[Mando/Renelo] Fear and Loathing on Zeltros

[Cainhurst Crow]

"Ral Aran...need help...Zeltros, can't ma.. to my ship. I'm in trouble. I nee...Screwed up. Coordinates in mess...ge..Can't mo....Please... careful...d...find me..."

The garbled message had been sent out to from the planet Zeltros, traveling cross the galaxy towards ral's ship, an old coms channel that had been used during the first mission ceres had ever taken with the mandalorian. Ceres Wyvern, last of her clan and survivor of Kalevala, had wandered the galaxy since her planets destruction, always keeping aloof and always with her monotone voice and guarded demeanor. She'd run into the mandalorian numerous times, some through chance, others through coincidence. But when the group had traveled to join Clan Renelo, there was division. Even as Ceres advocated peace and unity, she herself simply drifted away, going back to the rebellion for a time, before disappearing from it as well.

And now she was on zeltros, with only the cryptic message calling for help, and a coordinate for some place on the pleasure planet. Zeltros was a hotbed of imperial activity, and very few of it actually official business. For few could resist the Zeltrons pheromones and constant jovial atmosphere of the planet, the planets residences empathetic abilities allowing them to make even the most guarded person relax and enjoy themselves. The planet was neutral, it stayed out of the war and picked neither side, preferring to carry on as it had for millennia and merely celebrate all life had to offer. It was however, in imperial territory, and while the planets surface was pleasant and relaxed, out in space, the impeirals made sure all knew who control the planet, as far as its surrounding space was concerned.

Somewhere below was ceres wyvern, and it was up to ral aran, and anyone he decided to bring with him, to find her.

 

[Ral]

The Mandalorian sat inside the rather spacious cockpit of his ship as it flew through hyperspace, inspecting his newly painted armor. Having recently attained a position of power within his newly adopted clan, Ral had decided that a makeover for his cobbled-together set of aliit'gam was appropriate. Instead of its standard black and green, Ral had decided to paint the armor a basecoat of gunmetal, followed by trim of dark metallic teal, shifting his armor from green into a more blue-green spectrum. In his hands he held the heavy beskar buy'ce, the teal trim looking fresh and shiny on the gunmetal silver base. With the faint trace of a smile lingering on the corners of his lips, Ral placed the helmet down on the console next to him, turning to say something to the blonde woman sitting across from him. "So, Arya, got any plans with the Rebellion me and mine can help out with?" He asked, trying to hide his interest in keeping his clan busy.

In fact, the truth was Ral Aran planned on instituting some changes to Renelo to help them survive into the future, but in the meantime he'd need to earn the faith and trust of its warriors by keeping them busy with "worthy" missions. Before Ral could reply back to Arya's response however, his ship received a message. It was on an old frequency he hadn't used in what seemed like ages, but he recognized it as the one he and Ceres Wyvern had used on their first outing together. Playing the message, it was clear there was an issue. It caused the man to worry a little at what had happened to his friend. "Ral Aran...need help...Zeltros, can't ma.. to my ship. I'm in trouble. I nee...Screwed up. Coordinates in mess...ge..Can't mo....Please... careful...d...find me..."

It sounded like Ceres had gotten into some serious trouble, embedded in her message was a series of coordinates which led to someplace on the pleasure planet Zeltros. A planet just on the wrong side of Imperial space, but she was what Ral would call a friend, and she seemed to be in trouble, so he would go and see what she needed. Humming thoughtfully, Ral turned to the older Mandalorian woman. "Well, Arya, you up for joining me in rescuing good ol' Ceres from Zeltros? I hear its nice this time of year!" He joked with a bit of a smile on his face before pressing the intercom. "Astra, Kex, get up to the cockpit, there's a change of plans. We're going to go help out a friend stuck in Sith Space." With that Ral set course for Zeltros. Luckily, it would only be a couple of hours away. When the others joined him, he'd explain the situation, and hope everyone there would be willing to join him, otherwise he'd have to drop them off at some backwater station before continuing on.

 

[Loco]

"Well there's plenty o' fire guard shifts thet aren't gettin' filled on the Corusca, yeh?"

Arya shrugged with a mocking smile, swinging her feet up onto the console. Truthfully, she was eager to put clan Renelo to work, she just wasn't sure how she was going to manage. It was sheer stroke of luck... No, not luck. What had happened was not lucky. Arya scolded herself mentally for thinking of Sisks death in such terms, but better his clan fall to Ral's leadership than one of his less capable lacky's. In any case, keeping the clans engaged and together was going to mean striking a precarious balance, and as far as their fight against the Sith- for those who wanted to go that route- she had found herself in the unenviable position of middle-woman. The meet with Skyblade and Viggo, clan Ordos representatives in the Rebellion and the only reason she was here on Rals ship in the first place, had given her a lot to mull over but she wasn't about to let herself be seen as anything other than herself in front of clan Renelo's new alore. Unfortunately, Cere's transmission broke through before she had a chance to antagonize Ral further.

