An Abundance Of Time, But Nothing To Do

[Jredd Veslor]

An Abundance Of Time, But Nothing To Do​

It wasn't every day you got out of jail.​

There’s the queer feeling you get once you're on the outside, something akin to graduating from college, or high school without plans for college, or leaving high school to pursue your own designs. It's that quuer, satisfied emptiness that you can't quite get from breaking out.

Jredd knew this much as he had, in fact, broken out of a prison beforeas that was a messy affair, and untenable in the long run without a way to change his identity. Being a criminal is one thing, but living as a fugitive was harder than life in prison, and with no end to it. No, he was highly satisfied with the decision he’d made this time.

You know, it'd only earned him oaths of vengeance from most members of his own race. Who now owned their own junk of space, despite the Imperial Republic's best efforts. Not Jredd's, though. He'd just killed everyone he came across down there, without any flair to it.


These other guys with him, though...he didn't know about them. They'd accompanied him the whole way out, through the cell blocks, through checkout, and now through the gates. He didn't know them, but he had, of course, seen them around the place. It was hard not to, considering where they had been. So it surprised him a little that anyone was getting out with him. Still, it seemed that they were all alone together.

Nobody was waiting on the outside for any of them, so they all stood there, awkwardly staring across the road without looking at one another. After a moment, he would pull out a cigara pack with his newly returned lighter, popping one out with his thumb before fully drawing it out with his teeth. One quick flicker of fire later and he was depositing the things.

" So...who's hungry?"​

 

[Miko Ryder]

Miko Ryder scowled as the harsh morning sun seared into his unadjusted retinas, and rubbed his hand idly over his face. He took a moment to let the heat from the sun's rays wash over him, and let the sound of a gentle breeze surround him. His incarceration hadn't lasted a while - a year at most - but already the sensation of being free, truly free, felt alien to him. All that time lost for a kilo of rylspice, poorly hidden by an incompetent partner as the authorities swarmed their vessel. A wave of frustration washed over him, and he dejectedly kicked a nearby bench before collapsing onto it.

"Kark..." Miko sighed, and tucked his hands into the pockets of his flight jacket. He leaned back into the bench as another rolling tide of frustration washed over him, and left him feeling empty and vaguely angry: the realization that nobody was coming to pick him up. The failure he'd made would've easily been enough to burn all of his bridges in the criminal underworld, and his old crew was either dead or imprisoned. All he had left to his name was a Mynock Freighter, about two hundred credits to his name, and an MH55 at his hip. For now, that'd have to do. It was only a matter of retrieving those things from the impound lot... and there was nobody there to pick him up.

Thankfully, he wasn't quite alone - there were a few other former inmates that flanked him on all sides. When Jredd finally disturbed the peace, Miko glanced up from his contemplations and looked the guy over, vaguely recognizing him as being from another cell-block. Seeing the cigara in the man's hand, Miko reached into his own pockets and withdrew his own pack, deftly pulling a butt out of its container before outstretching the unlit cigara towards the Mandalorian.

"I'll pass on the food, but I could do with a light." he said with a smirk.

 

[Hunter Rain]

Hunter looked to his fellow escapees with a frown, crossing his arms as his eyes turned to what perils lay before them. Like him, many were smugglers, killers and people of less savory values. His imprisonment wasn’t so much of a problem, he had seen the bars from behind many times in his life. But, the wind of freedom in his long hair made him smile. A rare sight.

His ship had been confiscated as well as his weapons. They were... somewhere. He’d have to ask, then get back to business. Hunter received no pay while stuck in a cell.

Pay. It was almost bitter, that being the first thing he thought about after freedom. He chuckled to himself, a laugh pitying his position. Where was he to go? What was he to do? Hunter supposed that would fall into place eventually.

Noticing the conversation between the two men at his side, he turned to face them, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands in his pockets.

“Actually, I am rather hungry. We all know what they served us in there.”

He used his head to gesture back to the prison with a hint of a smile, before speaking again.

“Or rather I suppose the problem was that we didn’t.”

 

[Jredd Veslor]

With a look to the questioner, he would shrug before reaching back to the pouch on his belt what contained his lighter.

" I don't see why not."​

The flicker of fire that proceeded this would get its work done swiftly. By then the other had replied to his original inquiry, earning his gaze while he put the lighter back once more. His response would be given without humor, as his question had been given before it.

