Reunited [Invite]

[Gambler]

"Don't worry about it. I'll do fine as it is. Maybe I'll accompany some others as more of a bodyguard then a pilot. Many things can go wrong on a mission and no plan survives first contact. So I'll be able to save some young smuggler's lives and help give the Alliance a better reputation for what happens when they don't pay in full." he gave a wolfish, half joking grin with his words. The grin was dark and seemed odd on his predator like face, but it was there all the same.

"Bounty hunters aren't my type," he growled. "They are all cowards who go in and hunt weaklings who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The people who can kill them and call it an honest days work disgust me." he said vehemently. In fact, it almost looked as if he was going to spit at his words, but he contained himself.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Kam slightly raised one eyebrow for a moment as Fer spoke his mind on bounty hunters. Apparently, Hakim's few encounters with bounty hunters had been far pleasenter than the sort of scum Feron had ran into, but the cathar smuggler didn't mention that opinion. "A'ight, we'll steer clear of bounty hunters, then." Kam quipped.

"Back to the topic of the Alliance; it sounds like what you mentioned doing would fit in well with the Ghost Fleet's Marine detail. Their job is to keep the fleet, and the smugglers working for the Alliance, safe."

 

[Gambler]

"Might as well. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to teach them how a true hunter and warrior fights... and wins. I will never lose. Not again. Not after..." Feron froze mid sentence as he realized what he was saying and how it brought up a flash of his battle with Gren, the trandoshian warlord who had been captured and forced to fight against him. He slammed the walls of his mind against that memory that was forced up unwillingly.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Not after what, Fer?" Kam asked, ears perking slightly in curiosity as Fer froze in mid sentence. He couldn't remember the last time Feron had cut himself off mid-sentence before that day; it seemed to be a rare event, making it cause for concern.

 

[Gambler]

"Not since I first fought as a slave and gladiator. My opponent was a trandotion named Gren. He was the champion and fully decked out with equipment. Everything. He even was using grenades. He brought me to the very edge of death and humiliation only to toss me away like trash saying 'Even a slave is worth more than trash like you' and walked away." Feron said coldly, his voice and eyes blank as he merely recited his story. No emotion whatsoever.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Gods above..." Kam muttered to himself, running one hand through his sable mane and looking down for a split second, to shield the fact that he was wincing at the thought of the kind of brutality that would be needed to bring down Feron. He didn't know who to hate more, the Trandoshan who had humilated Feron; or himself, the careless young man who had abandoned his closest friend on Balmorra in a selfish act that ultimately led to Feron's encounter with Gren.

"I'm sorry, Fer. It's my fault that you've been put through so much suffering. If I had stayed on Balmorra, if I had talked to you before moving out of the settlement..." Kam's voice trailed off as he shook his head and looked off to the side. He felt guilt over leaving his friend behind. He felt as though if he had been there for Feron, they could've gotten off Balmorra together and Fer could have avoided the fate he was subjected to. With a quiet sigh, Hakim slowly looked back at Feron, looking into the obsidian eyes across the table from him and silently waiting for Fer's next response.

 

[Gambler]

"You couldn't have done anything even if you hadn't run away!" Feron snapped, dark eyes ablaze with anger. Then he paled a moment later as he realized that he had just snapped at Kam. "I'm sorry. There was nothing you could have done. If you had stayed behind then our entire village would have been taken. After an encounter with me they decided not to try their luck against an entire city of warriors of my callibur." he continued bitterly. To most it would seem like self inflation. But Kam would see that it was his attempt to absolve his friend from all blame. For something that continued to haunt him.

"The past is in the past. Leave it there." he pleaded in a deathly quiet whisper.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"Yeah... I'll do that." Kam looked somewhat distant for a moment after he spoke, as he wondered if Feron was right or not. He banished that line of thought from his mind after a moment, deciding to do as Feron said, and allow the past to be forgotten once more.

Rather than speak again, Hakim picked up his unfinished glass of ale and knocked back the rest of the contents in one swig, replaced the emptied container back on the table, then just looked across the table at Fer, waiting to see what he would say next.

 

[Gambler]

Feron let the silence drag on for a few minutes. The silence between the two was all but palpable in the brouhaha around them. The general din in the cantina seemed more of a hushed, muted noise then the all out shouting and chorus of speech it should have been. It soon became apparent that Feron was no stranger to silence; indeed, he spent many a month festering in his own waste wishing to die. Alone with only an image of the past and his own self preservation keeping him alive and preventing him from begging at the feet of his masters.

He picked up his cup and swirled the small amount left. It was mostly the foam that had accumulated at the top from the barkeep's haste to get the drinks to the two cathar. His obsidian eyes blinked twice in a very cat like manner as he brooded. The dark mood that had disappeared moments ago came back like a wall. And as with a wall it build upon itself. Where it was first built brick by brick the wall was now forged of iron and reinforced with steel.