"Cere's?" Arya asked incredulously as she sat up in the copilots chair "Es in, 'she who drops off the senso's end leaves en empty billet in my fighte' squadron' Ceres? Where the kriff did she get off to?!"

"Hell if I know, last I saw her was at the gathering. Know of any ops on Zeltros?" Ral replied*. Arya frowned- no, there wasn't any Rebel operations on Zeltros- at least, not that she knew about, though that meant little as de-centralized as Rebel operations were. Arya glanced her eyes to the chronometer on Rals control console. She would be expected back on Tibbanopolis soon- it might be considered bad taste for the ranking Rebel officer of the sector to disappear unannounced for a few days, though if she were being honest she knew it wouldn't be the first time. One of the other transient Commanders or even ships Captains could handle Fey'tey in her absence, at least for a short while.

"No... she's not there on ou' behalf..." Arya summoned up the galaxy map on the copilots console, "She's on the wron' side of Imp lines, yeh, but they don't run thin's groundside, least ways es I remembe'. If we git into trouble it's not a long hop to Commenor o' Manaan- not the bist places to be, but the welcome might not be entirely unfriendly..."

At this point, Arya knew she was just looking for an excuse to come along. Ever since the Reckoning, she'd hardly gotten a chance to blow off any steam- to really work for a change. Her duel with Sisk had just left her even more frustrated and pent up. Chasing after one of her own- and that's how she chose to think of Ceres, despite barely knowing her- was a welcome break, as far as she was concerned, responsibilities be damned. She needed this, and if she had any luck at all she'd get to work out some of the aggression she'd been building up the last few months.

"Too bed we didn't brin' the Corusca alon'," She flashed a grin to Ral, "look like I'll just be alon' fo' the ride on this one, yeh?"




*written in cooperation with Ral

 

[Sierrien]

Astra was feeling comfortable, for once in her life. She was lounging in a chair, playing some 3D chess with Kex, one of the men who had helped to free her from slavery. It wasn't hard for her to start to consider him a friend or at the very least friendly; she had no idea what he thought of her. He was a hard one to read. She had also never played this particular game before, so it had taken a few rounds for her to learn the rules. Even now she was still doing a pretty spectacular job of losing, she was pretty sure, though it was hard to tell with this game. She still wasn't sure she understood all the rules; she would have to read up on them later and surprise Kex with some new moves on the battle-board. Or whatever it was called. She was pretty sure she was a couple of turns from losing when the intercom system blared to life with Ral's voice, telling them to get to the cockpit.

She stood and made sure to turn the game off, so that they'd have to start a new one next time they wanted to play - no sense returning to that disaster - and she gave Kex a grin because she was pretty sure it was obvious what she had just done. "Don't worry, you can call it a victory." She let out a chuckle as she turned and made her way to the cockpit with him, traversing the ship with sure and easy strides. No sense in running, since it wasn't like they were in a red alert status or anything. Soon enough they would arrive and her eyes shifted from Ral to the other woman in the cockpit whom she hadn't met yet. She had at least been told who the woman was, though, so she could keep from making a fool of herself.

"Commander." she said with a respectful nod towards Arya; using the rank she had been told the woman was surely couldn't be construed as rude. She was pretty sure using a name before they were officially introduced could, and she didn't want to presume anything. She had no real place here, other than that she had been rescued by these people and she certainly felt she owed them, and that they were becoming her friend. Her eyes shifted to Ral then and she gave him the same respectful nod she had to the female commander. "Other Commander." Okay, there might have been a light smirk playing at her lips now as she said that. She knew that wasn't technically the thing she should be calling him, but she just couldn't resist.

She shifted her stance slightly, standing somewhere between attention and at ease. Most of that was because she really wasn't sure how she fit in to all of this at the moment, and that made her feel more than a little bit awkward. It was like she was simply the perpetual 'third wheel' wherever they went. It was downright unnerving. Still, she stood and simply waited for one of them to explain what was going on and what the 'change of plans' was. Once they had, she could see if she had any questions - though honestly the only one that would probably come to her mind would be something about whether they were going to try and be stealthy or if they could shoot any Sith they came across. Not hard to guess why she'd want to.

