Small Packages, Big Surprises

[Tribunal Power]

Crescent City, Corellia______________________________

________________________Galdevar Inc. Distribution Center​

The sun was just setting behind the smoggy skyline of Crescent City. The Patron's Oasis and its crowd were near enough that the drunken rambunctiousness was audible, even from the elevation at which Joffoc sat. As entertaining as the drunks were, however, Joffoc was not here for practical jokes and ridicule; he was here for something much more important and, dare say, even more fun. He was here for official business, very important-like, and strict adherance to the letter of the orders he was given was necessary-- nothing less. No sir, no silly games or unnecessary fights this time-- it was the straight and narrow Joffoc was here for.

The lighting of the Galdevar building beamed overhead, but little of it reached Joffoc beneath the urban canopy of another building's landing pad. It was only a short climb from the walkway below, elevated some ways above the ground level, but was out of sight enough that he could remain inconspicuous while still overlooking the skyways. As he waited, he glanced back to see an oncoming vehicle-- a large freight speeder. Closing his eyes for a moment, he let go of his corporeal sight and opened his eyes through the Force...

Yes, that was what he was here for.

Seconds ticked by, and the freight speeder passed underneath. Joffoc leaned forth from his perch, and like a brick from the wall of a crumbling building, he dropped into the open winds.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _​

​

​

​

The foreman furrowed his brow, checking the time as the bay doors opened. The machines were backed up on the ninth floor, and the extruder was still down in the tank room-- and his assistant was out on injury from last week's accident. It was one of those days. But he had a shipment to make, and it was a contract he wasn't about to lose. He checked the time once more, just as the freight speeder came in. It hovered into the bay, lowering to the ground on the dock just beside a large stack of large plasteel crates. The driver opened his door and stepped out as the dockhands came approaching with levi-jacks.

"What the hell, Romm?" the driver said, exasperated.

"I know, I know," placated the foreman, hands open and forward. "Look, I hate to call you for an emergency run like this. I wouldn't for any other customer."

The driver scoffed. "How much you got?"

"Thirty-nine crates," he replied.

With a grunt, the driver thrust his cargo manifest into the foreman's chest. "I'm full up," he said. "Should'a called ahead. I could take on maybe ten, but you know how they are about partial deliveries."

Quickly surveying the manifest, the foreman's stomach sank. "Kriff!" He looked over at the dock hands and waved his arms, shouting, "Stop! Stop loading! Leave it be!"

"Sorry, pal," said the driver as he turned. But the foreman was deaf to him, already on his holotransciever lining up another courier. With his corporate drivers exhausted, he would have to call a private courier for the delivery. It would cost him creds, but not the contract, and so it was the lesser of two evils.

After he made the call, he waited impatiently in the open cargo bay for the new courier to arrive.

@EmilyHuene

 

[EmilyHuene]

Here she was again. Just another package girl. Man Rico sure hated this life. She was nothing more than a taxi driver! No. She was worse than that. She didn't even have the dignity of flying real actual people. People at least tipped. No today Rico had been called in to once again move cargo. How boring and droll!

Once she got the call from Czerka and the details sent over, the red-headed pilot was crossing the galaxy to get there. Thankfully she was only a few planets over so it didn't take but a few hours to arrive. As she flew in her Lambda shuttle to the landing spot she lowered the ramp and let the engines settle for awhile. Rico got up from her chair and tossed on her black Czerka coat with matching hat and went to find her contact. The man would identify her from the profile as Miss Redella, but those that new her called her Red, a common nickname for the girl. Hardly anyone addressed her as Miss Redella, or Rico for that matter. She'd actually gotten quite the reputation as Red Haired Rico from her days racing swoop bikes. Even in Czerka the name followed her.

Rico would awkwardly look around the hanger floor like she was looking for a long lost relative she was meeting for the first time. Her long hair flitted in the wind behind her cap. Her jacket was zipped up to her neck, covering her more-than-noticeable chest. Rico knew all too well that her ballistics were enough to draw even the stoutest of men into them. She tried to hide it as much as she could, and hated having to pretend she didn't notice they often got lost looking. She would cross the floor and eventually found the forman and as she approached him she would offer her hand to shake as she introduced herself.

