it was a facade, and that she really had a few screws loose, would definitely make the job more fun.

Either way, he was enjoying himself. And she seemed to at least enjoy his sense of humor. "That so, eh? Guess I should get ready to be.." he'd do a pair of air quotes. "randomly selected." There would be a light laugh. "Kriffers hate seeing these beautiful faces of ours." Rohlan would frame his helm as he spoke. Though he didn't have any rules on keeping his face covered at all times, he at least tried to limit it to only outsiders he trusted. She hadn't quite crossed that threshold yet.

He'd spin in his chair to look at her. "Tell ya what, Fangs. You take me to nice dinner and buy me a drink and I will consider shedding this look for the checkpoint." he'd say with a light tone. Rohlan would then lean back a bit as he continued to clean his blaster, pausing every so often to inspect it. "Worst comes to worst.. we go ahead and just remove them from the equation, yeah?" When she sat down, he'd swivel back in his chair. "Buuttt... I got faith in that silver tongue of yours."

@lizziie

 

[Alienor Sangri]

『

Alienor scoffed at Rohlan's nickname and comment, though she didn't appear offended by either. "I forgot about the helmet thing. Let's just hope they don't feel like-" She would also mimic air quotes. "-randomly selecting us today." There wasn't much that was random about the ships they selected to search. Any ship with any amount of large carrying capacity was already under scrutiny, including hers. She'd say their changes of getting searched were decently fifty-fifty.

They reached the checkpoint about twenty minutes later. It lied on the Perlimian Trade Route by the planet Raithal, which was the first planet within New Republic space on the route. It was just a small station only really meant to take count of ships. They would fly by it, and if they were selected for a search, they would know.

"Here we go." Alienor opened the communications line as they approached the station. They reached the station, and then passed it with no signal from them. What a relief. The last thing she wanted to deal with was nosy station keepers. "Alright, we're all good." The woman took them back to hyperspace and flicked the ship back to autopilot, before standing up out of her chair. "That was the easy part. Hardest bit of this will be getting through Chandrila customs, especially if the station flagged." They were much more likely to ask questions and be nosy about things if her ship was flagged. It also depended on the flagging.

"Anyways, as much as I enjoy a good fight as much as the next girl over, we need to avoid any of it until we land on Chandrila. Knockin' off officer heads isn't exactly what I want on my clean record."

[tag: @DeathByMeeps ]
Dice roll: 31/100

 

[Rohlan Tor]

Rohlan definitely seemed amused by her reaction to his nickname, his smirk hidden by the helm. "I don't have one of those helmet things. I actually like to look presentable underneath. And the ones that don't remove em?" He'd shudder. "They're probably some of the nastiest Mandalorians I have ever met. Ever. Like.. snaggle tooth nasty." He laughed.

As they reached the checkpoint, he'd let her handle all the talking, just easing back in his seat and well... relaxing. Issues? None at all. They were crystal clear, like scotch tape, and on they went. "Chandrila, eh.. You ever been?" Rohlan would ask. "And I don't mean passing through, I mean landing, checking it out, taking in the sights."

When she spoke of avoiding the fight, he'd just grunt in response. He had thought that was why he was here, but.. it wasn't his run. He was just the back up muscle for when osik hit the fan.

@lizziie

 

[Alienor Sangri]

『

"I actually haven't. I don't spend a lot of time 'taking in the sights' of places." Alienor spent a lot of time traveling from Point A to Point B to get X, Y, and Z taken care of. She wasn't really the kind of person to relax. It gave her time to think, and while grief still lingered in the corners of her mind, she avoided anything that gave it the time of day. "Doesn't mean I don't want to; I'm just a busy woman."

Alienor would leave Rohlan to return to the back of the ship, where she would spend some time checking the cargo and assuring everything was as it needed to be. She spent some time in her quarters, made her way back to the bridge to enter data into one of the consoles, then disappeared back into storage once again. During this time she kept to herself, and did not attempt to interact with Rohlan. After a few hours, Alienor returned to the front of the ship and reassumed her seat. The navigator indicated they were only a few minutes from dropping out of hyperspace.