"When you joined the alliance... did you know what was waiting for you? I know what the galaxy is like; I lived in hell for ten years. Not much can phase me anymore. But... do you kill? Even after what I lived through--No, because of what I lived through--I cannot kill the innocent. I cannot bring myself to harm another living being as I was harmed. It is just... just... wrong.

"Impossible to explain. I just can't do it. I feel myself growing attached to those I have helped. I'll admit that that list is short, but it felt good to help them. Like I was saving someone from my fate. I-I just can't do it. If you wish for me to kill those undeserving--those who haven't hurt anyone--then I will have to leave now. I am different than I once was. Feron said strongly though he hesitated many times. It was just something he had to know. His obsidian eyes bore into Kam's dark brown ones as he searched for the truth of his long time friend.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Kam was relieved when Feron started to speak again, asking about the Alliance. The cathar smuggler nodded his head once in response to Fer's query, then piped up to give him a detailed answer.

"Yes, I had a bit of a idea. I had spent some time with a human smuggler from the Alliance; she told me pretty much everything I wanted to know about the Alliance and then convinced me to sign on with them." He began, taking a thin palm-sized datapad out of his right cargo pocket as he spoke. Hakim entered his password into the datapad to unlock it and open up the start menu, then hit a bookmark displayed upon the menu, which brought up a text file displaying the rules of the Free Trade Alliance.

"As for senseless or needless slaughter, no, we don't condone that sort of thing. Actually, we punish it pretty severely. The only time I've had to kill before was to escape from sticky situations, and to defend my fellow smugglers and the Ghost Fleet.
Anyways, that's covered in the Alliance's Fifth and final rule." Kam placed the datapad on the table and slid it across to Fer after he finished speaking, so that his friend could view the rules of the Alliance for himself.

 

[Gambler]

"Sounds... good. Well, how do I join? Since I was contacted and told to meet a trainer here planetside, will you train me now, or will you just introduce me and get me acclimated with the Alliance?" Feron asked slowly as he read over the rules and regulation. It seemed simple enough. Shaking his black head, Feron rubbed his muzzle with his right hand before looking into Kam's eyes again as he waited for an answer.

 

[Jiang Winters]

"If you were told to meet a trainer here, then you've already 'joined', in a way. After you're trained, you'll be given co-ordinates to the Ghost Fleet, and sent there. Once you get to the Fleet, you'll be given access to all the priveledges that a Alliance Smuggler enjoys. As for me training you, of course I will." Hakim replied, folding his arms over his chest as he kicked into 'trainer mode'; a change to a more serious attitude that he underwent while responsible for training new recruits for the Alliance.

"To start off, let's go take a look at your ship. I want to see what I have to work with here; because if your ship's in bad shape, we'll have to use mine for today, and get you a new vessel from the hangars of the Fleet."

 

[Gambler]

"Ship?" Feron laughed. "What ship? I had to steal one from the salvers' repair shop. The one I got was dented up and destroyed. Burned and torn. The wings barely worked and the engine was so bad that I wouldn't have sold it to a swindler. I repaired it as I left the atmosphere as well as I could hope to. It is still just a trash heap on the docks. We'll take your ship. He continued with a stern note of what could be a command.

"What is it you are going to teach me then, Kam?"

 

[Jiang Winters]

The smuggler laughed as Feron described the ship he had stolen. 'Doesn't surprise me.' He thought with a grin, just before answering Fer's question. "Not much, just some of the basics. Ship handling, how to hide freight, how to handle yourself when dealing with the authorities and pushy contacts, so on and so forth. Also, I usually give new recruits a basic hand to hand and firearms course, to make sure they can defend themselves, but I think it'd end up with me learning a lesson from you, so we'll skip that part."

 

[Gambler]

"Yes you would," Feron said with a slight, hollow laugh that never touched his eyes. "Toss me the keys and let's take it for a spin."

[OOC: Sorry for the short post... brain dead creativity wise...]

 

[Jiang Winters]

[And sorry for the delayed post on my part; I've gotten myself busy, and I'm creating a new char for another forum.]

"Yeah, sure, here you are." Hakim replied, as he produced a small titanium cylinder, about a a third of an inch wide and an inch long, and handed it to Feron. "That's an EDSTC, short for Encrypted Data Storage/Transfer Cylinder. I use that one to store the Tien's unlock and start-up codes; it plugs into dataports throughout the ship. I've got a dozen of the things; I store music on one, holovids on another, my collection of por... Erm, portraits on another, uh, you get the picture." A embarassed grin came to his muzzle as the cathar slipped out of the stall, hoping his friend hadn't caught his sudden change in choice of wording.

"So, uh, let's get going. I'll follow you."