"Hello. My name is Miss Redella. I'm here from Czerka to pick up your package."

 

[Tribunal Power]

When the shuttle arrived, the foreman was barking orders at deckhands regarding the stack of boxes lined up along the dock. He turned his attention to the courier as she approached, quirking his eyebrows when he got a look at her. The life of a factory foreman did not provide much exposure to beautiful women, and so he was somewhat surprised when he saw the red-haired courier nearing him.

"Good to meet you, Ms. Redella," he said, shaking her hand. "I'm Foreman Romm. Sorry to grab you on such short notice-- my other driver dropped out on me. I have a shipment that needs delivering to a station out on the Hydian Way, and it's already late. I'll beep the details to your holopad."

The deckhands began loading the crates onto the shuttle, their hoverjacks whirring and wobbling as they rushed to get everything aboard as quickly as possible. The foreman looked pleased with their hussle. looking back to the courier, he said, "Thanks for getting here so quick-- good luck."

Once all the boxes were loaded onto the ship, the deckhands cleared out and the crew gave the shuttle space to lift away. The foreman stood by and watched with a smile, glad to be done with the whole situation.

---------​

Joffoc felt the movement stop. It was extremely cramped in the crate, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the deckhands discovered the rack of weapons unloaded from the crates tucked out of sight on the other dock. But for now, it seemed his plan worked-- he had been loaded onto the shuttle. The time spent in his tiny container gave him time to ponder the repercussions of letting these weapons be delivered; Saffron was formerly a well-known criminal, a pirate who was reputed for locking down trade routes and essentially blockading merchant business. She had been out of the public eye for a year or two now, but the Jedi never stopped watching; now, suddenly, she had purchased two dozen boxes of weapons from a Corellian manufacturer. The implications were not good.

The thoughts of the pirate's resurgence was a welcome distraction from how much Joffoc had to pee. Why was it that every time he crawled into a small box, he suddenly had to pee? He wondered it if was psychological conditioning, like a pet salivating when it hears the food rattle around in the container. It was better than having to poop, he reasoned, though he quickly stopped thinking about that lest he tempt his body into needing a bowel movement.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Good to meet you, Ms. Redella. I'm Foreman Romm. Sorry to grab you on such short notice-- my other driver dropped out on me. I have a shipment that needs delivering to a station out on the Hydian Way, and it's already late. I'll beep the details to your holopad."

"It's really no problem at all. My company is pleased to be of service, as am I." She would give him a smile and then ran over the details near her ship as she watched the men and droids work to move the creates onto her ship. When she was set to leave she bid farewell to the foreman once more before leaving the hanger and then promptly the system behind.

As the shuttle entered into hyperspace Rico would be laying back in her seat staring at the light ahead of her. She liked to watch the galaxy of stars turn into a funnel of blue as she flew past them in speeds unmeasurable. To a normal person who travelled frequently, they might think nothing at all of the hyperspace tunnel, but to Rico it meant the world. She'd been stuck on the same planet most of her life and never once got to experience the freedom that came with flying. Her luck finally came through when she signed up with Czerka and was able to barter her own, brand new ship. Finally, she was free to go where she pleased.

As such, Rico would eventually tire of the same old sight and decide to stretch her legs. Now that formalities were gone, she felt no need to continue dressing as such. She threw off her cap and her jacket and unzipped her red flightsuit some of the way down. It was something she never did in public since there was much to show, but who would see her now? Plus, it was just so darn uncomfortable keeping oneself squished into clothing. If Rico had her way she'd be rid of it all. While she left the cabin she'd smirk at the thought of everyone everywhere being naked and how horribly funny that would actually pass.

 

[Tribunal Power]

How many gourds could a rancor gorge if a rancor could gorge gourds?