"Alrighty, here comes the fun part." Alienor pushed a button and switched main controls over to Rohlan. "Drop us out of hyperspace and get us landed at the station. I got a ping from our supplier mentioning something about a rival that might wanna get in on our load. If we're met with trouble I wanna make sure we're ready to counter what they've got in store."

[tag: @DeathByMeeps ]

 

[Rohlan Tor]

"Really? Can't be moving all the time, Fangs. Gotta stop to.. kriff.. always forget how your kind say it.. smell.. the compac-Nayc.. smell the roses! You got to stop to smell the roses. Or else you're going to run yourself into the ground." Rohlan said after she answered his question. "Besides, we stop on Chandrila, we might be able to find some work to fill the time." He offered with a shrug as she walked to the back of the ship.

He would shrug to himself as she left. He didn't know her well enough to even contemplate chasing after her so he just stayed his happy sheb'e in his seat and swiveled around a bit. Once she was firmly sequestered, he would remove his helm and set it so that the visor reflected the entryway and his back was to the the door. Getting nice and comfy, he would dig around one of his pouches and procure a thin case and set it on his lap, gently opening it in the process.

Rohlan grinned to himself as he took the bes'bev and began to play the instrument, finding his own way to pass the time. The sound of the bes'bev would carry through much of the ship and if the Sith ever stopped to listen, she would hear that he was actually quite proficient with the instrument. The next few hours would carry on much the same way, with him either playing or relaxing. And though he would have preferred to be talking to Fangs, she seemed like a woman with zero interest in chatting, at least at the moment.

He would hear the chime from the navigation before he heard Alienor and the playing of the bes'bev would stop before he sat up a bit and pulled his helm back on. The instrument would be tucked away into its case, locked, and stored back into its rightful pouch. "Sure thing, Jiviya'catagr." Rohlan would say over his shoulder, taking control of the craft. "Dropping in 3-2-1.." he would pull the lever backwards, dropping the ship from hyperspace with a lurch.

He would activate the comms and hail the station. "Chandrila Landing station zero-six-five. This is civilian transport The Power Falcon, over."

"Uhhh.. Sorry, can you repeat. We're checking our logs and we aren't seeing anything about The Power Falcon." would come the response after a slight pause.

"Yeah, neither did they. Poor bastards got creamed." he'd say with a laugh. "No-no. This is the Vivien."

There would come some laughter from the other end. "Yeah well, Bom Trady was just too much for them. Alright, bingo Vivien. Just on time. Proceed to platform Echo-niner-foxtrot."

"Clear copy. We'll be touching down shortly. Vivien, out." Rohlan would cut the comm, hoping it was just enough flair to throw them off the scent.

@lizziie

 

[Alienor Sangri]

『

Alienor kept an ear open while she did her thing and returned back to the front just as Rohlan cut the comms. She came back with her an A180 modular blaster clipped to her belt and an indistinguishable look on her features. It wasn't until she sat down for landing that she spilled the beans.

"Alright, I intercepted some communications from down below and we're essentially looking at an ambush." Alienor unclipped the blaster and began to insert a clip of ammunition into it. "I don't know how may of them are, but a few of them are going to pose as inspectors and try to board the ship. While they're 'inspecting,' I think they're going to try to ambush us while we wait outside the ship." Alienor finished messing with her blaster and clipped it back onto her belt. She then looked up at the Mandalorian.

"You ready for some fun?" She asked him in an indifferent tone, but there was a glint in her eye that might suggest she felt otherwise about the change in plan. This was an ambush by their rivals, which meant she had no qualms about trading blows. They would touch down any second now, so he had but a minute to suggest any other course of action should he not wish to fight.

[tag: @DeathByMeeps ]

 

[Rohlan Tor]

"How disappointing." Rohlan would say with a dry laugh. "He laughed at my joke and now I gotta kill him. Ya hate to see it." He would say as he continued to lower the ship. "So for me.. I don't like being ambushed. You want my opinion? We just kill them off the ramp. Even if there are real inspectors, they've been paid to allow this ambush to happen. They would have had to have been or else the ambushers would need to fight two parties."

As they descended quickly through the atmosphere, he would begin to divert power from the engine to the shields. "Figured we'd rather this boat take little damage then deal more damage, yeah?"