" Food's good. Don't know where any 'round here is, though, now that I think on it. Nor how we would get to it if any of us did know."​

 

[Miko Ryder]

"Thanks man." Miko said bluntly as he eagerly took a long drag from the cigara, taking a brief intake of air to allow the calming smoke to circulate around his lungs. It didn't quite match the far sharper effects of glitterstim, but at that moment, he wouldn't have traded the cigara for anything in the galaxy. As he nudged some ashes off with his finger, Miko took a brief moment to size-up the newcomer and, trusting his intuition to be sound, decided that he could also be a potential ally.

"Th' impound lot's not far too from here if you need to get your stuff back." Miko said, pausing to take a brief hit of the cigara. "I'm gonna be on my way there in a second, since it seems like none of my kriffin' crew's comin' to pick me up. You can follow me there if you'd like to." Recruiting near-total strangers who were coming straight out of prison seemed like a risky idea, and in all likelihood it was, but Miko had a good feeling about these two, and he trusted his gut. Besides, he had nothing to lose. Might as well try to make some friends.

 

[Hunter Rain]

“Impound? Yes... yes I suppose so.”

Hunter closed his eyes for a moment to let the air sift through him. It seemed too much like a dream. Getting let out, hopefully his stuff was still all there, and no longer having an officer at his tail. He had a genuine chance to restart his life.

He wasn’t too sure how much he wanted to. Taking one hand from his pocket, the man pulled his hair back and used a rubber band scavenged off the floor to place it in a ponytail. Rubbing his chin, he sighed.

“Once we get our stuff, I invite you both to join me for a meal-“

Seeing as these were the only two men with him at the time, and going alone felt... lonely. A quiet man didn’t mean he felt nothing.

“Then I’m gonna find a place where I can take a good bath and shave with something other than a shard of glass.”

He looked up to the sky, and taking his hands out of his pockets raised them as if praising the lord above.

“I just can’t wait to get back up there, you know? But first we got get our stuff back.”

 

[Jredd Veslor]

Another shrug from the Mandalorian.

" Honestly, I have got no plans right now, so yeah, I would most certainly be down for pick-up then grub-up. How's about we all move now, considering none of us are waiting for anything?"​

His own draws were more steady. The man enjoyed the cigs, but he did not need to run out of them on day one out the pound with no means of securing them in sight.

 

[Miko Ryder]

"Right on, let's get to it." Miko finished off the rest of his cig before discarding it, stamping out the remains beneath his boot as he stood up. His outfit was well-constructed, if not a little generic for a rogue, with a rugged brown flight jacket that extended to his waist disguising a plain white t-shirt, and grey pants with combat boots. His brown hair was disheveled, and a lack of a proper razor had left his face in need of a proper shave, but all things considered, Miko Ryder seemed to be the type of person to take some measure of pride in his appearance... just not to the point of obnoxiousness. Other than his eagerness to smoke however, there wasn't much else that could be said about him definitively. That was a good trait to have as a smuggler.

"You know what? I'll take you up on that meal. Name's Miko, Miko Ryder." The smuggler grinned, and outstretched a hand towards Hunter, and then offered the same courtesy to Jredd afterwards. He noticed the former staring up at the sky longingly, and felt a similar pang of desire in his own heart. Even behind bars, nothing could've taken the sky away from him. "At the lot, there's this ship that I used to fly, y'know, before I got locked up. Now that her old Cap'n's dead, I guess she's mine now. If you two need a lift off-planet, I can get you to the nearest spaceport."

 

[Hunter Rain]

“From what I remember before my imprisonment, my ship is in bad shape. I give thanks for the offer.”

Mostly out of fuel and badly damaged, the ship Hunter has been using was clunky and he lacked funds to fix major damage. Getting a ride somewhere profitable, or at least anywhere away from his prison would be great. It seemed the man would take up the offer.

He placed his palms and weaved his fingers together before stretching his arms above his head with a massive sigh. If his ship wasn’t in good shape, his gear might also be the same. He’d need to confirm it for himself.

“Anyone know the way? I wasn’t exactly paying attention.”

 

[Jredd Veslor]

Jredd wouldn't respond verbally, his body instead moving down the road to the left. The other two could follow if they wanted, but movement would be key to their goals in either way. He vaguely remembered the impot lound being on his right when he'd come in on this road. It wasn't too far, and so he knew they could walk there relatively quickly.


As for him, he'd gotten the most of his confiscated inventory on release, so he wore his Judge-Class armor and had his weapons on his back and hip respectively. Opposite his own MH55 on the waist was his helm, tied with some cord he'd scrounged up. Quietly, he would use a data pad to check his balance, smirking slightly at the “436” displayed in his account.