Joffoc smiled at the tongue twister he came up with. Although, to be fair, he imagined that a rancor probably could gorge gourds, and likely quite a lot of them. But weren't rancor's carnivorous? He furrowed his brow and returned to thought. It was not until he felt a cramp in his back that he was brought back to the real world; sometimes, when meditating was too boring, he would busy his mind with riddles or tongue twisters or poems or nonsense to pass the time, but life always found a way of pulling him back.

It wasn't the first time this trip that the cramp had bothered him. He twisted a little, trying to shift his spine and make the cramp go away, but the twist made it harder to breath-- and so he begrudgingly shifted back with a huff. The cramp throbbed again, and he tried to twist to at least get some slight relief, when-- Shit! The latch on the crate snapped, and the box jumped open as he burst from the top, nearly spilling over. He quickly arched his back, which popped loudly much to his relief, before rapidly assessing what to do.

The clatter was sure to draw attention, and although he was sure there was only one occupant on the ship, he preferred to avoid confrontation-- especially having to pee like he did. He could try to re-affix the lid and continue to hide in the crate, but the latch was broken-- if the courier noticed, he was screwed. His eyes darted around the room, and he rushed to slip behind a large crate near the door. He hoped that, if the occupant entered the room to investigate, it might give him an angle to slip out the door behind her.

Or maybe she was more observant than he gave her credit for, and she'd turn in time to see him before he could move. The lightsaber felt heavy on his belt; the problem with unexpected casualties is that it totally sucks the fun out of it when it's an innocent civilian. No, he couldn't strike her down just to finish the mission-- but perhaps he could find a way to detain her somehow.

It all hinged on what happened next... Assuming he didn't piss his pants first.

 

[EmilyHuene]

With the loud clatter Rico stopped in her tracks and looked around the room. What was that sound she'd heard? Had one of the creates fallen over? Rico grumbled and imagined the most likely scenario for what had happened. More than likely the workers had been impatient and were rushed for time so they just stacked the boxes in haphazardly in her cargo hold so they could fit more in. With little regard to her safety it seemed. Thankfully that one particular crate hadn't been munitions of sorts that would explode if not handled properly. Luckily for her of course. Even still, Rico made a mental note to start actually watching what people left in her care.

With a sigh Rico would start toward the ladder that moved to the lower level, but stopped. What if whatever got loose was an animal? Maybe she should grab her gun. She turned and went back to the bridge for just a minute while she pulled out her hidden pistol. She switched the gun to the stun setting just in case it was some poor scared beast. Now armed, she went to the ladder and proceeded downward. The door to the hold opened with a whoosh and she moved in to investigate. She listened quietly for any signs of movement, making sure this hypothetical animal wouldn't get the jump on her....

 

[Tribunal Power]

Joffoc didn't waste any time once the doors opened. He remained hushed and still, as a figure stepped into the doors and stopped to listen for movement. Just as the figure stopped, the Jedi made his move.

He stepped from the corner, and with a yank of his left hand, sent tendril of the Force to take the courier off balance. His Force Push wouldn't take her off her feet, but would only cause her to stumble forward, away from the door, and from him. This was done during his move for the door-- half run, half dive-- at which time he grasped with his invisible hand the large heavy crate behind which he hid a moment ago, and yanked it over to cover the door behind him. It was meant to buy him time while he figured out a way to lock the door closed, trapping her inside.

During his move, he had caught a glimpse of the individual-- a lovely redhead, wearing a red flight suit unzipped a good deal of the way, armed with a pistol of some kind. The pistol told him she meant business, and the revealing nature of her outfit told him she was probably alone on the ship. Still, he had a weakness for redheads. He suddenly felt bad for his trick, and also for the fact that he was pretty much stealing her ship, and also because her employer probably wouldn't like the outcome of this job. "You know, we should talk-- let's, ah, talk now, hm?" he spoke loudly through the barricaded door. "Terribly, horribly, dreadfully sorry. Believe it or not, I don't want any trouble-- I just, erm, need a ride. And a bathroom. Where is your bathroom?"