 

[Bardan Kex]

Bardan's attention drifted from the dejarik to the woman sitting across from him, studying them both evenly from behind an un-revealing, yet not unkind expression. The woman, Astra Iviin, had been a slave for the past several years and from what Kex could tell she as a result had an almost child like innocence when it came to the galaxy since he and Ral had freed her, at least when she didn't have a blade or a blaster in her hand. It was rather refreshing and though he wouldn't admit it, he was beginning to warm up to her, having seen how she could handle herself had helped with that considerably. They were in the closing stages of their game when Ral's voice came across the intercom, the mention of Sith having an impact on him he'd hoped the woman wouldn't notice. She hoped up and with a smirk shut off the table before he could put it in stand by, saying he could count it as a win. "Need all the wins I can get, you're the only one I can consistently beat at this kriffing game." Kex grumbled to himself as he pushed himself out of the seat and tucked his helm into the crook of his arm before following Astra, who had a subdued spring in her step.

Seconds behind her through the door he'd catch the polite greeting to the Rebel Commander, he'd simply shoot her a curt, but polite, nod. There was a time a few years back when their meeting would have been on the opposite side of a firearm, but he betrayed no opinion on the Rebellion when the short Rebel Officer had joined them. Like he had been since his defection, they were all enemies of the Empire. His attention turned to Ral, who had to be one of his few living friends left in the Galaxy. Similarly to Ral, Bardan had recently recoloured his armor, losing the Grey and Crimson it had been and repainting it in a similar colour scheme to Ral's albeit with a darker blue. He'd done it to show his new affiliation to Clan Renelo and a solidarity in purpose with his friend, come what may he'd stand with the new Clan leader.

"What's this I heard about the Sith?" he'd ask, taking as much of a relaxed posture as he could, in attempts to hide his tenseness at the fact they were to deal with Sith space. It had been some time since he was back there, and that time if it hadn't been for the sacrifice of a mentor he'd not have made it out. He noticed that Astra had a similar unease, though he imagined that was simply a result of her trying to find a place for herself in her new emancipated life. He'd gesture for her to stand easy, orders weren't yet being thrown around and he certainty wasn't gonna let the Imperial side slip out with a Rebel on board.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

The coordinates embedded in the message seemed to go towards the outskirts of zeltros city, Zeltos's capital, and farther north towards what one might consider the bad side of zeltros. While still carrying the same renown for parties and mirth the planet was famous for, it was far away from the luxury hotels and pleasure houses of the planet. While Zeltros proper catered to many tastes, including those of the carnal, the outer city was more oriented towards the habitual pleasures. Drugs, Gambling, And whatever oddities could not normally be sated by the city proper, were sated instead here.

There was no clear landing area this far away from the city, the only place to land being the boarder between Outer Zeltros and Zeltros Proper. It would seem, that wherever Ceres was, would need to be reached on foot.

 

[Ral]

When the other two arrived Ral gave both of them an acknowledging nod of his head before turning back to his controls to make sure his ship was on the proper heading. Once he was sure he was on the correct course he smiled for a moment, nodded, and then turned around to look at the two newcomers, though only one of them could be called a newcomer really. "Alright, now that the course is laid in and you two are here I can get started explaining the situation. My friend Ceres Wyvern seems to have found herself in a bit of a bind, or at least that's what her message seems to indicate. Now, I suppose you two will want to know who Ceres is and why we're going to be risking our necks out for her. Ceres is a Mandalorian, a vod as it were. We did a mission or two back in the day, she helped out with the Rebellion and flew a few missions for the Corusca too. Last time I saw her was at the convocation Sisk called where she advocated unity to prevent our culture's extinction. After that little debacle, though she dropped off the radar, not sure where she's been. But now she's on Zeltros and it seems that she's in some kind of trouble. Her message wasn't clear, so I don't know what kind of trouble she's in or what we'll find on Zeltros, all I have are a set of coordinates she included in her message. That's where I'm headed. You lot don't need to accompany me, this is something I have to do though, so if you don't want to be a part of it you can stay on the ship or take your leave on Zeltros. Either way, that's where we're headed next."

Taking a deep breath, Ral waited to see what Astra and Kex would say. He was fairly certain both would agree to come, Kex liked to hang around Ral for a number of reasons, and Astra felt indebted to him for freeing her from the hell she had been kept in. Not that either of their reasons for hanging about were invalid of course, but he still felt the need to ask just in case. Arya he knew would join, she seemed... well bored. And he'd rather not have a woman as deadly and beautiful as Arya on his ship, especially when her ship could blow his out of the Galaxy.

