Ask It's About the Delivery

[Kai]

THEME​

The route to Naboo was long but Kai knew it was worth it. The trip from Tatooine was uneventful thus far. Thalia's light freighter was hurtling through space at lightspeed. Kai's own ship was being worked on since its last venture resulted in some hull damage. The shipment of crates he was escorting would pay for the damages and then some. Because of this Kai, one of his men and cargo were onboard the The Cheap Vo. The Grysk was not sure about the pilot. She seemed young and a bit odd but so was everyone. Bruggan, the Kaleesh that occompanied Kai in a lot of proffesional settings, sat quietly towards the back of he ship. Kai sat in the more common area at the start of the trip.

Kai eventually got bored of sitting around so decided to stretch his legs. The air was cool in the ship. Space tended to be cold. But Kai reached up to make sure his hoodie was zipped up all the way. He brought his hood over his skull like face and paced. Softly he hummed, trying to think of something to do to pass the time until they arrived. Occasionally his eyes would glance more towards the cockpit. People are interesting. His macabre mouth turned into a little bit more of a grin. "....at least I hope she is." Boring people tended to be ignored but he had a feeling that the young pilot would not disappoint even if she did not realize it.

Entering the cockpit, Kai sat down in one of the open seats without hesitation. "Soooo....you been to Naboo before?" His fingers drummed on his own forearm. Kai's eyes wondered if there was a blanket or something he could grab.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

The last few months had seemed like a whirlwind for Thalia and all she wanted to do was to escape from it. However, whenever she would find a break in the stardust and clouds, it felt as though she was pulled right back in; it wasn't that she did not believe she could handle such turbulent events, it was more like she did not know how to make sense of them and her questions were only met with more questions and never the answers she was looking for to start. So, she had the idea to start anew elsewhere, take her ship, go to the fringes of the galaxy and in a way, start over. This of course, took her to Tatooine, a world riddled with the galaxy's best scum and probably was not really what she was looking for, but it found her work and she couldn't argue with the credits it would be in reward if this job was done.

The ship flew through hyperspace and she remained in the cockpit while the others sat with cargo in the back. Thalia didn't mine, the silence was welcomed as she focused on her writing and the gem bracelet that lied in the crease of the book in which the story inspired. She heard footsteps and finished up the last of her thoughts before sitting up in her seat, the smuggler, Kai, she remembered he was called took a seat in the copilot, clearly interested in conversation as he inquired about their destination.

"Naboo? Never, really have not had reason until now." she said laying the pen in the fold of the book and closed it, glancing over at the skull faced crew member. She felt herself stare at him for a little too long and quickly adverted her gaze, moving the topic back to Naboo before he had the opportunity for a confrontation, "Is it nice there? I have heard stories about its plains and lakes. Really no other place in the galaxy some say."

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

Sensing with the force sometimes felt like he was sniffing at the air. It was like trying to pick out an exact scent among others but out in space, in a quiet area with virtually no people around, it was easier to directly sense what someone was feeling. She's tired, confused, anxious maybe? It was all just passively on the surface. Kai knew that she was not actually sleepy necessarily or about to freak out at the next shadow she saw but the feelings were there. Though the Grysk did not have any idea why she was feeling that exactly.

Up until Thalia spoke he had not realized she was reading a book. His eyes looked at it a little bit longer than he would a datapad with some bit of curiosity. Books were less common than digital copies of the same stories.

"Yeah. Haven't seen much of it. Mostly just the air. Seems nice though. I think I listened to some holo broadcast that talked about how it was unique cuz it didn't have a core. Yeah, all hollow and stuff inside. Has waterways running all around it." His fingers made little squiggly lines in the air to emphasize his words. The Grysk had been to Naboo several times but always on business and he never stayed long. It was the midway point between the outer and mid rim. "Is this what you do for a living? Pick up random guys looking for transport? You don't seem like the 'business card' type."

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia rested her chin on her palm, propping it up the arm of her seat as she listened to Kai speak. Her eye followed his fingers as he used his hands to illustrate his story, her own mind filling in the blanks with what she had seen on the holo but knew there was probably more to be seen than what was explained. Her free hand found the corner pages of her book and thumbed through them, the pages zipping as she continued to listen to Kai as he inquired more about her.

"Transporting rando guys?" she questioned, "No, this is an usual job, needed a break, I needed credits still, so this is what I found." Thalia shrugged, it was the truth, get her out of the slums of the city worlds like Nar Shaddaa or Taris. She wasn't too sure if liked this job yet, especially with the idea of letting strange guys sit in the hull of her ship. The console beeped, alerting of the countdown from hyperspace, "Ten minutes..." she said leaning forward and flipping a switch to silence the alarm.

"What about you? Is this a regular thing for you to accept rides from strangers?" she asked, glancing at Kai before her gaze returned to her book, fixing some pages that were bent from wear.