A sting of guilt felt through him. Would he care if she were a man? Nah, probably not. Unless he was a cute man. Like, dashing, but not overly masculine-- a guy that's not afraid to feel stuff, and maybe wear bright colors. But good luck finding that guy in a galaxy full of spacers and pirates, let me tell you. No wonder those clowns get duped and locked in cargo holds! Except... She wasn't a man, or overly masculine. And she was wearing red-- that's a bright color, and probably the second most perfect color ever. And it went great with her hair. She couldn't be all bad, not with that sense of style!

The more he thought about it, she actually sounded pretty cool. Why had he trapped her in there again?...

Oh, right-- the mission... I should prob'ly get on that.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Rico walked into the room with a shaky hand on her gun. She looked around and then was suddenly pushed forward by something. The sudden shift made her uneven and she fell flat forward. Her gun skid across the ground away from her. With a shriek of surprise she got up to her knees as the stranger ran behind her and out the door. Before she could stand up and chase after him one of the boxes moved all on its own and stopped right between her and the door.

"Hey stop!" She cried, but it was too late. The door slammed shut and more than likely locked as the intruder activated the security on the touchpad.

Rico ran forward and slammed her hands on the crate in an angry fashion. "Open the door!" she yelled to him. She then struggled to move the box, and ended up couching down to shove it with her back in order to push it out of her way. Finally she got to the door and began banging on the frame. Why didn't this ship come with a keypad on this side too!?

"You know, we should talk-- let's, ah, talk now, hm?"

"This is my ship! You let me through. Let me through right this instant!"

Rico was ticked. Any beyond reason. She didn't know what she was going to do once (well if) he opened the door; she didn't exactly have any combat experience. He didn't know this but if there was a fight she would more than likely lose. Even with the gun in her hand the odds weren't even in her favor. She'd only fired that gun one or two times, and one of those instances nearly missed her comrade.

"Terribly, horribly, dreadfully sorry. Believe it or not, I don't want any trouble-- I just, erm, need a ride. And a bathroom. Where is your bathroom?"

"The bathroom?!" she shrieked again. "Are you kidding me?! I'm going to kill you if you don't open this door!"

 

[Tribunal Power]

Joffoc winced at her words. "No, no, no-- you'll kill me if I do let you out. See, if I don't let you out, you can't get to me. Isn't that clever?" He smiled a little, as if proud of the dichotomy, but then remembered that he felt bad about the way things were working out. Here she was, just doing her job, probably entirely ignorant of what was going on, when a strange handsome lunatic bursts from her cargo and locks her inside. Sounds like a shitty day.

Having discovered the keypad, he rubbed his hands together as if preparing to enter a precise and expertly-deduced code, before sliding his hands down all the buttons a few times. He figured inputting the wrong code in a dozen times would probably cause lock-out, and maybe keep the door from being accessible for a while if she figured out a way to access it.

"Just sit tight a while, and I'll come back real soon, okay? Real soon-- promise." He patted on the door, before scampering off down the corridor.

The way to the cockpit was straightforward, and once he was there, he took a seat in the pilot's chair and accessed the ship's terminal. Now that the jig was up, he wouldn't be able to just hide until they reached the delivery point; he would actually need to get there, which meant he needed her credentials. Maybe with a little Force Persuasion, he could pass off as a courier and make it to the destination. Rooting through the panels on the terminal, he located the ship's schematics and information-- a Lambda-class T4, #0865MR001187A2, registered as a commercial transport freighter to a Rico Redella through a business-class license from Czerka. That was info he would need if their destination had any sort of customs check. He busied himself with trying to find the shipping manifest in her logs-- that was much trickier, given that every courier did logs their own way, either by preference or by company orders. All he knew was that couriers were required to keep logs-- more than that was up in the air. To make things worse, his experience with terminals was limited-- any time he encountered anything protected, he would have to find another way to access it. Joffoc was many things, but slicer was not among them.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"No, no, no-- you'll kill me if I do let you out. See, if I don't let you out, you can't get to me. Isn't that clever?"

He would then prod around the keypad as she continued to scream at him in protest through the door. His random combination of buttons responded back to him with various angry beeps and buzzes that clearly didn't compute with whatever he was trying. Luckily for him through, it did manage to glitch the system to freeze it shut.