They would arrive in orbit around Zeltros not too long after that, Ral using some of the smugglers tricks he had learned over the years as a freelancer to avoid the Imperial patrols at the border. Below them the pleasure planet spun slowly in its orbit. Checking the coordinates he received from Ceres, Ral recognized that it was at a place he wouldn't be able to land his ship at which meant walking. Piloting his way to the capital, Ral set down as close as he could, a place between the city proper and the outskirts. "Okay, before we begin, any questions? If not let's get going, don't want to waste any time." Changing his comm channel to the one he and Ceres used he spoke again. "Ceres, you there? It's Ral, can you hear me?"

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

There was nothing but static at first, a dead comm channel until finally someone broke the silence.

"Ummm...Hello? Hello, Hello?" The voice who spoke was not ceres. Whoever it was, they were female or possibly a very high pitched male, but the voice itself was all wrong. It sounded, too light. Too normal. It was a higher and cuter voice than ceres had ever used. "I think you have the wrong...ummmm...channel..." The user paused, as if trying to remember the proper word, and it was clear whoever was talking was not ceres.

"Hang on. Let me just....come on you stupid..." A series of tapping and banging could be heard, before another voice began to speak.

"Ral Aran. It's ceres, I need help. I'm on Zeltros, can't-"

"Oh Come On! Not this nonsense again! Hunk of junk!" The other voice yelled in frustration, a loud bang was heard as suddenly a signal came up. It pinged occasionally, making a clear beacon for the others to follow as the comms finally cut out. Apparently whoever it was who had been talking had unknowingly activated a distress signal, allowing the group to track it down to the source.

 

[Loco]

"Weeeeellll..." Arya drew out the word dramatically, "Thet wes a bit off, yeh?"

She spun the co-pilot bucket seat in a quick circle and sprung out of it, then brushed between the two mando'ade that Ral had brought along to form her extraction team, in case she had needed it during her meeting with the Ordo's. They wore their own colors, but she could only assume they were part of Rals rapidly expanding little clan of Renelo's, or were somehow affiliated with them. She'd had only limited interaction with them during the trip so far, having spent the majority of her time trying to run her own little slice of the Rebellion remotely from the confines of her quarters. The woman was a bit odd, and she couldn't help but notice the hint of a clipped and sarcasm laden accent that marked an Imperial raised Corellian- she'd spent plenty enough time around TIE pilots and Stormtroopers during the blitz, and marking accents was simply a way of life when everyone around you wore an anonymous black T-visor. She assumed that if Ral thought them a sufficient enough team to pull a hot extraction for her, they must be competent enough.

"I'd say a distress beacon on a crowded Imperial controlled world from a vod we heven't seen in months is probably a trep, but... Eh, only one way to find out, yeh?"

She snatched her gunbelt from a hook near the cockpit door and slung it around her waist, strapping her beloved taskmaster pistol low and tight on her armored thigh, then clipped her sleek black and yellow helmet on the opposite side. Next her faded and tattered yellow half cloak got swung over her shoulder and fastened at her neck with a delicate looking little silver chain.

"Bit of a walk, but it's bette' then takin' a train. Verd'ika here might blow it up. Oya!"

Arya winked at Ral as she stepped backward out of the cockpit.

 

[Sierrien]

Astra smirked towards Arya, mostly at her mannerisms and her accent. She seemed like a fun person to be around, especially if things tended to blow up around her. Well, it seemed they were going on a mission to find and extract someone she had never met. But if she was important enough that Ral and this rebel commander both were willing to personally head in to what was described as 'probably a trap', then she must be a true friend or a strong ally. Or perhaps one of the family. Any of those three were enough of a reason for her. She sent a light nod Ral's way. "Alright; never been to Zeltros. This should be...
Interesting."

She had of course heard of the resort world; it was pretty famous in the galaxy for obvious reasons. Which meant it wouldn't be a stretch for this to turn interesting even if it wasn't a trap, though she tended to agree that this gave off that vibe. "I'll grab my gear." She would turn to leave the cockpit as well after Arya had, moving back to what she had claimed as 'quarters' for her gear and grabbing what little she actually had that counted as such. A blaster pistol, a vibro sword and an extendable vibro blade she had more or less designed herself. The last was the only one of the three that wasn't clearly a weapon upon first inspection of her; in fact she had made it so that it looked to be a part of the belt around her waist so that it didn't seem out of the ordinary.