Neither his voice nor his helmed expression would betray the joy he now felt. Battle. He was so excited to kill some scumbags, he didn't even know what weapon he wanted to do it with. Well, someone was gonna get cooked alive, he knew that much. Thirty seconds to reply, then they would be going hot.

@lizziie

 

[Alienor Sangri]

『

"Let's get this show on the road." Alienor lifted her rifle towards the ceiling and rested its weight against her shoulder as she used her other hand to steady herself during the landed. The ship reached the platform after thirty or so seconds, but their guns remained hot and their shields up thanks to Rohlan. The woman pulled up camera footage, and over the holoscreen displayed the sentients on the platform. There were about twelve total. Two began to approach the ship, and ten remained back near some cargo boxes about fifty feet from the ramp of the ship. The two in front held both of their hands behind their backs so Alienor pointed this out to Rohlan before she headed for the door.

"Shall we?" Her voice was hushed, but at the same time ablaze with an quiet excitement. Her fist hit the button to open the door and lower the ramp.

[tag: @DeathByMeeps ]

 

[Rohlan Tor]

"Shields powered up... Landing in 3-2-1.." Rohlan would say as the landing gear touched down. "I won't cut the engines, Fangs.. But let's try to have some fun with it, yeah?" He asked, his smirk audible.

Rising from his seat, he would level his DC-17x set up in rifle modulation. He would glance at the feed, nodding his head as she pointed some things out. "Let's go kill these hut'uune." Reaching the ramp, he'd hit the release for her. "Ladies first.. So.. you target the first two, I'll go straight for their backline. Once you're done with the lambs, come help me out. Or don't, your call."

With the ramp lowered, he would descend down it, his rifle held nonchalantly in both hands, typical for a bodyguard. Reaching the bottom, his gaze would drift to Alienor before he activated his jet boots, soaring over the first two. Both men would curse and look after the Mandalorian, giving the Sith more than enough of an opening on the louts. Soaring to land just before the crates, Rohlan would heft his DC-17x, and begin to open up on the closest group of 'dock workers'. The first two would fall in a hail of blaster fire before the other ten dove for cover and pulled their own weapons, returning fire on the Mandalorian.

Rohlan would roll behind the nearest transparisteel crate for cover, before returning fire. Now this, this is what he was hoping for.

@lizziie

 

[Alienor Sangri]

『

Alienor descended down the ramp, hands behind her back to somewhat poorly conceal the rifle she held. Once she reached the bottom, she briefly made eye contact with Rohlan before swinging the rifle into position and pulling two quick shots towards the first "inspector." He had been momentarily distracted by Rohlan, and was unfortunate enough to receive two blaster bullets to his chest. The man slumped over.

With one man down and several more to go, Alienor rolled into action. She dashed for cover, dodging two bullets fired at her by the remaining inspector who finally got his wits about him. The air began to fill with shouts as blaster fire as the so-called dock workers began to fire back on them and yell orders to and forth. Alienor peaked her gun over the edge, and took what appeared to be two blind shots at her remaining target. Again, both hit him square in the chest, and the man slumped to the ground.

Two-- Alienor leaned around the edge of her cover and watched as Rohlan eliminated two of the twelve rival gang. --four down, ten to go. The woman waited a moment before dashing out and rolling behind a stack of crates several feet closer to Rohlan and the others. She reloaded, then prepared to send a flurry of bullets their way.

[tag: @DeathByMeeps ]

 

[Rohlan Tor]

Rohlan would give a quick look back to where Alienor was, making sure she was handling herself. After all, he was never fully sure of an associates prowess until he bore witness. Seeing she was doing more than fine, the Mandalorian would emerge from his cover, his heavy cuirass tanking a few bolts before he countered with some follow-up shots from his rifle. Three bolts into two more goons, before his rifle lowered and he lifted his left arm and fired the repulsor, sending one of the crates crashing into those hiding behind it for cover.

He would duck a few shots coming from his left flank before sliding behind the cover of the crate he just pushed. He'd then activated his comm. "Fangs, you still holding up? These are my kinda parties."

He could hear the downed enemies struggling to get up, so he would wait another second as he primed his flamethrower. Someone did order a backyard barbecue.