"Just sit tight a while, and I'll come back real soon, okay? Real soon-- promise."

As he left the lower floors he would hear Rico's shouting get less and less coherent from he distance. Eventually she'd give up, but he'd have one heck of a welcoming when he went back to check on her. For now, he began to poke around her files. Luckily for him, but not so much for Rico, there wasn't much of a security protocol. The only system check was when she would first start the ship where a password was needed. Since she was already underway, everything he would need was at his disposal.

That being said, however, he wouldn't be able to find out very much. He was able to find shipping logs and travel manifests, but that was about it. Czerka information and the like was not kept on her terminal.

Meanwhile, Rico would pound on the door for a few more minutes until she finally realized there was nothing she could do from this side. Rico left the door and screamed angrily for a little bit.

"What am I going to do? What am I going to do?"

She stumbled upon her gun and snatched it back up. Deciding to try something a little reckless, she went to the door and aimed the gun at one of the walls. She figured there had to be wires running along the edge. If she shot them out then maybe the door would open. She however, did not think about the fact this move could also prevent the doors from opening ever again on their own.

As if her wish came true, her plan actually worked and the doors whooshed open after she blasted them. She shrieked with a happy giggle and then quickly covered her mouth with her left hand to silence herself. She listened.....no sound. Maybe he hadn't heard her. Good.

Slowly, she snuck her way up the ladder and peeked her head up onto the second floor. She saw him fumbling with the controls and figured this was her chance. Carefully she tried not to make a sound as she snuck up on the intruder. What she didn't know was that this intruder was a Force sensitive and likely felt her coming a mile away.

"Hands up, jerk!" She'd shout at him with her gun pointed at the back of his head. "One move and I shoot."

 

[Tribunal Power]

The terminal was like a maze to him. His brain was the kind that loved a good riddle, and could tease over it for hours; mazes, however, were frustrating, and he generally preferred to cheat. It was hard to cheat with a computer, though, when one doesn't know how to slice. Joffoc fretted over the terminal screens, until a pop from the cargo hold made him jump. Was that in my head? he thought. It was hard to tell-- there was always so much going on in there. It sounded a little like the first drum slap in that song that he liked, with the female singer... The one that had that big holovid back in Crescent City. He saw it briefly as he waited for the freighter only hours ago. What was it called? He stopped what he was doing at the terminal and leaned on his hand for a minute, giving a hrm as he tried to remember it. It had the female singer, a human chick with a purple thing on-- not a skirt, but like a full body skirt-- a dress, that's what it's called. And no sleeves, but she had gloves. It started with a drum, then went into this synth-sounding beat, and she started singing. Damn it, what is that song?

The feeling of cold metal against the back of his head reminded him that there was some messed up stuff going on in the real world that he needed to pay attention to. He blinked, and lifted his hands-- although, really, it put him in a much better position to disarm her. She probably had no idea. "Hey, that's really not safe," he said, though he obeyed her command not to move. "No, really-- you should step back, like, ten feet. Otherwise I could totally take that thing out of your hand and stuff. You wanna be out of arm's reach, you know? You've got the gun, and..." all I've got is a lightsaber, he thought, remembering the weapon on his belt beneath his long red and purple jacket. But he didn't want to use that here-- she could be the only one in the galaxy who could remember that song.

Almost entirely disregarding her order, he turned to look at her, speaking as if he'd just noticed she was there: "Hey-- what's that song, the one that's big on Corellia right now? It's like... Bummm... Bum bummmm... Nss, Nss, Nss, Nss... I think the first line is, like, 'I'm a Crescent City something-or-other,' you know?" Joffoc stopped as he turned to give her a smile as charming as he is crazy, finally catching a real look at her. He paused a moment, glancing to the gun, and staring straight ahead again. "Oh, right. Sorry! Uh, please don't shoot me and stuff. I've got things to live for, probably!"