” I'll take your offer, Miko. Name's Jredd, Jredd Veslor."​

 

[Miko Ryder]

Miko's eyebrows rose slightly upon the word Veslor, and his eyes widened ever so slightly as his brain made the unspoken connection between the man's armor and surname. "So you're a Mandalorian?..." Miko stated neutrally, not intending to offend or otherwise assume too much. The only other Mandalorian he'd ever met had been a stoic, honorable man who would've died before ever being incarcerated. Perhaps that was why Miko was still alive and he wasn't. "Didn't think you guys were the prison type." He said jokingly, before following him towards the impound lot.

The walk wasn't too far, and the weather was pleasant enough as it was. Miko had been returned his MH55, his personal datapad, and his clothing, but what little possessions he'd kept onboard his ship had likely been stolen by corrupt authorities or other bloodsucking parasites. As the trio entered the impound lot, which was really little more than a small checkpoint guarding a dimly lit hangar, Miko walked up to a booth and verified himself.

"I'm Miko Ryder, and I'm here to collect the..." The smuggler scowled as he glanced down at his datapad. "The Midsummer Night, Mynock Freighter #31B-714. Here's my registration." As the man behind the terminal verified his credentials, Miko turned around to face his two companions. "Always hated that name. Gonna rename it at the nearest starport, maybe the Arrowhead? I'll think of something." After a few moments of deliberation, his profile was verified as being accurate, and he was allowed entrance. The others would have to check themselves in as well, regardless of whether they were gonna pick things up.

 

[Hunter Rain]

Hunter relayed his data in a hushed and quick tone to the guard, as if he had something to hide. More likely however, was that he wished to be out of the presence of guards as soon as possible.

“The ship, armor and weapons. I’m given leave.”

The scout presented his credentials as the guard looked it over with a scrutinizing eye. Despite knowing they were real, Hunter still felt nervous. Something could always go wrong. Luckily, nothing did, and he was free to proceed.

After making it through the doors, he sighed in relief before speaking to those around him.

“I will go prepare my things and see what is still remaining. I suggest you do the same.”

Off he went, following his credentials to find the storage unit in which his things were locked up. He certainly seemed to care less about the ship than his weapons and armor.

 

[Jredd Veslor]

" Jredd Veslor, no pickup, just checking in. They kept most of my stuff close to know where it was while I was interred. I imagine it made for quite the decoration in the Warden's office."​

The bitterness in his voice made clear how there were most certainly still hard feelings between the two. He'd been pulled into the man's private space whenever the Warden thought Jredd lost his respect of the man's position, which was always. Thus, he'd gone to the room quite often. Jredd's bitterness turned into mildly dark fury when he remembered the Warden's final words to him before his departure. The officer noticed this, but was unfazed, checking him in without much more emotion than if he were putting on a pot of coffee.

" Ship's names are pretty important to those that bestowed them. You sure it's fine for you to give it one of your own? I mean, sentimentally speaking."​

 

[Miko Ryder]

"It's hard to feel sentimental when you're dead." Miko replied, simultaneously nodding an acknowledgement towards Hunter, who had headed off to search through his own items. The smuggler stared fondly at the Mynock-series Freighter, just as one might look at a fine sunset or a pale tropical sea. He ran a hand over its battered durasteel hull as the now-duo made their way towards the boarding ramp. "Anyways, I was the guy who actually flew her, her last Cap'n only gave orders. Chances are I know her better than the old laserbrain did... Seems fair that she's mine now."

Miko pulled a latch off to the right side of the freighter, which caused the docking ramp to make its way down towards the ground with a steady whining sound (Mynock Freighters weren't known for their elegance, after all, and this one was in need of maintenance).The interior of the ship was surprisingly barren - then again, much of the furnishing had likely been either illegal or unseemly - with dark-grey durasteel walls and dim fluorescent lights. The passenger bay seemed cozy, if not a little worse for wear, with a battered holotable set in the middle of some worn couches. Aside from that, the few bunks onboard were spartan and cramped, but like the rest of the craft, was serviceable... Hopefully.

"She might not be the prettiest ship this side of Corellia, but she's damn fast, and she's held together this long." Miko explained to Jredd as he took a seat in the cockpit, and started flicking switches and pulling levers with surprising fluidity and dexterity. It was clear that he was a damn good pilot, or was at the very least experienced with this ship. "After we get a job or two done, we can take her in for maintenance, and maybe a new paintjob. Sound good so far? 'Til then, I'mma wait for the other guy to come aboard before we start talking specifics."