@lizziie

Spoiler: OOC NOTE

So sorry it took me so long. I was pretty sick and I only just now was able to sit up at the computer. Sorry for the short post :/

 

[Alienor Sangri]

『

"Oh yeah, I'm doing great."

Alienor, who was now behind a larger stack of crates which covered her from enemy fire without her needing to kneel, was also now unable to get a good look at the men and women firing at her. "Fangs" prepped her rifle to spray out another round of bullets and leaned into the edge of the stack. Through the Force she reached out, feeling and seeing how it defined the areas around it. It took only a moment for her to be able to spot her targets. A second later she took a breath, then rotated around the side and sent a flurry of blaster bolts into the air.

One, two, three. Her shots went straight for the heads of three seperate persons. One bullet hit right between the eyes, while the other two suffered from recoil and hit about the chest area. Regardless, those three were down. Her three, plus Rohlan's two, meant they were down to just five more.

But with more than half their men gone, Alienor could feel the tension in the air rise as their would-be-ambushers began to consider if they should get out of dodge. She only grinned her toothy grin in response to a horrified look on another one of the "worker's" face as she swung the barrel of her gun to his forehead. Quickly, so that he did not have time to come back to his senses, she lunged forward, dug her sharp nails into his forehead, and swung him around so that she had him hostage in front of her.

"Cease your fire, or this one dies."

She made no effort to shout about the blaster bolts. They would stop if they didn't want to lose him. She hoped they would stop, anyways. Alienor was intent on figuring out who hired them.

[tag: @DeathByMeeps ]

 

[Rohlan Tor]

The joys of life knew no end. Battle, death, a healthy share of blood. And at the end of it all, a punchline. He wasn't sure what it was, but he could just not stop laughing. Turning the corner, he could hear Fangs yell something over the blaster fire, for him she was well from view. But the newly recovered trio of guys had a nice, mortified view of their friend. They were so entranced, they didn't even notice the heavily armed Mandalorian swing around and activate his flamethrower.

Molten flame poured from his vambrace and washed over the trio of disarmed ambushers setting them ablaze and filling the area with the cries of their suffering, pain, and eventual death. Some begged for the end, some pleaded, but one very bold worker grabbed his blaster and ended it all himself. Rohlan was actually very impressed by that one. He'd cut the flames, allowing the cell to recharge before stepping around the burning heaps. "Stop, drop, and roll boys. It might help."

Between the horrid deaths of three compatriots and the only other comrade alive taken prisoner, the final ambusher would come from his hiding spot. He was a Bith and bore the tattoo of the Hutt Cartel on his exposed neck. His weapon being tossed to the deck, he would lift his hands slowly.

Rohlan would close the gap between him and the Bith and grab him roughly before dragging him to Alienor. "So, Fangs. Looks like we thwarted them. Want to leave before actual authorities arrive? I can question them on the move."

@lizziie

 

[Alienor Sangri]

『

It was a gruesome death to die by fire; it was ugly and painful. Alienor watched the three burn without expression but with a glint in her eye, her arm still firmly twisting her captive's arm behind his back. When the Bith appeared, Alienor flipped her man onto the ground and placed a foot on his arm, pinning the man to the ground with his hands behind his back. She rested her rifle against her shoulder, glanced about the platform, then returned her gaze to Rohlan.

"We need to unload the cargo first," she grumbled. This whole "ambush" thing had really complicated things. The fanged woman opened her comms to the public radio used by the authorities. The radio was silent minus a bit of chatter about unrelated topics. They had some time, at the very least.

"We should have some time." She had vested interested in these weapons getting delivered.

[tag: @DeathByMeeps ]

 

[Rohlan Tor]

"You sure who we were supposed to deliver them to didn't betray us? They could have masterminded the ambush to avoid having to pay." His distorted voice would say through the helm's speakers. "You delivering to the Hutts, cuz this asshole is one of them." he'd say, nudging the Bith closer.

His visored helm would sweep the port. "Could even take some of these crates. Double our take. Lemme know what you decide on and I'll begin load or unload." With the one guy on the ground and the Bith fully enamored, he would step away and begin to inspect some of the other crates. Weapons, clothes, foodstuffs. Odd assortment of things..

@lizziie