Well, if she blows my brains out, at least we'll both be red-heads, he mused.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"Hey, that's really not safe. No, really-- you should step back, like, ten feet. Otherwise I could totally take that thing out of your hand and stuff. You wanna be out of arm's reach, you know? You've got the gun, and..."

"Shut up!" she said to him. "No talking."

"Hey-- what's that song, the one that's big on Corellia right now? It's like... Bummm... Bum bummmm... Nss, Nss, Nss, Nss... I think the first line is, like, 'I'm a Crescent City something-or-other,' you know?"

Rico just stood there, totally confused and distracted. Was he asking her about a song? Seriously? Didn't he realize she could shoot him at any second. His life was in her hands? And the way he stared at her...seriously unnerving. He just smiled at like some an innocent child. Maybe there was something wrong in his head? A second voice maybe? Sure she talked to herself too, but not like this.

"Stand up," she would say as she took a step back, like he'd pointed out to her a moment ago. "Stand up and be quiet."

"Oh, right. Sorry! Uh, please don't shoot me and stuff. I've got things to live for, probably!"

Interrupting him she would ask, "How did you get on my ship? What are you after?"

If he gave her any sort of trouble she was going to shoot. Not out of spite or hate, but simply for her own safety. Rico knew all too well the temptations of men when it came to woman like her. Men were pigs. She used to work in that industry. Well...sort of. She lucked out and was just a waitress. But she'd seen the lesser fortunate girls. She knew what happened behind those curtains. Rico was ever thankful that she never ended up in their positions.

 

[Tribunal Power]

Adhering to her demands, he stood up slowly, pondering her question. Should he tell her? At this point, it looked like he would either have to enlist her help somehow, or fight her-- and he didn't want to fight her. At this point, if he took her life, he would never stop seeing her face; she was innocent, he knew, of any involvement in his mission. She wasn't even supposed to be there.

Sobered, trying to rein himself in, he decided that the best way to convince her was to appeal to her inner good. "I'm not after anything on your ship," he stated. "I'm a Jedi. I'm investigating an infamous pirate who is set to receive all of those weapons you are delivering. I'm just following the trail." He turned to look over his shoulder, giving her his smile again as he said, "I'm going to assume you didn't know you were bringing these arms to someone who intends to rob and murder with them, because you don't seem like the kind of gal to go for that sort of thing. Otherwise, you probably would have just shot me by now."

Just one flick, he thought. One flick of the wrist, and she'd be left-handed for the rest of her life. Nobody dies and I finish the job. His lightsaber felt heavy again, but it weighed more on his conscience than his belt beneath his colorful jacket. He didn't want to hurt her-- so why did he keep thinking about it? Perhaps it was just his security-conscious side overreacting. She was a loose end, to be sure, but that wasn't how he operated. Joffoc had enough weight on his soul without adding an innocent life to it.

 

[EmilyHuene]

"I'm not after anything on your ship. I'm a Jedi. I'm investigating an infamous pirate who is set to receive all of those weapons you are delivering. I'm just following the trail. I'm going to assume you didn't know you were bringing these arms to someone who intends to rob and murder with them, because you don't seem like the kind of gal to go for that sort of thing. Otherwise, you probably would have just shot me by now."

"You're a Jedi?" she would say with disbelief. "You don't act like a Jedi. Prove it."

Not that Rico had any basis on what a Jedi behaved like. In fact she'd never met a Jedi. Not even once. Well....ok maybe she might have met one back on Kashyyyk, but Rico didn't know that. Regardless, Rico had a rather high expectation of the noble Knights of the Force. She, to be completely honest, envisioned them wearing actual suits of armor. To think that this man in his colorful jacket, sneaking around her cargo hold, then locking her in said cargo hold, could call himself a Jedi was rather unbelievable.