As the ship touched down she moved to meet the others at the hangar exit, as well armed as she could be without borrowing a weapon from Ral. But walkingn around with a large fun might not be the best idea on a resort planet anyways. In fact she wasn't sure if the sword would make her out of place or not, but she wasn't going to leave it behind unless she was asked to. She'd rather have it and get a couple strange looks than not have it and need it. She looked to Ral as he asked if there were any questions, and she gave a light nod. "Do we have a plan, or are we just going to walk in and see what happens?" She was kind of betting that walking in and seein what happened would be the call.

 

[Bardan Kex]

Ceres Wyvern... the name was familiar to him, perhaps Ral or his ex-wife had mentioned it in passing, but for now he was drawing a blank as he tried mentally to match the name with a face. Kex was about to respond as the second message began broadcasting the voice was high pitched and rather feminine, additionally if what the unknown person was saying was anything to go off of, they had a difficult time figuring out how a coms channel worked. The high pitched voice was interrupted by another female voice, this one identifying itself as Ceres and mentioning Ral by name. The message was clearly on a loop, and where ever it was broadcasting from had been discovered, perhaps teens or children if the voice was anything to go off of. This 'mission' was getting better and better, he had the choice to back out, to avoid possible Imperial discovery. But he wouldn't back out, if a Mando'ade had been foolish enough to make her way into a place where she'd be hunted on her own, he wanted to know why as he was sure Ral would. He would turn to fetch a blaster rifle, only for Arya to spring out of the chair and brush between him and Astra, prepping herself for the search commenting on the likely hood of a trap.

"Well if its a trap, lets shoot our way out yeah? You know, change things up a bit." he strode off to his temporary bunk, and procured the blaster carbine he'd taken from the Clan's armory. Joining the others at the ramp he'd do one last check of his gear before putting on his helm and locking it in place. "Well with how little we know of the area, walking in and seeing what happens sounds like our best plan. We just gotta keep our eyes peeled and heads on a swivel." He'd be the first down the ramp, weapon slung from the time being, a fire team of Mando'ade would already attract more than enough unwanted attention, weapons at the ready would only bring on more.

 

[Ral]

Listening to Ceres' response caused the man to frown. Why was there someone else there talking? Obviously it was the right channel, Ceres ended up responding, thought whatever was happening caused Ral to be a little worried. It didn't sound right, and it left a bad feeling in his gut. Looking to Arya he frowned before inhaling and letting out a long sigh. Listening to what the others had to say gave him time to think and process the message he had just received from the young woman; it allowed him to ask himself just exactly what it could be that she had gotten herself into. Welp, guess i fyou want an answer you're gonna have to go find her and get it yourself! He finally surmised.

With a smile, he nodded at the others. "Well, let's hope it's not a trap, eh? Now, as far as plan Kex has it pretty much right; we just have to go in cautiously. Maybe spread out when we get close to the source of the distress call. If I overlay it with topographical map of the city and the surroundings..." He started as he brought up a small palm-sized holo-emitter. "Then it seems the distress signal seems to be coming from a parking garage or hanger of some sort. I'm not sure yet, but it'd be a good place to start looking I think." Then raising a finger to point at Arya. "And how many times do I have to tell you that was Jhon's fault, not mine! Stop lumping me together with the explosive happy maniac!"

Setting off with the rest of the Mandalorians who were on his ship, Ral made his way into the capital city of Zeltros. He had to agree with what Kex had said, so he made sure to use all of his helmet's scanning and vision modes to make sure he wasn't surprised; he only hoped the others would do something similar. Except for Astra who did not own true beskar'gam, she would have to use her own eyes, as impressive as they were, to catch things out of the ordinary, though he felt that she wouldn't have any issues with that if it came down to it. Slowly, cautiously they made their way through the streets of Zeltros, unsure of who was friend, foe, or just a person looking for a good night out on the town, of which Ral was certain most were. "Any of you ever think of coming here for a weekend or two before? Might be an interesting encounter if you asked me..."

Eventually, they came to the location in question and Ral saw that it was indeed a hanger of sorts for ships. Looking at the building, a dilapidated shamble of a structure which made Ral question how it was even standing still. Motioning to the others to proceed more cautiously, Ral took the first step forward looking around and ready to draw his blasters at anytime. He came to the entrance without incident, proceeding down a set of rusted stairs and onto a dusty launch pad where Ceres' StarViper lay idle and unused. A scowl formed on Ral's face as he turned around to face those with him. "Signal's coming from her ship. I'm going to go check it out, the rest of you secure the area. If this is indeed a trap, I want to have options." With that he stepped forward, closer to the ship. Prying the hatch of the ship open, Ral cautiously peered inside, ready to dodge or run as fast as possible if need be.