 

[Gambler]

"Sure thing," Feron said with a straight face. He had indeed caught what his friend was about to say, but he chose not to speak about it. What a man did in the privacy of his cargo hold was none of his business... as long as he didn't have to sleep there. Sensuously rising to his feet in a show of rippling black fur and muscles, Feron took long strides up the stairs and onto the roof where Hakim's ship awaited. Unlocking the ramp he walked in, whistling softly at the paint job.

"How long did this baby take you? I haven't seen anything quite like it since... well... ever to tell the truth. Now, what do you want me to do?"

[OOC: So sorry for the delayed posting time. A lot of stuff and a tight schedule means less time to role play here]

 

[Jiang Winters]

"The Tien took me a couple years to put together. I'm still trying to find a set of rail drivers and torpedo launchers for her, but I'm in no rush." Hakim replied, crosing his arms over his chest as he strolled into his ship after Feron. "Just head to the cockpit and take the pilot's seat, then take us up. I'm going to have you fly to the Ghost Fleet, and train you along the way."

 

[Gambler]

Heaving a mocking sigh Feron rolled his strange obsidian eyes that plainly stood out with the whites of his eyes; the only light part on his body. The cockpit was quite large considering size limits for this day and age. Two black plush seats stood stiff with tilted backs and head rests. With a slight quirk of a smile Feron noticed the cushions and foot rests as well as the autopilot controls. "Been on some long trips, have you? Maybe I should go to the cargo hold and check out some of your... portraits later." Feron said with a stress on the p-o-r sounds. He let the ignition key slip into the control system and started typing the access code. Numbers flitted across the screen rapidly, but Feron didn't notice them. The ship began to lift off of the ground slowly, gaining speed as the primary thrusters worked in time with the secondary thrusters to make both an upwards thrust and a directional push. Waves of wind, smoke and plumes of flame hit the landing pad as Feron moved the secondary thrusters angled towards the building behind him. Slowly the ship rose higher and higher, tilting slightly every few seconds until they were at an almost horizontal angle. And then an explosive burst of energy shot them off into the atmosphere.

Steadily Feron navigated the space lanes. At this time of day the majority of the traffic was speeders or other miscellaneous transport vehicles. Navigating the lanes at this time of night was something even a gamorean brute could handle. Unblinking obsidian eyes stared at both the console screen and through the window at the fast approaching space vectors. He took a long steadying breath as the adrenaline and the Gs washed over him in slow waves. Without wavering in the least he kept up his course until safely away from the planet's atmosphere and gravitational pull. Taking his hands away from the controls he looked back up to Kam questioningly and pressed the stabilizers. They cruised smoothly across the vaccum of space relying on the secondary thruster's push to move them.

"Well Kam, what did you want me to do? I think it was something about getting to a ghost fleet. Would it by any chance be the semi cloaked blip appearing on the screen right now at point A-6912B?" He asked in feigned innocence, leg sprawled over the arm of the chair. One large paw rested casually on the control panel while the other rested on the opposite arm of the plush piloting seat.

 

[Jiang Winters]

Hakim allowed a grin to creep onto his muzzle as he reclined in the co-pilot's chair and listened to Feron make mention of taking a look at his collection of portraits. "Just don't leave a mess. The floor doesn't clean easily back there, you know." He chuckled, turning his gaze ahead to the cockpit window as his black-furred friend ignited the ship's engines.

Soon enough, they were zipping along through the lanes of traffic, and not long after, they were free of the planet's gravity well and moving along through the emptiness of space. The smuggler turned his gaze back to Fer as the other cathar questioned him, and made mention of a semi-cloaked vessel appearing on the screen.

Now that got his attention. "Semi-cloaked vessel?" He repeated, shooting upright in his seat and hands flying to the control console in front of him, his fingers a blur as he typed in a lengthy string of commands that ultimately resulted in a full-screen area map being projected in front of his seat. "A-6912B... A-6912B... There you are, scanning... Huh, you look familiar. Let's see, who does your registry say you are, ol' girl..." He muttered to himself, as he stared at a readout screen on his console. Suddenly, Hakim's face paled somewhat and he closed the readout and display, turning to face Feron with a surprised and rather worried expression on his face.

"Uhm, Fer, you better fire up the engines and get us out of here, ASAP. That's the Vigilante, she's a escort destroyer, belongs to Republic Customs. They use her to spy on smuggling routes. Her skipper's a... Well, lemme put it this way. The stick up his ass has a stick up it's ass. And he hates me because the one time he managed to arrest me I got away on a technicality, but it doesn't help my case much that I sort of, erm... Slept with his daughter a few weeks later. You might want to punch it, before he spots us. I've already logged our destination into the nav computer, just initiate a hyperspace jump... Before he tries to run us down."