 

[Tribunal Power]

No sooner than the words 'prove it' had left her mouth, before another breath was drawn into her chest, the lightsaber concealed beneath the folds of his jacket sprung from his belt and into his hand, the magnificent purple blade igniting as it moved. In a fraction of a second, it touched his hand, and he sent a single slash in front of him, circular and flat to his body like the blade of a fan; the blade was intended to dissect the pistol the woman held, leaving the grip and trigger guard smoking in her hand. At least, he hoped so-- if she flinched or moved too much, it may have taken some of her fingers with it as well. Or perhaps she'd pulled the trigger; he moved sharply to his left as he slashed, just in case she managed a shot before the blade made contact, to ensure it missed him.

Once the move was finished, the blade would vanish as quickly as it appeared, the hilt held in his right hand. "I told you not to get too close," he said, his voice a mix of amusement and perhaps a bit of annoyed disdain, though he gave her a smile to finish it. "Now then," he said with a pleased sigh, clapping his hands together-- saber hilt and all-- to say, "now that we are no longer threatening each others' lives, perhaps we can talk? Oh, and sorry about your piece, by the way... I'll pay for it, I swear. And the keypad to your door. Promise."

 

[EmilyHuene]

"I told you not to get too close,"

Rico just stood there in total....confusion? Amazement? Shock? She didn't know. In a pure flash the man had not only drawn his saber but sliced her in two. Was she dead? Did she feel pain? Rico looked down at herself and quickly realized she was uninjured. She was...not her gun. Her pistol had been cut in two and now all she had was a piece of scrap metal. She looked back at herself, eyeing her stomach more specifically. No blood. No death.

"Now then, now that we are no longer threatening each others' lives, perhaps we can talk? Oh, and sorry about your piece, by the way... I'll pay for it, I swear. And the keypad to your door. Promise."

She would look over at him before just simply dropping the gun. Her hand was shaking. Had she moved at all her hand could have been gone. Hell, if he wished it she too could have been gone. She just now realized her life was in his hands. At no point had she ever had the upper hand really. This was the true, and cruel power the Jedi had. Jedi? Sith? She didn't know. It wasn't exactly like the Jedi to strike an unarmed person. Well in his defense, she wasn't actually unarmed. So maybe she did ask for it.

What was she saying?! He stole her ship. He locked her in the cargo hold! He broke her gun!!! He owed her. He owed her big-time. She would look down at the gun. Her inner voice screamed at her to get even and send him a verbal assault, but her body wouldn't speak. If she antagonized him what reason would there be for him to spare her life? He could off her here and now and no one would say a thing...

 

[Tribunal Power]

Joffoc frowned when she didn't respond. "The silent treatment?" he said, calling to mind an old married couple bickering between each other. "You know I hate that! How can we make this work if you won't communicate with me? Remember what our therapist said: 'better to communicate raw emotion to a patient partner than not to communicate at all.'"

Biting his tongue to remind himself that they were not a married couple, he turned away to get his bearings, running a hand over his short hair. It had been a really long day, and he felt... Strained. Distant. Like there just wasn't enough of him to handle the real world-- or perhaps not enough real world to handle him. But he had a job to do, and he had to keep it together for a little while longer.

First things first-- he really, really had to pee.

"Look," he said, turning to her with a look of distress on his face. "I've done everything I could not to hurt or inconvenience you to this point. Sure, this hasn't gone like I planned, but I'm doing my best. As it stands, I really need your help, or some very bad people are going to get a whole lot of weapons, and innocent civilians might die. If you're okay with arming pirates and criminals so they can keep killing and robbing innocents, good for you, but I'm not. So if we're going to save lives today, we're going to have to work together. I know you don't have a lot of reason to trust me, but I need you here right now; The Force, for whatever reason, has thrust us upon each other, and like it or not, we're in this together now. So, I'll ask you one more time..."

He leaned in with a serious expression, his hands folded together over his chest. With a deep, low breath, his dark coffee-colored eyes earnest with need, he let out just a few timid words, whispering, "Do you, or do you not, have a bathroom?"

 

[EmilyHuene]

"The silent treatment? You know I hate that! How can we make this work if you won't communicate with me? Remember what our therapist said: 'better to communicate raw emotion to a patient partner than not to communicate at all.'"