 

[Loco]

"I just want you to know Verd'ika, I'm not doin' this because you esked me to, I'm doin' it because I want to." Arya assured Ral as she began edging her way around the outside of the building keeping her back close to the outer walls. She shifted her cloak over her shoulder to free up her gun arm and rested a hand steadily on the butt of her pistol. Like her other fully armored counterparts, she kept her HUD flickering through various vision modes on a constant rotation. "End fo' the record I've already got my vacation world picked out yeh, end this is definitely not it."

No signs of any trouble yet, but Arya found herself decidedly uneasy in this place. She assumed part of it was the planets heavy pheromones which she had read about, and she could only hope her helmet could filter out the worst of the effects. At least being away from the capital sensor they were not exposed to the constant party atmosphere, but even here in the fringes there was a subtle hint of party atmosphere, and she didn't like it. Crowds made her uncomfortable- wild parties even more so. The architecture was strange, all flowing and... contrived, she supposed. It was all supposed to be fun, rather than natural. She decided she did not like this planet much at all.

 

[Sierrien]

They made their way through the city without too much trouble - except that she didn't have a helmet to filter out the pheromones at all. So while the others wouldn't really have too much of an issue with it, she would likely be acting a bit more amorous than usual if the occasion rose for it. So far they were on a serious mission and she wasn't feeling like it was affecting her judgement, but that didn't mean it wasn't. Hopefully it wasn't just in her head that she was acting more or less normal. She was sure she would hear about it later if she wasn't. Her attention snapped back as they made it to the hangar that appeared to be their target; her eyes settled on the ship that Ral indicated first and then slowly shifted around. Well, if she was going to set up an ambush, she would probably want the high ground. Her eyes scanned around quickly, looking for overhanging balconies. She didn't see any, or at least any that were lit up or looked usable, though that could have just been the lighting.

She glanced back at Ral as he went to approach the ship. "Looks pretty deserted to me." she let out, though she was fairly certain that the others would be able to figure that out for themselves. Someone had to say it, right? Her eyes shifted over to the docking console and she moved over to it, bringing her hands up and starting to go through it. She should at least be able to find out when Ceres' ship had arrived on the planet, if nothing else useful. She was trusting in her new allies to keep everything covered; they wouldn't need her to cover the perimeter. At least they wouldn't need her so badly that they wouldn't be able to shout out 'Incoming' before getting overrun, anyways. She did take a moment to unbuckle her pistol holster so that she could draw it out at a moments notice.

Then she pulled out a data splice - she really wasn't very good at this yet, so this might not go overly well, but her plan was to hack in to the console and see if she could find any video feeds. She would just take a quick look around the time Ceres would have arrived, trying to see if she had come alone or not. She also didn't know what Ceres looked like, so she'd just have to go off 'whoever came out of that ship Ral pointed out'.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

As Ral opened the hatch, whoever was inside turned around, holding something in her hands. She screamed in surprise, backing away as she dropped the objects she was holding. One of them landed with a wet sounding splatter, while the other rolled towards ral slowly, coming to a stop as Ceres's helmet stared up towards him, half of the red sections on the helmet painted over with a more neon green, the paint lying in a puddle nearby.

The figure inside becoming more easy to make up as they pressed their back against the wall. She had green skin and dark green hair, cut short and parted in the middle, and a series of diamond shaped tattoos under her right eye, which indicated her quickly as a Mirialan. She stared at him with fearful blue eyes as she stood dressed in very familiar armor. Ceres's armor looked pretty good, say for a section on the leg, which seemed to have been welded back together recently.

"W-w-who are you..." The mirialan asks fearfully as she tries to back away, but has no place to back away to. She's unarmed, no weapons beside the armor she wears, "Y-you're with h-him aren't you? Another of those...those mandalorian guys? Look, I didn't mean anything by this. I-I-I was just trying to earn some credits with some roleplaying, I swear! Yezzan told me to do it..." She sinks down to her knees as she stares at the man, trembling in fear, "J-just don't kill me...I-I can m-make it worth your...y-your..." She can't even finish as she gets a good look at ral, slowly calming down as she sees him.

"You're...you're not one of Grae's Boy's..." She says as she takes in his details, slowly getting back up as she still looks like a nervous wreck, "Who are you? What the heck are you even suppose to be?" she asked, looking him up and down skeptically.