 

[Jredd Veslor]

" Sounds good so far, yeah. Definitely beats being stranded here with nothing to do but wait to die. So I'm indebted to you already, I guess."​

When they'd first entered the cockpit, Jredd taken a position in the doorway, leaning into it with his arms crossed. Though now his seemingly steady manner was disrupted by a shuddering shrug, which began in the small of his back and travelled up the length of his spine. Clearly the idea of debt was not one which sat well with the Mandalorian. Coming off of the door, he'd move to the co-pilots seat, looking over the controls a moment before going to his own movements of setup for flight. He was clearly not Miko's equal, but he did have the ease of one comfortable in his seat.

" By the way, in taking me on, you might be taking on my...eh, specific burdens. Namely, we should avoid, if possible, the newly liberated Mandalorian Empire in these next few jobs you seem to have got planned for us."​

His tone made clear that whatever trouble resided therein, was one he'd rather leave unspoken for now. Finishing with his set of flicks ands clicks a good ten seconds behind Ryder, he would turn in the seat to look at this other he'd elected to partner with for now.

" Anything you got in the closet that might present an immediate threat to us?"​

 

[Miko Ryder]

Miko brushed stray particles of dust and debris off of his jacket with a practiced nonchalance. The man carried himself with an air of ease that bordered narcissism and charisma, and his expressions gave very little about his internal musings unless he desired them to. Since his brown eyes were focused primarily on his beloved flight jacket, it wasn't clear if he'd noticed Jredd's reproach towards his debt, or if he was simply ignoring it to avoid making a promise he didn't wish to keep. After all, having a Mandalorian in one's debt, even an exiled one, was never a bad thing to have, but thanking Jredd for the offer would merely rub him the wrong way. Perhaps there was more cunning in the smuggler than met the eye.

"Well, I've got this one ex that we should probably avoid..." Miko joked, glancing up briefly from his jacket to flash Jredd a cheeky grin. He glanced back down to look at his datapad, which was giving him telemetry from elsewhere in the ship, status updates that flashed across the screen so fast that they were barely legible. "Wasn't planning on heading anywhere near Mandalorian space anytime soon, 'cept for Taris, but that's on the border of their territory anyways."

Next, Miko withdrew his MH55 blaster from its holster and placed it on the ignition. He reached over to a storage compartment under the seat and pulled out some industrial tools, and began to disassemble and repair the blaster's frame. Unlike with the ignition sequence, Miko's movements were slower and more calculated, since he was clearly less experienced (albeit not a rookie either) with blasters than he was with starships. "I don't mean to pry, but you should probably tell me more about your Mando issue, just in case shit goes south." he asked calmly, as he jammed a new power cell into the blaster's magwell and with a flourish, re-holstered it.

 

[Hunter Rain]

The clanking of boots would echo in the silent ship as a newly armored Hunter would step aboard. With all of his weapons at his hip or back, and his helmet under his arm, Hunter whistles as he entered.

“Certainly has seen better years, though I’m not one to talk. Ship’s essentially trashed. Might have to take you up on that offer for longer than I thought.”

However, the man would not be without his uses. He was a professional scout, and his illegal land and facility recordings had earned him his jail time to begin with.

“I heard some talk on my way through the door,”

He patted the blaster pistol at his side with a half smile, his eyes shining. Despite being a scout who avoided conflict, being a good shot was always a boon.

“I’d like to know more too, however. Need to know if my shot can handle these issues.”

 

[Jredd Veslor]

Jredd would not stop supplementing Miko's flight with his own co-piloting while he spoke next, his voice easily filling up the interior of the cockpit. It seemed without passion, as though the telling of this were more an inconvenience than any sort of stress, though the true nature of this to him as a regret was slightly exposed by the tapping of his foot.

" I'd been in that prison for too long, and it looked like I'd had no hope of getting out."​

Settling down and finishing his own set of initial commands, he would lean back into his own seat, arms crossing while he continued, his eyes never meeting either of theirs out of what might have been shame.

" I got stupid few years back. More than that, I got desperate. Thought I had to press the panic-mode button to get out before I was too old to do much of anything. So, I signed up to service the military in return for reduced sentence. Normally, this would have meant nothing, but Mandalore space had just gone into open rebellion, and when else would an imprisoned Mandalorian willing to betray his people for his own purposes be more useful? So I fought for them."​

He'd become quiet beyond this, either finishing or giving the other two time to process. But it was made out to obviously be the latter when his chair would swivel so he could look to them, and Jredd himself would give the sort of shrug one might at an acknowledged mistake.