Rico would look at the man like he was totally crazy. "Their therapist?" Was he talking to her? Was he talking about someone else? She was almost more than certain this man was not all there in the head. Her distress was a little more prominent now and she was beginning to actually fear for her life.

"Look, I've done everything I could not to hurt or inconvenience you to this point. Sure, this hasn't gone like I planned, but I'm doing my best. As it stands, I really need your help, or some very bad people are going to get a whole lot of weapons, and innocent civilians might die. If you're okay with arming pirates and criminals so they can keep killing and robbing innocents, good for you, but I'm not. So if we're going to save lives today, we're going to have to work together. I know you don't have a lot of reason to trust me, but I need you here right now; The Force, for whatever reason, has thrust us upon each other, and like it or not, we're in this together now. So, I'll ask you one more time...Do you, or do you not, have a bathroom?"

At first, Rico wanted to tell him off, saying something along the lines of, "She didn't care what was in the crates so long as she got her pay." But he continued to ramble on about saving lives and the Force and stuff. Rico wasn't the type of girl to go around preaching about the Force, but she also couldn't deny its existence. Yet, to her, it was all mumbo jumbo to her. People who could move things with their minds....far beyond her understanding of how the universe worked.

So what was she going to do about it? It was a little out of character for her to go out of her way to help people, and it was even more out of character to go behind on her word/contract. So if she was going to stay honorable, through everything else...she would have to make a stand. She would raise her head to him and then turn to the side and point backwards. On the other side of the row of seats were two doors.

"The door on the left. Take all the time you need."

It sounded like she was finally being helpful, but Rico had another plan in mind. As soon as he shut the door she'd find something to wedge it shut and lock him inside.

 

[Tribunal Power]

Too distracted to notice any hint of deceit, he turned quickly to head toward the bathroom. "Thank you," he said in exasperation. He moved around the seats toward the door, stepping inside. The doors closed and he fussed with the buttons of his pants for a moment before finally relieving himself. Letting out a long and bedraggled sigh, he leaned his head back and let it all out. He'd been holding it since Corellia; any longer and he might have done serious permanent damage to his kidneys, or something.

As he stood before the latrine, he pondered what came next. Assuming he enlisted the girl's help, they could make the delivery as planned and he could infiltrate this 'Saffron's operations, at least enough to perhaps find some information on her. All he knew at this juncture was that she was a formerly influential pirate of some kind, and there were concerns about her returning to power. Joffoc had dealt with pirates before, and they only understood two things: credits and lightsabers. And Jedi weren't known for their wealth.

Besides, lightsabers were a lot more fun. He smiled as he recalled the competition aboard the trandoshan pirate ship of who could take off more arms. It may have sounded morbid to say it aloud, but it was a friend's suggested alternative to cutting them down where they stood-- and, for more than a few of them, it seemed to do the job. Good times.

Several dozen ounces lighter, Joffoc fastened his pants and turned toward the doors to exit the latrine.

 

[EmilyHuene]

Rico watched him practically vault over the row of seats to get to the bathroom. It was a rather funny sight to watch, and of she wasn't so scared for her life she might have enjoyed it more. Now was her chance. She ran past the bathroom and into the door next to it which was her own bedroom. Quickly she moved to her closet and began to dig through a small drawer of tools. A moment later she came out of her bedroom with a screwdriver and jammed it into the handle.

She thought to herself while clapping her hands free of the dirt from the tool, "Ok! That'll hold him for a minute."

All she had to do now was find a way to secure him. She could lock herself in the cabin, but that wouldn't do much good when they got to their destination. There was no way to get passed him from the cabin to the cargo bay where the supplies were. She'd have to tie him up or something. But where was she going to find rope? She put her finger on her chin and began to pace back and forth. She could subdue him if she had her gun, but he sliced that one in two.

And then it hit her. Downstairs. In all the creates. She had plenty of weapons. Rico flew down the ladder to the lower level and plucked one of the machine gun rifles. Clipping in the ammunition she committed to what needed to be done and returned to the bathroom. This time, she stayed a good distance away from him so he couldn't disarm her a second time. Once he broke free of her little trap he'd fall right into her next one.