 

[Bardan Kex]

As the group reached the shamble of a hanger and it's dusty landing pad after a short trek through the unfamiliar and oddly designed city, Bardan decided it would be a good time to un-sling the carbine from his back. The location seemed like it was hardly used anymore, a back water location on a world of vibrancy and modern architecture, while this place looked like the sorta place most people expected to see a dashing smuggler from their favorite holodrama hide out. The truth was usually much less savory, addicts, gang members and other dregs of society, that was who you'd most likely see in a place like this and it put him on edge. While Ral would move down the stairs and through the relative open towards the ship Kex would remain at the upper much level, his weapon up as he scanned the immediate area for anyone they hadn't noticed, his visor swapping across a multitude of spectrums. He had yet to pick anything up, but that didn't mean there was no one out there. Having thought he saw movement, he was focused on a balcony overlooking the StarViper when Ral opened the rear hatch, and the startled scream of the ships occupant. His attention turned to the ship in a flash as he began moving weapon firmly against his shoulder down the stairs, Ral stood not moving in the door way, the other two near by.

"Situation?" he inquired from the bottom step, able to see just the torso of the figure in the ship, his finger rested gently on the trigger.

 

[Ral]

Ral frowned as he stared at the green woman in front of him, bringing his rifle up at her until he was certain she was no longer a serious threat. But the fact she was wearing Ceres' armor was not something Ral was pleased to see. The man quickly recognized the woman as a Mirialan, a green-skinned humanoid with dark green hair, blue eyes, and diamond tattoos down her right cheek. As she asked who he was, Ral poked her chest with the barrel of his rifle, clearly meant to show he was not amused with the situation. "Quiet," he answered her question, looking back at the others in the group spread across the hanger. "Got a girl in here, a Mirialan, definitely not Ceres."

When the Mirialan continued speaking, Ral turned back to her, glaring, though she couldn't know that behind his T-shaped visor. He listened to what she said, and a frowned formed on his face, his eyes still glaring and alive with fire. He hated groveling, especially when it came to someone's life. So, when the woman was crawling towards him, Ral's eyes rolled in his head. Finally, she stood to her feet again as she looked him up and down asking what he was supposed to be. With lightning fast speed, Ral reached out and grabbed a tuft of dark green hair in his gloved hand, yanking on it hard, rifle still pointed at her chest pushing backwards so she would run into the far wall. "I'm a Mandalorian, and you're dressed up in my friend's armor. So, if you want to keep this sad pile of bantha dung you call a life you'll answer my very simple questions. Where is the woman whose armor you're wearing? Who in the kriffing hell is Grae?! Tell me!"

Ral had continued to push into her with the barrel of his rifle until she was pinned against the wall and he waited for her answer.

 

[Cainhurst Crow]

"AGGGHHHH!!!" The mirialan yelped as she was yanked by her hair, the barrel of the gun shoving against Ceres's armor as she looked towards him fearfully. "Mandalorian!? B-but you don't work for Grae? All the Mandos on this rock work for him..." She said as the barrel of the gun pushed harder against her chest, her back hitting the wall sending her eyes wide in panic as she began to say everything she knew.

"I-I bought this armor, I don't know who owned it before! Same with the ship, I swear! I-It's not easy to get high-paying clients i-if you're not part of the big brothel's here on Zeltros! I-I-I thought I could get s-some extra credits if I had something extra! Offered a chance to-, to be with s-something special. I-It's just for roleplaying, I swear!" She exclaimed in a panicked rush, her fearful eyes reflecting in Ral's T-Shaped Visor. "G-Grae's a Mando who works the muscle in this town! Works s-security for all the big brothels in outer ring. H-He said he had some extra armor, a-and a ship I c-could use for guests. M-make the experience more authentic..."

She had tears coming from her eyes as she looked Ral in what she could only guess were his eyes, "I-I don't know who this Ceres person is! I just bought her stuff, okay! It cost me all the credits I had! J-Just please, Don't kill me!!" She pleaded desperately as she tried to fight through the sobs, "I-I-I c-can take you t-to Grae...I-I know where he-" She swallowed back a sob, "W-where he lives! H-he took me there f-for some special service a few times. I-I'll take you there, j-just don't kill mee..." She couldn't help it as her legs gave out, evident that she was just some kid who got in way over her head.

 

[Loco]

Arya frowned as Rals voice echoed through her helmets comms. The yelps and wails of the Mirialan were hard to ignore, echoing from the cockpit of Ceres' viper. This little side trip was getting weird, and this world made her more uncomfortable by the second. She flipped through vision modes in rapid succession, the settings controlled by carefully timed blinks. Her head turned in two slow, smooth arcs of the sort made by those used to wearing an auto targeting helmet. Nothing. At least, nothing threatening, she thought as she examined some passing revelers in the distance.