 

[Kai]

The Grysk mused at Thalia's answer. His eyes looking at her, staring at the pilot sideways since her attention was somewhat directed towards her book. But the legionnaire ended up taking one of the tightening strings of his hoodie and playing with it. When she gave the head's up he leaned out of his seat so he could look behind them towards the doorway that headed to the back of the ship. "Bruggan!" a moment passed. "Yeah?" Kai smiled a little at hearing the Kaleesh call back. "Exiting hyperspace in ten minutes!" A simple "Aight!" came back and the Grysk returned to his reclined posture. Hyperspace jumps could still be rough and Kai found it best to be seated when transitioning back to sublight space.

"Well you said you had candy inside so how could I resist?" He answered with a grin. "I don't make a habit out of hiring out for transport." He wondered if Thalia knew what he had in his crates. But she did not seem to be bothered. "Is it some kind of code or is it just a habit?....not asking about the cargo your carrying I mean." Maybe it was part of the young woman's gimmick or sales pitch. Plausible deniability.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia grinned to his response, there was certainly risk to allowing strangers into one's ship. With the luck she has had, she would not be surprised if they tried to take her ship, but it seemed like things looked up in this case, they just needed transportation while their normal ship was receiving repairs. However, Kai seemed curious to know why she compliant, almost complacent in transporting their goods across systems. Thalia if honest with herself, did not see reason.

"Why would it matter?" she returned the question to him, her brow furrowed in her own thoughts, "I'm getting paid, aren't I?" The girl shrugged her shoulders, "It doesn't belong to me anyways, so I guess its some thing of a habit...I used to run jobs growing up, never asked what was in it, only what the reward in the end would be. Its the kind of life I am accustomed to, don't get close to anything, don't know anything extra and everyone will leave you alone." Thalia explained. The console begun to beep again and Thalia dropped her book into her bag preparing to exit from hyperdrive.

"Alright, prepare to exit hyperspace." she said watching the coordinates shift on the navi-computer, aligning with their destination. She pulled on a lever and the stars once more stood still, the ship now flying to their destined world. "Ah, it is really pretty..." she said as they approached, submitting her ship's ID to land without issue.

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

The immediate and honest response tickled the Grysk. Kai chuckled but listened to what Thalia said until the end before answering a few moments before they exited hyperspace. His joyful expression turning more neutral and almost lamenting "Never be used, kid. Always use others. Otherwise...." The pilot announced their exiting hyperspace. The blue tunneling maisma of hyperspace shifted back to sublight speed. Kai's eyes stared at nothing, his eyes unfocused for a moment. "...that reward better be worth it." The eyes of the dark sider flicked back up and immediatly focused back on Thalia.

Kai took a sudden deep breath and looked around like he had just woken from a nap. "Kark are we here already? This IS a fast ship." At least it was decent considering his own ship also had a class two hyperdrive. Kai did not want to verbally admit it but he had been skeptical of the disk shaped light freighter when he first saw it. Then again I've never been a fan of Corellian engineering so maybe that's it.

Hopping to his feet he stood up with some renewed vigor "Make sure to land a couple kilometers outside of Keren aight?" The next few minutes would be the Grysk making sure the cargo and his man was good. Kai hoped that Bruggan had set a timer but knowing him he was standing on one foot when they exited hyperspace and had managed to end up in a compromised position.

@GABA

 

[Thalia Windraider]

Thalia thought her ship was far from being a fast ship at least compared to other models that roamed the galaxy. She glanced at Kai though when he seemed mildly impressed at their quick arrival. To be fair, Tatooine was not a far jump from Naboo, probably one of the quickest jumps there was, but she wouldn't press on that fact and instead focused on landing safely as she received docking permissions and submitted for outside of Keren as asked by Kai.

"So, should I be worried about the other end to this deal?" asked Thalia, wondering if she should have asked the details on who the precipitants were to this delivery. She knew though if she asked sooner and it was an answer that she didn't like, she would have thought about it the entire journey.

The ship broke through the atmosphere and the clouds, revealing the green and blue world below; dusty brown buildings dotted along the horizon and Thalia brought the ship in for its landing. She noted how busy the space port seemed and wondered if that was just the norm for such a world as she expected for places like Corellia and Nar Shaddaa, but Naboo just sounded remote and isolated.

"Alright, lets get those credits..." She mumbled to herself as allowed Kai to exit into the hull first and then herself as she activated the hatch to lower.

@Darasuum

 

[Kai]

"Other end?" He cocked an eyebrow. "You're going to ask about the people I'm meeting but not about what is currently in your ship?" His tone sounded disappointing and critical. But then the Grysk chuckled. Kai would still end up reply with a non answer, repeating her answer to him when he had asked about her lack of curiousity. "Why would it matter?"

As they came in closer to the planet his neck craned to stare at the landscape. It was a one of a kind planet. A rich history and a lot of culture resided on the planet and Kai was here to sell spice.

When they descended into their final approach the Grysk got up before the landing gear finished touching down. <"Alright Bruggan! Get the sled ready."> The Kaleesh in the back hollered back in Huttese as well. The ramp the ship lowered and let in the amazing fresh air of the naboo country side. <"OOh now that's what pretty smells like."> The masked brute said with a tone that said he was smiling underneath. Kai shook his head. <"You say that every time we come here. Ugh">

@GABA