With a final pat on the butt of her holstered weapon, Arya spun on her heel away from the wall and stalked back to the docks entryway. She brushed past Kex standing a watchful guard on the short set of stairs into the pit, then by Astra working dutifully at a splice of the docks security systems, until she finally came to a stop and leaned her shoulder on the frame of the Viper's hatch, where Ral stood over what would appear to be the most pitiful Mandalorian she'd seen in decades. She clicked her toungue against the roof of her mouth in a sign of disapproval.

"Yeh Verd'ika, don't kill he'... in here et least. If you get the consoles sticky wit' blood Ceres might break down end show en emotion o' somethin', end who knows- thet could brin' the whole gelexy to en end." She smirked (invisible behind her visor) as she eased her way past Ral and the girl into the cockpit area, quietly jealous of how much roomier the whole craft was than her own Kar'kad, for what was still technically classed as a fighter (she consoled herself with the fact that she could literally dance circles around any craft in existence). She plopped herself into the single seat, and the jealousy was gone as she found that there was practically no padding whatsoever. I guess style AND comfort is too much to ask for... she thought to herself, wondering how Ceres dealt with the discomfort for long trips. My sheb would be killing me... Familiar red lettering in mando'a flickered to life as she played her fingers across the startup sequence.

"All MandalHype' creft have cockpit recorde's built in es en emergency recovery feature," she explained over her shoulder to Ral as she worked, "End if Ceres was out here alone she should heve been keepin' a log es well- unless the Wyverns don't believe in thin's like basic survival I giss. We should et least get some cockpit audio, the operato's log, the full transcript of he' distriss signal, plus the download from he' nav compute', if nothin's corrupted. Et the very least we cen check part of he' story."

Arya finished typing the commands and then kicked her feet up on top of the console, reclining in the decidedly uncomfortable seat. Something was bothering her as she watched the progress bar work its way slowly across the small screen in front of her, and it took a moment to figure out what it was...

"Oi, Verd'ika. If you were a mando'ade alor'ika with delusions of grandeur- end I'm NOT sayin' thet's what you are- would you leave a fully functional Sta' Vipe' to collect dust in a pit somewhere, o' sell it end a fully functional beskar'gam to some laandur sheb like this?" Arya indicated the Mirilian with her thumb.

 

[Ral]

Seeing the Mirialan squirm under the blank gaze of his T-shaped visor caused Ral to pity the girl. He listened attentively as she spilled everything she knew; it wasn't hard to break her at all, it was pathetic. With a sigh he released her dark green hair as she collapsed to the ground before him. Hearing Arya click her tongue nearby, Ral glanced at the older woman using his helmet's three hundred-sixty degree view so he need not turn his head. With a bit of a smirk, the man nodded and gave a light chuckle under his breath. "Wasn't plannin' on killin' her, just wanted to rattle her a bit... I'd say I accomplished that don't ya think?" He replied, a hint of accent coming through, over private comlink channel so the green-skinned girl couldn't hear what was being said. "But I see your point."

Watching Arya step over to the computer console, Ral stayed at the back with the Mirialan. Seeing the blonde kick her feet up onto the command console caused the man to chuckle a little and shake his head. Activating the channel to the rest of his team he spoke. "Keep your eyes open. Don't want someone else to sneak up on us while we're trying to figure out what happened. I'm going to see if there's anything else this girl can do for us." His response was measured and tempered so it sounded logical and cautious, belying the small storm that was brewing inside of him at finding some girl playing Mando inside his friend's ship.

Glancing back at Arya, he stepped up behind her as she motioned back to the girl, making a remark about the sense, or lack thereof, of leaving a fully functional ship sitting in a hanger with a teenager in someone else's armor. "Ugh, this is one of those times when I really hate when women bring up a good point that makes sense." He saw what she was saying, and placing a hand on her should gave it a light pat as he nodded in acknowledgement. Turning back to the girl his eyes narrowed considerably, though probably did little considering they were hidden behind his helmet and the girl was terrified enough as is. Reaching out he snatched an arm and yanked her up to her feet. "Today, you stop being a hooker; you're going to turn your life around even if it gets me killed. First, you're going to take me to this dikutla hut'uun of a Mando, but first I want you to think real hard on what I'm about to ask you. Besides using this as your private flavored whore room, was there a reason Grae wanted you to take the armor and use the ship?"

Before the Mirialan could response Ral faced Arya. "Got anything for me, vod? If not I figure we get going to see this kriffing scumbag that's callin' himself one of us."